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"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined..."

This Christmas, let us never lose sight of this fact: that He was born to die so that we who are dead could live. In the exultant celebration of Jesus' birth, remember that the gift God gave us is Jesus' death.

Just as a loving mother restricts her baby's motion to help it to rest more comfortably, let us allow God to swaddle us with His Word so that we might find true peace. And may God swaddle us with His Will so that we will love and serve our fellowmen, putting their needs ahead of our own.

Trials in life are certainly not desirable! They are not comfortable, they may cause us pain and inconvenience, but when they are brought by God into our lives there is most definitely something He wants us to learn from them!

It is crucial for every child of God to realize that satan is always on the prowl to destroy the testimony of Christians by throwing temptations into their path. The devil knows our weaknesses sometimes better than we even do! And, He will keep hitting on those areas of our life to try and make us stumble.

It is mercy, God's mercy, that makes Salvation available. Mercy opens the door of Salvation to let us into the Kingdom of God.

There are times when God wants to do a new thing in our lives.

God loves us every day, and every moment of every day. He wants us to come to Him with our burdens and troubles, to commune, to fellowship, to talk with Him every day, and every moment of every day.

As Jesus sent His disciples out into a world that would be hostile to them, that would imprison them and beat them and kill them, what they needed to succeed wasn't a new car, or perfect teeth or a retirement plan. What they needed to live successfully (as God defines it) was The Comforter. 

Lately my dog has been doing a pretty good job of keeping me humble. Whenever I am tempted to lose patience with him, I am halted by the thought that God is so incredibly patient with me. I'm reminded of my own shortcomings…

God already knows the state of our thoughts and hearts, but many times we do not. By His "searching" and "testing" it is revealed to us what we are truly like…

The story of the shepherd seeking his lost sheep became very, very real to me that night, and I'm not ashamed to admit that those stupid lost hens brought me to tears of humility. Do we not do the same to our Heavenly Father? He shows us green fields, and we race back to the emptiness of what's familiar… even those with years of experience in walking with God, we can be caught unawares. All of us, at some time or another, stray away from God's best, and need the Shepherd to come find us. 

Our clothing consists of hearts that are tender and filled with compassion displaying mercy; human-kindness that overflows to meet the needs of others; a humble preference to put others first; a meek, spirit-controlled temperament; and the willingness to go the distance with others without complaint-these are the new clothes.

Whatever the suffering we might be experiencing as a consequence for following our own way instead of God's way, the promise of God still extends to us: If we will recommit our lives to Him; if we will serve Him; if we will do things His way; if we will look at life through His eyes; then God promises to restore the years we have lost: "the years that the locust hath eaten".

If the people of Capernaum refused to believe Jesus when He identified Himself as the Messiah, do you think they would have believed it if the devils declared it?? Certainly not, it would just have been a bigger spectacle. Likewise, anyone who refuses to accept Jesus as Saviour now, will reject Him even if demons jumped up and declared him to be the Son of God.

The same God that formed us in our mothers' wombs desires a personal relationship with us. While we are in human corruptible flesh we are only able to have access to Him through an incorruptible, sinless representative. Jesus is the one and only High Priest who fits that description.

Jesus' resurrection… gives us hope that we too can live our lives unburdened by sin/sinfulness/the sin-nature. We have a hope for the present, for our day-to-day walk, that sin does not have to rule over our lives: Jesus' resurrection means we are free.

sermons gracegems

The 10 Commandments, Sabbath days and feast, lambs and oxen, the cleansing of mildew . . . what does this all have to do with the Christian today? Are we merely New Testament people who consult the Old only for Bible trivia purposes?