Where Did The Years Go?

I have been a Christian for 18 years now...

...I am not sure of the exact day...but the day I first cried up to Jesus to save me and change me was somewhere in the first week of Jan, 1991...wow!

Jesus, in His unending love and mercy drew me to Himself, showed me that my radical self-centeredness was never going to produce the joy and contentment that it promised, and at the very same time, revealed to Me His love, forgiveness and beauty.

Jesus pulled me out of the darkness that surrounded me, the darkness that had penetrated my heart to its very depths...and He opened my spiritual eyes so that I could see Him for who He really was...The One and Only God come in human nature to save those who could never save themselves.

It was pretty early on in my walk with Jesus that I found myself in roles where I was ministering and teaching others about God's amazing grace.

God tells us in His word that not many should desire to be teachers...for they will receive a more strict judgment...it is truly humbling to be called into a place where you proclaim to others the words that come from God.

It is humbling...because you know that you still struggle with pride, with various lusts, with coldness of heart towards the Saviour...

But it is this on-going battle that should continually drive the Christian back to Jesus and His amazing grace...

Each year I am reminded [by my own sin] that I need Jesus just as much now...as when I first met Him 18 years ago.

Has my life changed? Yes, very much so.

Jesus, by His Spirit, began a work in me 18 years ago, where He has been shaping and molding me more and more into His image...He has given me His strength to overcome sins that I couldn't overcome on my own.

But if you were ever to ask me...that even in my best moments...if I would want the High and Exalted God...the Holy One...to judge me according to my thoughts, motives, words and deeds...I would quickly decline.

My only hope is Jesus! Only Jesus loved God with all His heart, soul, strength and mind, and only Jesus perfectly loved His neighbor [us] as Himself...

Because Jesus is the One and Only God...become man.

As God the Son, Jesus knows what it is to love God with all of heart, soul and mind and strength...because He has been loving God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit perfectly for all eternity...

And only Jesus truly loved His neighbor as Himself...because even though He had no obligation to save us...He chose to leave heaven...and to come to earth to save us.

...Jesus never sinned...Jesus died because we continually sin...Jesus is our only hope.

...Jesus rose from the grave...proclaiming that His sacrifice for our sins [His death on the cross] was received and accepted by God the Father...

...and that all those who come to Jesus, seeking forgiveness and new life...will receive this forgiveness...will receive new life...will receive eternal life!


...Even after 18 years...there just isn't a better story in town.

Good Little Tax Payer

Amazing grace...how sweet the sound..that saved a wretch...like me.

God's grace...as revealed in the Gospel...the message of the Cross of Jesus is truly amazing!

It is also something that scares the pants off of people.

If you ask "why is that?"...maybe you need to look at God's grace again.

The reason why so many people like to think that their "right standing" with God as something that involves their good deeds or their works is because if salvation depends upon us performing for God...doing what He requires...

...then God becomes our debtor.

All of a sudden we view ourselves as tax payers...we have done as our government has said...and now we have rights...there are limits on what God can ask of us...

But...

We our debt is so great...

...that we could never pay it...

...and God came and paid the price for us...

...then there is no limit to what He can ask of us...

Amazing...and sobering...

Christmas Bubble

Did you know that 80-85% of the world’s wealth is enjoyed by 5-10 % of the world’s population? As Canadians we are living in a protective bubble that other people in the world can not even begin to imagine. In some parts of the world starvation and death are daily events. Fresh drinking water is a rarity. Food is so scarce that meals aren’t experienced on a daily basis.
But I am not telling you something you that you don’t already know. Because of the electronic media we are now aware of the “bubble” we live in, and of the horrible reality that some people call “life”.

We Canadians, will spend multi-millions of dollars this Christmas, but where does all this money go? Does getting into the Christmas “spirit” merely involve putting up the lights, preparing and feasting on tasty food and drink, and exchanging gifts with friends and family?

At the first Christmas we see God entering into human history, being born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus Christ was the first and greatest gift ever given!

God became a man, so that He could rescue humanity from their self centered sinfulness. He came to turn them away from loving “self” first and foremost… and to turn them back to loving God and loving neighbor…like God had first planned in the beginning.

As the Creator of everything, God owned everything. Everything that man possessed was only on loan. This meant that man had nothing to offer to God. Add to this equation that man had rebelled against his Creator and was very content on being his own little god and you have a very sad tale indeed.

So what did God do? Did He look for people who loved Him, and then poured gifts upon them? There was none who loved Him. Did He look for those who could give Him gifts in return, and then pour gifts on them, awaiting the return load in the future? What would be the point, He owned everything anyways.

Instead, God sent His greatest gift, His only Son, to those who were so utterly bankrupt that they could never pay Him back. Why would He do that?
Because that is what love is, and that is what love does. God doesn’t love mankind in order for what He will receive, but for what He can give.

Before we ever ask God why He allows people to live in poverty, hunger and nakedness, we better first look in the mirror. Why do we allow this? Has God given North America such abundance merely for us to spend it on ourselves? Or does God want us to mirror His loving, sacrificial giving so that those who have little can be helped by those who have much? May God bless us with a very Merry Christmas, as we give to our family and friends, and also give to those who will never be able to return the favor.

Treasures For The King [Part 3]

Immediately upon entering the cave I began to plunge into its depths. Surrounded in a darkness that was so complete, so hungry that I could actually feel it groping at me, trying to seek out any tidbit of light it could get its teeth in to, in order to consume and devour it into its black pit of despair. I slapped my hands at the darkness like a helpless child, trying to knock it away, but it resisted all my defenses and continued to tighten around me like a vice.

I wasn‘t merely falling, I was tumbling, spinning, flailing as I descended down the depths of this enormous monster‘s throat. My arms desperately swung around me, seeking something to grab on to, something to stop me falling, but nothing was there. As I spun end over end, faster and faster, my mind began to scream in confusion, my stomach lurched unendingly, promising to expel all of its contents but never being true to its word. Every fiber of my being began to feverishly cry out for the descent into confusion to end, begged and pleaded to meet the inevitable bottom of this horrible pit, but it didn’t come. The constant high pitched siren that echoed off the invisible walls of this horrible bottomless chamber, was my own voice screeching as I plunged into ceaseless destruction. In the crushing blackness, with no markers of space, distance or time, with pain consuming my thoughts, gnawing on every nerve fiber with an insatiable appetite, I fell. Whether I suffered for a millennia, ten millennia, or twenty minutes I did not know. All standards to gauge such things had been banished from this black hole. The ever allusive bottom of the pit beckoned me to it with horrifying tones of eternity in its voice.

Without warning, a noise with the force of a thousand water falls, exploded into the blackness of the cave. A voice with such power as to make the walls shake, the ground quake. This voice stopped my descent with such rapidity that I actually thought I had hit the caves bottom. In a blink of an eye, my body was instantaneously catapulted in the opposite direction, hurling up the cave with such speed as to make my head swim. At this very same instant the darkness of the cave folded in on itself, vanishing completely. Left in its place was a light so brilliant, so dazzling, that it pierced my eyes with burning intensity. I was blinded by the light, racing towards the sun.

Give me a pill and everything will be just fine…really.

The easiest lie ever told is one that the receiver desires to believe.

The lie is told.

The lie is received and believed.

Put the seal on the deal.

But its not over.

Ideas have consequences…

Whether they be good…

…or bad.

Many people long to believe the lie that says “a person may do horrible, wicked, and evil deeds…but deep down inside they are still a good person.”

We want to believe this…we really do.

Jesus said that a good tree will not produce bad fruit…and a bad tree will not produce good fruit…

Hmmm…that doesn’t sound like the lie we like to have tickling our ears…does it?

We live in a culture where people want the freedom to live as wickedly as they please…

BUT…

They don’t want the consequences that come from those beliefs and actions!

They want to be able to lie, cheat, steal, be the town whore [without pay], use their tongue to destroy people, live in worry and hatred…

They don’t want any of this Jesus crap…God’s love, confession of sin, forgiveness, reconciliation…

That’s just a waste of precious time and energy.

But their conscience is killing them…they feel like they are in a black pit of despair…that is slowly sucking the life and joy out of them…

So how do they stop from feeling bad?

Do they cry up to God to forgive them, and to give them the new power to change…to stop doing evil…to repent [change of mind and life]…

Do they stop feeling bad…by stop being bad?

Naw…

They take a little pill that numbs their conscience…that way they can still feel good without having to stop being bad…

But don’t be fooled…that little pill packs a terrible little secret…it isn't a cure for depression...it only holds down the monster...for now...but as wicked deeds accumulate...the monster grows...gets stronger.