SALVATION IS BORN

Sharing a devotional.  I couldn't have written it better.

Meditation

The angels rejoiced at the beginning of time, reveling in God’s awesome creation, perhaps the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. How sad it must have been, later, for the two of them who were chosen to guard the garden gate against reentry by those two people whose sins we are all now born into. But the angels, because they live in his presence, know the character of God. And so they waited. They longed to look into the mysterious promises that the prophets were bringing, the coming grace of God, but they were mostly silent. They longed for the day of our redemption, yet they were mostly invisible. They sometimes appeared, one or two at a time, throughout the Old Testament when God sent them as messengers or sometimes as heavenly hosts in great spiritual battles. But mostly they waited . . . eagerly.

So when one of them was sent to tell the shepherds that the news of God’s grace had reached them too, that a baby had been born, the Messiah, who would bring great joy to all people, the angels could remain quiet no longer. All heaven broke loose. And for a moment, in that field, the supernatural broke through the barrier of our natural world in a glorious celebration of our salvation.

Before we knew that God was coming for us, the angels knew. And they interrupted our earthly monotony with song: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14). What was so wonderful to the angels that they could not restrain their adoration should be a wonder to us too. This Christmas, let us remember that the miracle of our salvation is truly that, a great and glorious miracle, one that sent angels into glorious raptures of praise. And let us pray that our God will interrupt our lives with the joy of this message, just as he did for those shepherds in the field.

Prayer

Lord God, you are the sovereign, majestic and transcendent ruler of all things, both visible and invisible, past and present. The angelic hosts of heaven serve you continually to accomplish your perfect will. Break into our lives, interrupt our routines, open our blinded eyes and stir our calloused hearts to reveal how amazing your plan truly is. I recognize that in this life I see so little and know only part. Yet the time is coming when I will see you face to face. The joy of my salvation is my strength. In your holy name I pray. Amen.

Taken from Once a Day 25 Days of Advent

LYING

Lying.  It is a sin that God hates.  Since hate is a strong word, maybe we need to pay attention.

King Solomon names seven things that God hates.  Lying was mentioned twice.

He mentions that God hates a lying tongue and a false witness who pours out lies.

It is important for us to avoid lying of all kinds.  Our lies do nothing for us except hurt us.  Most significantly it hurts God!

Lies lead to more lies to cover up the one before it.  Before you know it you can't keep up with the lies that have snowballed.  It is better to come clean and accept the consequences than continue with the exhaustive process of making up falsehood. 

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!

UNFAILING FORGIVENESS

Jesus is indeed the gift that keeps on giving.  No matter how much our sins keep recurring over and over again, God forgives us in the same way, over and over again.  

There are some people, however, who, no matter how many times they have been given a second chance, but, for whatever reason, did not accept such chance.  There are numerous biblical stories of people who have rejected the second chances given by God.

Jezebel rejected her second chance and deliberately disobeyed God. (2Kings 9:30-37).  Bernice heard the gospel message preached by Paul yet there was no indication she accepted it (Acts 25:23; 26: 30-32).

Even though we have temporary consequences in our disobedience, we can still be forgiven and given the assurance of life because our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus.  Even after we sin again, there will still be consequences because God's justice allows consequences for forgiven sins but His forgiveness and mercy continues to offer the protection of a gracious and forgiving heavenly Father.  It is no different than a loving earthly father who takes away privileges after we have disobeyed him but the love never goes away and continues to forgive us no matter how many times we screw up.

Until my next rant....  LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

THE PEACE CHILD

Deceit in one's innermost circle might be the highest level of betrayal one can ever experience.  When the closest person to you deceives you, the hurt you feel sits so deeply entrenched in your heart and you reel from its impact when discovered.  As difficult as it is to trust once again, God always finds a way to heal and speak to one's heart so we can find peace and comfort.

Consider the story of Don Richardson, an anthropologist/missionary who traveled from America in the hopes of bringing his Christian message to a nearly stone age tribe called the Sawi tribe in New Guinea.  Richardson's message to the tribe was absorbed in a very unusual way.  

Because the highest virtue of this tribe is deceit, Richardson's message of the values of love and forgiveness had no appeal to them.  The only story that they related to from the Bible told to them by Richardson was the story of Judas Iscariot, the story of betrayal.  To the Sawi, Judas was a true hero because he was able to penetrate the trusted inner circle of the disciples before turning against Jesus.

Despite Richardson's unsuccessful attempts to share the message of Jesus Christ, the bloody battle between the Sawi and the Haenam tribes continued right outside his home.  After the fourteenth battle, Richardson then decided to leave New Guinea despite the Sawi's pleas for him to stay.

In a sincere effort to convince Richardson to stay, both tribes staged an elaborate ceremony in front of his home.  It was their final effort to convince Richardson to stay.

In the deafening silence of the entire village watching, the Sawi chief's wife held her six-month old baby in her arms.  She screamed loudly when her husband, the Chief, seized the baby from her arms, held him high in the air and gave him to his enemies.  One member of the tribe explained that the Haenam tribe would rename the baby and raise him as one of its own.

Despite Richardson's distrust of the Sawi, believing that any action by them could be just a part of an elaborate deception, that very act of peace offering could be the exception.  In a flash of understanding, he realized that a Chief's giving of his own son to the enemy was a profound and painful act that would overcome all suspicion.  As mutually agreed between the tribes, as long as the peace child lived, there would be no more wars fought.

This sparked an analogy for Richardson, a parallel story, woven into the Sawi's culture that could impart a message of a forgiving God.  He gathered the tribe members around him and told them of God's peace child.  God sent His own son, Jesus Christ to live among His enemies to make peace with humankind.

"Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.  But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." Romans 5:7-8 NLT

So despite satan's attempts to steal, kill and destroy, God finds a way to make us whole again.  In His own way.

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

JILTED

You know the feeling.  Most of us do.  But you weren't ready for it.  Suddenly, your life seem discombobulated.  What you used to know, what you were used to is no longer true.  You seek the reasons how it happened.  You blame yourself.  You blame him/her.  If only...

Easier said than done but do it anyway.  It is the only way to get out of the rut.  Visualize yourself coming out from under it.  You deserve better.  You deserve to be loved.  If the most powerful, most high, strongest person in your entire existence can love you, you deserve better than to be jilted by an erroneous and fallible human being.    You see, we are all imperfect beings.  We are also selfish, thinking only of our own happiness.  The farther you are from your relationship with God, the closer you are to heartbreak.  Don't worry about the past, the past has its own issues.  Having a close relationship with God is the first step to your healing.  It is the first step to turning away from sin.  If you continue to do something that fails, you have no one to blame but yourself.  Falling for the same failures and thinking this time it will be better is just a pipe dream.  Happiness is obtained through hard work.  Hard work means turning away from the pleasures of the flesh and turning towards spiritual growth.  Spiritual growth is given through the grace of God.  Without the grace of God, you are just going to wander through life finding no meaning, no matter which way you turn.  Pleasing other human beings will lead you to nothing but pain because human beings are imperfect, even though we seek perfection in a partner.  We ourselves cannot give perfection to another person either.  The only way a relationship can succeed is if God is in the midst. If God is shunned, the relationship fails.  

What does that entail, you ask?  Well, being obedient to God's laws and guidance is what it entails.  As long as we are capable of loving God, fearing God, obeying and trusting that God will work in our lives, nothing can fail.  Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.  Believing satan's lies leads to disaster.  Don't fall for it.  If you have a lover, a spouse, or a mate turn against you, rejoice and ask God to forgive your sins and lead your life.  Trusting in God to give you the right person who will treat you with respect, honesty and love is the better way to go.

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

WHO ARE YOU?

It may come as no surprise to you that you know yourself better than anyone, right?  But like an onion has layers of skin, how deeply do you really know yourself?

Some of us are fixated on the physical representation so that others will accept us based on how we look.  Billions are spent on plastic surgery yearly because they put on permanent masks to maybe hide the person underneath.  Looking like someone who had plastic surgery does hide the years that they have lived but masking it to try to look youthful yet it fools no one and the attraction is not because they're actually beautiful but because they look pretty much synthetic.

To be able to dig deeper, why do people go through this type of masks?  What is it they're trying to hide?  Moreover, society starts to see this as normal and now everyone thinks that they have to go under the knife as well so they could be accepted to the group.

But what's wrong with aging gracefully?  There is a reason why our looks don't stay intact while the years pass.  It is so we can experience the height of life as a young person with looks that can attract others, body strength to be able to do for ourselves but all to prepare for the weakness and physical aging.  It teaches us that there is more to this world than ourselves and it prepares us for the eternal life that God has prepared for us which has nothing to do with the outward influence of this world.  This is a promise from God.  The promise that in eternity we will regain the youth we had and never change because our souls will live in perfection forever.

You see, no matter how much we tweak our physical looks in this life from whatever we are hiding behind, there is but one person who knows us inside and out, and yes you know it, God!  There is one person we can never hide from.

Until my next rant... LOVE one another!

GOD'S BEAUTIFUL YOU

Did you know that Americans spend 426 billion dollars a year on beauty products?  As of late, even more for plastic surgery and reconstructive surgeries.  Do you ever stop and wonder what it is that compels someone to physically change themselves only to realize another thing needs to change and then another and then another?  Are they doing it to gain self-confidence?  To impress others, maybe a husband or maybe even to land a rich husband?  Is it because they feel the need to be competitive with others?  These types of insecurities are indications of discontent.  Most of the time our discontent stems from a deep search for God.  We are looking for something to fill the God-sized hole in our hearts that only God can fill.  

The reason why the hole exists is because we were born belonging to a God.  Although He has freely given us our own will, just like a homing pigeon, we will never be fulfilled unless we live in His grace.  The world is not our permanent home by any means, and our home is obtained after we leave this world.

But ya gotta think... why change the way we look when this is really not our forever home.  Why are we changing ourselves so others will accept us when we should impress only God?  Don't get me wrong, I am not against make-up, nice hair, and the like.  Of course we should look clean and neat.  It is our obligation to society.  However, if we do synthetic changes to ourselves to mask a deeper longing to fill that empty space in our hearts, wouldn't it just be easier to fill it with God so we could feel whole again?

This reminds me of a story in Genesis 29:31-35.  Taken a devotional  from The Women's NIV DEVOTIONAL BIBLE

This Time. . .

Leah

Rachel, her sister, had always had something she didn’t. Rachel had beauty, Leah didn’t. Rachel had Jacob’s heart, Leah didn’t. However, with the birth of her first child, she finally had something Rachel didn’t: a son.

“Surely my husband will love me now,” she recalled thinking after Reuben was born. What she desperately wanted would finally belong to her and her alone. She had bargaining power, and she planned to use it.

This is the way that Leah considered each of her children. They served as a strange sort of currency, each one “buying” her a certain level of emotional security and social standing. However, whatever dividends she gained depreciated all too quickly. She had to have another baby, and another, to keep her emotional security afloat.

Unsettled in her own skin for most of her life, Leah longed to feel comfortable around other women. She would never be the prettiest. Never the smartest. Not even the wealthiest. She knew that. But a baby gave women reason to envy. “The women will call me happy,” she recalled fantasizing at the time of yet another son’s birth. She thought every eye would be on her. The odds would finally be in her favor.

After five strapping sons and with one on the way, she imagined herself becoming a queen among her princes. As she contemplated the next birth, she thought that surely her husband would finally look at her with eyes of love. This time, her peers would approve of her. This time, she would earn everyone’s respect.

The last time hadn’t worked out like she’d hoped. And the time before that, well . . . the rewards had been short-lived at best. Every “last time” was, after all, last time. She needed something new in order to feel good about herself today. As she looked up and saw her husband coming in from the fields, she absently stroked her pregnant belly. This time. . .

One more thing that is for sure... God will not disappoint!  Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!