Living Humble In Christ!

I believe all people are good or have some good hiding in them.  God had in mind when he created us to do good and never leave him.  But many have left him and continue to take the path of not doing good.  Even those of us that are Christians are not perfect and still continue to sin daily.  Yet, we Christians puff ourselves up and put on a front of goodness and shun others because we don't think they are good enough.  If you hate Christians I can understand.  There are many Christians that think they are better than others in this world.  They think lowly of others who are poor, not dressed well, uneducated and fear those who do evil.  These kind of Christians wouldn't sink low enough to give any of these people the time of day.  Their status in the church and the community are more important than being in the middle of fighting for the underdog. 

Many years ago a little infant came to the earth born of a young girl and a carpenter.  As they were traveling a great distance on foot and riding a donkey, they finally arrived to their destination.  The young girl and the carpenter were looking for a place to stay that night and found the only space to sleep was an animal stable.  The young girl started her labor and had a little infant and laid him in a manger (a feeding trough!)  There was no applause except from heaven and a lot of angels. No family and friends arrived to see the new infant arrive on Earth.  A bright star  guided a few raggedy shepherds to see the new infant boy. 

The little child was given the name Jesus and would be the "King of all Kings."  His birth had been written about for many years and by many prophets.  Many looked forward to the King's arrival yet many missed it then and continue to still miss it today.  He arrived in the reign of a jealous and mean King named Herod. Herod became so fearful of this child he had all the boys of a certain age killed so to possibly kill the Christ. Herod didn't succeed!

Jesus grew up not rich with great wealth but rich towards God his Father.  His life was ordinary here but spiritually rich with God.  His ministry began in his thirties and he never owned nothing.  His goal was not to be the best but to become the least among everybody.  He taught to love one another and serve those in need.  He once applauded a poor widow for giving 2 little coins in the offering plate, it was all she had. He believed those sitting on the street and not able to move or walk were more important work than making the temple look beautiful.  His life was less important than those around him, he was seeking the pain that man has felt through out life. His heart was motivated toward loving others and giving them healing they have been longing for.

When he healed the man of leprosy he just didn't heal him, he touched his ulcerous hand and then healed him.  His touch was what the man needed for no one had given him any love since getting the disease. Many surrounded Jesus just to be able to be healed.  One woman tried so hard to get to the master that she believed enough that just touching his clothes it would give her healing  from her disease. And it did, and Jesus felt power go through him.

Our world has lost the true meaning of our savior, our lives are filled with becoming the best and seeking the best for our own lives.  We don't think about being humble and giving to others till it hurts.   Today is the day we fulfill our destiny and become what Christ needs us to be.  Giving daily to those who are in need and being able to touch those who are in need. That's our reason for the season. To give until all poverty and hunger is  solved.  Christ came to show us what true love is and when he saw we didn't know what to do he had to show us and then take our sins away that we might be able to live life in freedom.

Remember Christ is the reason for every season.  Every day we should celebrate and cherish both the birth and death of Christ.  But most of all we should celebrate his rise to new life from the tomb.  That is the moment we became free and continue to have his life run through us every day!  Merry Christmas!

Finding Ways To Give.

God is wanting us all to give till we can give no more.  This is a department I have a lot of trouble in, it's not because I don't want to do it.  It's because I don't see any opportunities to do it in my area.  Being the time of year it is there are all kinds of opportunities to give and we have.  So today I tried two times to offer something to those in need.  One chance was a chance to give to this group that I read about in a  book by author Lisa Samson.  I gave them my card and the website wouldn't take the payment.  OK! So I gave up on that.  So I went to Walgreen's to get some things and finally I found the Salvation Army guy ringing the bell.  I figured I would get some cash back from my debit card and give it when I left the store. The dude was gone and the bucket with him! I was perturbed. I'm not writing to brag, I just what to tell you about the ironic situations.

Why is it when you have some spare cash on your person and you want to give it to somebody in need they are never there?  But they are always there holding a sign when you have nothing but plastic on you.  I'm trying to figure it out. 

I have so many ideas about getting something together to help out with the needy, but I just don't know how to get others involved.  It seems nobody will get on the same page as I am on.  The past couple of nights  I have laid in bed and thought how unfair it is for me to be laying in a warm bed while there are others laying on the street sleeping and freezing to death.  How can we all do it?  I guess I am getting to the age where life is meaning more than objects of materialism.  I feel trapped in this town because I know there are needs in other bigger cities and the help is needed. 

Just recently my wife went to Philadelphia and told me how bad the poverty is there.  As they were in McDonald's a woman approached them and begged them for money or food. So they bought her lunch and it was a great act for them to do.  God talks so much in the Bible about being a servant unto those in need, and I just get a proactive feeling in my heart to get those in need some help.  I know that many homeless people have put themselves in those circumstances, but there are many who can't help being that way. Many suffer from some type of mental illness and just got thrown to the streets.  I read a story in a book that talked about a man deciding whether or not to give this guy some money.  The other guy who was with him was a former homeless person told the man the guys story.  He had been injured at his job and couldn't work any more and had no other form of income.  He became homeless and couldn't help it, the job he had was a good paying construction job.  Bad circumstances put him on the streets and made him become a beggar.

Give in some manner! That's what I tell myself all the time.  I can't solve the worlds problems all by myself, but the little I can give will make a difference somehow. I keep praying God will give me many opportunities to serve those in need. I  just need to keep my eyes open and watch who God puts in front of me and all of us.

Making Sense of The Bad And The Good Things In LIfe!

The past three months have been rough on a lot of people around here.  There have been unexpected deaths of some really good people.  It seems it never ends.  I thought this month would be better but we got some bad news of a family member the other day.  A stroke and then through some tests run they found cancer.  It just continues to come and we as humans have no way to stop it, it's the natural process of life.  As many are born, others are leaving through death.  It's a process God has watched over and over and it will continue as life is lived upon this Earth.

I saw God's great strength today and it turned me around and showed me what his power and love can do.  God heals in so many ways, we are often blinded by Satan because he doesn't want us to see how great our God is.

I love listening to children talk because they speak a   totally different language than we do as adults.  They live in a way where nothing matters,  but happiness.  They have no worries and they never understand when they see an adult cry. Their question is always, " Why are you crying?"  It seems an odd thing to them that somebody would ever cry.  Even though every child spends the first five years of life crying about something, you wouldn't think they would think it strange.  I believe God asks the same question to us, "Why are you crying?"  I am here!

Emotions are a strong sense we have.  Emotions make us act in various ways in many different situations in life.  Anger, hate, sadness, loss, happiness are all different ways we react through emotions.  If we could truly grasp God's love, mercy, hope and grace here on Earth we would never feel any sort of loss.  Something or someone keeps us from being complete in God.  We truly will never get the complete package of God and his greatness.  Satan is constantly pulling us from him and keeps us from screaming in total great joy for our God.  We will never get over a great loss of  losing a loved one, we know that one day we will be reunited with them all one day, but Satan makes us  truly not believe that or come to complete understanding of it.   We Christians are the offense and Satan is the defense that keeps us from scoring the game winning touchdown.  We just can't do it!  Satan keeps us busy in our lives with worries and other activities and keeps us from being completely devoted to our creator. 

So years ago God decided to send us his son to get us to that end zone and score that game winning touchdown, every day.  No matter what happens we our redeemed from our sins and able to have the help we need to survive a loss of a loved one.  Humans were made in the image of God, we continually light the world and break the darkness of this place.  We need to know and understand that whatever happens good or bad in this life that there is help right next to us.  God is in our hearts if we let him in.  No matter how dark Satan makes this world God is continually reinventing us and making our light brighter and brighter.  Soon our light will be so bright that Satan will run out of darkness and we will make the world a better place.  We just need to be in him because he is in us, and he is constantly brightening our world every day. 

I am here! Come to me! Listen to him and make life better and more enjoyable.