Saved By Faith In Christ!

Psalm 119:1-8 KJV; Not by keeping the law are we saved for no one can keep it perfectly. We are saved by faith alone in Christ!

Reconciled To God

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 KJV Reconciled by the blood of Jesus the Christ.

Jesus Is The Light For The World

John 1:1-14 KJV; Jesus is the life and the light. He is the Word that created all things. Live life in the light! Live life in Christ!

Love Others Even As God Loves Us

John 4:7-16 KJV; for Christmas Eve.  As God abides and us and we in Him we love even as He loves us.

Thank God For The GIfts

And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole

                                                                (Luke 17:11-19 KJV)

How many times in our lives have we been reminded to count our blessings?  In this very materialistic world we seem to always want more of something. Yet, the more we have the more we want and what we have already received often gets ignored and neglected. That would include friends and family. Do we take them for granted?

When our sons were little we always had them open their gifts from family and friends on Christmas Eve. Santa's gifts were reserved for Christmas morning. We hoped that by doing this they would not be in a big rush to tear open the presents and be at least little more appreciative and thankful for both the gift and the giver.

Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of the great gift of Jesus being born into this world and for this world. However, that gift is often neglected not just on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas but on every day of the year. How much do we really appreciate and give thanks for the gift of his life for us? 

The ten lepers were all given a gift of healing. Nine of them ran off without even giving one word of thanks to Jesus for that gift. Only one of the was so grateful that he turned to thank Jesus. This one received even more than the gift of healing for his physical disease. He was made completely whole because of his faith in Jesus. 

Let us not just consider the gifts of God on Thanksgiving and on Christmas; but, every day of our lives for by faith in his death and resurrection we have been made whole.  Thanks be to God!

Let us give thanks for all of the gifts that God has given us!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

And... The Children Of God Complained

And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. 

                                                    (Ex 16:2-3 KJV)

God led Moses and the people of Israel out of bondage. And... they complained...

They complained. They felt that they would have been better off as slaves rather than wandering around free from Pharaoh. Freedom came with a price. They were without a real home for many years. They had to actually trust the Lord to provide for them. Those were just a couple of prices that were paid by the people not to be property of another human being. Even after God finally led them to their own land they had to work hard to build up that land. They had to work hard to build homes, supply their families with the things needed to sustain their lives. Many had to work for others in order to survive; in order to live life. It was not an easy way of life for all.

It is not easy for everyone (maybe not for anyone) to provide for anyone today either. It can take a lot of work to survive.  When Adam and Eve turned their back on God and decided that what he had given them was not enough they ate of the tree that the Creator had said not to eat of. The consequence given to Adam by the Lord was: "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Gen 3:17-19 KJV)

St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread." (2 Thess 3:10-12)

So, maybe we should just figure out that in order to eat we have to work. There are exceptions of course. There are those who cannot work due to illness or handicap or age. These the rest of us must provide for.

"Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land." (Deut 15:9-11)

There are simply too many examples of Jesus reminding us to take care of the poor to begin listing them. We are expected to care for our brothers and sisters; in fact, for all of creation.

The Lord helped the Israelites escape their slavery and they complained. He fed them with manna from heaven and after awhile they complained about that too.

The moral of this blog this morning is to quit complaining; live life thanking God for what he has given you!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

It Is Their Fault

 "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."

                                                                            (Gen 3:8-13 KJV)

It started way back then; this attempting to justify our sins by blaming others when we can no longer keep our sins in the dark so that no one will find out the truth. 

As the story goes Adam was naked in the garden. After eating the fruit that God told him not to eat Adam was fully aware of his guilt. He knew that the fig leaves he wore were not going to cover up the fact that he disobeyed God so he tried to hide from him. 

The reality is that we all stand naked before God. We cannot hide from God. He knows exactly who we are and what we have done. There is no covering anything up so that God does not see. In spite of our guilt; God loves us still....  He loves us enough that he would send his Son, Jesus, to be the cover for our sins. Those measly figs leaves that we have fabricated to hide behind are ripped off and we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. 

When confronted by God about disobeying him  Adam did what so many if not all people have done since that day. We attempt to cover up our sins; to disavow them, by pointing the finger at someone else's guilt in the matter. On more than one occasion when hearing attempts to justify ones actions I have had to remind them that they can only confess their own sins and not the sins of others. 

Years ago while attending worship with a congregation that had the tradition of sharing testimonies; prayer requests; praise reports; and sometimes confessions at the beginning of the service. The woman I attended with stood up and confessed that she was sorry for the way she treated her sister-in-law who was also at this worship service. She asked forgiveness from this woman as she proceeded to let everyone know that she would not have treated her so badly if her sister-in-law hadn't treated her so badly in the first place. Not so unlike Adam and Eve she confessed: I sinned; but, it's really not my fault. She made me do it. 

As we go through life we will sin... even daily, hourly...  We get to own our own sins. No one else is to blame. It is on us to choose to do right or wrong. It is on us to confess that we are sinners and not lay the blame on everyone else. We have a loving God who forgives our sins. 

Let us us confess our sins and not try to hide them by confessing the sins of another. St. John wrote: 

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

He will indeed, out of his great love for us, forgive our sins. St. John wrote:

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"

                                                                                         (Eph 2:4-8)

Grace and peace to you from God our Father "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood..." (Rev 1:5)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Dust To Dust

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

                                                                                   (Gen 3:17-19 KJV)

We begin the season of Lent remembering that from dust we have come and to dust we shall return. We will all face death. As Adam and Eve sinned against God, so do we all. Intentionally or unintentionally we turn our backs on God and on one another all of the time. 

Our Lenten journey to the cross can be a tough one as we remember what Jesus did for us and how much God truly loves us even in our sinful states. But, the journey must be made, for without it; without these forty days, without Holy Week, without Good Friday, we would not be able to truly experience the relief and miraculous joy of Easter Sunday. 

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom 6:23) Thanks be to God for His great love for us!

We do not deserve life. Yet, by faith alone in Christ alone it is God's gift to us. Lent is yet another opportunity to get to know the one who lived and died and lives for us. Don't let that opportunity to get to know the one who loves more than all others do pass you by.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Love Him; Worship Him

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. (Deut 6:4-5 NRSV)

What brings you to worship and serve the Lord? Is it tradition; the fear of death; or love for the Lord? 

There are many reasons to show up at a worship service. Sometimes, it is just because that is the way you were brought up. It is what you must do. But; once you get there, your ears and heart and mind are closed to the love that God has for you. Or, maybe it is the fear of death and you figure that just in case their really is a heaven and hell you're going to be buying a guarantee by making your presence known? Neither of those things will save you. Only, faith in Jesus, the one who lived and died and lives for you, saves you. That faith in him, itself, is a gift from God. 

There are various reasons for people to attend worship services. They sometimes show up to have their children baptized and then we never see them until confirmation, a wedding, a funeral or maybe Christmas Eve. I've known people who attend worship services to get political votes. I've also known people who attend worship in order to promote their businesses. There are many reasons people show up to worship at churches. Hopefully, it is the love of God that stirs them. But; if not, all people are welcome; both believers and unbelievers. Faith comes by hearing the word and if we hear it enough, even if we try not to listen, the Holy Spirit will work in us all the awesome gift of faith and love for our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Whether one believes or not; the Lord is our God. Welcome all people so that they might come to know Him and love him with all their hearts, and souls, and might.

God's Peace - Pr. J

They Will Praise The Lord

Hebrews 2:12

Let this be recorded for a generation to come,

   so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:
that he looked down from his holy height, 
   from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners, 
   to set free those who were doomed to die;
so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion, 
   and his praise in Jerusalem,
when peoples gather together, 
   and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.                                   (Psalm 102:18-22 NRSV)

How and why will a people yet unborn praise the Lord?

It began with those first followers of Jesus. They shared what they saw. They repeated what they heard and the next generations did the same. The next generation will praise the Lord when the Good News of the Kingdom of God for all who believe in Jesus will be shared with them. They will praise the Lord when by the power of the Holy Spirit they understand that they have been set free from the bondage to sin. They will praise the Lord when they understand that Jesus overcame the power of death over us. They will praise the Lord when they hear the Word.

It is New Year's Eve. Let us resolve to share the Good News loudly and clearly that the next generation might genuinely praise the Lord!

God's Peace - Pr. J

The Reason For Joy

O come, let us sing to the Lord;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

(Psalm 95:1-2 NRSV)

In five weeks it will be Christmas Day. We will make a joyful noise on Christmas Eve as we gather for Candlelight services. Hopefully, that joy will be present on Christmas day in households around the world, as well. Many churches no longer have Christmas Day Worship. Families are too busy with secular things to worry about the celebrating the birth of Christ on that day.

There will, of course, be joyful noises as children open their presents on Christmas morning. But, there will also be children with no presents, no home, no food, with very little, if any reason to be joyful. There will also be those children who do not make joyful noises because they don't get the exact presents that they wanted. Oh, you got a used car for Christmas instead of a new one? That is rough!

Christmas is not about things. It is about the greatest gift that we could ever consider receiving. For unto us a Savior has been born, that through him we would be forgiven our sins. We would be washed clean and reconciled to God our Father, becoming heirs of the Kingdom of God. That should bring more joy to our hearts than anything else.

It should bring us joy not just on Christmas Eve; but, every day of our lives. Let their be joy in the world our Lord has come!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Tree of Life

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

                                                                     Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17 NIV

There you have it! God planted trees in the garden so that the first people would have food to eat that they might be nourished and live. In the middle of this garden he planted both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. One tree brings life and the other, the one that ensures knowledge of good and evil, brings death. He warned Adam and Eve not to eat from that latter or they would surely die. What would you do? Would you eat from the tree of life or from the tree that makes you like a god to know good from evil? Adam and Eve ate from the tree that they were told not to eat from; but, apparently neglected to eat from the tree of life which they were allowed to eat from.

After Adam and Eve ate from the tree that brings death, God kicked them out of Eden so that they could not eat from the tree that brings life. The gate to paradise was closed and fierce looking cherubim were set there to guard paradise. The good news, the awesome news, is that when Jesus died on the cross, the gates were flung wide open for all who would believe in him. We have access to the Kingdom of God! We have access to the tree of life! Will we eat the fruit of the tree that brings life? 

Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) He is life. He is our only way to eternal life. We can enter the Kingdom of God into our Father's eternal presence only through him.

Jesus also said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-58)

Jesus is our tree of life. Would we turn up our noses at the food that Jesus provides and partake of those things which will only bring us death? I pray not.

God's Peace - Pr. J

What To Wear?

“Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 'Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.'”  (Matt 15:1-2 NRSV)

Over the years I have heard a whisper or two about how someone dresses "for church" or how a child misbehaves in the church. Tradition has taught us that there are certain ways we should dress and act in "church." These are traditions that have come down through the generations. I'm thinking Jesus probably did not change clothes to go to the temple or to preach as he was traveling from city to city. During the time Jesus ministered, here on earth, one of the big "no, no's" was to not wash before you eat. There were whole rituals set up to ensure that hands were washed; rituals that were not to be broken.

We have the religious and we have the faithful. The religious might also be faithful; but, there are also those religious persons who will remind us of the Pharisees and scribes who faithfully accused and persecuted Jesus. The man-made laws and traditions certainly set them apart from other people; but, did they set them apart because of their faith in God or because of the faithfulness to man-made traditions and laws?

I remember, years ago at one of the congregations I was serving, one of the members dropped off her child for Worship. I invited the adult to join us; but, she said she couldn't come in because she was wearing a pair of those pants that sort of look like pajamas. Consider this, who exactly are you dressing for? Who are you afraid of offending? Man or God? Do you not pray at home, in the shower, in your pajamas, in the garden, in your running clothes, at work? Do you change clothes before you go before God to speak with Him, in prayer, on all of these occasions? Personally, I don't think God cares what we're wearing. Although, I really appreciate it when the congregation dresses for worship not quite as casually as they normally would; I am not so sure that God cares. 

It does seem that He did care about what those who were serving at his altar wore though. The description of the clothing to be worn by those who were ministering at the altar can be found in Exodus, chapters 28 through 39. 

I must admit that I have not always dressed for worship as others might wish. During, the winter that I was a snow-mobile trail boss in the U.P. of Michigan, I often went to Worship Services in my snow-mobile suit, simply because I did not have time to change and had to get back out on the trails immediately after worship. It was either not change or not Worship. (I was not serving in any capacity at the altar) Which would you choose? Would God prefer I not gather to worship Him with the local community of saints until I have the time to change my attire?

Consider Adam and Eve in that garden, naked. They were in that garden, naked.  God didn't care that they were naked. (Please, don't show up to worship naked.) After they ate of the tree of knowledge, it was they who cared, not God. Since they were ashamed, God made them clothes to cover themselves with and then closed the garden off to them so that they might not eat of the tree of life and live forever.

I like tradition almost as much as the next person; however, let us be mindful that sometimes these traditions separate us from God rather than bring us (and others) closer to him. It is faith in the One who shed His blood for us and not what we wear that reconciles us to God, our Father, in His eternal kingdom.

"This people honors me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,

    teaching human precepts as doctrines." (Matt 15:8-9)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Not Safe To Travel

If you must travel; stay close to home!

In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil." 2 Chronicles 15:5 NIV

Okay; so I've taken the unsafe travel scripture way out of context! But, If I ever decide I must travel on the day after Christmas again; someone, please remind me to not do it!

My husband and I went to visit our youngest son and his family in South Carolina Christmas day and came home yesterday. That is the second time in recent years that I have traveled a distance on the day after Christmas. Yesterday was not as bad as the last time; but, it was not good. I did a lot of gritting my teeth and my lower back is sore this morning from all the tensing up. Over an hour before we reached Jacksonville the traffic was quite heavy and the GPS was warning us about an accident on US 95 south of Jacksonville. By the time we reached the accident it had still not been cleared out. The GPS rerouted us along a slightly faster route; but, of course everyone's GPS was trying to reroute them and many changed their course as we did. Traffic was not light, to say the least!

I thoroughly enjoyed the visit; but, not the drive. The holiday travel season is not over, yet. So, beware and be careful as we come upon the celebration of the secular new year. Drive with caution as roads will be crowded and not everyone driving will be sober. I personally make it a habit to stay at home on New Year's Eve to help ensure that I will live to see the new year. Of course, even that is in God's hands. And, may He be with you to keep you safe whether you are traveling or not. 

God's Peace - Pr. J

Rejoice! The Promise Is Fulfilled

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordon -

The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness

    a light has dawned.

You have enlarged the nation

    and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
    as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
    when dividing the plunder.

For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,

    you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
    the bar across their shoulders,
    the rod of their oppressor.

Every warrior’s boot used in battle

    and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
    will be fuel for the fire.

For to us a child is born,

    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the greatness of his government and peace

    there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice and righteousness
    from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty

    will accomplish this.

                                Isaiah 9:1-7 NIV

This promise to the Israelites has been fulfilled. This promise to all who would believe has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ our Lord. As we celebrate the coming of God into the world as a baby born in a barn; let us remember that what it is we celebrate is that Jesus Christ is born and he is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Let us rejoice this Christmas Eve and tomorrow and every day for Jesus the Christ has been born for you and for me.

May God bless all of your Christmas celebrations!

God's Peace - Pr. J