Has God forgotten?

Proverbs 19:3 "The foolishness of a man twists his way,
And his heart frets against the LORD."

I caught myself "fretting against the Lord" in the last couple of days. Actually, it's something I used to do a lot. When I found myself fretting this time, God showed me grace by reminding me that all the answers to the questions I seek are in His Word.There's no other place I can find them, but if I search for His wisdom like a treasure, He will reveal His answers to the questions in my heart. And so, in spite of despair that threatened to wash ashore like a great storm into my soul, I was reminded to look instead for God's,(not my) answers.

The question that bothered me was "Can God really be good when the suffering in this world is at an all time high?" Oh, perhaps I didn't think of it exactly in that way but that is what it boiled down to. I think of another being who questioned God in the Garden of Eden, whispering slyly to an unsuspecting woman, "Yea, hath God said?" (Genesis 3:1)

When I was a younger woman, this question nearly destroyed my faith. In one particular time of struggle before I was married, I carried index cards around with me, on which I wrote encouraging Bible verses and quotes about God's love. Whenever I felt an attack of doubt or panic coming on, I would rifle through the cards, reading them and encouraging myself in the Lord. I I probably looked like a spectacle, but then Peter did write that we were a "peculiar people" in I Peter 2:9!

I found other verses which correspond to this thought of fretting against the Lord, and some verses that tell us what the remedy is for this terrible problem. Years ago, the words of Matthew 25:24 haunted me: "The wicked servant said: ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed." I could have agreed with him. That would prove I was a wicked servant too! God seemed to ask an awful lot of us, and my failures shouted at me to just quit the Christian life already. Praise God, now when I find a thought has popped into my head and I know it is a lie, I try not to even let it germinate in my mind. I often turn to my Nelson's Cross Reference Guide to the Bible (edited by Jerome Smith to find other verses to support what I know to be true. In particular, this time I looked up verses stemming from Matthew 25:24 where the Lord is speaking to the wicked servant in the parable of the talents.

Job lost everything, and in contrast to the wicked servant,he did this:

Job 1:21 "Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said:
​
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
​​And naked shall I return there.
​​The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;
​​Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
​
22 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong."


It is the way of the transgressor that is hard! "Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard." Proverbs 13:15

Matthew 11:28-30: Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

God is good to all people, and He wants all men to be saved. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." II Peter 3:9

It is because I do not yet know Him as I ought that doubts about His goodness creep into my mind. Yes, there is a terrible amount of suffering going on in the world today, but that is not God's fault. He did everything He could to provide us with a great salvation. But He does not force men to accept it. Much of the suffering we see is the result of man choosing in His rebellion to go his own way, without God.

Here then lies the answer for me when I doubt God's Word, or think He has forgotten about us on this planet:

Psalm 77:9-12
9 "Has God forgotten to be gracious?
​​Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?
10 ​​And I said, “This is my anguish;
​​But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 ​​I will remember the works of the LORD;
​​Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
12 ​​I will also meditate on all Your work,
​​And talk of Your deeds.
13 ​​Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary;
​​Who is so great a God as our God?
14 ​​You are the God who does wonders;
​​You have declared Your strength among the peoples."

Three answers to my question I see right here: remember the works of the Lord, meditate on all His work, and talk of His deeds. I do not yet know Him as I ought (I Corinthians 8:3) , but this one thing I do, I press on as Paul wrote in Philippians 3 verse 12: "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me."

Let us press on then to know Him, refuting the enemy's lies, as we see the day of His coming draw near!

The Constant Friend

A man who has friends must
himself be friendly, but there is a friend
that sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 18:24

I read this verse today and all of a sudden it occurred to me that Jesus is the friend that always sticks closer than a brother.
He proved it by dying for us on the cross: by not stepping down from it when God the Father had to forsake Him. Nor did He when everyone surrounding Him told Him to come down to prove He was the Son of God. He could have done it, you know, and still been just. But He did not. Why? Because He was the friend that was sticking closer than a brother for us.

We used to have a saying on our Pennsylvania license plates: "You have a friend in Pennsylvania." But how could that really be said, factually? Did our state do something worthy of garnering the friendship of everyone who visited here? No, but in contrast consider the hymn, "What a Friend we have in Jesus." Because Jesus did not just say He wanted to be our friend. No, He proved it by staying on that cross, with "all our sins and griefs to bear."

I thought about all the interactions Jesus had with people during His ministry here on earth. There was never one time when He rejected someone who came to Him. He did get angry with the Pharisees, but that was because they misrepresented God to the people. Anyone who came to Him personally was never rejected by Him.

Let's look at some other verses where it talks about God being friends with people like us, who could not earn or deserve His friendship in a trillion years. Yet He longs to be our friend!

Exodus 33:11 "So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle."

II Chronicles 20:7 “Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?"

Psalm 41:9 "Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted,Who ate my bread,Has lifted up his heel against me." (Jesus considered Judas His friend, even though He ultimately knew that Judas would betray Him.)

Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loves at all times,And a brother is born for adversity." (Can you think of any friend on earth who loves at all times like Jesus does?)

Proverbs 27:6 "Faithful are the wounds of a friend,But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." (Jesus always speaks the Truth to us, but He always does it in love.)

Song of Solomon 5:16 "His mouth is most sweet,Yes, he is altogether lovely.This is my beloved,And this is my friend,O daughters of Jerusalem!" (This is the Shulamite woman speaking of her Beloved in the Song of Solomon, but it also refers to Christ.)

Isaiah 41:8 "But you, Israel, are My servant,Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend."

Matthew 11:19 “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”

Matthew 26:50 "But Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you come?” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him." (Jesus in His humanity considered Judas His friend, even though as the Son of God He knew that Judas would be the one to betray Him.)

John 11:11 "These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”

John 15:15 “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

James 2:23 "And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God."

James 4:4 "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (We have to choose daily whether will be God's friend or the world's friend, there is no middle ground.)

This is just a smattering of verses that show that Jesus is the Ultimate Friend who sticks closer than a brother. Think just for a minute, He was God of very God, yet He reduced Himself to become a man so that He could identify with us fully, and ultimately call us His friends.

Oh, what a friend we really do have in Jesus!

Defying the Odds...

27 ​​“Here is what I have found,” says the Preacher,
​​“Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,
28 ​​Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find: ​​One man among a thousand I have found,
But a woman among all these I have not found."
Ecclesiastes 7:27-28

Whoa Solomon, for laying a heavy indictment on us women!

Proverbs 14:1
"The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down." (ESV)

Proverbs 31: 10-12
10 "​​Who can find a virtuous wife?
​​For her worth is far above rubies.
11 ​​The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
​​So he will have no lack of gain.
12 ​​She does him good and not evil
​​All the days of her life."

Oh, how I long, rather, to be this kind of woman!

How could Solomon say that he could not find a virtuous woman among a thousand? Yet the wisest man on earth recorded these very words.I never realized the power we women have among our men, just by batting our eyelashes. Yet Solomon said he could not find one that used their power correctly.And no one can say that Solomon did not know a LOT of women.

And yet, like it or not, we wield power over our families. The commentator Barnes has this to say of Proverbs 14:1: Every wise woman - literally, Wise women. The fullest recognition that has as yet met us of the importance of woman, for good or evil, in all human society.

http://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/proverbs/14.htm

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world you know.

If only I realized that, back when I was raising my family, the power I held in my household. I could use it for good or evil, but many times, sadly, I used it wrongly. Of course I did not know it at the time. I thought I was doing what was right. How could I have been so misled?

I was misled because of my own emotions, letting them rule me instead of trusting God to guide and lead through my husband. My own tender heartstrings pulled at me (especially when it came to childrearing) and I did not trust that God was working through him, in spite of his mistakes, in spite of his own human frailty, in spite of how things might have looked "by sight."

In the Old Testament, we see King Ahab of Judah, who was a believer in Christ, yet he did great evil. His outcome could have been different if he may have chosen a different wife than the wicked Jezebel. It says this of Ahab in the Old Testament record,

"Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife incited him.He acted very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the sons of Israel." I Kings 21: 25-26

Or what about Herodias and her daughter in the New Testament, who asked King Herod to give her what she wished? That wish was to have the head of John the Baptist on a platter! Herod regretted making any promise to her, but ended up with the blood of John the Baptist on his hands because of a woman's sway and power over him.

6 "But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, 7 so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9 Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests. 10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother." Matthew 14:6-11

But ladies, what if we tried to beat the odds, so to speak, as women and wives? Do you think God would help us? Of course He would! I have often thought that if we have power over our families, we also have power in one another's lives as well. Women's friendships are so important. What if we tried to build each other up in our households and encourage other women to do the same? To do what Paul instructed Titus in chapter 2 verses 3 through 5:

3 "Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored."

After thirty years of marriage, I can say that I see my husband differently now than during those early years. I can see that the story of his life has been working hard to take care of me and our children. He gave his life for us by getting up early each day and trudging off to work, getting beat up in the world so that we would have a roof over our heads, food, and clothes to wear. The last thing he needed was to feel discouragement at home too. He may have come home tired, but he certainly didn't need any more attitude coming from me. Just love and respect, and to show him that I was on his side. I failed many times at this, but I am thankful now that God has given us a second chance, and in retrospect I see that God's ways were the best ways all along. I am thankful that He works even my failures in the past for the good today.

I remember reading a book once called "All He Ever Wanted" by Anita Shreve. It was heartbreaking, because it depicted this man working so hard to earn this woman's love. I will not give away the ending, but it helped me to see how hard the male species really go to to please their women. I think of my own husband and how "all he ever wanted" was just to make me happy. We can make it easier for them and ourselves by doing things God's way instead of our own. If, as believing women, we simply trust that God will work through them as the designated heads of our homes, we will end up saving ourselves a lot of grief and heartache in the long run.

1Corinthians 11:3
"But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ."
This is God's truth for us, and in it we can find peace and rest.




















photo credit: classic_film via photopin cc

Hang on in this New Year!

Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 1:21

The year 2014 has quickly come and gone and we have seen some crazy things happen. I write this poem to encourage myself, and to encourage my readers to hang onto our profession of faith in 2015. He is worthy of our praise and loyalty, both in the coming year and always.

As a New Year Dawns...

Though all hell tempts us otherwise
Hang on to the Son
Hang on to His victory
Til the great battle's done.

Sometimes it feels like
God's gone far away
Yet that's when He begs us
Close by Him to stay.

Strange trials and testings
Get stronger each day
Yet hang on to Jesus
He'll show us the way.

Just when you wanted to
faint and to quit
He calls You now to Him
In His Presence to sit.

A new year approaches
While we still live in time
God lives in eternity
His Presence sublime.

Hang on though the day fades
Between darkness and light
In the presence of Jesus
There shall be more night.

copyright 2014

Resting in the Savior's Sanctuary

"A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary." Jeremiah 17:12

Did you ever wonder why things are the way they are in your life? I know I have wondered it for mine. I think back to when I was just ready to graduate from high school and my "whole life" ahead of me. Such dreams, such hopes. And here I am today, over thirty years later with most of my life behind me now. There are some things I wish I had never gone through, but yet they happened any way.

If it were not for the truth contained in the above verse, I often could feel sad by the way some things have turned out, by the way things seem to appear in my life. But God is sovereign, and He has a purpose beyond mine. In that I can rejoice. Before I ever was conceived, God had my whole life known before Him. He knew all the things that would happen, and yet He allowed them for a reason.

Another verse of great comfort is II Corinthians 2:14: "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place." Now how does God do that? How could He possibly lead me in triumph in everything? Only one way, if I keep trusting Him that He knows everything that is going on in my life and is working it for my absolute good.

Life is tough, but God is always there. He knows all things that will happen to us in the future, and desires to work them for our ultimate good. When I know that God is sovereign over every little detail of my life, then my anxious heart can find rest in Him. He knows me, He knows all about me. What peace I can gain from that thought. He is not just sitting up there on a throne, waiting for me to make a mistake so He can beat me over the head somehow. No, I read about Jesus doing the very opposite for me:

In the book of Hebrews, chapter 7, Kenneth Wuest translates verse 25 this way: "He is able also to be saving completely and forever those who come to God through Him, being always alive for the purpose of continually making intercession for them."

That doesn't sound like a God ready to "get me" but a God of compassion, a God who knows everything about me and yet He loves me somehow. David wrote in Psalm 139:1-6:

1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 ​​You know my sitting down and my rising up;
​​You understand my thought afar off.
3 ​​You comprehend my path and my lying down,
​​And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 ​​For there is not a word on my tongue,
​​But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
5 ​​You have hedged me behind and before,
​​And laid Your hand upon me.
6 ​​Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
​​It is high, I cannot attain it.

If this is really true, then I do not need to be afraid of hiding anything from God. Indeed I cannot hide anything from Him. He knew all of my life and every thought I would think, before I even existed. All He wants me to do is trust Him, that He is working things for the good, that He will take care of every detail of my life. He is ever concerned, ever involved, ever caring in my life.

In His Word, God proves He is ever concerned in every trial:


Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,
​​A very present help in trouble.
2 ​​Therefore we will not fear,
​​Even though the earth be removed,
​​And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 ​​Though its waters roar and be troubled,
​​Though the mountains shake with its swelling.

7 ​​The LORD of hosts is with us;
​​The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

In His Word, God proves He is ever involved with all the details of our life:

Psa 71:5-6
For You are my hope, O Lord GOD;
You are my trust from my youth.

By You I have been upheld from birth;
You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb.
My praise shall be continually of You.

Finally, in His Word, God proves He is ever caring of all our needs and burdens:

I Peter 5
​6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.​

In fact, He cares for me because I am in His Son, and He loves me with the very same love that He has for His Son, for Jesus prayed for us in John 17, asking His Father:

"O holy Father, maintain a watchful care over them in Your name, which You have given Me, in order that they may be one even as we." (John 17:11, Wuest translation)

"And I made known to them Your name, and will make it known, in order that the love with which You loved Me might be in them and I might be in them." (John 17:25, Wuest transl.)

Again, in the epistle of I John chapter 3, verses 1 and 2 are translated by Kenneth Wuest like this:

"Behold, what exotic (foreign to the human heart) love the Father has permanently bestowed upon us, to the end that we may be named children (born-ones, bairns) of God. And we are. On this account, the world does not have an experiential knowledge of us, because it does not have an experiential knowledge of Him. Divinely loved ones, now born ones of God we are. And not yet has it been made visible what we shall be. We know absolutely that whenever it is made visible, like ones to Him shall we be, because we shall see Him as He is."

These are just a few verses that prove that God knows all about us and our situations and is sovereign over every detail. He has done everything He possibly could to give us a sense of security and love, in spite of whatever is going on around us. Because of this, we can thank Him for all things, and when we do, it lifts us above our problems to His glorious throne, the blessed place of our sanctuary, both now and forever.

Pondering God's Portion, Path, Presence, and Pleasures in Psalm 16

Psalm 16:11 "You will show me the path of life;In Your presence is fullness of joy;At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It proves that a Christian in fellowship with God is the happiest of all people on the planet. They are not bound up by a bunch of rules and regulations, but have the glorious liberty of the sons of God. In fact, we are promised that in II Corinthians 3:17: "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." It is the opposite of what the world thinks. The world thinks Christians are miserable, and they can be, if they are only carnal. But the Spirit of God abiding with us always gives us hope and peace, even in difficult circumstances.

It is not having everything going right that makes a person happy. It is in knowing the Person who is Peace Personified. In Psalm 16, my Bullinger Companion Bible had a note about a note about 4 very important "P's" in verses 5 and 11. We receive these when we become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

1. A portion "The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot." Psalm 16:5

Verse 11 contains three more blessings:

2. Guidance for our path "Thou wilt show me the path of life..."

3. The presence of the Lord in our lives "In Thy presence is fullness of joy"

4. Finally, pleasures at His right hand if we are overcomers. "At Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore."

What beautiful gifts from God. The word for portion in verse 5 is manah. (#4487) It can mean a part, a portion or a lot. Did you ever think about what a privilege we have to have God included in our "lot in life?" Yes, we must make a decision to believe in Christ but He also chose us from the foundation of the world. We need to remember, especially in times of difficulty, that God will always be our portion. He is faithful to us, even if we lose faith in Him. Jesus promised in John 10:28-29: "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them to Me,is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand." This verse was the one that really convinced me of eternal security, because we are not strong enough to even pluck ourselves out of God's hand, even if we wanted to. Thank God!

"My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." Psalm 73:26

"Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words." Psalm 119:57

"I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living." Psalm 142:5

"The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him." Lamentations 3:24

The Lord also will show us the path of life, if only we are willing. Whenever I go my own way, I end up in despair because I do not ultimately know what is best for me. Only God knows what is the best for me. Therefore, I can trust the path that He leads me on, even if it is through dark valleys at times, because He promises to work all things for good to those who love Him.

"Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies." Psalm 27:11

"Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight." Psalm 119:35

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105

"Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways." Psalm 139:3

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path... Psalm 142:3

"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Proverbs 4:18

"Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;" Isaiah 43:16

His presence within our lives is what gives me the courage to face each day, even though this world is filled with trouble. Sometimes, I cut off my sense of His Presence by my own personal sins. It makes me want to confess them and run back to my Father as quickly as I can. It is my belief that those in hell will experience just the opposite: a total lack of His presence and or any sense of well being forever and ever. What an awful thought. But if only we take His free gift of salvation we need never be afraid of being eternally separated from His presence.

"And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden." Gen. 3:8 (This is how humanity first went wrong...by hiding from God's presence.)

"And He said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." Exodus 33:14

"Glory and honour are in His presence; strength and gladness are in His place." I Chronicles 16:27


"Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the LORD, because He cometh to judge the earth." I Chronicles 16:33


"If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in Thy presence, (for Thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then Thou wilt hear and help." II Chronicles 20:9

"Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy presence from the pride of man: Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues." Psalm 31:20


'For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?" I Thessalonians 2:19

"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude 24-25

Finally, we enjoy true and lasting happiness when we seek Him first and His kingdom. The pleasures He has for us, like David told us about in Psalm 16, are beyond what any eye can see or ear can hear,far beyond what this world has to offer. (See I Corinthians 2:9)

"If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures." Job 36:11

"They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures." Psalm 36:8


At this holiday season, there is no better time to "take the cup of salvation"(Psalm 116:13), and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ , who died as a substitute for all of the world's sins. In believing that it included you personally, you also will be able to enjoy these magnificent promises from God's Word. I want to wish you, my dear reader, a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And that is all because Jesus is the Reason for the Season, and our hope and joy in the life to come.

My Christmas Hope

Isaiah 40:1 "Comfort, O comfort my people," says your God. Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received from the Lord's hand Double for all her sins.

Christmas comes on the shortest and darkest time of the year for us here in the Western Hemisphere. In my area, most of the November and December days are pretty gray and dark, saying nothing of the bitter cold of January and February soon to follow. Holidays, thought to be a happy time, can evoke painful memories of people we once had in our lives who are no longer with us, through death or their own choice to separate from us for some reason. No matter the reason why, these losses seem more difficult at the holidays.

I read of many Christians being driven from their homes by persecutors, or those even being martyred for their faith. I have read of bombs being dropped on Christian villages in Africa, and of millions of Syrian refugees, living in camps. Though I have had what I would consider a difficult year, my suffering does not compare in any way to theirs. And yet, even though there is so much evil in this world, I rejoice when Christmas rolls around each year.

It is not because of presents, but I am reminded of His Presence, the best present of all. It is staggering to think that God Himself would reduce Himself to a tiny baby, and choose to be born not in a palace like royalty, but in a filthy, cold manger among animals. It is unimaginable to think that the very Creator of all the world came to visit us in His Incarnation yet mankind could find no place for Him in their inns. That He knew quite well all the suffering He would have to endure, but chose it gladly so that He could call us His brothers and sisters.

If I focus on people and my hurts, yes, I could be depressed on Christmas. But I choose to delight in the fact that this very God could love me,
me, and not only me, but all the other sinners of this world as well. He loved me so much that He took care of everything that would stand in the way of me having a relationship with Him. He actually took my own sin and shame upon Himself and gave me His very own righteousness in its place. There is no other religion on this planet that can offer you that.

"...God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation."
"He made Him who knew no sins to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." II Corinthians 5:19,21

Buddhism may proport to give karma, but only God can pour forth abundant grace upon grace upon undeserving creatures. I love what John the Apostle says: "For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." John 1:16-17

If I focus on my failures, again, I could be depressed on Christmas. But my slate has been wiped totally clean and each day I receive a fresh start to grow in grace and knowledge of my Lord and Savior. For you see, God does not look at my sins, or yours either. They were all taken away on a single day. That is why David the King, who committed such a great sin as killing Uriah the Hittite, could say: "How blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! (Psalm 32:1)

I am not saying that we can just get away with sin with no consequences, but I am saying that God will not charge us with our sin, for He charged them all to Christ. It is to our advantage not to sin, for we will reap what we sow. But, as it says in I John 2:1-2: "...And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for ours; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."

If I focus on the world around me, once again, I could get very depressed this Christmas season. In fact, when I think of all the waste of food and money in this country on the holiday while most of the world is starving, it does make me pretty sad. But, there is coming a day when righteousness and peace will reign in this world. For my Savior not only died for the sins of the world, but He is also coming again to put down evil forever and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The way things are going on this planet, I believe it won't be much longer until He does come again for His Second and final Advent. This time, it will not be as a meek and mild baby, but as a victorious King. Zechariah 14:3-4, 9, states:

"Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations (*who oppose Him), as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south...And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one." (*my explanation)

If you happen to be reading this without the assurance that you know this wonderful Person named Jesus Christ, you can know Him today! Simply believe that God sent His only begotten Son to take your place on the cross, that He paid in full for your sins and was raised from the grave never to die again. For you see, this simple verse of John 3:16 is really the best Christmas present of all: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

Give yourself the best this Christmas. Believe in Christ today.