The Joy of Christmas (... in August?! ... yup, in August!! XP )

So i know i may be a few months early, but Christ is always our Light and Hope shining in our dark world, not only during the month of December, but every single day of our lives!!  Today i wanted to share with you a beautiful devo written by Spurgeon speaking on the "Joy of Christmas", and what Jesus coming to earth means for us sinners. Be blessed children of God! <3:

The Joy of Christmas 

"The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a Baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”" (Luke 2:10-12) 

Rejoice, you who feel that you are lost; your Savior comes to seek and save you. Be of good cheer you who are in prison, for He comes to set you free. You who are famished and ready to die, rejoice that He has set aside for you a Bethlehem, a house of bread, and He has come to be the Bread of Life to your souls.

Rejoice, O sinners, everywhere for the Restorer of the castaways, the Savior of the fallen is born. Join in the joy, you saints, for He is the preserver of the saved ones, delivering them from innumerable perils, and He is the Perfecter of those He preserves.

Jesus is no partial Savior, beginning a work and not finishing it; but, restoring and upholding, He also perfects and presents the saved ones without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing before His Father’s throne. Rejoice! Let your hills and valleys ring with joy, for a Savior who is mighty to save is born among you.

“‘Twas mercy that filled the throne,
As wrath stood silent by,
When Christ on the kind errand came
To sinners doomed to die.”

- Charles Spurgeon

Gravity

18 DAYS AWAY!!! I can't believe that summer has come and nearly gone so quickly. But just as God has taught us many things this summer, so i feel He has much more to teach us in this coming school year. I cannot wait to see you all! :)

Again, just like last week, i have been extremely busy (and tired :P.. haha), to write my own posts.. but i did want to share a devo that i read earlier today. I am currently following "Lecrae - The Overflow Devo" on YouVersion, and if you like his music, then you'll really like this devotional series.

But enough of my rambling, here is the devo, be blessed! :) :

It’s been said that the vainest things in life are the ones that we expect the most contentment from. We are hedonists and pleasure seekers by nature. We want satisfaction and contentment and seem committed to finding it somewhere on earth. People are constantly asking, "What’s the meaning of life,” like maybe the answer would satisfy their discontent. However, few people meditate on this question, and most would rather pacify themselves with fleeting pleasures.

They wake up every day only to repeat the cycle of seeking contentment, not finding it, and settling for some form of temporary gratification. It’s a virtual Groundhog Day for humanity. King Solomon understood this more than anyone, and he writes in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (ESV).

Earlier in verse two of the same chapter, he calls everything “meaningless” or “vanity” which translates better as “redundant”. Obviously, everything isn't meaningless, otherwise why take time to teach people the valuable lessons in Ecclesiastes? Redundant, however, makes perfect sense.

We, outside of a relationship with Jesus who satisfies our deepest longings, are left to a redundant existence. Were it not for faith in another life to come, we'd have no hope but to look for contentment in power, pleasure, or possessions, only to never find it. Life seems very worthless under the sun, unless your worth is found in the Son.

- Lecrae Moore

And if you do indeed like Lecrae, then take a listen to the song that inspired this devo!

No questions asked.

"For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." --John 3:16.

"See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!" --1 John 3:1a.

The thought came across my mind today, I am probably one of the biggest atheists around. I say Amen! when I hear that the Lord is always with me and I can trust in Him with everything, yet my mind is constantly bombarded with things that I worry about. I'm a two-faced believer! How could God love me? I feel so dirty! How on earth could God love me? I'm not worthy of the love that God willingly pours out to me.

You may be thinking something similar to this in the circumstances that you're in. If that's the case, STOP!

First of all, God knew that we would be "two-faced believers." He still has a special purpose for us. <<Jeremiah 1:5>>

Second of all, how could He love us? Because we are His creation! God makes us new when we accept Him. He looks past our sin and sees the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. <<2 Corinthians 5:17>>

Third of all, we are no longer covered with the filth that our sin leaves on our hearts. <<Isaiah 1:18>>

Last of all, we will have our downfalls. We have our share of scars from the mistakes that we've made. There's no such thing as perfect people, and we will never be worthy of His love! <<Romans 3:23>>

It all comes down to this: Don't ever let the devil put a question mark where God has already put a period. The Bible has God's promises lined up for us to read. Those promises were kept 2000 years ago. Those promises will be kept today. Those promises will be kept 2000 years from now. God knew we would constantly sin, but look at Calvary. Look at what God sacrificed to see to it that we live! That is true love: a love that we will never deserve but are given willingly every second of our lives.

Never doubt your worth. In God's eyes, you are worth more than gold.

God bless!

Praise Changes Things

The other day i came across a devotional, all about giving praise for the 'victory' even before the victory has even happened. I thought this was quite an interesting devo, so i thought i'd share it with you all :) :

"Then Jesus looked up and said, 'Father, I thank You that you have heard Me.'" (John 11:41).  

"This is a very strange and unusual order. Lazarus is still in the grave, and the thanksgiving precedes the miracle of resurrection. I thought that the thanksgiving would have risen when the great deed had been wrought, and Lazarus was restored to life again. But Jesus gives thanks for what He is about to receive. The gratitude breaks forth before the bounty has arrived, in the assurance that it is certainly on the way. The song of victory is sung before the battle has been fought. It is the sower who is singing the song of the harvest home. It is thanksgiving before the miracle!

Who thinks of announcing a victory-psalm when the crusaders are just starting out for the field? Where can we hear the grateful song for the answer which has not yet been received? And after all, there is nothing strange or forced, or unreasonable in the Master's order. Praise is really the most vital preparatory ministry to the working of the miracles. Miracles are wrought by spiritual power. Spiritual power is always proportioned to our faith." --Dr. Jowett

"Nothing so pleases God in connection with our prayer as our praise, and nothing so blesses the man who prays as the praise which he offers. I got a great blessing once in China in this connection. I had received bad and sad news from home, and deep shadows had covered my soul. I prayed, but the darkness did not vanish. I summoned myself to endure, but the darkness only deepened. Just then I went to an inland station and saw on the wall of the mission home these words: "Try Thanksgiving." I did, and in a moment every shadow was gone, not to return. Yes, the Psalmist was right, "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord."" --Rev. Henry W. Frost

He Will..

"If we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

You've gone a whole week without looking at that website..
You've stayed from the bottle for an entire 7 days..
You've kept from the cigarette, and stopped your mouth from cursing for a week..
You've resisted, and by God's grace, have overcome these addictions.. but then you failed.
You looked at that website and lusted, you drank to numb your pain, you smoked and cursed to make you feel 'better'.. all the while growing further and further away from God.

Failure is hard to deal with, especially after a great period of victory. And when we do fail, we feel as if the whole world was ending because of it. The guilt and shame piles upon us, and we become heavily burdened. We know what we have to do.. we have to run back to God, confess our sins, repent, and trust Him that we truly are forgiven.

Most of the time, when we do this, we 'feel' different. We can literally feel the burden has lifted, and is no more.. but then there are times when, even after we confess, we still feel guilt and shame. This is a scary place to be in, and many doubts could rise in your mind.

• Am I truly forgiven?
• Does God even want to hear from me?
• Have I went too far?
• Am I even being sincere in my repentance anymore?

But do not fear, for God says otherwise. His word says that "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). It doesn't say "He'll think about it", or "will consider it".. no.. it says "He will".. without fail!

So the next time you fail, ask for forgiveness.. and even if you don't 'feel' different, you 'know' that you truly are forgiven. Your Father cannot wait for you to come back home! (Luke 15:11-32)

Just like Paul and Silas...

To all my brothers/sisters in Christ, the saints of God,

Recently, a few of my friends have been going through some pretty tough stuff in their lives. It seemed as if they just got through a certain struggle, only to discover that the battle had only just begun. I know that this has been the case in my life recently as well. And I know that all who are reading this right now are going through some sort of battle, whether that be with relationships, struggle with sin, etc. everyone has their own. But even in the midst of the pain and darkness, there is still a reason to praise God. And this is exactly what I wanted to talk about today.

There are many examples throughout both the Old and New Testaments of great men/women of faith, who despite their struggles, have sung praises unto the Most High. But perhaps the best example I can think of this is the story of Paul and Silas in Acts 16.

Paul had just recently departed on his second missionary journey around Asia Minor and Greece. He had just arrived at a city called Philippi, where he was able to share the Gospel with many hungry hearts. There was a certain slave-girl who could "predict the future". We are not told why this girl was doing this, only that she was possessed by a demon. Paul then got fed up with the demon and said "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" The spirit had no choice but to listen and obey.

However, the slave's owners seen that they would be out of a way of profit (for they were using her possession as a means to gain money), and took Paul and Silas to the local court, where they were sentenced to prison. After they were stripped, beaten, flogged, and had their feet bound up, they prayed and sung hymns to God (note that Luke mentions that "the prisoners heard them" we will come back to this). As a result of their faith, God sent an earthquake that would end up providing them with freedom, and would result in the salvation of the prison guard and his whole family.

Now that we have the long background laid out, I can give you this very, very short message, haha :P

• Just like Paul and Silas... bad things may come our way, and we may feel like we're in a "prison". Whether it was ourselves, somebody else, or circumstance that put us there it does not matter, we are still hurting. But please remember that God cares deeply for you, and hurts when you hurt. (Isaiah 63:9)
• Just like Paul and Silas... you will always have a reason to praise God for His great love and providence in your life. (Romans 8:28)
• Just like Paul and Silas... by your faithfulness in the midst of pain and confusion, God will breakthrough and perform wonders in your life that will result in your deliverance. (Acts 16:26)
• Just like Paul and Silas... when you suffer, you are given a great opportunity to both glorify God and save both those who are around you and even the one who was your "enemy". (Acts 16:25-34)

When the dark clouds of life cast a shadow over all you know, sing until the Son shines through.

P.S. While writing this, a close friend of mine sent me a text: "Psalm 136:23"

Find confidence in HIM.

"Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory." --Psalm 50:15 (NLT).

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." --Matthew 11:28 (NIV).

"For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." --Isaiah 41:13.

When we are distraught, whatever the reason, He wants us to run to Him first. I know in my life, the first person I talk about my problems to is not God, and that is a problem. A quote that I've read often is "Do you pray about it as often as you talk about it?" Why wouldn't we run to God with our broken heart? Look in the New Testament with all of Jesus' miracles: if he can make the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame walk, he can help us with whatever is causing us grief.

Yes, friends are good to have: they give us encouraging words and reassurance that things will be alright, but that is only temporary. The permanence of God's peace is what we should strive to receive, and He will grant it to us! All we need to do is ask through prayer. The Lord knows our hearts and minds better than any other being in eternity. Even though that's the case, He still loves it when we come to Him on bended knee, telling Him everything. Jesus Calling says this in today's devotional:

"Bring Me all your feelings, even the ones you wish you didn't have. Fear and anxiety still plague you. ... Affirm your trust in Me, regardless of how you feel. If you persist, your feelings will eventually fall in line with your faith. ... Bring your anxieties out into the Light of My Presence, where we can deal with them together. Concentrate on trusting Me, and fearfulness will gradually lose its foothold within you."

 I'm one for worshiping God with music, and there are many places you can see artists showing us the powerful meaning of running to His arms:

"I believe that He's wanting you to know you will be safe in His arms. The arms that hold the universe are holding you tonight!"

Run to Him! Find peace in Him. Tell Him all that is troubling your heart. He will give you rest.

God bless!