What It Means To Be Wise

I really believe that the Christmas season should be celebrated all year long. We should be kind, generous and loving each other every day and not just during the Christmas season. The Bible tells us that wise men came to Bethlehem to worship and present gifts to Jesus Christ.  They were guided by a bright star and found the one that would change the life of all who sought Him.

Wise people are always seeking direction. They are looking for the light; maybe not a star but they are looking for a light that will make them successful and give their life meaning and purpose. You are a wise person if you seek the Lord Jesus Christ and make a decision to follow him. You will find Him in the Word of God and be able to understand that He came to this earth to give you life and life more abundantly. The guidance you will receive if you follow Him will lead to a life that will please God and ensure you of spending eternity with Him. God wants to give you this type of insight that you can get only by being close to Him just like the wise men. You will feel fulfilled and not have to live in confusion but have a peace that surpasses all understanding.

God wants you to understand that He has given to all men a light, a light that will draw you to Him and will guide you every day for the rest of your life. God wants to be your friend. He doesn’t want you to be in darkness. He doesn’t want you to be in fear. He wants you to have peace. He wants you to grab a hold of the most amazing gift you will ever receive. This man called Jesus is still calling wise men and women to come and follow Him. If you have not yet seen this light, seek Him with all of your heart and you will find Him and when you find Him, you will also become wise.

The Greatest Gift Of All

At Christmas time we find ourselves getting all wrapped up with the business of the holiday rather than the true meaning of what Christmas is all about. Many people will be content to go through the motions. They will endure the busy activity of the season without ever experiencing the miracle of Christmas. They will go through all the decorating and buying presents and preparing elaborate meals, but somehow forget the reason for the season.

This Christmas season spend some moments reflecting on the significance of Christ’s birth. The coming of Christ into the world was not a matter of chance or coincidence. His coming was part of God’s divine plan established before the foundation of the world. This Christmas I pray that we can focus on the greatest gift of all, the gift that God sent to us, and if you need a miracle in your life, Christ is the greatest miracle you will ever receive. Just when we need Him most, He is there. God knows exactly what you are going through. He knows exactly what you need. At just the right time He will come to you and provide what you need for the moment. His timing is always perfect.

Christmas time has become a time of worry, fret, and hassle but God’s gift to you is one of salvation and peace. Jesus said in John 14:27 “peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” The peace found in the world depends upon your circumstances; it depends upon the people you know and how much money you have. All of that is temporary but the gift of peace that God gives is eternal and found only in a relationship with Him.

To the Christian, Christmas means that their Lord and Savior came to this earth to establish God’s kingdom here on earth and His peace and power to overcome the world was bestowed upon them. Christians celebrate God’s gift by sharing the good news with everyone they meet. Yes they buy gifts for others and even put up a Christmas tree, but they carry within their hearts the love of God for all people all over the world.

What does Christmas mean to you?

God’s Grace Is Sufficient

I’m sure you have discovered that some days are more challenging than other days, but we don’t have to be miserable, frustrated and unhappy in difficult places. There always seems to be different things happening that can affect our plans. We must learn that our joy is not based on our circumstances. We have to find a way to stay happy, even when our circumstances don’t suit us or we don’t get a breakthrough as quickly as we’d like. God will always give us the ability to get though our circumstances with joy because His grace is made available to us each and every day. If God asks us to stay in a situation, then He is going to give us a special grace, for a special season, to experience His peace and joy despite the circumstances. It’s the kind of grace that causes other people to look at us and think I’m just amazed you are able to do this and still have so much joy and peace.

As Christians, I believe the attitude we live with and the level of joy, peace and stability seen in our life is what will speak to the people around us much more than if we try to preach to them. It’s about how we live our life in front of them, especially when things are not going perfectly for us all the time. The same way we receive Christ is the same way we are supposed to live each day of our life in total, complete dependence on God. Too often we struggle with ourselves and our weaknesses, but what we really need to do is just give our situations to God and learn to trust and wait on Him to work things out for us. The Bible tells us that all things will work together for our good if we are called to His purposes and by casting our cares upon the Lord, the things we are concerned about will just dissipate because of the power of God in our life.

Think about the good things in your life and be thankful and grateful for them. Spend time in prayer just thanking God for all He has already done for you. It’s so easy to spend time asking God for this or that but make it a point to say ‘thank you’ each and every day. No matter how difficult your situation may be, someone wishes that they had it as good as you do. God is good and God is faithful. Don’t lean to your own understanding on why things are the way they are. Praise God for who He is and grab a hold of His amazing grace. Walk in His light and experience His joy and His peace no matter what is going on in your life. You have a lot to be thankful for and if anyone asks tell them that the joy of the Lord is your strength!

Need An Appraisal?

Everyone wants to be loved because without it, we feel worthless and unimportant. In our society today, we base how important a person is by their appearance, their achievement, their wealth and by what other people think about them. The problem with that is none of those four things are constant. They all will change depending on circumstances. Appearances will change with time; wealth can come and go; people might like you one day and disapprove of you the next. Therefore, you must never base your self -worth on the things you possess or on the opinions of other people. You are to build your self- image and self- worth on what God thinks about you and not on what other people think about you. If you really understand what God thinks of you, it will change the way you see yourself.

No matter how badly you feel when no one else seems to notice you, know that Jesus will notice you.  You might think that God has forgotten you, but truthfully, God has never taken His eyes off of you since you became His. God has seen every step you have taken. He has seen every mistake you have made and for sure. He is looking at you at this very second! Don’t relate God to man. In our eyes, no one really cares about us or the challenges we face every day because everyone has their own problems. And, perhaps we get so busy that we don’t pay that much attention to God except on Sunday morning, so it’s easy to think that God doesn’t care but you matter so much to Him. Jesus said in Luke 12:7 ‘why even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Fear not, you are of more value than many sparrows.’ Do you know that the deepest expression of love is attention? When you give someone your attention, you are giving them your love. When you can’t depend on anyone else loving you, you can depend upon God’s love.

In the art world, there are two kinds of artwork; there are prints, which are mass produced, all identical to each other; and there are masterpieces – one of a kind. You are a masterpiece – one of a kind – uniquely made for God’s purposes and if you are the owner of a masterpiece, you watch over it and take special care of it. Masterpieces never lose their value, they increase in time. Think about that for a moment – you are increasing in value to God each and every day. Some of us have come from not so good backgrounds; some very bad things have been spoken to you; you might have been told that you would never amount to anything. The only way to get over all of that is to replace those negative things with the truth that you are special to God despite what others might have told you. The world can put you down but God will lift you up!

It might be hard to believe or accept but no matter where you have come from, or what you have done, God still wants to have a personal relationship with you. The fact that God wants a relationship with us tells us how much God loves us and that He wants us to come to Him just as we are no matter what condition we are in. Never think that if we go to God with all of the dirt in our lives that He will reject us. Satan wants you to think that way, but nothing could be further from the truth. You are valuable to God and stop letting the opinions of other people make you feel worthless. John 15:9 says ‘as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Abide in my love.’  You won’t need a second opinion after you have received God’s appraisal of you.