What an incredible promise from our Father God - for those who have repented and have trusted in the name of Jesus Christ alone, will forever be remembered; will forever remain with our Sovereign Creator, the Great I Am!

Today is a beautiful day to give thanks to our great and awesome God! But then again, isn't every day?

As I looked at all three of these pictures, I couldn't choose which one to use because I felt as if they all described the meditations of my heart:

• My heart overflows with the well-spring of Life found only in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Acts 4:11-12)
• My continual prayer is that I reflect the brilliant beauty of our Savior. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
• I remember the Lord said that one day, He will right all the wrongs and will come with His winnowing fork to separate the chaff from the wheat; and all temporal sufferings will pass as those called by His name will enter His presence forever. (Luke 3:17)
• And I pray that I be like this tree, growing in the knowledge of Him who alone has saved my life, in spite of myself. (Psalm 1:1-3 & Colossians 1:10)

Happy WFW & Happy New Year!

please visit:

for more inspiration from God's word today!

Please watch this video and allow the Holy Spirit to encourage, refresh and teach you as you listen to our brother Ray, lovingly, compassionately and boldly share the message of eternal salvation through trust in Jesus Christ alone.

Hello dearest sisters! I know I've been "away" for a while, but I think I've finally come to a place of acceptance with all my health issues! And here's the VERY short version: I've been diagnosed with:

• pre-diabetes
• reactive hypoglycemia or hypoglycemia (which usually turns into diabetes type 1)
• high blood pressure
• and a host of other issues due to this
• there's nothing anyone can do but wait for me to get full blown diabetes
• just managing it by eating more to keep my sugars leveled
  

With Christ's strength, our Father God's wisdom and great comfort, I've chosen to let go of any anxieties and inhibitions I've had due to my diabetes and all the other complications I've been experiencing. The best way to express how I've been feeling lately is that I feel like I'm sitting in a car, without a place to go, just waiting and watching as I'm about to be hit by a huge mack truck. Not fun.

BUT.....

Our God awesome! Truly the LORD God Almighty is greater than anything and anyone in Heaven, on earth and below the earth! Our weakened mortal flesh, the trials of living in this fallen world, and the sting of death bears no eternal impact on those who have trusted in the one and only Savior of all mankind: Jesus Christ our Lord! Therefore what can being hit by a mack truck do to me? I'll tell you what it can do! It can give me an audience with an entire group of people (diabetics) that I never had any right to speak with before about their eternal salvation and/or lack of! Do you see what a gift our gracious Father God has given me? He's not just "allowed" me to have diabetes, but He's given me the gift of diabetes (as a tool) to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the feeble, hurting and anxious. Our Lord has given me to the gift of diabetes to encourage brothers and sisters in Christ who have it and to introduce our Savior and Lord, Jesus to those who do not know Him. Oh what a glorious and generous God we love and serve! Amen?

I'd like to thank you from the bottom....top, sides and every part of my heart for all your fervent prayers for me! I KNOW our loving Father God heard you and in His compassion, He chose to lift my spirits through your prayers! Oh, the gift of the Body of Christ! What precious treasures you all are to me!

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."
~2 Corinthians 4:16-18

ADVENT ~ Day 14

December 13, 2008

Scripture Passage:
READ 1 John 3:11-18

Our Father God's love for us is extravagant: excessively high, exceeding the bounds of reason and goes beyond what any of us could ever deserve.

He didn't pay for us with the fleeting, rotting, things of this world. No, instead He paid for us with His very life. Our Lord Jesus, left Heaven; willingly bound and limited Himself in human flesh, lived among us, ate with us, cried with us, felt hunger and pains He had never felt in Heaven. Our Lord Jesus chose to to put Himself in our place and sit with us in our troubles. Jesus did not come rescue us out of our troubles, for even we can do that for others. But He chose to sit in our troubles with us and felt our pain and suffering; then went far beyond, and suffered what we could never bear.

Often, we think the best way to intercede for others is to "fix" their problems. We think if we feed the hungry, clothe the poor, send money to dig wells to give drink to the thirsty we are sharing Christ's life and love with them. But are we? I say that we are not.

If we merely spare them or rescue them out of their troubles, while we sit in the comfort of our own homes; if we merely send money and sit quietly and pray; yet we do not physically go to sit in their troubles with them, then have we loved others as Christ has loved us - extravagantly? I say we have not.

Let us do all these good things, but let us not neglect to go to the hungry, go to the poor, go to the thirsty and be the hands of feet of Christ by touching them, like He touched us. When you feed the hungry, give them a hug - a long, tight, Christ-loving hug. Then tell them the Good News of Christ. If you feed them without preaching the Gospel, then you have merely "rescued" them from their physical pains, but have left their souls just as hungry and destitute as it was before. Therefore, you have accomplished nothing. The hungry are not surprised anymore if someone feeds them, no they expect it. But they are surprised when you sit with them, when you hold them and stay by their side while they eat. No one but Jesus would do that. We say, "But they really smell bad." This is true, but you know what? Our sins are like the stench of a cesspool in the nostrils of our holy God and He touched us, kissed us and held us anyway.

We so often think we have to go to some foreign land to be the hands and feet of Jesus. But look all around you. As Jesus said, we will always have the poor and hungry all around us; and we do.

There are plenty around here who are thirsty, and there are plenty here in America who are naked and who are need of the physical touch of Christ Jesus our Lord. And there are plenty of lost souls here in America that desperately need disciples of Christ to feed, give drink and clothe their cold, naked, hungry, thirsty dead souls.

So if you want to pray for someone, go to them and pray for them. Go to the abortion clinics and offer prayer to those who are there. Take Gospel tracts with you that do not water down God's truth, but opens their eyes to expose that they are sinners in desperate need of a Savior.

If we're going to do "good", then we must do it like Jesus, for we know, that no one is good, but God. Therefore, if we do "good" deeds, but not in the name of Jesus (meaning in His likeness, with His character), then we are not doing "good", but only something that might seem "nice". For if God alone is good, anything absent of God is absent of good.

Thought to ponder:

Gracious Lord God in Heaven, thank You for Your extravagant love poured out on us! Thank You for despising us not, but loving us still. Teach us Father to love like you; without ceasing and without judgment or personal cares. Teach us Father to give our lives away, just the way Jesus did. As we come closer to celebrating the first coming of Your Son, Father, help us to remember why He came and how He came; and send us out with His heart.

May You be well pleased with our offering of extravagant love for You, as we love others extravagantly in Your Name. Amen

ADVENT ~ Day 10

December 9, 2008

Scripture Passage:
READ Matthew 2:1-12

Our Advent devotional will be a little different today. As we draw nearer and nearer to Christmas, I've been praying and asking God to guide me to be more mindful of the celebration of our Lord Jesus' first coming. In an answer to my prayer, our sovereign Father led me to an article at CWO (Christian Women Online). This article provides wise counsel on how to refrain from spending like the heathens! :-) Just kidding.

Seriously, Marybeth shares how to keep from losing focus on why we celebrate, rather Who we celebrate and how we can keep our spending to a minimum by honoring God. She also gives us some great practical insight on how we can train our children to have a different mindset on the blessing of giving gifts rather than receiving them.

After I read this wonderful article, I asked my Favorite to read it and suggested we implement these ideas, but maybe next year (since we're already so close to Christmas). Well, my Favorite read it, and liked what he read so much he said we'll be implementing these ideas this year!

So, for today's Advent devotional, I'd like to share with you the splendid gift God shared with me through our sister Marybeth Whalen with her practical "how-tos" on how to keep Christ in our Christmas. After all, isn't that why God gives us gifts? So that we might share them with those we love - just like He did for us, when He gave us Jesus.

Marybeth Whalen is one of CWO's newest team members. She is also a writer and speaker for the Proverbs 31 Ministries and co-wrote a book with her husband entitled: Learning To Live Financially Free: Hard-Earned Wisdom To Save Your Marriage and Your Money.

Oh and please, please note that CWO is in a new format and you can now leave encouraging comments for all the writers. So please share the gift of encouragement with our sister Marybeth as I know God will bless you through her, just like He did for me. :-)

Glorious Father God in Heaven, thank You so much for this time of Advent! It's already been so wonderful to drink deeply into Your word and seek Your purpose for all things, even in our shopping and gift- giving habits.

Thank You for how differently You've gifted each of Your children so that we might together, form the Body of Christ Jesus, Your Son. Thank You for enabling us to appreciate Your gifts and to use them for Your glory!

May we continue in our striving to keep Jesus the motive for our Christmas.

WE CELEBRATE YOU JESUS, WITH EVERY BREATH WE TAKE!
Amen.

Today is the 8^th day of Advent


Why Advent?

by Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts
Copyright © 2008 by Mark D. Roberts

In my last post, I told the story of my Advent beginnings. When I started out as pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in 1991, for the first time in my life, I began to see Advent as a distinct season of the year and to experience its richness.

In the years following my Advent beginnings, my appreciation of Advent grew slowly and steadily. At some point I became aware of the purple and pink Advent color scheme, something we had not emphasized at Irvine Presbyterian Church. I remember when, sometime in the 1990s, we started using three purple and one pink candle in the church Advent wreath. It was a change for church members, who had been used to all white candles. But soon they appreciated the connotations of the colors. (Photo: The Advent wreath on the chancel of the sanctuary at Irvine Presbyterian Church)

I decided to go “whole hog” with Advent colors one year. I wore mostly purple ties during Advent. I put up an “Advent tree” in my office at church, which could be seen from the busy street in front of the church. I didn’t outlaw the use of Christmas colors in our sanctuary or anything like that, though our sacraments on the communion table and pulpit were purple. I’m sure some folks thought I’d lost a few of my marbles in my zeal for Advent colors, but, for me, it was a chance to emphasize Advent in my personal life as well as in my ministry.

Why did Advent matter so much to me? Among many reasons, two stand out. First, I found that observing Advent enriched my celebration of Christmas. Taking four weeks to focus on the hope of Christ’s coming made me much more joyful when I finally got to celebrate it. The more I got in touch with my need for a Savior, the more I rejoiced at the Savior’s birth.

Second, I found in Advent a solution to the age-old problem of secular Christmas vs. spiritual Christmas. If you’re a Christian, you know what I mean. We recognize that Christmas is, most of all, a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It’s a holiday that focuses on the meaning of the Incarnation. Yet, given the secular traditions of Christmas, we spend most of our time preparing, not for a celebration of the birth of Jesus, but for fulfilling the demands of the season. We have to buy lots of presents for lots of people and make sure they are all wrapped and delivered. We have parties to attend and parties to host. We have relatives who come to visit or, alternatively, we are the relatives who go elsewhere to visit. This requires lots of planning, not to mention the nuts and bolts of holiday travel. We have to send out Christmas cards, making sure our addresses are right and that they get on all the envelopes. If we have younger children, we may very well spend hours trying to assemble gifts that come with sketchy instructions written by someone for whom English is, at best, a third language. And so on, and so on, and so on.

Meanwhile, we hear our Christian leaders telling us that we’re spending too much time and money in secular celebrations, and not focusing enough on the real meaning of Christmas. Religious posters proclaim: “Jesus is the reason for the season.” But, in fact, Jesus faces heavy competition from retailers, relatives, and revelers. So what’s a Christian to do?

In my idealistic twenties, I thought about downsizing my celebrations of Christmas. At one point I tried to convince some friends and family members that we should make Christmas an entirely “spiritual” holiday, one in which we focus only on the birth of Jesus. Not wanting to be the Grinch, however, I didn’t abandon secular festivities or gift giving. “Let’s do that stuff on New Year’s Eve,” I argued. “Not only is this holiday very close to Christmas, but also, if we give gifts on New Years, we’ll be able to shop in the post-Christmas sales, and that will save a lot of money.” Ah, what logic! But nobody was persuaded, least of all my family members. The secular and familial Christmas traditions were too embedded in our lives and, I might add, greatly loved. So I abandoned my effort to de-secularize Christmas.

As I entered my thirties, I tried to emphasize the Christian aspects of Christmas in the days leading up to the holiday. But I seemed to be fighting a losing battle. I needed some way to focus my mind and heart. And I needed some new traditions that would help me. Then I discovered Advent. For some reason, observing Advent during December helped me to draw near to God in a way that I had not been able to do before. I still engaged in the secular celebrations of Christmas, happily so, I might add. But I also added several new practices that tuned my heart to resonate with the deeper meaning of the coming of Christ.

I know that many others have had a similar experiences to mine. Since 2004 I have been blogging about Advent. During the past four years I have received dozens of emails from people who have shared their own excitement for Advent. Some have grown up with Advent traditions. Most have “discovered” Advent later in life, much as I did. All have found that observing Advent enriches their celebration of Christmas and allows them to have a precious, peaceful, God-focused experience during what is often a hectic holiday season.


In my next post I’ll describe some of the Advent practices that I have found to be most helpful.

"Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith."
~ Galatians 3:23-26