Friday, December 14, 2012

Everlasting Father, Father





Advent Thoughts

     John 3:16, 36 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (36) Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.

“. . . eternal Life” We sometimes get the wrong idea about life. As pre-Christians, we lived our lives as if there were no tomorrow. The motto of our lives became “Eat, drink, be merry, for tomorrow you die.” We lived for the moment, not thinking about the next day, week or year. Then we heard about Jesus and what He gives us. The most precious gift He bestows upon His children is eternal life with Him. If he gives us this gift, then He is everlasting. Before a person can give a gift, he or she must have it himself.
“Whoever believes in the Son . . .” The way we can receive eternal, everlasting life is to believe on Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. Jesus, who came to earth to save us from our sin, invites us to believe in Him and to share His love.



“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God-children born not of
human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
John 1:12-13 (NIV)

When we reflect on what God has done for us, we have to think about His role as our heavenly Father.
An earthly father may or may not nurture his children- show those offspring how to perform the basic steps of taking care of oneself, how to manage to live, how to make good choices to help them through daily living.
Our heavenly Father does the same things but also so much more. He comforts us when we are ill-no matter what type of illness we have. He guides us through the pitfalls of life, no matter how we happen to fall into them.
He guides us through some very tenuous times-serious illness of family members or our own. He comforts us when we hurt. Our heavenly Father is there for us forever- no matter what the need, any time day or night.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Mighty God



Advent Thoughts

“’And He said to them, ‘What things?’ So they said to Him,
‘The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and
word before God and all the people.’” Luke 24:19 (NKJV)

Our Lord met two people on the road to Emmaus. The two talked dejectedly between themselves. Jesus asked them what they were talking about. Their response told the Lord, and those who would read this accounting, what these two among others thought of Jesus.

” . . . who was a Prophet. . . . “ Jesus spoke of things not envisioned by the people of Israel.
(John 7: 37-40)
” . . . mighty in deed . . . “In Luke 4: 17-21, when Jesus went to the temple and read from the scrolls He quoted Isaiah 61:1-2. All the deeds- preaching to the poor, proclaiming freedom to the prisoners, and healing the blind- had not been done before. At the beginning of the passage in Isaiah, the prophecy reads “The LORD has anointed me.” When a person is anointed by God, he or she is set apart for very special Kingdom service.
. . . and word before God. . . “We have scriptural evidence of Jesus speaking words that brought healing to those who stood before Him. He restored the ear of the High Priest’s Servant in Gethsemane. (Luke 22:47-52) He called the many demons from the man in the region of the Gerasenes. (Mark 5:1-20)

Monday, December 10, 2012

Jesus Our Wonderful Counselor



Advent Thoughts

“All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, wonderful in counsel
 and magnificent in wisdom.” Isaiah 28:29 (NIV)

At different times in our lives we have needed to seek advice from a person more knowledgeable than we. This advice may come from a doctor, a lawyer, a therapist, an expert on rearing children.
Spiritually speaking, we have an adviser who watches over us every day of our lives. He has watched over us since we were formed Psalm 139:13-16. We call on Him when we have problems or illness in our lives. We worship and praise Him when our lives run smoothly.
His name is Jesus. His role in our lives is that of counselor. Isaiah describes Him as “wonderful counselor; what does that mean to us? Have you had a time in your life where you sought God’s counsel over the advice of earthly friends or worldly ‘experts’? 

God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...