So, we are just a few days out from Christmas. The buzz is getting quieter and the world now braces for the impact of a new year. It's interesting to me how we (as people) do during the Christmas holiday. We spend so much time and so much money on the "perfect gift" for that special person. We want to make sure that we show that special someone in our lives just how much we care for them...just how much we love them. Some of us, me in particular struggle to get that "perfect gift" for my loved ones. I have always been that way I suppose. Attempting to get the perfect gift knowing that I am clueless most of the time as to what they would like, what they might need, or what they could use. I am not the best gift giver, but I feel like I am easy to buy for.
For those of you who are like me, you understand where I am coming from. You know my pain as I tell you that I am not a good gift giver. We search and search and try to find that token that describes our love, but we also do it on a budget and we do it with a limited amount of resources, excluding money. Meaning..there are only so many things in the world I could get a person even if I had all the money in the world at my finger tips.
Sometimes I wonder where this whole "gift giving" thing even started. Why do we give gifts on Christmas in the first place? Many people have said that it is a model of God's gift to us on the very first Christmas Day. That makes sense to me and if that is the case then we really have something to build on here. :-)
So what we are saying (if we base gift giving on God's gift to us) is that we received a gift from God in the form of Jesus Christ. If Christ was the gift, what does this gift give us?
The Bible tells us that "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)
The Bible also tells us that, "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23)
The Bible says that" the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord"
So really when God gave us the gift of Jesus, He gave us the gift of eternal life.
AMAZING! So in summery what we have is the "Perfect Gift". Earlier I defined the perfect gift as something that the people I dearly love will either like, need, or want. I as a person struggle with this, but God my infinite and perfect Father in Heaven saw my need and from there realized what I would want and not only would I like it, I found that I truly love it.
The best we as people giving Christmas gifts to each other can do is only what a retailer is willing to sell us or what we can make with our own hands. But God's gift, satisfies all my wants, all my needs, and all my hearts desires.
God's Gifts are; salvation, restoration, forgiveness, love, peace, eternal life, grace, and many, many more.
So now that we look ahead to a new year, let us be reminded that "re-gifting" is not a bad thing in this case. God gave me a gift and now it is not just my obligation, but it is my pleasure to share it with whoever would like what God has given me. I pray you will do the same.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a joyous and happy New Year,
Greg
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
What about Heaven?
Have you ever heard the song that has a lyric like this, "Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to go now"? Well I have...I don't remember who wrote it or sang it, but while the song is funny and I can even tap my toe to it, it is ironically true.
Do you give much thought to Heaven?
What does it look like? How do you get there? What happens once you get there?
It's interesting that the Bible tells us how to get there. It even tells us a little bit about what it looks like. It also tells us what we do once we get there.
So many preachers and teachers of today, (myself included sometimes) want to focus on the here and now. We want to talk about how God can enrich my life now...here on Earth. While God promises those things let us never forget that the Gospel or "good news" is the good news of the kingdom of God which is Heaven. This life is not as good as it gets. Isn't that awesome?!!! The Bible tells us this;
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John 3:36
What can be scary is that the song should go, "everybody wants to go to Heaven, but not very many people know how to get there".
While that is not as catchy it is true. So many people lack the understanding of the Bible and it's teachings about the sacrifice of Christ and what that was really all about. Right now everybody is thinking about Christmas and gift giving and gift getting and while all those things are ok...that is not the message at all. Christmas Day was the day that the Bible calls, "the fullness of time". It was a special divine day in all of human history that the God-man should be born of a virgin and would be tempted without sin. He would grow up and heal many and raise dead and to touch lepers, and to give sight to the blind. He was a man who was so gentle that children would sit in His lap, yet had such a fire to His Holiness that He could scare grown men out of the temple as they were making God's house a den of thieves. This baby grew up and died on a cross...an old rugged cross that was meant for me. However, He didn't stay in the grave did He? He rose forth with everlasting life and glory and because of that moment in history, because of that sacrifice and because of that raising from the dead I have access to Heaven's gates. Jesus Christ, born of Mary paid my debt on the cross. His death gave me life and it was life everlasting. I stand with the righteousness of Christ in the eyes of the Father, because of the Son and I have the indwelling Spirit all because of Jesus. The first and the last is He.
So folks, please understand something; Jesus does bring life and he brings it with abundance (John 10:10) here on Earth. More importantly He give eternal life in a place that no eye has seen or ear has heard. Heaven is a place of no tears, no death, no sickness. Don't you want to be there? Maybe not tonight...but someday right? Well here is one more thing that is said about Heaven in the Bible so please pay attention.
But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Revelations 21:27
Jesus is the Lamb of God and He was the perfect sacrifice. The only way to get your name in that book and guarantee a spot in Heaven is to ask Jesus to be your Lord and your Savior.
Admit you are a sinner
Believe that Jesus was the Son of God and He died for your sins and rose again.
Commit your life to Him. That you will live for Him, until it is time to die for Him.
It's as easy as A.B.C.
God loves you...and so do I.
Yours in Christ's love
G
Do you give much thought to Heaven?
It's interesting that the Bible tells us how to get there. It even tells us a little bit about what it looks like. It also tells us what we do once we get there.
So many preachers and teachers of today, (myself included sometimes) want to focus on the here and now. We want to talk about how God can enrich my life now...here on Earth. While God promises those things let us never forget that the Gospel or "good news" is the good news of the kingdom of God which is Heaven. This life is not as good as it gets. Isn't that awesome?!!! The Bible tells us this;
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John 3:36
What can be scary is that the song should go, "everybody wants to go to Heaven, but not very many people know how to get there".
While that is not as catchy it is true. So many people lack the understanding of the Bible and it's teachings about the sacrifice of Christ and what that was really all about. Right now everybody is thinking about Christmas and gift giving and gift getting and while all those things are ok...that is not the message at all. Christmas Day was the day that the Bible calls, "the fullness of time". It was a special divine day in all of human history that the God-man should be born of a virgin and would be tempted without sin. He would grow up and heal many and raise dead and to touch lepers, and to give sight to the blind. He was a man who was so gentle that children would sit in His lap, yet had such a fire to His Holiness that He could scare grown men out of the temple as they were making God's house a den of thieves. This baby grew up and died on a cross...an old rugged cross that was meant for me. However, He didn't stay in the grave did He? He rose forth with everlasting life and glory and because of that moment in history, because of that sacrifice and because of that raising from the dead I have access to Heaven's gates. Jesus Christ, born of Mary paid my debt on the cross. His death gave me life and it was life everlasting. I stand with the righteousness of Christ in the eyes of the Father, because of the Son and I have the indwelling Spirit all because of Jesus. The first and the last is He.
So folks, please understand something; Jesus does bring life and he brings it with abundance (John 10:10) here on Earth. More importantly He give eternal life in a place that no eye has seen or ear has heard. Heaven is a place of no tears, no death, no sickness. Don't you want to be there? Maybe not tonight...but someday right? Well here is one more thing that is said about Heaven in the Bible so please pay attention.
But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Revelations 21:27
Jesus is the Lamb of God and He was the perfect sacrifice. The only way to get your name in that book and guarantee a spot in Heaven is to ask Jesus to be your Lord and your Savior.
Admit you are a sinner
Believe that Jesus was the Son of God and He died for your sins and rose again.
Commit your life to Him. That you will live for Him, until it is time to die for Him.
It's as easy as A.B.C.
God loves you...and so do I.
Yours in Christ's love
G
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Walking the walk
So the Bible says....Jesus more specifically "You shall know them by their fruits". Meaning that if I was to look at an apple tree I could expect apples to grow from it. If I was to look at a pear tree...I would expect pears. I would not expect apples from a pear tree or vice versa. Nor would I expect a dead tree to produce any kind of fruit at all. If a tree looks healthy and does not bare any fruit then is the the tree or the fruit? I think it is the tree.
You see, Looks can be deceiving....just because a tree looks healthy doesn't mean that it is. And just because a person appears to be a Christian doesn't mean they are. It's interesting to hear how we justify our behavior...we say things like, "I'm a good person" or "I would never hurt anyone"...but when it comes right down to it I have discovered that we are judging ourselves on the wrong criteria. You see, if I compare myself to another sinner then where is the measuring stick there? But when I compare myself to God's standards via the Bible...I found that I am in deep trouble. But there was a day that I gave my heart, soul, mind and body to Jesus. And that day changed my life.
Once upon a time I was the guy that said to myself, "I would never hurt anyone" or "I am a good person". But when I felt the grace of Jesus fall on me, I felt the scales lift from my eyes that had blinded me to the truth for years. Not only am I not a good person, but I was hell-bound. Readers, just because you believe in God doesn't mean you are ok. Satan believes in God and he isn't ok. I believe in Elvis, but we've never met. But when you put your faith in Jesus Christ as the only Son of God and your replacement for the sin debt that was owed to God. Then a change comes and the fruit that I never had begins to show signs of buds. I have discovered that a life apart from God isn't worth living. Because it will never compare to the life and joy and peace that I have found since the day He became my Lord.
So all that to say this, If you don't know whether or not you are saved, you are probably not. And if nobody else knows you are saved then you are either not living it correctly or you are not saved. Jesus brings fruit to a dead and rotting tree. And if you are a good tree baring bad fruit is it the tree or the fruit? And that's not just how dold sees it...That's how the Bible tells it.
In Christ,
G
You see, Looks can be deceiving....just because a tree looks healthy doesn't mean that it is. And just because a person appears to be a Christian doesn't mean they are. It's interesting to hear how we justify our behavior...we say things like, "I'm a good person" or "I would never hurt anyone"...but when it comes right down to it I have discovered that we are judging ourselves on the wrong criteria. You see, if I compare myself to another sinner then where is the measuring stick there? But when I compare myself to God's standards via the Bible...I found that I am in deep trouble. But there was a day that I gave my heart, soul, mind and body to Jesus. And that day changed my life.
Once upon a time I was the guy that said to myself, "I would never hurt anyone" or "I am a good person". But when I felt the grace of Jesus fall on me, I felt the scales lift from my eyes that had blinded me to the truth for years. Not only am I not a good person, but I was hell-bound. Readers, just because you believe in God doesn't mean you are ok. Satan believes in God and he isn't ok. I believe in Elvis, but we've never met. But when you put your faith in Jesus Christ as the only Son of God and your replacement for the sin debt that was owed to God. Then a change comes and the fruit that I never had begins to show signs of buds. I have discovered that a life apart from God isn't worth living. Because it will never compare to the life and joy and peace that I have found since the day He became my Lord.
So all that to say this, If you don't know whether or not you are saved, you are probably not. And if nobody else knows you are saved then you are either not living it correctly or you are not saved. Jesus brings fruit to a dead and rotting tree. And if you are a good tree baring bad fruit is it the tree or the fruit? And that's not just how dold sees it...That's how the Bible tells it.
In Christ,
G
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