Month: December 2020

Clear the Clutter for a New Year

On By francesrogersIn GOD'S GLORY, GOD'S GRACE, GOD'S WORD, PRAYER5 Comments

What is your vision for 2021?

Will the next year be any different than this year of chaos and upheaval?

Can you see clearly what lies ahead?

We must look more than ever with eyes of faith toward the unknown.

We must prepare to face a new year with a renewed and a clearly defined purpose.

We must remove the clutter of our being, clear our vision of the waste we have around us, leaving room for the newness God has prepared for us as His people.

Our rooms are cluttered with things we don’t need; our minds are filled with thoughts that drag us down or keep us in a tailspin; our lives are wasting away with the sights and sounds of the world.

2020 has either opened our eyes to see the condition of our world and our part in it, or it has served to bury us in its avalanche of fear and degradation. We must each survey our own personal environment, pray for wisdom to know where we are in the scheme of things, and respond obediently and passionately to God’s leading.

In response to my own needs,  I have begun~~~~~

I have cleared my desktop, physically and digitally, filing so that if what I am saving is significant, I can come back to it ~ if not, it is out of sight and mind until the time I can go through all my files.

Paper to be recycled is deposited in a bin in the garage ready for weekly pick-up.

Paying bills online has become the norm.

Removing clothes I don’t wear frees space in the closet, plus someone at Goodwill is blessed by my discards.

There are many other ways and areas to de-clutter physically ~ these our hands have to deal with ~ but the most important is to declutter the mind and heart. Our eyes and ears are manipulated by what we see and hear. With the continual onslaught of the world’s condition in our face, we cannot see clearly with the eyes of faith.

We clear our thinking by daily closing our eyes and ears to man’s words and our own thoughts, taking hold of God’s Word, and praying fervently for a steadfast faith in Christ. We must pray for others and ourselves to know our heavenly Father and from Him, the eternal life Jesus came to give. Then we can see clearly the kingdom that rules over all creation and mankind, and live in the hope that is in Him.

And even as the majority of the world lives in oblivion, we have the promise, the presence, and the power of almighty God, our Father, opening heaven so that our focus is on Him and His plans for us as part of His kingdom rule on earth.

This is not a new year’s resolution but the Way of eternal life our heavenly Father has prepared for His children. Are you God’s child? How do you know and what difference does this make? Is your life any different than the life of an unbeliever? What do you want in this new year?

We are not left to ourselves but have the words and power of eternal life through the Word of God, and by His Spirit, we can live victoriously through whatever a new year brings.

Father, we praise you that your grace is sufficient for us to face an uncertain year. We thank you that your kingdom and your Word endures forever through every obstacle and every trial, as light in the darkness of this world. You never leave us or forsake us but supply every need ~ to your glory, and for our joy, In Jesus’ name, I thank you and praise you. Amen.

 

 

 

Something Greater than Christmas is Here

On By francesrogersIn GOD'S GRACE, GOD'S WORD, QUOTES9 Comments

“Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night.” Gen. 1:16

From the beginning of creation, God has proven some things to be greater than others. Without considering a lot of other comparisons, such as wealth, health, talents, etc., let us look at this time of year known as Christmas.

Many who live for the holidays end the year hopeless and depressed. For many, a warm fuzzy feeling turns into a prickly spur. When Christmas is over, most return to their abnormal lives.

Whether we observe this holiday as with the Roman Catholic Church and Christ in its Mass ~ or in gift-giving within family traditions, we are missing something greater. Far beyond the thought of the birth of Christ two thousand years ago, there is a reality that escapes us.

As hard as we try to ‘keep Christ in Christmas,” we miss Him because He is hidden in the lights, the glitter, the shopping, and the entertainment. Aside from what has become known as Christmas, there are blessings made null and void by man’s traditions.

What man has set up for a celebration is not enough to satisfy the hearts and needs of men. Only our creator knows and has planned a greater life than we can ask or imagine.

Many will not be gathering this season with family. Many have lost loved ones this year, but even for those who will celebrate with their families, let’s consider what is greater ~ what God our Father has prepared for us as heirs of His kingdom.

What can be greater than Christmas? What if it is observed by the traditions of the church and all is joyful and in unity with our fellowmen?

Once-a-year joy is nothing compared to the year-round joy in Christ.

Union in Christ between His people is not relegated to one season a year.

Greater than Christmas is our relationship with our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit. 

We do not have to wait for gifts once a year. His gifts are given every day ~ love, joy, peace, comfort, hope. and more.

He is no longer a baby we can put back in a smelly stable.

He is no longer a man hanging on a bloody cross.

Christ cannot be brought down by hocus pocus in the Roman Mass to be crucified over and over. (transubstantiation)

Christ is King of kings, and Lord of lords, ruling in heaven and earth, blessing His people ~ dwelling in the hearts of men who worship and obey Him.

Greater than the Temple and Soloman ~ In Christ’s Own Words

  “But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.” Matthew 12:6.

“The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.” Matthew 12:42

There is none greater than the Father and the Son who created and upholds all things by the “word of His power ~ sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Heb. 1:3

He is still fulfilling His purpose for being here ~ to save His people from their sins, This is the “good news” every day.

Oh, how much we forfeit by settling for what seems good. The best and greatest of life is hidden in Christ for those who daily seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

The life of God, which in the incarnation entered human nature is the root in which we are to stand and grow. It is by the same almighty power that worked there and from then on to the resurrection which works daily in us. Our one need (now) is to study, to know, and to trust the life revealed in Christ as the life that is now ours. Humility ~ Andrew Murray

Gracious Father in heaven, send your Holy Spirit to reveal your Son as the eternal gift for man every day, now, and forever. For your glory and our joy. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Fran

Related Articles: Before there was Christmas, cultures celebrated this time of year in other ways. See here and here)

Image by congerdesign.

How Bright the Star of Bethlehem

On By francesrogersIn GOD'S GLORY, GOD'S GRACE, GOD'S WORD5 Comments

Did only three men see the star over Bethlehem? Might others have looked seeing nothing more than an ordinary light? The world never knew it was there.

What did the wise men see but a star that led them to “the light of the world”?

In the beginning, before there were stars, a sun, a moon, or anything visible, “God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light” piercing the darkness so that His creatures would see the heavens and the earth He would so wondrously make.

Pillar of Fire

He provided the special light of His presence for His people when He led them out of Egyptian bondage. 

“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.” Exodus 13:21

At night, while there was darkness on the Egyptian side, He provided light for the Israelites “so that the one did not come near the other all that night” (Exodus 14:20).

Light in the Heart

He is still providing light for His people today. 

“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” 2 Cor. 5:6-7

“Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27) is the light that pierces the darkness of our own hearts and through us, into the darkness of the world.

 “that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life,” Phil. 2:14-16

Eternal Light

More important than water or food, when our heavenly Father created the heavens and earth, he provided an eternal light ~ the most important thing for life. The first light is the same light that has been with His creation since the beginning, through the wilderness, to the light of Christ that takes us in death to eternal glory with Him.

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
Jn. 1:4

“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it,
for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.”.
Rev. 21:23

Gracious heavenly Father, as the world is unable to comprehend the eternal light, we pray you would shine this light into the hearts of men, today, to reveal through Jesus Christ, your Son, the knowledge of your glory. Pierce the darkness by your own presence and power. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Fran
Suggested Reading: What the Holy Bible Says about LIGHT