Tag: Food For Growth

²⁶ In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” ²⁹ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” ~ Luke 1:26-33

When we read these stories, we associate them with Christmas because Jesus was and is the only real Christmas present. He is the gift, as they say, the gift that keeps on giving. These are real and true accounts of events that actually took place just over 2,000 years ago. This is not a fairytale or a fable, but true and real history. The Word, which was God, and still is God, became flesh and was born of a virgin named Mary. She was not royalty, although she descended from the royal line of King David. She was not a famous author, although she composed a beautiful song of praise. She was not a famous general in a mighty army, yet she gave birth to the commander of heaven’s army, a force so powerful that the whole world must submit to His authority, and His kingdom will never, ever end.

Mary was not chosen because of who she was, or because she was extremely special, but rather, she was chosen because she was humble and willing, no matter the consequences, and her consequences could have been extremely dire. But she put her trust and her faith in God because she made Him her hope. She believed what God said through the angel Gabriel and was determined to follow her God.

Let us, therefore, not count the cost of following Jesus but grab the bull by the horns and believe Jesus for great and mighty things. For if we are willing to submit and obey, God will be willing to use us. What greater way to live our life than in service to the One who gave His life so that we might find our life in Him? God always partners with man to help man. He does not operate as a lone wolf or as a solitary soldier. Therefore, if you are willing and obedient, not filled with pride, but walk humbly before your God, He will see you, and He will use you.

Thank You, Father, that You do not use only the rich and famous but will use whoever is obedient and willing to be used. Help me make a decision this Christmas to live my life willingly for You and to be obedient to all Your commands. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. ~ Isaiah 7:14

Christmas Dreams is one of my favorite Christmas songs. One of the last lines Francesca Battistelli writes is:

I guess the person most excited for Christmas is me

Christmas is a magical time, especially as a child. The presents. Santa coming to visit. All the lights and decorations. The holiday specials. Everything is just so much more magical at Christmas time. The older I get, the less I look forward to pretend, make-believe magic but real magic.

Now, I’m not talking about witchcraft magic, but the impossible becoming possible, unexplainable magic. I’m talking about miracles. Christmas celebrates the most miraculous event in history: God lowering Himself to the form of man and being born of a virgin. No longer do I look forward to Santa coming or even the presents under the tree.

Each Christmas I grow older, I look forward to celebrating, honoring, remembering, and encouraging myself with the miraculous gift of Jesus. If God loved mankind enough to become one of us for 33 ½ years, 2000 years ago, then He loves us enough to still do miracles today. Why? Because He does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Therefore, be encouraged this Christmas season as you look back on all the miracles He has done in the past and look forward to all the miracles He will do for you in the future. All you need to do is follow Him, ask, and believe.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek The Miraculous.

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ²³ “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). ²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵ but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. ~ Matthew 1:18-25

One of my favorite movies is Rise of the Guardians. In the movie, Jack Frost is lost, trying his best to be visible to others. He tries and tries again but fails each time, so one night, he helplessly looks to the moon and asks what he’s doing wrong and what his purpose is. The very next day, he gets his answer, but he doesn’t want it to be true; he doesn’t want to accept it, and he blatantly denies it. This is how we all are today.

God created mankind to have a purpose, not to live life hopeless and without value. God wasn’t just talking to the people of Israel when He said, “For I know the plans I have for you” (Jeremiah 29:11). We know this because Paul writes that God is the God of both the Jews and the Gentiles, therefore, if He has plans for the Jews, He has plans for the Gentiles as well (Romans 3:29-30).

Therefore, when the LORD shows you the plans He has for you, don’t fight it. His plans are for our good and for our welfare. The plans we have for ourselves may seem good, but they can’t compare to the plans God has for us. Therefore, this Christmas, let go of your prejudices and preconceived ideas and cling to the good plans the LORD has for us.

Before the end of the movie, Jack Frost accepted and embraced his purpose, and in doing so, he was seen by someone for the first time. When you accept the plans the LORD has for you, the good things that you desire will be given to you. Joseph could have left Mary. He could have quietly divorced her as he had planned to do all along, and in doing so, he would’ve missed out on being the father of the Messiah. But Joseph trusted God and followed His every command, and in doing so, he was not only able to meet the Messiah, but he raised the Messiah.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Accept Your Purpose.

³ A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. ⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. ⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” ~ Isaiah 40:3-5

I remember when I first got saved in the early 90’s, the Reverent Billy Graham was preparing for a worldwide crusade. Churches all over the world, including the islands of the Caribbean, from every denomination were preparing for the crusade. We had training classes for the altar call, in anticipation for vast amount of people who would respond to the Gospel.

He never actually physically came to a lot of the places, like the little islands of the sea, but places of worship were prepared, and big screens were setup that those in attendance could see and hear the Reverent Billy Graham preach the plain and honest word of God’s truth.

God prophesied the same thing through Isaiah. He said He would send a forerunner, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the LORD.” That was fulfilled in Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist. John was the voice preparing the people to receive their Messiah. He came preaching, and baptizing, and pointing people to the truth. Many came out to him and were baptized by him. Many asked, what must we do…? And he pointed them in the right direction.

Today, God is not looking for forerunners, He has already come in the form and fashion of the LORD Jesus. He lived and died, and was dead and buried for three days and three nights, but on the third day, He rose again and is now seated at the right hand of the Father, and He is coming back to get all those who are waiting for His return. But you know what He is looking for? He is looking for Christmas Ambassadors, those who will spread the Good News of the Hope that we have in His death and resurrection. He is looking for those who will tell of all the good things He has done for them, and point the loss in the direction of the cross.

There are many people who are still asking, “What must we do…?” They need one of God’s Ambassadors to point them in the right direction. Yes, there are those who do not want to hear, but I believe God is doing something great. He did not give us one more opportunity for no reason. Let us, therefore, strive to please Him and Him alone. Let us not live to our own selves, but let us live to please our LORD and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

This is your opportunity to partner with Jesus to be a Christmas Ambassador and to tell others about Him and what He has done for us and for our family.

Dear Heavenly Father, if you can use anything, please use me to be a Christmas Ambassador so that I can point others to You so that they may live and not die. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ ¹³ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” ¹⁴ And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” ¹⁵ And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. ¹⁶ For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” ¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” ¹⁸ Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” ¹⁹ And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” ²¹ And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, ²² and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” ~ Exodus 33:12-23

Moses is actually complaining to the LORD, and his first statement is a little deceptive to us. So, let me explain. Moses starts out beating around the bush, so to speak. He claims that God told him to bring this people up but did not tell him who will go with him. But that is not the real issue.

Why do I say that?

Because the chapter before (Exodus 32:34) God had already assured Moses that He Himself will go with him. But see, Moses is asking for much more than God to just go with him. He’s asking to know God (Exodus 33:12b-13). Moses’ complaint is, “You know me, but I don’t really know You, and that ain’t fair. I want to know You too. I want to know You as well, God.”

That is his real complaint, and it is not a complaint as much as it is a request. And a very good request at that. Because God wants us to know Him, and He wants to reveal Himself to us. We don’t serve a God that is distant and far off. We serve a God that is close and loving. A God that sticks closer than a brother. A God that laid down His life for us so that we could have the choice to spend eternity with Him.

When God seems distant, all you have to do is call to Him. Spend time in His Word meditating on it day and night, praying and seeking Him. Then He will come to you. He will meet with you. He will make himself known to you. Because He loves you. He cares for you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek God’s Friendship.

⁶ If we say, “We have fellowship with Him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. ⁷ If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ~ 1 John 1:6-7 ^CSB

John said that it is literally impossible to have fellowship with Jesus and continue to walk in darkness. But what does it mean to walk in darkness? Well, for one, you walk in darkness when you refuse to see truth even when it’s right there in front of you. For another, you walk in darkness when you have fellowship with the world and accept their definition of morality even if it contradicts Scripture just because it is the popular thing or the cultural thing to do.

It does not matter what the world says or what the world thinks; it is only what God thinks and what God says that is right. It is God who we, as Christians, aim to please. Nothing else matters except His approval. If you obey His precepts and follow His commands, you will walk in the light just like He is in the light. And if you walk in the light like He is in the like, the blood of Jesus will cleanse you from all sin.

But if you continue to walk in darkness, there will be no unity within the brethren. It’s only when you walk in the light of Jesus that you will have true fellowship with one another. You cannot be constantly bickering and arguing with each other and still say that you’re walking in the light, or in the knowledge of who Jesus is. If you find yourself constantly in fights and arguments with a brother, first evaluate your own life and be thorough and sincere. If your evaluation finds something, then change that thing or things. If it is not you, maybe you might need to help that brother evaluate his own self. If he or she refuses, then maybe you need to make a change.

Father, help me to constantly evaluate myself, my words, my motives, and my actions. Help me to change for the better so that I might walk in fellowship with You and with my fellow brethren. In Jesus name, I pray, amen.

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. ~ Galatians 2:20^CSB

There’s a Gospel song by William McDowell that says:

I give myself away
I give myself away
So You can use me
Take my heart
Take my life
As a living sacrifice
All my dreams all my plans
Lord I place them in your hands

When you really think about it, these words are so powerful. Think about what you’re saying every time you sing this song. You’re saying it’s no longer about me. It’s no longer about my flesh and my feelings; it’s now about Christ. It’s no longer about my ego but the Kingdom of God.

Imagine if we, as a Church, lived our lives like this. Just think about that for a second. Every single action we make directly impacts our testimony. We overcome the Devil by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our Testimony. If we accept Christ but don’t live as Christ, our Testimony is useless, and if our Testimony is useless, then we make the Blood of the Lamb void.

Our Testimony will make void the Blood of the Lamb if we refuse to allow the Blood of the Lamb to change us. We have to live as Christ each and every day in order to truly make an impact on the world for Christ. This is our call as Christians. We aren’t called to just accept Christ and continue on our way. We are called to change and then change the world. We are not our own; we are bought by the Blood of The Lamb. Therefore, live your life as such and change the world around you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Give Your Life Away.

³¹ When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. ³² Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. ~ Matthew 25:31-33

Two groups of people stood before Jesus. One was the sheep, and the other was the goats. Then Jesus separated the two groups. To one, He gave eternal life to the other, He gave eternal damnation. Now, here’s the thing, these two groups don’t represent the Church and the world. They are both Christians. The difference is one represents the Christians who followed Christ and lived their lives for Him, the other only said they did, but their actions spoke otherwise.

See, they accepted salvation, but they didn’t allow Christ to sanctify them because they refused to be set apart from the world and their own sin, taking up their cross and following Christ. They didn’t allow salvation to change them, instead, it became a one time event that didn’t impact the rest of their lives.

Today, don’t take your salvation for granted. Each day strive to growing in the LORD. Strive to bettering yourself. Strive to bettering the world around you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Strive For More.