December 2, 2017

Greetings My Friend,

The calendar turns from November to December and my focus turns to Jesus, His life, death and resurrection. On this side of the cross, it is easy to sit back and speculate if I would have known that this baby boy would truly be the one to redeem us. Many had purported to be the Christ throughout the ages so discerning if this child was the true Savior took a bit of discernment. There was always someone coming the the scene of history purporting to be the Christ and they were not, the same after the death of Jesus those who present themselves as the 2nd coming of Christ. For me I attempt to follow the Bible and use it as my guide to discerning the events around me. I believe the Bible about the birth of Jesus, His life, death and resurrection. Proverbs teaches me that wisdom comes from God and in seeking Him He will give us discernment. Scripture points to the coming of the Messiah, then at one point the Messiah is born and I marvel when the religious leaders are able to quote the Bible as far as the coming of Jesus but turn their eyes away from Him so that they can fulfill their fleshly desires, like being the religious authority not want to submit to another authority. I see this playing out in the church today, many times it is an older person wanting to keep the status they had as a younger member of the church. Sometimes it is the older women in the church wanting to do things the way they have always done things. As a young working mother the older women of my day were able to stay home with their families, when it was time to bring cookies for a social event they got upset when the younger women bought cookies instead of making then. As we welcome people for Christmas, it would be wise to have patience with people that may come only for Christmas and Easter, for possible new members to the faith of God or to visitor's coming in to worship with family and friends. By doing so we honor Jesus's birth, life and His teachings. Recently God has been laying this phrase on my heart, "Win souls not bodies for Christ," in the light of eternity does it really matter if the cookies are home made or not? If that is what the person could do and give, isn't that the more important matter? If  we look back on our own faith journey, when we were first believers we did not know how to hear God's still small voice, we learned it as we sought Him in prayer and Bible study, not by baking home made cookies per say. I learned much with people's patience as I encountered other believers, the more I read the Bible and in prayer. It is my desire to share the Good News of Jesus by living my life more like I read about Jesus' life in the Bible. He was patient, kind and from time to time He also called a spade a spade. Where Jesus was rather blunt was mainly with the religious leaders of His day, they had a bunch of made up rules that were becoming a burden to those who followed instead of helping the followers learn and grow the leaders made up a bunch of rules that looked religious but had no tolerance for the spirit of God's teachings. When new people enter your church are you a welcoming church or do you ignore the people discouraging them from fellowship with other believers of Jesus? By gathering with other believers we are able to grow, to practice our new found lessons on those believers who then can point us to the spirit of the lesson and not the perfection of the longer time followers of Jesus. We can not become perfect without practicing the lesson's we learn. My prayer for this time of advent, waiting for the birth of a Savior is that we the long time believers will be open to helping those who do not know Jesus, those learning the first lessons of a journey in following the Risen Savior and give them the spirit of love we have received in our fellowship with God the Father, Jesus, the Son and the Holy Spirit. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet