Light of the World

lifewords 12.22.10 It's a wonderful December 22 and our King  is light and in Him is no darkness! In John 8:12 Jesus declares, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." In His light we see light!  In John 1 we read about John the Baptist who"bore witness of the light......the true light, which coming into the world, enlightens every man." Jesus Christ is the true light Who enlightens every person. This Christmas let's walk in the Light!  Invite Him, through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, to enlighten your understanding and illuminate your spiritual eyes.  He will!  I'm so thankful we are not groping around in the darkness of uncertainty and fear.  We can be a people who walk in the Light of understanding and love and wisdom.   Not only is He our light,  but the more we abide in Him, His light can be seen in us. This Christmas let's "Arise and shine, for our light has come!" Is. 60:1 How appropriate that a great star of light announced the location of the Savior of the world.  The wise men recognized that light and traveled many miles to come and worship the King who had been born. It says that "when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy." Now He resides in our heart,  and His light in us marks the place of His dwelling so that others are drawn to it.  Seeing the light of Jesus Christ in us causes others to rejoice exceedingly!     I believe on of the key truths of Christmas is that, just as that star led the magi to the Savior, His light in us can beckon people to Him.  Jesus, who declared that He was the Light of the world, tells His disciples  in Matthew 5:14, that THEY are the light of the world: "You are the light of the world.......a city set on a hill cannot be hidden.." Oh that we would walk in the Light and Truth this Christmas,  and as we yield to His Lordship in our lives His Light in us would draw precious people to Him! This is the Commission that He has given each of us, as the chief assignment of our days.   We are the stars of light that direct this world to the Savior who loves them and desires reconciliation and relationship with them.  Whether it is your dear spouse, your precious children, your family members, your friends, or strangers you encounter, happy people or sad, young people or elderly, people who deserve it or people who don't... Let those around you see the Savior in your eyes today.  Allow them to hear the Savior's Words of Life on your lips today. Intentionally purpose in your heart that your actions of love will cause people to see the Savior and rejoice exceedingly. His great love, demonstrated through you will draw people to a personal relationship with Him.He is the Light of the World, Let His Light Shine  in the darkness through you this day!!!!!!!!!!

Abide in Him

It's a wonderful December 21 and I'm praying for you now, rejoicing in these words of Jesus: "If you abide in Me and My Word abides in you, ask whatever you will and it shall be done for you." I believe that  as we learn  to abide in Him, the Holy Spirit orchestrates our praying according to the  living Word of God. Abiding in Him is abiding in His Word.  He is the Word of God.  Remember in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. " Then in John 14, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." This is the message of Christmas! Mary, Joseph, the angels and the shepherds saw His glory as he lay, wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger. The wise men saw His glory as they bowed before Him, bearing gifts. Many saw His glory during His life and ministry on this earth. Now we behold His glory, full of grace and truth, as we spend time in the Word. We experience His glory as we spend time with the Word. We are filled with His glory as we abide in His Word. We radiate His glory, full of grace and truth, to the precious people around us as we spend time in His Word, in His presence! This week let's behold Him, let's abide in Him, let's be the manifestation of His glory to the world.

Emmanuel God with Us

 

lifewords 12.20.10   Hi and I'm praying for you now as the rain falls, thinking of His lavish love for you this Christmas season. I'm praying that the abiding presence of the Prince of Peace saturates you today. Remember His Name is Emmanuel God With Us! According John chapter one, "He is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the  only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."  Oh this precious Savior who came to redeem us all back to God and extends us the invitation to be His very dwelling place!   His desire for us this Christmas season is the fullness of His presence in us and through us. I was thinking of John 1:16, "For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace."  Let's allow the fullness of His Peace to replace anxiety and stress now.  Let's yield to the fullness of His love to dispel fear, selfishness and doubt.  Let's embrace the fullness of His joy. In His presence is fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11) Let's permit the Light of the World to flood us with the fullness of His light! Remember John 1:4, "In Him is life, and the life is the light of men." Oh how He desires us to be full of Him, grace upon grace! Not full of ourselves, but the fullness of Him.  He is our All in All.   Let's commit to allow Galatians 2:20 to become a reality in us this season. "I've been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. YET NOT I BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME, and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave His life for me."   This week, let's agree with Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:19 that we may be "filled up with all the fullness of God."  This is the miracle of Christmas, Emmanuel God with Us and in us!

The Manger is the Feeding Trough

lifewords 12.18.10  Hello and I'm praying for you this morning, thinking of how incredible our King is. He is the Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace and He shall reign forever!  I pray that each day this Christmas season you will experience Him as He is, Emmanuel God with us.  We are no longer separated, no longer in darkness, no longer bound to the penalty of sin... because God so loved the world that He sent His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life!  Oh this is the miracle of Christmas, that God has come to dwell in our hearts.   Today I was thinking about Jesus' birth.  We know from  Luke 2:12, that His parents wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger.  A Manger. All our lives we've been hearing the song at Christmas "Away in a manger, no crib for a bed....."  As we arrange our Nativity set, we place baby Jesus in the manger. We've seen countless pictures of Jesus in the manger.  Oh but today I'm thinking of the amazing significance of that manger, an intentional orchestration of the Holy Spirit. The manger was an animal feeding trough.  Here is the definition from Webster's. "A manger is a trough or box of carved stone or wood construction used to hold food for animals (as in a stable)." The animals would come and linger at the feeding trough, finding nourishment as they chewed and digested the food. Fast forward to Jesus in the manger, and the angels announcing to the shepherds  that the Savior had been born and  that they would "find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger." Oh the joy as they went to search for Him in Bethlehem...and they did find Him, in the manger, just as the angel had declared!  The Savior, the long awaited King of Kings, Emmanuel God with us, was found in the feeding trough.   How appropriate that 30 years later, Jesus would call Himself the Bread of Life in John 6:35. He said, "I am the Bread of Life, whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst."   In verses 48-51 He continues to speak of Himself as the Living Bread. It is also amazing that when Satan came to test Jesus in the wilderness, our King associates the Word with food,  quoting from Deut. 8,"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God."(Luke 4)  The Word is our daily nourishment and sustenance. Just as the shepherds searched for Him and found Him in the manger, we now search for Him and find Him in the Word.  Meditating in the pages of the Living Word is feeding at the feeding trough. To obtain our daily life's nourishment, we much search for it and find it and linger there at the feeding trough of the Word. Now we can say with the Psalmist in Psalm 34:8, "O taste and see that the Lord is good!"   Psalm 11:4  can be a favorite this Christmas! "He provides food for those who fear Him, He remembers His covenant forever."   Every day, let's come to the feeding trough  of the Bible and find Him there, with Psalm 81:10 in mind..."open your mouth wide, and I will fill it!"