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December 16, 2024

December 16, 2024

It’s time to start taking in the joy of the Christmas season – the joy of welcoming Jesus as our Savior!

 

Good news is a rare commodity these days! All the more reason to savor the fact of His birth, astoundingly good news of His coming in an attempt to rescue us from spiritual death, our separation from God, and to offer us a free gift of abundant life with Him here on earth and, even more importantly, with Him in eternity.

 

What a gift! An opportunity to enjoy an intimate and eternal relationship with the Creator of the world! But, as with any gift, it doesn’t become ours unless and until we accept it. Scripture tells us that acceptance of God’s gift requires that we are willing to confess to having sinful tendencies and are willing to turn it all over to Jesus and trust Him for a complete makeover. Amazingly, in return, He promises an immediate, as well as eternal, intimate and joyful relationship and walk with Him! (Acts 2:28)

 

What a perfect time, despite the hardships and sorrow that exist in our world, to celebrate our access to joy right here and now!

 

Could there be a greater gift than this?

December 9, 2024

December 9, 2024

Advent, meaning ‘Coming’ in Latin, is the word most churches use to describe our focus on Jesus coming into the world as a baby. Advent is a time to concentrate on what Christmas is really about!

 

After telling His disciples that He would send them the Holy Spirit, He said to them, “Peace I leave with you, My Peace I give to you, not as the world gives . . .”

 

Today, the prospect of peace, both in our country and our world seems more distant every day. Our world appears out of control. We wonder if we can ever find peace and whether that peace will be lasting.

 

There was also a great deal of unrest in the world at the time of Jesus’ birth. As it happened, Christ’s coming brought conflict rather than peace, ending with His death. But, as He promised, following His resurrection, He will provide the gift of personal peace to all who are willing to surrender their pride and put their trust and faith in Him, the Prince of Peace.

 

Our acceptance of Jesus, a personal gift of Himself, includes His abiding presence along with the gift of His peace! He is with us continually, even in the midst of the storms. His peace is a lasting peace.

 

Have you accepted Jesus and the peace of His presence? 

December 2, 2024

December 2, 2024

In the first week of Advent, we are called to prepare our hearts with Hope.

 

When we suffer great losses and are weighed down with grief and sorrow, how can our hearts be filled with hope?

 

The true anchor for our souls is Jesus. There is peace in His presence!

 

When we belong to Jesus, we can lean on Him. Being aware of Jesus’ presence with us keeps us from becoming discouraged or giving up. So, when we sense discouragement, we need to stop and consider our focus. Are we focusing on our problems or discouragement? If so, we need to consciously direct our attention to our all powerful Savior, Jesus Christ!

 

Putting our focus and faith on Jesus assures us that our hope is truly anchored (1 John 5:4). As we put our trust in Him, we can confidently expect that He will fulfill His promises to us of a “hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). 

 

The real truth is that as we walk through life with Him, He is always available to impart His power to us moment by moment. He is our Rock on which we can keep standing, our “anchor to windward”.

 

During this first week of Advent, we need to ask ourselves what we are putting our hope in. We need to thank the God of Hope for sending Jesus to us on that first Christmas, and if we have accepted His gift of salvation, the question we need to ask is, will we keep our focus on Him and allow Him to fill us with His joy and peace? If we can, we’ll experience an overflow of confidence and a genuine hope provided by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13)!

December 12, 2022

December 12, 2022

Advent, meaning ‘Coming’ in Latin, is the word most churches use to describe our focus on Jesus coming into the world as a baby. Advent is a time to concentrate on what Christmas is really about!

 

After telling His disciples that He would send them the Holy Spirit, He said to them, “Peace I leave with you, My Peace I give to you, not as the world gives . . .”

 

Today, the prospect of peace, both in our country and our world seems more distant every day. Our world appears out of control. We wonder if we can ever find peace and whether that peace will be lasting. 

 

There was also a great deal of unrest in the world at the time of Jesus’ birth. As it happened, Christ’s coming brought conflict rather than peace, ending with His death. But, as He promised, following His resurrection, He will provide the gift of personal peace to all who are willing to surrender their pride and put their trust and faith in Him, the Prince of Peace.

 

Our acceptance of Jesus, a personal gift of Himself, includes His abiding presence along with the gift of His peace! He is with us continually, even in the midst of the storms. His peace is a lasting peace. 

 

Have you accepted Jesus and the peace of His presence? 

December 5, 2022

December 5, 2022

One of the highlights of Christmas for me is the focus on the message of hope!

 

In the first verse of his first letter to Timothy, Paul references “ the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope.”  Vine’s New Testament Expository Dictionary explains that the most frequent significance of the word “hope” relates to “a favorable and confident expectation” and “the happy anticipation of good”.

 

Without Jesus as our hope, we have no real, eternal hope. We are only left with speculation and confusion that abounds in our fallen world.

 

I celebrate the Christmas message of hope, the “confident expectation”, that putting our trust in Him brings the ultimate Christmas gift!

 

He is our hope!

 

What, or who, are you putting your hope in?