The GIFT

 Merry Christmas!

"But the angel reassured them.  “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you the most joyful news ever announced, and it is for everyone!  The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born tonight in Bethlehem!"(Luke 2:10-11 Living Bible).

I'm praying that you are enjoying the day with those you love, and if they are far away I hope you have been in contact.  I can hear Oleta Adams in my head, "I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can!" 

This scripture tells us so much about God's love for us.  Let's talk about it.

First, an angel is talking to human beings!  Hebrews 1:14 says, "Surely the angels are no more than spirits in the service of God, commissioned to serve the heirs of God’s salvation."(Phillips). God loves us enough to have everything we would ever need already set up for us.

Second, it's all about that Joy!  God wants you to have Joy!  Psalm 16:11 says, "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of JOY; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."(KJV).

Third, it's for Everyone!  John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the WORLD, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."(KJV).  Are you a "Whosoever"?  I am!  So glad God doesn't discriminate.  He wants everyone to accept the wonderful GIFT he offers.  2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord isn't slow about keeping his promises, as some people think he is. In fact, God is patient, because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost."(CEV).

Fourth, The Savior was born!  Only a human could pay the ultimate price for humanity.  Adam got us into this mess, but Jesus brought us out!  Romans 5:17-18 says, "The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to be king over all, but all who will take God’s GIFT of forgiveness and acquittal are kings of life because of this one man, Jesus Christ. Yes, Adam’s sin brought punishment to all, but Christ’s righteousness makes men right with God, so that they can live."(Living Bible).

Have you accepted the gift?  Yes, you have a part to play.  How would you feel if after thoughtful preparation someone you love refused the gift you bought them?  They refused to open it.  Refused to use it or benefit from it.  If you are like me, you'd think twice about ever giving them anything else.  Aren't you glad I'm not God? 

God gave you His best gift not knowing if you would even accept it.  He will permit you to live in poverty and lack, in sickness, and pain even though Jesus paid for you to have prosperity, and health.  He will even allow you to go through hell on earth, and then go to Hell, which was never created for you.  Don't do that!  Please don't miss out on abundant life through Jesus Christ.

Love and prayers, Cynthia

How to Be Blessed!

 Happy Sunday!

"Blessed woman, who believed what God said, believed every word would come true!"(Luke 1:45 Message).

Mary the mother of Jesus had just arrived at her cousin Elizabeth's home.  Elizabeth rejoiced. She and her unborn child were filled with the Holy Spirit, and the babe in her womb was leaping for joy!  She pronounced the blessing over Mary.  What a wonderful Blessing!  How would you like to receive a blessing like that?  Well, Good News!  You can also receive the blessing for believing every Word of God.  Jesus verified this fact when he was seen after the resurrection. "Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. But BLESSED are those who haven’t seen me and believe anyway.”(John 20:29 Living Bible).

Jesus said, "This, beloved, is the truth: until heaven and earth disappear, not one letter, not one pen stroke, will disappear from the sacred law—for everything, everything in the sacred law will be fulfilled and accomplished."(Matthew 5:18 Voice).  Don't miss this!  God's Word will stand the test of time!  If He said it, that settles it!  What we need is Faith, and Patience!  The Prophet Isaiah was inspired to prophesy, "In the same way, my words leave my mouth, and they don’t come back without results. My words make the things happen that I want to happen. They succeed in doing what I send them to do."(Isaiah 55:11 Easy-to-Read Version).

What are you believing God for? Dream Big! Psalm 78:41 says, "Again and again they turned away and tempted God to kill them, and LIMITED the Holy One of Israel from giving them his blessings."(Living Bible).  Don't limit God!

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Evil People

 Happy Sunday!

“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things.  I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.”(Jeremiah 17:9-10 Message).

I have to admit that the last few years have opened my eyes to how "desperately wicked" humans can be.  When you live your life by Bible principles you tend to assume that others will or are doing the same.  Not so!  God inspired the Prophet Jeremiah long, long ago to tell us the Truth!  Jesus echoed this sentiment and said, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."(John 8:44 KJV).

The Psalmist said, "For I was guilty from the day I was born, a sinner from the time my mother became pregnant with me."(Psalm 51:5 Voice).  When the Prophet Isaiah was brought into the presence of God, he said, "My doom is sealed, for I am a foul-mouthed sinner, a member of a sinful, foul-mouthed race; and I have looked upon the King, the Lord of heaven’s armies.”(Isaiah 6:5 Living Bible).  Because of what Adam did we were all born in sin.  BUT thank God because of what Jesus did we can be Born Again!  We can be changed from the inside out.  The Apostle Paul described it like this, "Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone UNITED with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins."(2 Corinthians 5:17-19 Message).

Jesus is the only hope for humanity!  There are no programs, rehabs, charities, projects, medications or good deeds that can solve the problems in society.  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the WAY, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."(John 14:6 KJV).  God has offered us the Solution.  The Apostle Paul wrote, "I can say this about them: They really try hard to follow God, but they don’t know the right way.  They did not know the way that God makes people right with him. And they tried to make themselves right in their own way. So they did not accept God’s way of making people right. Christ ended the law so that everyone who believes in him is made right with God."(Romans 10:2-4 Easy-to-Read Version).

I am encouraged!  I have read the end of the story!  Good wins!  Evil and evil doers are temporary.  Psalm 37:1-3 says, "Don’t get upset about evil people.  Don’t be jealous of those who do wrong. They are like grass and other green plants that dry up quickly and then die.  So trust in the Lord and do good.  Live on your land and be dependable."(Easy-to-Read Version).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Is it worth it?

Happy Sunday!

"If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.  And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?"(Mark 8:35-37 NLT).

Don't miss that question!  Is anything worth more than your soul?  In Job 2:4, "Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! Certainly, a man will give everything he has for his life."(GW).  The enemy had already failed at getting Job to curse God after he'd lost all his possessions, and his children. But he was sure that Job would curse God when his health was affected.  BUT we all know how that story ended!  Job did not curse God, and in the end he got "Double For His Trouble"!

Job realized that there is more to life than people and things. Read that sentence again!  I will wait. 

We are to love God first, and when we love Him we will love people in the RIGHT way.  The preacher said, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."(Ecclesiastes 12:13 KJV).  The Apostle James wrote, "The Christian who is pure and without fault, from God the Father’s point of view, is the one who takes care of orphans and widows, and who remains true to the Lord—not soiled and dirtied by his contacts with the world."(Living Bible).  What a visual!  Don't you just love reading scriptures in other translations?  We don't want any part of "Soiled and Dirtied"!  Jesus is coming back for a Glorious Church without spot or wrinkle"!(Ephesians 5:27). 

Jesus told the story of The Rich Man and the Beggar Lazarus.  The rich man had everything he could ever want.  The KJV version says, "fared sumptuously every day".(Luke 16:19).  The Message says, "expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption".  You know me, I had to look this up.  One web site defines it like this, "Conspicuous consumption is the purchase of goods or services for the specific purpose of displaying one's wealth. Conspicuous consumption is a means to show one's social status, especially when publicly displayed goods and services are too expensive for other members of a person's class.".  OUCH! 

The Bible goes on to say that both men died.  Luke 16:22-23 says, "The poor fellow died and was carried on the arms of the heavenly messengers to the embrace of Abraham. Then the rich fellow died and was buried and found himself in the place of the dead. In his TORMENT, he looked up, and off in the distance he saw Abraham, with Lazarus in his embrace."(VOICE).  The rich man didn't go to Hell because he was rich.  God wants us to prosper. He is not against prosperity.  God is against the selfishness that caused the rich man to pass by the beggar right at his gate and refuse to help him.  Jesus said, "You’ve made your choice. Your ambition is to look good in front of other people, not God. But God sees through to your hearts. He values things differently from you. The goals you and your peers are reaching for God detests."(Luke 16:15 Voice).

What's it worth to you?  Where will you spend eternity?  The song writer wrote, "You may seek earthly power and fame, the world might be impressed by your great name, soon the glories of this life will all be past, but only what you do for Christ will last".

Love and prayers, Cynthia