It’s the first day of the Christmas season, and only 24 days to go to Christmas day. I hope you all have a lovely time with family, good food and happy times together.
For some it is not quite such a happy time, and the glittering merchandise in the shops, seems to make their situation feel worse than usual. We are supposed to be happy, but if I am not, what does that mean?
Imagine being taken away from your family for many years, all your possessions are stripped away, you become homeless and desperately poor and have to rely on the kindness of the people around you to just survive. No one understands you, even when you do them good, and they even hate you, because you make then feel bad by your searching words.
There are no Christmas days for you, and you never see your family again.
Such was the life of countless Africans, who were stolen away from their lives in their own country, and taken to Britain and American in horrific ships, to be sold for a pittance as a slave.
Such was the life of the Eternal Son of God, who came down to us, to live with us and give himself up for our sakes. When the slaves heard of such a one, who lived like them and was so disregarded, it is not surprising than many turned to him and found hope and love, which was absent from their earthly lot.
Whatever state we are in this Christmas, let us seek out the God who loved us enough to give up everything, humble himself and identify with lost people like us, so he could save us.
In the not too distant future, all this sorry time will be over, and all hurts will be gone and sin will be a forgotten memory. The King of the Ages will return to his broken planet and will emancipate all his children, who are eagerly awaiting his return, and they will be forever with him, their true souls delight and love. Never again will there be anger, suffering, loneliness, brokenness of heart, but only joy unspeakable. Everything will be total enjoyment and liberty of body, thought and spirit, as every heart will be free and redeemed finally, from the traces of sin.
This Living Eternal King will also return to judge the inhabitants of this infested planet, those who have not turned from wickedness and have rejoiced in evil. They will get what they have chosen, a life of suffering, pain and anguish, far away for God and tormented by a condemning conscience.
No sin will be left unpunished. Either we trust in The Lord Jesus to pay that price for us, or we pay it ourselves, forever.
Every child of Zion, is watching the skies and waiting for the arrival of the Lord of the Universe. It will, be spectacular. No one will miss it. The heart of every Christian longs for this amazing event, and their constant prayer is…
“Come soon, Lord Jesus..”
The prophets of Baal, tore themselves apart trying to prove they were right, and that the eternal God doesn’t see sin. Their motivations where completely selfish, and the desire to save face and keep their conceited ideas under wraps, brought them to destruction.
God raised up a prophet, a man who knew God personally and to whom God spoke personally and there were no secrets hidden from Elijah, and he confounded everyone with what he did in the strength of God.
Elijah called the prophets of Baal, to a contest. Only the eternal God could win this competition, but in their pride and folly, the prophets thought they had a chance. God showed them up for what they were, and they were humiliated and finally destroyed by the hand of Elijah.
No one can stand against the power of God, and no one can avoid the day of reckoning, which all those who have no Saviour Christ, will face. We are either operating under the authority and love of The Saviour Jesus, or we are fighting against him.
Why would you cut yourself off from everlasting life, for the sake of your social standing, or the opinion of others, who will not speak for you.
Lay down your guns and weapons, and watch His holy fire change everything…
Don’t listen to people who say it all be ok in the end. Complacency is the chief sin of many Christians today. It has always been tolerable, so it will be tolerable again… Just hold tight and don’t worry. The sins of pride and regarding ourselves better than others, grows in our thinking and we hardly notice it. Our minds begin to change and we become increasingly like the cynical world, and we loose our love for Christ and settle down with social acceptability and deadness.
I ask you today, as you read this, to think again about what you are doing and who exactly you are serving. People put blinkers on a horse, so that they can only see in one direction. Is this your position? Why do people want to stop us thinking and discussing the questions that worry us and cause us pain?
If you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, he does not require you to suspend judgement or limit your thinking to a one track, made by someone else. He sets us free. No one can take us from his hand, or take us away from him. “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved” Psalm 62:2
His Word is our guide, our chart, and as we read it we view the Lord Jesus, and see the kind of life we should be living. As we share the Lord Jesus together, and learn to trust each other, as we trust him, we can also share our hurts and troubles and have true fellowship.
Better not sit back and relax…
Psalm 20 “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our GOD.”
What a certain and comfortable resting place… for those who trust fully in the Lord of heaven and earth, are never put to shame, or disappointed. He exalts all those who put him first and humbly obey his commands, no matter how painful the outworking of them might be. He seems an unreasonable LORD, who wants all our heart, soul, mind and body, so that he will make us into the people he wants us to be, and who are eternally happy in his blessed service. When we give him our all, he takes our sins and changes us into Saints… we find him to be sufficient for everything and gives us the strength to keep trusting and obey. The gracious Holy Spirit will guide us continually and give us all the graces we need to be over-comers.
There are many who do not trust in him, but rely on the puny offerings of this life – money, respect, acclaim, praise and recognition – but these all monumentally fail, and take our selves and destroy us.
Money is never enough; respect depends on our ability to please; acclaim last only for the moment we get it; praise is empty and insincere; recognition focuses only on our weaknesses and mistakes, that others use against us and sully their own souls…
Power is only to found at the feet of the man from Galilee, who bore away our sorrows and sins, and ever lives to save us from all ills and bring us safely into his family at home in Heaven…
Which do you want..?
Today is reformation day.
On this day 1517, almost 500 years ago, Martin Luther nailed his protest to the door of the church at Wittenberg, to demand that they church leaders follow the Bible truths accurately and closely, and stop all falsehood and corrupt spiritual practices.
His protest was the spark that lit up the whole of Europe, and caused the downfall of hatefulness and greed, and opened the door for everyone to hear the gospel and the opportunity to repent and believe in Christ. The thesis in themselves are not necessarily true, but they were effective because they were challenging to the theology of the day.
He was only one man, a lonely and oppressed monk, but his love for Christ overwhelmed him, and his pain drove him to speak up and do the unthinkable – challenge the received authority. Luther believed “Sola scripture” and “Sola Christos” and “Sola Fide”
God help us a his true believers to follow Luther – no, to follow Christ who cleared the temple with a whip and drove out those who used his father’s house for their own purposes…
Lettsom Inn 