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P A S S I O N

 

 

What are you passionate about this Christmas? ​​ Be honest! ​​ What is passion? ​​ Passion is a strong, barely controllable emotion. ​​ So I ask again, what are you passionate about?

 

Did you know that God is passionate about you? ​​ Truly passionate. ​​ You see, He created you and I in His likeness according to Genesis 1. ​​ The bible says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator. ​​ We were fashioned and formed by Him. ​​ According to Luke 12, He knows how many hairs are on your head. ​​ In Zephaniah, it says that He rejoices over us! ​​ Wow that is hard to comprehend. ​​ Jeremiah says that His love for us is an everlasting love. ​​ A love that never ends. ​​ His initial desire was to have a unique relationship with mankind. ​​ We are all born with that innate desire for Him. ​​ We find that He walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. ​​ Their creator communing with them! ​​ 

 

So what happened? ​​ Sin. ​​ When Adam and Eve sinned, it brought separation from God. ​​ We see them being removed from Eden and the bible no longer speaks of that special relationship between God and them. ​​ Sin and God can’t commune. ​​ So a plan was set in motion right from the foundation of the world. ​​ 

 

God made a plan that would restore that relationship with Him and mankind that He created. ​​ God promised a seed that would come from the woman in Genesis Chapter 3 that would strike the head of that serpent bka satan. ​​ He has been pursuing us since the beginning. ​​ From Adam and Eve forward we see them offering to God sacrifices and offerings. ​​ Sacrifices acknowledge sin and offerings acknowledge God. ​​ We acknowledged we did wrong but that sin was never removed. ​​ And no matter what, we just couldn’t get it right. ​​ So God made a plan to redeem us from sin, once for all. ​​ Once sin is removed, that relationship with Him is restored. ​​ 

 

How? ​​ God would send His only son, that perfect sacrifice to live, to die and to rise again. ​​ His blood shed in death would pay our penalty for sin for without the shedding of blood, according to His Word, there is no remission of sin. ​​ His resurrection would make a way for us to eternally live with Him. ​​ 

 

Isaiah 9 says that a child would be born FOR us, a son will be given TO us. ​​ As the angel explained his conception to Joseph in Matthew, he said that his name would be Immanuel, God is with us! ​​ B O O M! ​​ There it is. ​​ God with us. ​​ Forever. ​​ He would be born to save people from their sins. ​​ God sent His son into the would not to condemn it but that it might be saved. ​​ 

 

We all sin so we need a savior. ​​ JESUS IS that savior. ​​ How can we be saved? ​​ God’s Spirit draws us to Him. ​​ According to Romans 10 we acknowledge Him, His death, His resurrection and believe. ​​ I John says that if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. ​​ Jesus preached repentance for forgiveness of sins. ​​ Repent means reversal, to reconsider. ​​ Turn around. ​​ 360.

 

God made it simple. ​​ We make it complicated. ​​ 

 

HE is passionate for you. ​​ What gift are you giving Him this Christmas? ​​ All He wants is you! ​​ Just as you are. ​​ Believe, confess, repent. ​​ RECEIVE Him. ​​ Receive forgiveness. ​​ 

 

Merry Christmas y’all! ​​ May His love fill your heart!

 

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HE came with Purpose

nativity

MERRY CHRISTMAS y’all!  God’s blessings to you and your families!  Thought I would take a moment and share a portion of what God has laid upon my heart for Christmas devotion this morning.  Hopefully you are sharing Christ with your loved ones today.  Mary was told by the angel of this Christ child that would be born from her loins would be the savior of the world, that He would one day be King.  When Christ was born, He was born with a purpose.  A purpose that came from God the Father.  This purpose was to be our SAVIOR, our REDEEMER, our HEALER, to name a few.  As He lived life, He was not without adversity.  Actually, He did not have it easy at all.  He was mocked, constantly ridiculed, and hated by many. When it came time to die for the sin of all mankind, the weight of the world on His shoulders was so great that His sweat became blood in His agonizing prayer for God to remove the “cup” from Him.  When He was on the cross, He felt as if God had forsaken Him.  YET HE chose to do the will of His Father and fulfill His purpose.  

Did you know that we are all born with a God given purpose?  God knew you before you were born according to Psalm 139.  He knit you together in your mother’s womb.  In Jeremiah 29, God says that He knows the thoughts and the plans that He has for us.  Some of us never have lived according to God’s purpose and have actually never thought about it.  Some of us have, at one time, lived according to His plan and purpose but when things got though, we gave up or turned our backs on God or blamed Him for things gone wrong in our lives.  Some of us walk in the fullness of His plan and purpose everyday.  Where do you fall into those categories?  See, we need to live by Jesus’ example.  We need to follow through on God’s plan and purpose no matter what comes our way.  He had a rock solid relationship with His Father and was unwavering in His obedience to Him.  NO MATTER WHAT CAME HIS WAY.  I just want to encourage you to not give up on God’s plan and purpose for your life.  Only you can do what God is calling you to do.  You are unique, you are special, you are HIS.  

If you have never lived your life for Christ, I encourage you to take that step toward Him.  It is easy.  He came, He lived and He died and rose again for you.  He was fully God and fully man.  He died to pay the price for your sin.  All you have to do is receive it.  Believe in who He is and what He has done, confess and turn away from your sin and let His blood cleanse you and free you from the bondage of sin.   Holy Spirit then starts working in your life and brings change from the inside out as you spend time in His Word and in prayer.  It is that easy.  He loves you today.

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Stary Night

stary-night

This comes a week early but I want to share while things aren’t quite so hectic.  Merry Christmas y’all! My mind is going back to that blessed day…Mary so young and no doubt scared. She must have been a young lady so full of faith. She had been carrying this God child so long and now the time had finally come to give birth. She and Joseph had traveled away from home so she was not near the comforts that one would desire. No room available at the inns of that time, instead they had to settle on a lowly stable. Not ideal at all nor sanitary, none the less it’s all they had. She gave birth that day and, as a mother, I know that her heart filled with joy at once when she looked upon that precious baby boy. I think her mind went back to the promise that Gabriel spoke to her….His name will be called Jesus. Yehoshua. God who is salvation. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. I can not imagine that she or Joseph even knew what these things meant but surely pondered them in their hearts. The shepherds came as instructed by the angels and spread the good news. Later, when Jesus was two or so, the wise men came worshipping and baring gifts…Gold a gift fit for a KING, frankincense a gift fit for a PRIEST, and myrrh a gift signifying that he would one day die. Oh the passion of God the Father….For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but will have life everlasting. Our sacrifice, our reconciliation to God. For all have sinned therefore we all are in need of a Savior. No more to be bound by sin….freedom. Jesus is everything we need. He is the only one that can fill that hole in our hearts. What will you do with Jesus today, this Christmas? What will you offer Him?