This is our message. No matter what happens – in our personal lives, or in the world – may we boldly remain steadfast upon this foundational truth.
Tag: Gospel
One
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:20-23
Jesus prayed this prayer for you and for me. The abundant life Jesus had talked about stems from this one thing: that we yield ourselves to God with such fullness that we become one with Him. That it is His life that flows through us – His mind we think and make decisions with, His heart we love unconditionally with, His eyes of grace and mercy we see others through, His strength we serve with.
I pray that Jesus’ prayer for us is answered more and more in the coming year, and that we come to live the abundant life He promises to us. Everything we search for, everything we use in this world to try to fulfill our desires stem from our inherent need to be reconciled fully to Christ.
He is our abundant life.
And not only is that abundant life for ourselves, but the world needs to see us living it. It needs to see a compass that points to true life. The world desperately searches for hope and it needs to see that hope is found in Christ and in Him alone. We are the chosen lights to point them to Him, if only we will.
May the Lord fill your lives in the coming year with faith and hope, strength and courage, love and peace. May He be yours and you His.
In the mighty Name of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus, the Anointed One),
Who is Jesus?
“So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. In his defense Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.’ For this reason they tried all the more to kill Him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:16-18)
Salvation does not depend on being a good person, going to church, owning a Bible, or being an American.
It depends on Who we say Jesus is. Some say he was just a good man, maybe a prophet. He said He was God. Either He was crazy, a liar, or speaking the truth. If He was telling the truth, then what we do with that truth will determine where we spend eternity. If we reject it, we reject God, for the Father and the Son are one.
Jesus Himself said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Without accepting Christ and His payment on the cross for our sins, we will stand before God at the end of our mortal lives and the beginning of our eternal ones with no excuse, and we will receive the just payment for our sins – eternity apart from God and the love and peace that originate in Him and flow from Him.
But, if we accept that Jesus is who He says He is, that He is God, and by accepting Him we accept His sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins, then there is no condemnation for us, and will be no judgment for our sins as we stand before God, since Christ paid it all.
Salvation isn’t dependent on what we do or who we are, but what we believe. If we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, and we will forever live in His presence and all that He is – love, joy, peace, goodness, grace, mercy, kindness…
Who do you say Jesus is?
The Resurrection and The Life
“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here;
He has risen, just as He said.'”
Matthew 28:1-6
Happy Easter!
To Gaze Upon a King
Oh dear ones, loved so greatly by God, can I ask you to, for just a moment, lay down your tape and scissors? To take your eyes away from the Christmas movies and your ears from the holiday music?
Can I ask you to come take a journey with me? We are going to see a King.
There is a little, ancient town full of people who have come to be counted in the census. All the rooms are full, too.
There is a very young woman who is about ready to give birth. She and her husband have come a long way and she looks tired and uncomfortable. Her labor pains have begun.
“The barn is available,” they’re told.
Humbly, they make their way to the stable. He tries to make her comfortable with a bed of hay as the animals make room for a royal guest.
She gives birth and the pain is soon forgotten as joy overwhelms her. He is perfect in every way. They gaze upon their miracle child, the one given to them by God Himself. There is a feeding trough, and he makes a bed for this tiny baby. The stars are shining on this most special of nights.
Meanwhile, out in the nearby fields, men who only a moment ago were tending sheep now stand in shock and fear as a glorious and heavenly light shines around them and an angel of the Lord appears to them and says,
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
The shepherds are barely able to take it in when a whole host of angels appears, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
They grab their staffs and run to the place where this Savior, this long-awaited Messiah has been born. He is beautiful and they can hardly believe it. They have seen the great Shepherd.
Room has been made for this little family of three. They wonder what the future holds in and through this new and precious life.
Sometime later, other worshippers make their way from the east. A star has led some wise men on a journey. It’s been long and dusty, but they’ve been moved by something, Someone, beyond them to make it. They’ve brought gifts suitable to present to royalty: gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Gold for a King, but not just any king. A King who has chosen to strip Himself of His heavenly robes and crown and become like us.
Frankincense, symbolizing His priesthood, one that would never end.
Myrrh for embalming, for one day in the not-too-distant future, this King will die for the sins of the world.
The star that led them from so far away has stopped directly over the house where the King lay. They step inside and bow before Him and worship Him. They present their gifts, and Mary and Joseph continue to marvel at God’s love, His miracles and His glory.
The world looks different to them now. Suddenly it is filled with hope and love and promise. Under the light of the stars was the Light of the world. Salvation was here.
This, they knew, was no ordinary child.
This was a King.