December 25, 2010

Greetings My Friend,

Can you believe that it is Christmas already? It seems that only yesterday was the first of the New Year and now…..it is Christmas again. My time does fly by. For Christians today is a day we celebrate the birth of our Savior. God provided a way for us to be reconciled with Him through His Son. To me it is pretty heavy duty thinking.

Next my mind wonders again, how we teach all of this to our children, to un-believers etc. A faith journey at times is so hard to understand and to explain. A faith journey is just that “faith.” That too is hard to comprehend. How do we make the gift of Jesus real so others may accept this precious gift?

When my children were young we tried for a few years anyway to take the focus off of all the gifts. We had the kids prepare a time of reflection and tried to get them to focus on Jesus first. We wanted them to give to others at this time. They came to the reflection time sharing acts of kindness’ they had done during the year, the Advent season. The kids rose to that challenge and presented their “offerings” to us as they shared. They also came up with a worship time of reflection. I was so proud that they were willing to wait before opening their gifts and to spend time with us in reflection.

When our Grandchildren came along for a few years we would come with a birthday cake for Jesus. First we read the Scripture in a children’s Bible of Jesus’ birth. Next we lit candles and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. The kids seemed to enjoy it. We attempted to introduce a deeper meaning to just opening up a bunch of presents and the kids responded well to this.


One year we thought it would be neat to bring balloons and have Happy Birthday written on them. Our thought was to send them into the air, symbolizing our gratitude. We never did do this, we weren’t sure if the message would have been confusing for the kids. Part of me still likes the idea part of me is unsure if the message would have been received.

How do we convey our faith, our belief in something that can’t be seen, touched etc? My faith journey is real, I feel Jesus in my life all the time. He holds me when I am hurting. I feel His hugs at times. When I sit on the porch, I see God’s creation, I realize over and over that we are not a fluke of nature, we are created and God is the creator. How do I explain all of this? I can trust that God will give me words, help as I need it and He does.

Each generation must find Jesus. We can’t be saved because our parents were. Each generation tends to have to discover Jesus, the gift of the cross and the need for salvation. Some people come to faith as children, they understand early on. Me, I did not get the message the understanding of Jesus until I was in my 40’s. I was at the lowest point in my life, I was divorced and I had lots of pain. It is at that point I met Jesus. I found myself praying and crying and slowly I found myself praying the sinner’s prayer asking Jesus to forgive me and then to enter into my heart. He did and my faith journey has been mind boggling ever since.

Since inviting Jesus to come live with me….I have had wonderful days and I still have days where life hurts. Now though, I have hope. Hope is what helps me get out of bed in the morning. Hope helps me walk out the front door. Hope is definitely now and I have a hope for my future as well. That feels good. When we die…we go somewhere. If we have confessed our sins, asked Jesus into our hearts…..heaven awaits us. If not, then eternity will be forever painful.

For me, the cross was the turning point in my faith. I always felt that the cross was barbaric. Why would God use such a mean torture especially for His only Son? As God taught me to pray through the last hours of Jesus’ life, the cross….I began to see the need for redemption and I was never going to be good enough. I began to understand that I could never be perfect and that Jesus willingly came to this sin infested world so He could unite us to a perfect God. Pretty amazing stuff when I began to open my heart, my mind to this gift.

Jesus willingly left the Father’s side for a period of time. He allowed Himself to be born of woman. He allowed Himself to walk among us….sinful as we are. Jesus was also ultimately going to the cross and dying a horrible and awful death for us. We were born with choice, pretty amazing to me. We have the choice to believe in God’s great love, that He would send His only begotten Son, that whoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Simple in a way, believe in Jesus, accept the gift of the cross, confess our sins, that’s all we have to do. In that we then are allowing God to work in us and make us over. If we do not accept this gift then we have a horrible eternity waiting for us – separated from God, from His love. So simple and yet hard, how do we teach this to our children, to non believers? For me….I find hope….I find peace and an acceptance. I have people who really don’t like me….so distressing at times. I feel un-wanted a whole lot. God then sends people in my life, Junior, M, K, and my Sunday school class, P, B…..so many wonderful people who accept me. They all tell me in their own special way, that I am precious, I am loved I am useful and in that I am able to get up and face the day.

This Christmas I’d like to ask you to enter into the Father’s presence. How you may wonder? Well, first confess you are a sinner – a precious lesson. Next ask for forgiveness and then ask Jesus into your heart. Simple and not, when you do this and invite Jesus, you are then allowing God to lead you, direct you. A church family is so helpful in this journey, reading your Bible is important and of course prayer.

May God bless you and keep you, make His face to shine upon you.

Love
Janet