At Christmas Time!

Christmas Time!

      It is only a few more days before Christmas. This is the time for the giving and receiving of gifts. Who is the most important person on your Christmas gift list?

      We celebrate the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ at Christmas time, but do we really? Where are our thoughts, and where is our mind and our heart focused, really, at Christmas time? We ought to be celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but I wonder if he is at the top of our Christmas giving and receiving list, or at the middle, or at the end, or is he really there at all?

      As we gather around with our family and friends to celebrate this most festive of occasions, the first gift that ought to be received with gratitude and thanksgiving is God's love gift to us, the Lord Jesus Christ. Open his gift first. Give him gratitude and praise him first for his gift of love.

      At Christmas time “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3: 16. At Christmas time God offered us the opportunity to become his adopted children by grace through faith. “As many as received him to them gave he the power (or authority) to become the sons (and daughters) of God.”     At Christmas time he made it possible for us as the children of God to become heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. At Christmas time, God gave gifts unto men. “Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.” Ephesians 4: 8. At Christmas time, God provided for our eternal salvation.

      Salvation is a big package, containing many things. It first of all contains forgiveness of sin, freedom from guilt, justification with God. It includes peace and joy and all the fruits of the spirit. It contains everlasting eternal life. It guarantees an all expense paid trip to heaven and the right to walk on streets of gold. It guarantees that there is a mansion prepared and waiting for us in heaven. Jesus said: “I go to prepare a place for you and if I go I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also.” John 14: 2,3 The package of our salvation contains abundant life here on earth, protection from danger, healing for mind soul and body, and a guaranteed audience with theKing of kings and Lord of lords. It contains all the provisions available to us in the 23^rd Psalm. It all happened at Christmas, and what a Christmas gift it is! Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift, the Lord Jesus Christ. As we gather to receive and give gifts, lets first thank Christ that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, the godly for the ungodly, and the righteous for the unrighteous.

      Lets covenant with ourselves and with each other that we will not receive any gifts from anyone else this Christmas time until we have received with gratitude in our heart, the treasure that was given to us at Christmas time. No matter how abject the poverty, or how small the bank account, nor how few the gifts under the tree, no one has a right to say that they did not receive anything for Christmas. God gave us everything he had at Christmas Time. Lets covenant with ourselves that we will not offer to anyone else our meager trinkets or gifts until we have rededicated our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ and offered our selves again to him in loving gratitude and service.

      “I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”Romans 12:1. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Matthew 6: 33.

      Every gift that we present to someone else should not be with the attitude of seeing how much the recipient of our gifts will be pleased with us for having given them a gift. Instead, every gift that we present to someone else ought to be a symbol of the gift that was offered to us by Christ's coming into the world and shedding his blood for us. If opportunity presents itself, we ought to first offer to every one on our giving list, God's plan of salvation. Our first gift ought to be presented to the Lord Jesus Christ in gratitude for his gift to us. We ought to present to him our bodies as a living sacrifice which is our reasonable service. We ought to present to him our complete love and loyalty. The gift which is acceptable and pleasing to God is to love the Lord with all our heart, with all our mind, and with all our soul. We ought to keep our minds clean, and our thoughts pure, and our bodies as the temple of God, spotless and clean that they may be God's dwelling place, and headquarters on earth.

      If the Lord Jesus Christ is not on the top of our Christmas gift receiving and giving list, then we are not celebrating the coming of the Lord into the world. Instead, we will be celebrating a pagan festival of lustful covetousness and self seeking for vain glory and the esteem of men.

      How sad it is that in this so called Christian country of ours, we are told that in order to be “politically correct”, we must exclude the name and idea of Christ from Christmas and celebrate a pagan holiday instead. This is utter blasphemy. May God have mercy on our souls and on our nation for this gross sin.

May each of you have a great God blessed and Merry Christmas!

How Long Wilt thou Forget Me, O Lord?

How Long Wilt Thou Forget Me, O Lord?

      “How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? Forever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death; lest mine enemy say, I Have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But I have trusted in thy mercy, my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.” Psalm 13

      There are times in all our lives when it seems that the Lord has forgotten us, and abandoned us to the mercies of the world, the flesh, and the devil. This was true in David's life, a man who was a chosen vessel unto God, and a man after God's own heart, and it is true also in our lives as well.

When we are left without the fellowship and nearness of the Lord we are prone to sorrow, despair, and depression, and it seems that the world, the flesh, and the devil presses in upon us. It seems that our enemy, the devil is exalted over us. sometimes our eyes are blinded to the presence of God by some sin in our lives, or the failure on our part to carry out a vow or a promise that we have made to him. Sometimes it is because we have not read God's message to us from his word, or have not been in proper communication with him through prayer, and have not been listening to the voice of the Holy Spirigt speaking to our hearts. Sometimes, I believe, God is testing us to see if we really believe in him, and trust him in times when he obscures himself from us for a little while.

God always honors our faith in his word when we have nothing else but the word of his promise, and we just simply believe for no other reason than just because it is written in God's word. God sees our faith and counts it as righteousness.

      Though David felt far from God, though he felt that God was hiding his face from him and abandoning him, yet he knew and believed the promises of God's word that his mercy endureth forever, and that he would never leave nor forsake him. So, David kept pounding on God's door, as it were, even though it seemed that God was not at home for a little while.

      Even before the joy of David's salvation was returned to him, even before his fellowship with God was restored, David believed and trusted in the mercy of God, and he knew that his heart would once again rejoice in the salvation of the Lord. He said: “I will sing unto the lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.”

      When we feel that God has forgotten us, and that he is hiding his face from us, and has abandoned us, when we sense that our enemy, the devil is exalted over us; lets remember the written promises of the word of God that his mercy endureth forever, and that he will never leave us not forsake us. Lets examine ourselves to see if there be any sin in our lives that needs to be confessed. Lets read God's messages to us through his word over and over to see if we have missed any important information from God. Lets stay in constant communication with God through prayer, and lets be constantly on the alert to hear God speak to our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

      Then at times when it seems that God is not at home, lets keep pounding on God's door anyway, and even before our fellowship and joy is restored, lets trust in the mercy of God and rejoice in our renewed fellowship with God, even before we have it. This is faith. God honors faith and counts our faith as righteousness. Lets lift up our hearts and sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with us no matter how we might feel at the moment/

Greatly To Be Praised!

Greatly To Be Praised!

      Our God is a great God and greatly to be praised. Sometimes we do not give God enough praise for who he is, and what he is. We do not really worship God enough. We ought to spend more time in prayer and meditation, not necessarily asking God for things, although he has told us to ask and we will receive, but because he has already given us salvation and eternal life, and given us an inheritance in his kingdom. He supplies our daily needs and gives us sufficient grace to meet every emergency.
     We ought to spend much time in prayer, just loving God, telling him that we love him and thank him for his great love for us. We can see God's love for us all around us in the things which he has made and given to us for our comfort and enjoyment. Even among people who cannot read or write, or who have never heard the word of God, they can look around them and experience the love of God.

      It is very presumptuous for us to enjoy all the benefits and joys and pleasures that God has given us without praising him for them. Did you ever think of how presumptuous it is for us to sink our teeth into a beautiful apple that God has made and given to us for our welfare and use, and just take this for granted without any thought of God? Did you ever stop to think how many of God's creatures have been destroyed and have had to die to support our life here on earth?

      Psalm 19 verse 12 says: “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.” We begin to have secret faults when our minds wander away from God to things of ourselves and things of the world. We cannot sin while our minds are stayed on Jesus. It is when our minds are not focused on Jesus that we are drawn away into temptation and sin. No matter what we are doing, or where we are, Jesus can always be found standing in the shadow of our thoughts and mind if we choose to have him there. He has promised to keep us in perfect peace when our minds are stayed on him.

      Psalm 19 verse 14 tells us: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength, and my redeemer.” If our heart is constantly and continually meditating on the Lord Jesus Chrst twenty four hours a day, every day, seven days a week, and if we are in a continual attitude of prayer and praise, and if our love is constantly and continually flowing out to him, and his love is flowing back to us and being received by us, then the meditation of our heart will be right, and as a result the words of our mouth will be right and acceptable to him, because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

      Jesus said: “That men ought always to pray and not to faint. “Take note of the word “always” “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” Ephesians 6: 18. “Pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5: 17. God is greatly to be praised.

Where Will We Stand?

Where Will We Stand?

      “And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus unto the palace of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter. Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not. And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.” John 18: 15-18.

      Some of us Christians are like Peter. We claim to be Christians, and to be saved. Down deep in our heart we want to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, but when the chips are down, and the curtain is raised in front of us, we become cowardly and back off, and fail to raise our colors to let everyone know where we really stand. Peter loved the Lord and was interested in the things of the Lord, but he didn't really want to be involved and be identified with the Lord at this time because it would have cost him something. It might even cost him his life. Instead, he made himself comfortable around the enemy's fire warming hjimself.

      Let us examine ourselves. Are we like Peter? When we are brought to task are we a little bit afraid to raise our flag and show our true colors and let everyone know exactly where we stand? We may find ourselves in a group of two or three people, or perhaps even more, one person in the group may be taking his stand all alone for the Lord Jesus Christ and witnessing for him. The rest of the crowd may be scoffing and ridiculing that person, and calling him fanatic. Where will we choose to stand? Will we stand beside the one who is giving a positive testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ, or will we choose to stay where it is comfortable beside the enemy' fire, and pretend to go along with the crowd, even though down deep in our heart we know it is driving us crazy?

      Some of us want to be secret followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we don't want it to cost us anything. Where will we stand against the issues of known sin? Will we take a firm positive stand against those things which we absolutely know are immoral, and sinful, and displeasing and dishonoring to the Lord, or will we take the road of least resistance? Will we go a little way down the road of sin with the crowd just so that we do not lose their friendship and admiration, and we reason that while we are walking with them we can keep our fingers crossed, as it were, because we don't really want to go their way, but somehow if we can remain popular with them, we might win them to our side without it costing us anything?

      Jesus said that no man starts to build a tower until he first sits down to count the cost to see if he has the wherewithal to finish it. And no man is fit for the kingdom of heaven who having accepted the Lord and started following him, looks back on the old crowd and the old ways. Fellow Christians, have we really counted the cost of being a real true Christian and follower of Jesus?

I believe that the maid who kept the door of the palace where Jesus was taken lost all respect for Peter because he was seeking his own safety. I also believe that when the world sees us as lukewarm Christians who are afraid to name the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and afraid to call sin by its' rightful name, and afraid to witness for the Lord, and afraid to take a good firm positive stand for the right against evil, lose respect for us as well.

      No wonder artist have painted pictures of the Lord of lords and King of kings with lace dresses on him. No wonder the world has the impression that Christians are a bunch of effeminate sissies who can't make it in reality, and have to resort to wishful thinking. No wonder the world is losing respect for our great country which was founded on principles of Christianity.

     Fellow Christians, where will we stand when we hear someone taking the name of the Lord in vain and being disrespectful to him? Where do we stand on the murder, (abortion), of millions of innocent babies? Where do we stand on the break up of the traditional family, and same sex marriages? Where do we stand on the clear teaching of Romans chapter 1? Where do we stand on the clear teaching of all the Word ofGod, the Bible? Will we go along with the world and comfort ourselves by the enemy's fire, or will we stand faithfully by the side of our Savior? The Lord Jesus Christ himself looses respect for the cowardly Christian.

      “I know thy works and thou are neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot I will spew thee out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:15

      God is not a mealy mouth preacher. Can you imagine God vomiting out Christians? How would we like to be a food particle in God's mouth, so distasteful to him that he has to vomit. For this to be true, all we have to do is to be like Peter, and seek the comfort and safety of the enemy' fire before he eventually came to his senses and repented with weeping, and because of his testimony that Jesus was the Christ sent from God, Jesus called his testimony the rock on which his church was built.

      If any of us have been fearful of standing for the Lord, Let us repent with weeping, and turn again to our first love and for all that for which he stands.

Above Every Name!

Above Every Name!

      Who is the person that is most talked about in the world today? Everywhere you go, you cannot escape it, where ever you go today you will hear everyone from all walks of life talking about this person, yet they speak of him in blasphemous, and dishonoring terms, and use his name in vain, and drag his name through the mud, and trample his love gift under foot. This person is the Lord Jesus Christ.

      Yet, we Christians, who claim to be the born again, recreated children of God, shy away from talking directly about the Lord Jesus Christ. In our daily conversation with other Christians, and the outside world, how often are we actually talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, and sharing with our friends how wonderful he is? We talk about our church, and our pastors. We talk about our Sunday school class. We talk about all kinds of activities, and programs and service, but it seems to me that the person of the Lord Jesus Christ himself is terribly neglected.

      Jesus never intended for us to separate the sacred from the secular. He wants to be involved in everything we do. Sometimes we tend to put the Lord Jesus Christ in a glass case and put him on the shelf and talk about things that pertain to him, but this is not his proper place. He does not want to be an object of conversation only, he wants to be involved in it.

      When we are sitting in our living room the name of the Lord Jesus Christ should be as common in our conversation as anyone else there. He wants to be part of our family group, He wants to be our guest for dinner every day. Oh! How we ought to really love the Lord Jesus Christ after all he has done for us! We ought to praise his name and exalt him in all our doings.

Even when we are eating an apple we can love Jesus because he made all things and sustains all things and freely gives us all things to enjoy.

      So often the church, the activities, and the service programs in which we are involved take the place of our actual, personal relationship with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. All these programs are good and should not be neglected, but these should come about and be the result of our deep love and gratitude, and personal relationship with the Lord, not as a substitute for it. What a wonderful person the Lord Jesus Christ is! How he loves us and how we ought to love him in return! “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlalsting life.” John 3: 16. God did not send the church to die for us. He did not send angels, he did not send pastors, he did not send activities and he did not ordain services to be the propitiations for our sins. No, he sent the person of the Lord Jesus Christ to die for us and to be raised again for our justification. He alone is worthy of our praise and worship. He alone is the object of our love. He ought to be the center of our life and conversation.

      Dont't just say – I am happy, but rather say - The Lord Jesus Christ makes me happy.” Don't just say: “this is a good day”, but rather say: “The Lord has given us another beautiful day”. Don't say: “I have a new dress, or a new car, or a beautiful house, or things”, but rather say: “The Lord has showered me with all these blessings to enjoy.” Don't avoid calling him by name by just saying in a vague way, “Lord, “ “The Lord, “ or “God,” or “the man upstairs,”or “the creator”, or “the divcinity”. These are all proper names for him to be sure, but he wants to be known in a familiar way and known and proclaimed as the Lord Jesus Christ whom we know and love as our own personal Savior.

We sing, O, how I love Jesus, but many times he is grossly neglected and ignored from our conversation and activities, and from actual involvement in our lives.

      None can proclaim, with honesty, The Lord Jesus Christ as his own personal Savior and Lord, and acquaintance, and object of love unless he has been born again. Jesus said: “except a man be born again he cannot see the kindgom of God.” John 3: 3. “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7: 21. And what is the will of our Father? It is to love the Lord Jesus Christ with all our heart, all our mind, and all our soul. No man calleth Jesus Lord except he be led and taught of the Holy Spirit.

Sing Unto The Lord!

Thought For Today - November 28
Sing Unto The Lord!
By: Robert A. Searles

      “O come let us sing unto the Lord: Let us make a joyful noise unto the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and great king above all gods.” Psalm 95: 1-3.

      O Lord my God, my Savior, I want you to see my heart and know that as I read these inspired words of the psalmist, I agree wholeheartedly that I ought to indeed sing unto you, and make a joyful noise unto you, the rock of my salvation, because you have been so good to me, and blessed me with so much. Your own blood has paid the price of my iniquity.  You have forgiven all my sins from the foundation of the universe. You have pulled my feet from the miry clay and set my feet upon a solid rock and by your grace, you have caused me to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

I want to come before your presence with singing and with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto you with psalms and songs of praise.

      I confess with the psalmist that you are the God of all gods, King of all kings, and Lord Of all lords. All things are yours, for you have made all things, and sustain all things. You alone are worthy of my worship and praise. Therefore, I want to bow down and kneel before you, and worship you with my whole heart. You are my God, and I am a sheep in your pasture. Holy, Spirit, lead me in the paths of righteousness for Christ's sake, and give me peace in mind, body, and soul.

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Born Of God!

Born Of God!

      “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3: 3. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.” John 3: 5,6,7.

      My friend, if you cannot fully appreciate the word of God, believe its' promises, and perceive with your heart and mind all the glories, joys, and happiness of the kingdom of God; if you cannot enjoy the fellowship with God as a parent – child relationship, and experience the sense of justification and forgiveness of sins, past, present, and future, perhaps it is because you have never truly been “born again” into the family of God.

      When Adam and Eve our first earthly parents disobeyed God in the very beginning of creation, they sold their birthright to Satan , and since then every human being that has ever been born has inherited the sin nature, and comes into the world already estranged from God. So, when we are born, we are born in the flesh only. Our spiritual life does not begin at the time of our physical birth.             Although God is the creator of all, he is not the father of all until his child has been conceived and born. God is spirit, he must be worshiped in spirit, and to become a child of God, we must be born in the spirit. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14.

      In order to be born into the family of God, it is totally a work of God's grace. We must be drawn by God to hear and accept the word of God as absolute truth, and by faith, believe, as it says that: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” and that “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.: One must accept by faith that Jesus Christ is the divine son of God, and that he died for the sins of each individual person who will receive him, and that his bodily resurrection was proof that God had accepted his sacrifice in payment of the sin debt, and for the justification of all who will receive him.

      Intellectual knowledge is not enough. The heart must confirm by faith, what the mind knows factually. The world says prove it to me, and I will believe. God says, believe me, and then I will prove it to you by spiritual discernment.

      “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned but; but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.” John 3: 16,17, 18. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them who believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of theflesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1: 12, 13, .

      Dear reader, I invite you to believe the Word of God; to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. If God is drawing you to himself, and has implanted within your heart a grain of faith as minute as the mustard seed; if you are willing, by receiving the Word of God into your heart; this grain of faith will become impregnated with the word of God, and cause you to become a child of God. Then the Holy Spirit will dwell within you and cause you to know God, enjoy God, and perceive the kingdom of God, and have the assurance of eternal everlasting life.