January 2008
"Snowflake"
God uses trials and
circumstances to fashion us into the creation He wants us to be, much like
creating a paper snowflake. We begin our lives as a blank sheet of paper. As
we progress through our walk, trials, obstacles, and hardships "chip" away at
us, wearing us down and seemingly hurting us. We experience correction and
judgments from God, and often wonder how life could be so horrid. In reality,
God is molding us and shaping us into a beautiful work of art, perfect in His
eyes.
God wants to shape us until completion:
"In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray
with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day
until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in
you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Philippians 1:4-6
Fruits Experienced through Trials:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you
face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your
faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3
" ... Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and
Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain
true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the
kingdom of God," they said," Acts 14:22
"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our
sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance character; and character, hope. And hope does not
disappoint up, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by
the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:3-5
Relying on God through the Trials
:
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean
not on your own understanding; in all of your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths strait." Proverbs 3: 5-6
"Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of
death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on
God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly
peril, and he will deliver us .. On him we have set our hope that he
will continue to deliver us." 2 Corinthians 1:9-10
CLAY
: An illustration- much like a snowflake, although actually in the Bible-
is the comparison between us and clay.
"Yet, O lord, you are our Father. We are the
clay, you are the potter; we are the work of your hand." Isaiah
64:8
When a pot is
created, the potter will reshape it many times. If he does not like it,
he does not throw it away, he instead mashes in back down and begins again.
Once formed, the pot goes thought firings and heat before it is complete. We
similarly go through trials. Nevertheless, God fashions us into a beautiful
masterpiece.
"But we had this treasure in jars of day to show
that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are
hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in
despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not
destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so
that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." 2
Corinthians 4: 8-10
In conclusion: "These have come so that you faith- of
greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire- may be
proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is
revealed." 1 Peter 1:7
December 2008
The many prophecies surrounding the birth and death of our
Savior are quite spectacular in the amount of them and the detail within each
one. Throughout the Old Testament, many verses wither prophesy how the Messiah
would be known or prove the fulfillment of other prophecies. We know Jesus is
the Messiah because He is the only one who fulfills every prophecy.
“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding,
so that we may know his who is true.” 1 John 5:20
Part of knowing the Son of God is knowing how and why the Christmas story
came about.
I.) God performed a miracle when He condescended, lowered and
humbled Himself, and came down to earth, to20swell with us so that His creation,
His people might have hope.
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: the virgin will be with
child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
Perhaps the greatest amazement is the observation of how much that little
baby in the manger would accomplish. Because of His birth, we have hope, where
before we would have been hopeless, we have a future, a hope of heaven available
to all, we have a promise of peace and we have so much more. All of this in a
tiny baby.
“For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given and the government will
be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, mighty God,
everlasting Father, Prince of Peace… and of t he increase of his government and
peace there will be no end…” Isaiah 9:6-7
Nevertheless, despite the sin, wickedness, disobedience, and mistakes mad
throughout the history of mankind God was willing to give us the greatest gift
He could ever offer- His Son.
“For God so loved the World that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God sent not
his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whosoever does not
believe stands condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of
God’s one and only Son.” John 3: 16-18
II.) God gave us hope; He brought a light to our darkness. No matter
how desperate our lives get, we always have hope of a light to lead us out of
the darkness.
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is
light; in him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5
In “the greatest miracle”, God brought us an everlasting light through His
Son, Jesus Christ. God sent light to a people who had been waiting for what
seemed like eternity for a Messiah.
“The people waling in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in
the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2
“For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the
sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for Glory to you
people Israel.” Luck 2:30-32
“He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens
like a tent.” Psalm 105:2
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the
world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light
of life.’” John 8:12
“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light
shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Christ.” 2 Cor 4:6
III.) God sent us a Child of Light in His Son, Jesus Christ, Immanuel.
Because of the prophecies foretelling how we would know the Messiah, we know Him
to be Jesus.
Because God Loved us so much, we need never be afraid of the dark, because
God sent His son to earth, to be born to a virgin name Mary, wrapped in
swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, to be announced by angels to shepherds
in a filed and to be presented with gifts by wise men. He sent His to live an
extraordinary life in which He demonstrated wisdom beyond His years at the age
of 12, to be very much like us, and yet not, to heal the sick and lame, to bring
sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, to teach live to20those around him,
and finally, to die on a cross so that we may be saved. Because of the baby in
the manger, Jesus, the Light, we have hope of Heaven, where
“The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it; for the glory
of God is light and the Lamb is its lamp.’ Revelation 21:23
We need not worry of fear, for the Light of the Lord is always with us, if we
have accepted Him.
“This is the verdict: Light has some into the world, but men loved
darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil…. But whoever lives by
the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what He has
done has been thought God.” John 3:19, 21
Smile! God Loves YOU !
Meagan Victoria Pike
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This Baby
Steven Curtis Chapman
Well, He cried when He was hungry,
Did all the things that babies do;
He rocked and He napped on His mother’s lap,
And He wiggled and giggled and cooed.
There were the cheers when He took His first step,
And the tears when He got His first teeth;
Almost everything about this little baby
Seemed as natural as it could be.
CHORUS
But this baby made the angels sing,
And this baby made a new star shine in the sky.
This baby had come to change the world.
This baby was God’s own son, this baby was like no other one.
This baby was God with us, this baby was Jesus.
And this baby grew into a young boy,
Who learned to read and write and wrestle with dad;
There was the climbin’ of trees and the scrapin’ of knees,
And all the fun that a boy’s born to have.
He grew taller and some things started changing,
Like His complexion and the sound of His voice;
There was work to be done as a carpenter’s son
And all the neighbors said He’s such a fine boy.
But this boy made the angels sing,
And this boy made a new star shine in the sky.
This boy had come to change the world.
This boy was God’s own son, this boy was like no other one.
This boy was God with us. This boy became a man,
And love made Him laugh and death made Him cry.
With the life that He lived and the death that He died,
He showed us heaven with His hands and His heart,
‘Cause this man was God’s own son.
This man was like no other one,
Holy and human right from the start.
(chorus)
This baby was God with us, this baby, this baby was Jesus;
this baby was Jesus, this baby was Jesus