Christmas
If some "thing" I think I need would actually help me, God would do it. God isn't holding out. He's waiting for me to give in and trust Him. The thing I am impatient for is simply an expression of my lack of trust that God will always help me, bring my dream to pass, and not forget me.
Christmas is the clearest sign that God would never forget those who wait upon Him. On one day, everything changed. On one day the waiting was over, yet still, so many in the nation Jesus came to, because of a lack of belief, missed the thing that entire nation knew it needed and thought it was watching for.
I will be fine, satisfied, provided for...Successful...If I can simply believe I am now...That simply because I have been created, all the power of heaven is toward my success if I will believe and trust and let the pressure go of wanting something I don't really need today...Right now.
Because God is good, He wouldn't have made me if He didn't want to provide for me. He wouldn't have made me if He wanted me to fail.
Trusting God, and believing that His plan is good is the hardest thing a person could ever do. But, it's what Jesus paid for...Jesus paid to resurrect my relationship with the Father...Jesus paid to undo the death of a perfect relationship, a death that doubt introduced to the earth so many years ago:
1 Corinthians 15:45And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.
47The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
48As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.
49And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
50Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
51Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—
52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
56The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Genesis 3:1Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
Matthew 21:19And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.
20And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”
21So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.
22“And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
Many have heard that the "love of money is the root of many evils." This is true, at least in part, because it is an emotional expression of the lie that if I could heap up resources, or finally get the dream fulfilled, or get rid of this emotional pain, or surround myself with fulfilled desires, I could somehow be secure. But it isn't only money...The love of money is simply the love of independence...the love of the idea that I never need to be afraid of need.
Money is only one small slice of the real issue. It touches one of the most tangible expressions of my desire for freedom from needing anyone, or anything, to lead me or guide me...because I am afraid that person or situation might withhold from me what I really want inside. But, I was MADE to need! Independent security is counter to my literal nature.
I was literally made as a child to need a father. I was made to trust an eternally good, generous, and loving Father forever.
Jesus came as a NEEDY baby! He showed that He valued the relationship of a needful son over the security of independent power!
Philippians 2:5You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
In doing this extravagantly trust-filled act, in the very throwing of Himself into needing a Father, Jesus proved He is the only one worthy handle absolute power from that very Father's hand!
Revelation 5:5But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth.
7He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne.
8And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.
9And they sang a new song with these words:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and break its seals and open it.
For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10And you have caused them to become
a Kingdom of priests for our God.
And they will reign on the earth.”
11Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders.
12And they sang in a mighty chorus:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing.”
13And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power
belong to the one sitting on the throne
and to the Lamb forever and ever.”
Jesus paid that I might be free to embrace my need of a father and actually learn to trust Him, often in very vulnerable or uncomfortable situations!...To, like a baby, LET HIM have the final say on what I actually need today. In doing that, I will become ready to be a king and a priest who can't be pulled away from loyalty to the character of the Father by doubt.
Jesus paid that I might actually be a great son forever, but I still have to choose to be a trusting son in all the areas I don't naturally trust...areas of my heart I might not easily believe God is good. It isn't easy but it is simple. Where I doubt, I tell God. I let Him know I WANT to believe He is good. Then He takes that opening of my heart and shows me how my waiting and practice of trusting is actually stretching my understanding so that I CAN open my heart and get healed of doubt.
Doubt is at the core of sin, division, and impatience...Doubt is the core of rebellion. If I trust God is for me, then no situation or person can steal my future from me...Suddenly, in this truth I am free to trust God with people and situations. This is the only way unity is actually possible with a bunch of fallen people! Faith and believing that God is good, no matter what my fallen senses may tell me, is the antidote to conquering the death and division of doubt.
On one day, Jesus came as a baby and made it possible for me to believe...Soon he is coming as a king to reward that very same belief!
Revelation 22:10Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near.
11Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.”
12“Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.
13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
14Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life.
15Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.
16“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.”
17The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.
Christmas is the clearest sign that God would never forget those who wait upon Him. On one day, everything changed. On one day the waiting was over, yet still, so many in the nation Jesus came to, because of a lack of belief, missed the thing that entire nation knew it needed and thought it was watching for.
I will be fine, satisfied, provided for...Successful...If I can simply believe I am now...That simply because I have been created, all the power of heaven is toward my success if I will believe and trust and let the pressure go of wanting something I don't really need today...Right now.
Because God is good, He wouldn't have made me if He didn't want to provide for me. He wouldn't have made me if He wanted me to fail.
Trusting God, and believing that His plan is good is the hardest thing a person could ever do. But, it's what Jesus paid for...Jesus paid to resurrect my relationship with the Father...Jesus paid to undo the death of a perfect relationship, a death that doubt introduced to the earth so many years ago:
1 Corinthians 15:45And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.
47The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
48As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.
49And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
50Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
51Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—
52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
56The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Genesis 3:1Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
Matthew 21:19And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.
20And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”
21So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.
22“And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
Many have heard that the "love of money is the root of many evils." This is true, at least in part, because it is an emotional expression of the lie that if I could heap up resources, or finally get the dream fulfilled, or get rid of this emotional pain, or surround myself with fulfilled desires, I could somehow be secure. But it isn't only money...The love of money is simply the love of independence...the love of the idea that I never need to be afraid of need.
Money is only one small slice of the real issue. It touches one of the most tangible expressions of my desire for freedom from needing anyone, or anything, to lead me or guide me...because I am afraid that person or situation might withhold from me what I really want inside. But, I was MADE to need! Independent security is counter to my literal nature.
I was literally made as a child to need a father. I was made to trust an eternally good, generous, and loving Father forever.
Jesus came as a NEEDY baby! He showed that He valued the relationship of a needful son over the security of independent power!
Philippians 2:5You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
In doing this extravagantly trust-filled act, in the very throwing of Himself into needing a Father, Jesus proved He is the only one worthy handle absolute power from that very Father's hand!
Revelation 5:5But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth.
7He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne.
8And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.
9And they sang a new song with these words:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and break its seals and open it.
For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10And you have caused them to become
a Kingdom of priests for our God.
And they will reign on the earth.”
11Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders.
12And they sang in a mighty chorus:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing.”
13And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power
belong to the one sitting on the throne
and to the Lamb forever and ever.”
Jesus paid that I might be free to embrace my need of a father and actually learn to trust Him, often in very vulnerable or uncomfortable situations!...To, like a baby, LET HIM have the final say on what I actually need today. In doing that, I will become ready to be a king and a priest who can't be pulled away from loyalty to the character of the Father by doubt.
Jesus paid that I might actually be a great son forever, but I still have to choose to be a trusting son in all the areas I don't naturally trust...areas of my heart I might not easily believe God is good. It isn't easy but it is simple. Where I doubt, I tell God. I let Him know I WANT to believe He is good. Then He takes that opening of my heart and shows me how my waiting and practice of trusting is actually stretching my understanding so that I CAN open my heart and get healed of doubt.
Doubt is at the core of sin, division, and impatience...Doubt is the core of rebellion. If I trust God is for me, then no situation or person can steal my future from me...Suddenly, in this truth I am free to trust God with people and situations. This is the only way unity is actually possible with a bunch of fallen people! Faith and believing that God is good, no matter what my fallen senses may tell me, is the antidote to conquering the death and division of doubt.
On one day, Jesus came as a baby and made it possible for me to believe...Soon he is coming as a king to reward that very same belief!
Revelation 22:10Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near.
11Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.”
12“Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.
13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
14Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life.
15Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.
16“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.”
17The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.
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