Watch for Him!

In my New Living Translation Bible, the chapter heading for Mark 13 starts with Jesus Fortells the Future. 

Well, that always draws a crowd...fortelling the future. *laugh*

But the bit that stuck with me is where the chapter ends with "Don't let Him find you sleeping when He arrives without warning .. Watch for Him!"

Watch for Him.  It seems like a personal invitation from Christ.  

Look for Me.  

Search Me out. 

Stay awake waiting for My Presence...

Kids stay awake watching for Santa.  Let us Christians be on the lookout for Christ, together.

Jesus is our hope

Last night during the praise and worship at our church... 

I saw a nest form and then a baby inside.  And I just knew that it represented Jesus and that Jesus represented hope.

Isaiah 9:6-7 (NLT)

For a child is born to us,a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and its peace will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity. 
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!

And I feel, really feel, joy about the true meaning of our Christmas celebrations.  Something I haven't felt in a long time.

Jesus is our hope!

And then, to confirm that message for me, our pastor said exactly that same thing during His sermon.  We may have been coming from different angles, but still the same message.

Jesus is our hope!

  ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

O holy night,
the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of
our dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world
in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared
and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope,
the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks
a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees,
O hear the angel voices!
O night divine,
O night when Christ was born!
O night divine, O night,
O night divine!

May you feel the hope of Christ this holiday season and always.

Kings & Priests

I read a devotional by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome last night where he said: "When God looks at you, He sees a king."

How could he make such a statement you may be wondering? We know we are the CHILDREN of a King but that doesn't make us kings.

But just look at these verses:

Exodus 19:6
And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.' This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.

Isaiah 61:6

You will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God.
You will feed on the treasures of the nations

and boast in their riches.

1 Peter 2:5,9

And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What's more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.....But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

Revelation 1:6
He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

In fact, the KJV translation renders Revelation 1:6 as:

And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; 

to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.

Amen

Squash us like a bug?

Driving to work this morning, a gnat or something, got stuck in my car and kept on hurling itself against my windshield.

I thought about just squashing the irritating little bug, but then I opened my window a bit so it could fly out.

That got me thinking about the nature of God and the nature of man.  

In Job 37 it says, "We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty; but even though he is just and righteous, he does not destroy us."

God is so big, so powerful, so far beyond what we can imagine...  this HUGE PRESENCE ...that maybe we do appear like bugs to him!

Isaiah 40:22

God sits above the circle of the earth.The people below seem like grasshoppers to him!

Well, think about it.  In Job 35:6-7 it says:

If you sin, how does that affect God?
Even if you sin again and again,
what effect will it have on him?
If you are good, is this some great gift to him?
What could you possibly give him?

But He created us for His pleasure, and He is a God of love. In fact, God is love...

But even better than that, Jesus came to earth as a man so God really knows what it is to be human.  He understands us!  

We can't really say we understand God though, huh?

But we'll have all of eternity to spend with Him and get to know Him as He really is. Something to look forward to!

*Scripture quoted from the New Living Translation