GOD'S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE - PART 1

I remember many years ago asking myself: what am I here for? What is the purpose for my life? Well, that question was clearly answered December 27, 1979 when a group of Christians approached me with what God had to say.

We were created to have a personal, intimate relationship with God. In the beginning, the Bible says that God created Adam and Eve and put them in a garden called Eden. They walked, talked and had a personal, intimate relationship with the Creator. But that soon was broken, because we sinned. Sin separates us from God eternally, But God, who has always wanted to repair and establish a continued relationship with us, provided a way. He became a man and dwelt among us, teaching us His ways, dying on a cross and shedding His blood to pay for our sins, and resurrecting on the third day to give us eternal life.

The Bible says in Romans 10:9 that “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” I repented from my sins and believed that Jesus’ blood and death was and is sufficient as complete payment for all of my sins (past, present and future.) Now I experience a personal relationship with my Creator, Lord and Savior.

John 1:12 says “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” Now He is my Father, I’m part of God’s family; He calls me “son.” 2nd Corinthians 6:18 says "And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty.” What a privilege, that the Creator of the Universe, the God Almighty would do such a thing for this sinner. Ephesians 2:19 says “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household” and John 15:15 “I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” What a wonderful thing, that I can talk to Him at any time and He listens and He can talk to me at any time through the Bible, through His Holy Spirit and prayer, through circumstances and through other fellow believers.

Do you have a personal relationship with Him? Start today.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

To appreciate the beauty of Christmas, we must recognize the ugliness of Christmas too. God decided to be born in a manger, and when we think of the manger, we see it as a beautiful, clean place with lights and music, but the reality is that a manger was simply a stable, a stall where animals were kept, with filth, manure and darkness (remember, there was no electricity back then.)

Maybe God decided to be born in a stable to show us that the pure, clean, Holy God was intervening and saving a filthy, unclean and sinful world. The Word of God says in 1st Timothy 1:15 “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” Many times during Christmas, we celebrate the first part of the verse “… Christ Jesus came into the world…” and forget the rest “…to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

In Matthew 1:21, the angel told this to Joseph: “She (Mary) will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Praise His name for Christmas! Jesus was born, yes, but He grew and eventually died on a cross to pay for our sins and resurrected on the third day to give us the hope of eternal life.

Merry Christmas!