The Gift of God

"Here is the dwelling of God among men: He will pitch His tent among them and they will be His people. God will be with them and wipe every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the world that was has passed." - Revelation 21:3-4

This is the time of year in which everyone is going around shopping. There is more talk of Santa than of Jesus and we hear people telling us to keep Christ in Christmas. But I'm not going to talk to you about that, I want to talk to you about the gift God has given us by becoming one of us. We hear about Jesus' birth, death, resurrection, the miracles and about how He loves us…but how many times do you think about what He's actually done for us? Jesus came to abolish all of our fears and do away with all the pain and anxieties that plague us. On earth, in this life, we toil and trouble and so many unfair things happen to us. We aren't guaranteed happiness, but we are guaranteed eternal life with the Lord. Even the fear of death is always at the back of our minds. We all know we have to go there one day and see our loved ones die along the way. But this is why God's gift to us is so important. It should fill us all with hope. Because of Jesus, we have the gift of eternal life. Here we suffer for about 70 or 80 years if we're lucky, but the faithful are received into God's arms. Death is only a door we cross through to get to our true lives, united with God. There, God will wipe away each and every tear we've ever cried. All the pain from betrayals, deceit, abandonment, all pain anyone could have ever caused us, He does away with. We are received into His arms as His children and nothing else that we go through here on earth matters. You have to keep in mind that as morbid as this sounds, this life is only temporary. Don't blame God or anyone else for what you suffer here because this isn't where you'll be forever. Be steadfast and know where your true place is and how God will show you all of His mercy and all of His love when He calls you home. Death has no hold on the children of God. The life Jesus gave us is eternal.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for being born unto to us. You came and sacrificed Your life so that we may believe and join You in Heaven with our Father. Always remind me when I suffer that this isn't my real home and my life will not last forever, but the gift that You have given me will be consolation with You in Heaven. In Your Name we pray, amen.

God Reveals Himself Freely

"Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him." - Matthew 11:27

I've made a mistake which I'm working on correcting. When Jesus said to be light and salt of the world, I took that to mean that I must make sure everyone prays and goes to church, when in reality, it means that with my actions and my words, I should plant a seed. A lot of times, if we are religious, we look to have, those around us pray just like we do thinking that it's up to them to force the call of God. But when we as individuals decide to follow God, it's because God Himself has called us and we responded, not because anyone has made us. God might use us to encourage one another, plant a seed, but at the end of the day, God reveals Himself freely to whom He wishes and when He chooses. It says in this verse that God the Father has entrusted all things to the Son, meaning that Jesus knows what He's doing. Just because your loved one refuses to go to church now, doesn't mean that God won't call Him down the road in life to serve Him, and then they might be even more religious than you are now. It all depends on God's perfect timing but He does make sure all are called. Trees can't grow without the farmers, so for our part, we need to plant those seeds. However, the farmers don't make those seeds grow, only God can do that. Only He can make what you've planted blossom.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, I pray for those that have not been called by You yet, and I pray for myself so that I can have more faith in Your timing. Instead of thinking I know how things should go, teach me how to wait and how to encourage a seed to grow. In Your Name we pray, amen.