How do you live your life? Only focusing on the present and on yourself? Not worried about making stupid mistakes? If that's the case, perhaps you should try living for a greater purpose.... for GOD!
Do everything you do for GOD. Act like He was watching you (because He is...) and how He would want you to act. In everything you do bring GLORY to Him.
This doesn't mean read your Bible occasionally and maybe pray before one meal. No. It means to DEDICATE your life to God and living how He wants us to. Every single aspect. This includes romance, family, work, school, hobbies... EVERYTHING. A great example is being cautious in who you date. If you want to date a guy who is bad news and not a Christian and you do, that's not exactly living for God. You may be asking, "Why?" Well...
He gave us EVERYTHING- Life, a home, friends, love, mercy, SALVATION and ETERNITY. The least we could do is give Him our lives and our hearts. So, no matter what your doing bring GLORY to God. You are Him representative and His child. Stop and think, "If God saw me doing this, what would He think?" Choose to be strong. Choose to serve God and GLORIFY Him. Point to Him in all that you do.
That is my challenge to you: Focus on God this week. Live your life for HIM. Reach out to people in need. Love those around you. WITNESS to people. GLORIFY GOD.
This Christmas season, most of us are getting many presents. It's extremely easy to get overwhelmed, caught up in the action, and focus on material possessions and shopping. We need to remember the true reason for the season.
During the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it's easy to forget why we celebrate in the first place--JESUS! Christmas is the season, but Jesus is the REASON. It is CHRISTmas for a reason!
What is Christmas you ask? One big birthday party! It amazes me how the birth of one peasant boy born 2000+ years ago would have this big of an impact on us all. His birth was the most wonderful birth in all of history! It's the day God became man-- and THAT is why we celebrate!
The angels said it was GOOD NEWS of GREAT JOY-- which is great to hear when the news is filled with shootings and murder.... Jesus being born is cause for CELEBRATION, not just because of the birth of a baby, but the birth of a SAVIOUR.
Isn't that reason to CELEBRATE? On Christmas, the GREATEST gift ever was given: a SAVIOUR. God's gift to us was His Son. It's a gift that lasts forever. It's a gift that all can have. And it's a gift that God gave us freely. That is why we celebrate. So, this year, try to focus less on your presents and material gifts to others, but focus on the greatest gift of all.... JESUS.
This Christmas season focus on the one who SAVES. The gift that keeps on giving, for all of eternity. Pass on your passion for Him, and give His gift to everyone you know by spreading His message. Pass it on-- JESUS SAVES.
I dearly hope that you took the time to read that story. It really hit me hard. I honestly never thought about it like that. To really understand this passage it's important to know that God made you and me.
Not only did He CREATE us, but He wants the best for us! What is that? Salvation through Jesus Christ. We need Jesus, we cannot make it to "the barn" (aka heaven, salvation, etc) on our own!
We sin and we sin a lot. It's literally in our nature. God, being so loving and merciful, only wants what's best for us--salvation. Our sin blinds us, and we don't listen to God. God and His power is actually scary... so we continue to sin. God just wasn't getting through to us, so He sent Jesus to be one of us, so we would TRUST Him and BELIEVE Him. Jesus becoming man was God's way of "translating", showing us the path without scaring us. Jesus came to lead us to "the barn"!
As people, we can CHOOSE whether or not to follow Jesus. Whether we want to give up earthly desires and accept God's GIFT of salvation or not. God sent Jesus to get to us, to HELP us, to SAVE us.
That is what Christmas is all about. That is why we celebrate. God GAVE us His only Son, so we could be saved. Once you're saved it completely changes you! It not only saves you, but it gives you HOPE and FAMILY in Christ. I hope this makes you rethink Christmas and remember what it truly is!
I heard this story today and it really got me thinking. It may be long but it is well worth reading.
Once upon a time, there was a man who looked upon Christmas as a lot of humbug. He wasn’t a Scrooge. He was a very kind and decent person, generous to his family, upright in all his dealings with other men. But he didn’t believe all that stuff about an incarnation which churches proclaim at Christmas. And he was too honest to pretend that he did. “I am truly sorry to distress you,” he told his wife, who was a faithful churchgoer, “but I simply cannot understand this claim that God became man. It doesn’t make any sense to me.” On Christmas Eve, his wife and children went to church for the midnight service. He declined to accompany them. “I’d feel like a hypocrite,” he explained. “I’d much rather stay at home. But I’ll wait up for you.” Shortly after his family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window and watched the flurries getting heavier and heavier. “If we must have a Christmas,” he reflected, “it’s nice to have a white one.” He went back to his chair by the fireside and began to read his newspaper. A few minutes later, he was startled by a thudding sound. It was quickly followed by another, then another. He thought that someone must be throwing snow balls at his living room window. When he went to the front door to investigate, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They had been caught in the storm, and in a desperate search for shelter had tried to fly through his window. I can’t let those poor creatures lie there and freeze, he thought. But how can I help them? Then he remembered the barn where the children’s pony was stabled. It would provide a warm shelter. He quickly put on his coat and galoshes and tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on the light. But the birds didn’t come in. Food will bring them in, he thought. So he hurried back to the house for bread crumbs, which he sprinkled on the snow to make a trail into the barn. To his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs and continued to flop around helplessly in the snow. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around and waving his arms. They scattered in every direction – except into the warm, lighted barn. “They find me a strange and terrifying creature,” he said to himself, “and I can’t seem to think of any way to let them know they can trust me. If only I could be a bird myself for a few minutes, perhaps I could lead them to safety.” Just at that moment, the church bells began to ring. He stood silently for a while, listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. Then he sank to his knees in the snow. “Now I understand,” he whispered. “Now I see why you had to do it.”
Just take some time and let it absorb... I'll add some commentary at a later date. Enjoy the Christmas spirit and remember to thank God for His glorious gift!
Life is full of relationships. As Christmas approaches, it's essential to remember the most important relationship of all: our relationship with CHRIST!
Seriously, your RELATIONSHIP with God is important! Men will fail...
Why put your trust and your heart in men when you can put your faith in the CREATOR?
Why should we worry so much about what the creation thinks, when we can focus on the CREATOR. God never fails us, while men do. People, especially when in a romantic relationship, will hurt each other. God only LOVES us and FORGIVES us.
People will tell you all kinds of things that aren't true. We will lie and make other feel bad. If we try to put men in God's place we will only end up hurt and broken! We need the LOVE, CARE and SUPPORT of our Holy Father.
As people, we YEARN to be accepted and loved; in all of the media they tell us that other PEOPLE will fulfill that, but the truth is that only GOD can. He LOVES you so much that He sent His Son, Jesus to Earth--what do you think Christmas is all about?-- to DIE for us. God loves us enough to DIE for us. That's just crazy. Everyone is searching for their "knight in shining armor", someone to SAVE them. The truth: God already did save you, a LONG time ago, and He will protect you and LOVE you forevermore!
You can be religious about ANYTHING--I know some people who are religious about brushing their teeth....-- but to be SAVED is something completely different. Jesus SAVES, and having a RELATIONSHIP with Him is the most important thing you can do. So stop waiting for your knight, and start to strengthen your RELATIONSHIP with CHRIST--He already saved you.
