Christmas

As we enter this Christmas season I pray that we’ll keep our eyes on the true meaning of Christmas. It is so easy to get sidetracked and lose focus on what is most important. As you go through this season, remember that God came from heaven to earth in the form of man.

Philippians 2: 6-11  Although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The God of the Universe came to earth from heaven through His Son Jesus. For so many the only thing they know about God's name is that you shouldn't use it in vain. But there's so much more to know including the fact that He has many different names.  Here are only fore of His names, what they mean, and how they can be a personal introduction to a more intimate understanding of God's heart and character.

• Jehovah Rohi: “The Lord my Shepherd” - Portrays the Lord as the Shepherd who cares for His people as a shepherd cares for the sheep of his pasture (Ps. 23:1)

• Jehovah Tsidkenu: “The Lord our righteousness” - Portrays the Lord as the means of our righteousness (Jer. 23:6).

• Jehovah Nissi: “The Lord our Banner” - Stresses that God is our rallying point and our means of victory; the one who fights for His people (Ex. 17:15).

• Immanuel: “God with us” – Stresses that God is always with us. (Isaiah 7:14).

Who We Are In Christ

I was talking to someone the other day that said that they were a Christian, but didn’t understand what that truly meant. They said, I’ve been a Christian for a long time but who am I in Christ?

When we know who we are, we’ll know what to do.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

In Christ we are a new creation, and we have a new purposes. It also says in
2 Corinthians 5:20, We are therefore Christ's Ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal

 through us.

So, we are a new creation, and an ambassador for Christ. An Ambassador, is the highest ranking diplomat sent as a representative from one country to another. As a Christian, we have been sent by God, as His Ambassador to this earth. We represent the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. When we know who we are, then we'll know what to do.

You are somebody in Christ!

Thailand Mission Trip June 1-15, 2011

Join us on our Thailand mission trip June 1-15, 2011

Conceal or Confess

From time to time we all live in a “Masquerade.” Like Adam and Eve hiding in the garden after they sinned or deceiving ourselves thinking that they were something that they were not or trying to hide our sin. Every day we have to decide to be real before God and our friends, or ware a mask.

When we sin we try and conceal our sin. We try to cover them up because we feel bad about them. We see this over and over again, in the first few stories in the Bible, Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel and Joseph and his brothers. When they sinned, each time there was a cover up. God does not want us to try and cover-up our sin, He wants us to confess our sins to Him. We can conceal them or we can confess them. The Bible says; He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them (his sin) finds mercy. Proverbs 28:13

So today, remove the mask, confess your sin and walk in forgiveness.

Drop The Mask

How many times do we try and play hide and seek with God? It’s like, we ware a mask, so people want see us, for who we really are. Unlike Halloween, where kids wear their mask for a few hours, we adults have been trained, conditioned, or tricked into wearing masks almost every day of our lives. We think, if I’m real people want like me, so we play the game. It’s time to stop playing the game. Drop the mask and be real.

A lot of times we wear mask trying to fill an inward emptiness. That emptiness can only be filled Christ alone.

God wants us to have the courage to be authentic. He already know where we are, He wants us to admit to ourselves where we are.

But no matter where we are, God love us, God forgive us, but we can’t go through life faking it! God wants us to drop the mask. None of us can do all that God wants us to do wearing a mask!

Just be real.

God Is With Me

How many times do you need to hear something before you get it? Last week over and over the 23 Psalm kept coming to me for different directions. How many times do I need to hear the same message before I get it?  Well for me it was the same message four times. I finally got it. Alan, the Lord is your Shepherd. He has your back. He will provide for you. It doesn’t matter what I’m walking through God is with me. It doesn’t how bad things look God is with me. When I’m in the valley He is with me. When I’m on top of the world He is with me. When things happen in our lives it doesn’t change who we are in Christ. He loves us and is with us. Remember, God is.

Take Five

I heard this said: “If Satan, our spiritual enemy, cannot make us really, really bad; he will try to make us really, really busy.” How busy are you? Most of us are convinced that the way we’re living our lives is necessary and right. We think; "this is the way we have to live! Busyness, = success, right?" We’ve bought into the lie, that to be successful in this world it’s completely necessary to run wide open 24/7. That's why what Paul wrote in Romans 12:2 is so important; "Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world."

So slow down and know. Psalm 46:10; "Be still and know that I am God."

Take five minutes a day, where you don't produce anything. Just be in God's presence, and just listen to Him. Let God speak to you.

Give God the Rudder

Many years ago I had a very wise man share with me something about following God. He said, Alan my dad shared this with me years ago. “It’s easyer for God to turn the rudder on a sailing ship than it is to untie you from the dock. So untie and let God have control of the rudder of your life.”

Maybe you are at the place where you need to let God have your rudder. Let go and trust God with your life.

I Saw God Today

A few days ago I received an e-mail from a friend in Thailand. It said, things are bad here, maybe it's time to close the doors on this mi nistry. As I prayed and listen to God, I didn't think that it was time to leave the ministry there. A few day later I received another e-mail stating that a 3000.00 donation had been made to the Door Foundation for Thailand.

If we will trust and seek God's face He will provide. I saw God today through the gift to help meet the needs of the people in Thailand. I am so glade the we didn't leave, we would have missed out on this huge blessing.