Christmas time I have to say is one of the times of year I love. It has always been this way for me. I can remember as far back as a child, how my parents made this a special time of year. I was not a believer way back then, but my parents always had good values. Family ment everything to them and it still does. I remember one Christmas I wanted this doll that was called a "Walking Doll". It was bigger then I was and when you stood it up, you could move the legs back and forth as you walked it. I remember waking up Christmas morning and there under the tree were two dolls, one for my sister Sandy and one for me, we both were so thrilled. I remember traditions that have been passed down by my Grandmother to my mother then to us and now my older daughter is now passing them on to her chidren. Christmas time in our family has been a time where we all, Brother and sisters can get together with our parents and our families and reminise about the Christmas's before or what has been happening in each of our lives. We all meet Christmas Eve at our parents house and eat and laugh and even sometimes cry over the loss of loved ones not there to share this time with us. We eat moms famous Meat Pie and Sausage Rolls and we all bring other food to share. We then all sit together and open presents from one another. It is one time of the year I can look back at with a smile and warmth.
This Christmas was a time of reflecting too. It started our a week before Christmas, we stopped at my parents to drop off some Can's of Coffee we had bought the week before for my parents. I knocked at the door a few times and there was no answer. It worried me a bit because my dad and mom knew we were coming and they were not home. We headed home and when I checked the messages on the phone, there was a message from my mom, dad had a heart attack. We rushed up to the Hospital and found out it was a serious one. He was hooked up to many machines and the doctors were doing all kinds of tests on him. The doctors informed us it did not look good. All his valves to the heart were blocked except one and it was only working 30% andit had calapsed. They said they were going to go and see if they could put a stent in, to open it up. We waited as they prepared him and finally the doctor came and said he refused to do it because he believed my dad would not come out of the operationing room alive. We were all upset by this news. They put dad back in his room and had to give him a shot because they had weaned him off his blood thinner. He needed rest so we all went home. I went home that night so upset because yes I knew I might loose my father but mostly because I was not sure of his salvation.
As far back as I can remember my parents have knelt down side by side and prayed every night. The read their bible daily and thier devotions too but I still feel they base their salvation on works, I am not 100% sure if they know the Lord personally. I need to feel that they do. So when I got home that night I cold not hardly sleep at all. I would fall asleep for awhile and then just wake up and cry out to the Lord that he was first save my dad and secondly give us a few more months at least. I have to say I have not prayed like that for many years and it made me feel so guilty. I kept thinking why does it take this to happen for me to spend that much time in prayer. Lord forgive me.
The next day the doctors were preping him again for the surgery and the same doctor refused my dad again and then a younger doctor agreed to do it. My dad and mom sat in the room and talked together about thier options and they both decided to have the surgery done. It was hard for us all. They asked my mom to go down to the waiting room while they got him ready and as they were doing that he went into cardiact arrest and they had to use the paddles to revive him. They rushed him down to OR and he was quite upset because he wanted to see my mom before he went in but there was no time. The doctor got the stent in but it was very hard to do. The doctor came out with no bed side manner and just told us, he has no hope that my dad will live much longer. My sister Sandy got upset with how he told my mom and I just told her, this doctor does not have the last say I said there is a greater physician and Healer and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord uses so many situations for us to speak of his greatness, you see my Sister is not saved yet I seen a calmness about her when I said that. My dad's heart attack has given us many reasons for Jim, myself and our children that are saved to bring glory to God and and I am so thankful for that. My dad is home now, it has been a week and three more days the Lord has given us with him and I say "To God be the Glory."
So another Christmas that has been a blessing to me, I have to say more then any Christmas. We didn't just get together and celebrate Christmas, we got together and celebrated what God had done by answering prayer and giving us a little more time with my dad.
Thank you Lord and I would ask for prayer that the Lord would give me the right words in sharing the Gospel and that I can feel 100% that my praents know Him personally. I have shared the Gospel to them many times but I just don't feel 100% about what they base thier Salvation on. I hope I don't sound hard?
May you all have a Happy New Year and that it will Glorify God!
Cristina
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Sunday, December 24, 2006
A BABE WAS BORN TO DIE ON A CROSS
A babe that was born to die on a cross....."O Jesus, 'despised and rejected of men,' how couldst Thou die for men who treated Thee so ill? Herein is love amazing, love divine, yea, love beyond degree. We, too, have despised Thee in the days of our unregeneracy, and even since our new birth we have set the world on high in our hearts, and yet Thou bleedest to heal our wounds, and diest to give us life." Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Approaching us is what a lot of the world sees as the day of the birth of Christ, December 25th. The truth is, we simply don’t know the exact date of our Savior’s birth.
if God felt it was important for us to know the exact date of the Savior’s birth, He certainly would have told us in His Word. The Gospel of Luke gives very specific details about the event, even down to what the baby was wearing – “swaddling clothes” - and where he slept – “in a manger” (Luke 2:12). These details are important because they speak of His nature and character, meek and lowly. But the exact date of His birth has no significance whatsoever, which may be why God chose not mention it.
The fact is that He was born, that He came into the world to atone for our sins, that He was resurrected to eternal life, and that He’s alive today. This is what we should celebrate, as we are told in the Old Testament in such passages as Zechariah 2:10: "'Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,' declares the LORD.” Further, the angel that announced the birth to the shepherds brought “good tidings of great joy” (Luke 2:10). Surely here is the cause for celebration every day, not just once a year.
The true meaning of Christmas is God's becoming a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ. Why did God do such a thing? Because He loves us! Why was Christmas necessary? Because we needed a Savior! Why does God love us so much? Because He is love (1 John 4:8)! Why do we celebrate Christmas each year? Out of gratitude for what God did for us, we remember His birth by giving each other gifts, worshipping Him, and being especially conscious of the poor and less fortunate.
The true meaning of Christmas is LOVE. God loved us so much that He wanted to provide a way for us to spend eternity with Him. He gave His only Son to take our punishment for our sins, He paid the price in full! We are free from condemnation when we accept that free gift of LOVE. "But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Resource: God's Gift of Christmas by John MacArthur.
May you all have a Christmas full of Christ and centered on Christ and may we all brothers and sisters be grateful for this babe that was born so that His own may live. The greatest sacrifice of all is to lay down your life for another.
Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, and will be fuel for the fire. For unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:5, 6)
Cristina
Approaching us is what a lot of the world sees as the day of the birth of Christ, December 25th. The truth is, we simply don’t know the exact date of our Savior’s birth.
if God felt it was important for us to know the exact date of the Savior’s birth, He certainly would have told us in His Word. The Gospel of Luke gives very specific details about the event, even down to what the baby was wearing – “swaddling clothes” - and where he slept – “in a manger” (Luke 2:12). These details are important because they speak of His nature and character, meek and lowly. But the exact date of His birth has no significance whatsoever, which may be why God chose not mention it.
The fact is that He was born, that He came into the world to atone for our sins, that He was resurrected to eternal life, and that He’s alive today. This is what we should celebrate, as we are told in the Old Testament in such passages as Zechariah 2:10: "'Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,' declares the LORD.” Further, the angel that announced the birth to the shepherds brought “good tidings of great joy” (Luke 2:10). Surely here is the cause for celebration every day, not just once a year.
The true meaning of Christmas is God's becoming a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ. Why did God do such a thing? Because He loves us! Why was Christmas necessary? Because we needed a Savior! Why does God love us so much? Because He is love (1 John 4:8)! Why do we celebrate Christmas each year? Out of gratitude for what God did for us, we remember His birth by giving each other gifts, worshipping Him, and being especially conscious of the poor and less fortunate.
The true meaning of Christmas is LOVE. God loved us so much that He wanted to provide a way for us to spend eternity with Him. He gave His only Son to take our punishment for our sins, He paid the price in full! We are free from condemnation when we accept that free gift of LOVE. "But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Resource: God's Gift of Christmas by John MacArthur.
May you all have a Christmas full of Christ and centered on Christ and may we all brothers and sisters be grateful for this babe that was born so that His own may live. The greatest sacrifice of all is to lay down your life for another.
Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, and will be fuel for the fire. For unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:5, 6)
Cristina
Thursday, December 14, 2006
A COLLECTIONS OF QUOTES CONCERNING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch of their flocks at night. Anangel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. - Luke 2:8-11It was great condescension that He who was God should be made in the likeness of flesh; but much greater that He who was holy should be made in the likeness of sinful flesh. MATHEW HENRY
We should rejoice, that the immortal God is born, so that mortal man may live in eternity.
There is no name so sweet on earth, no name so sweet in heaven, The name, before His wondrous birth, to Christ the Savior given. - George W. Bethune
Invisible in His own nature [God] became visible in ours. Beyond our grasp, He chose to come within our grasp. -- Leo the Great
That the Creator himself comes to us and becomes our ransom - this is the reason for our rejoicing.-- Martin Luther
What he was, he laid aside; what he was not, he assumed. He takes upon himself the poverty of my flesh so that I may receive the riches of his divinity. Gregory Nazianzen
There is no name so sweet on earth, no name so sweet in heaven, The name, before His wondrous birth, to Christ the Savior given. - George W. Bethune
Friday, December 08, 2006
IF HE CAN FORGIVE US WE CAN FORGIVE OTHERS
"How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"
"I—yes, I alone—am the one who blots out your sins for My own sake and will never think of them again." Isaiah 43:25
"I—yes, I alone"—the Great, the Pure, the Holy, the Righteous God! Surely if there be one way more than another, in which God's thoughts are not as man's thoughts, it is this—pardoning the rebel, welcoming the undeserving, forgiving and forgetting. How we remember the sins and the failings of others. How we harbor the recollection of ingratitude or unkindness. We say, "I forgive, but I cannot forget." God does both. Forgiveness is with Him no effort; it is a delight—"The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness' sake."
"I—yes, I alone"—the God who for weeks and months, and, it may be, for years, we have been wearying with our iniquities, whose Book of Remembrance is crowded with the record of our guilt—"I—yes, I alone"—the very Being who has registered that guilt, is ready to take the recording pen and erase the pages thus blotted with transgression!
How can He thus forgive? How can the God who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, cancel the handwriting that is against us in these volumes of transgression, so that they are remembered no more? It is through the atoning work of Jesus. "The Son of man has power to forgive sins." He shed His precious blood that He might have a right to say, "Your sins, which are many, are all forgiven you." What a complete erasure! Crimson sins, scarlet sins; sins against grace, and love, and warning, and privilege—see them all cast into the depths of the sea, never again to be washed on shore!
"Whatever our guiltiness is," says Rutherford, "yet when it falls into the sea of God's mercy, it is but like a drop of blood fallen into the great ocean." "The ancients said there was nothing so pure as snow. But we know of something purer, a human soul washed in the blood of Christ."
What is the impelling MOTIVE with God in so wondrous a forgiveness as this? It is, it can be, nothing He sees in us. No repentance, however sincere; no good works, however imposing or splendid. It is His own free sovereign grace! "For My own sake!" "Thus says the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel; but for My holy Name's sake." If He had meted out retribution in proportion to our deserts, His thoughts towards us must have been of evil, not of peace—our blood would, long before now, have been mingled with our sacrifices. But He is God, and not man. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed." "O Israel you have destroyed yourself, but in Me is your help found."
Most wondrous chapter in the volume of God's thoughts!—His full, free, unconditional, everlasting forgiveness of the guilty and undeserving. All the most gigantic thoughts of man look poor and shabby after this. God, the just God, yet the Savior—just, in justifying the ungodly.
Lord! I accept the gracious overture of pardon. I joyfully repose on this thought of Your forgiving mercy. "My debt is very great, neither can I pay anything thereof myself. But I trust in the riches and benignity of my Surety. Let Him free me, who became surety for me; who has taken my debt upon Himself."—(John Gerhard). Yes, He has taken my debt! Think of God, not only willing to blot out and bury in oblivion a guilty past—but hear Him giving the assurance that the legion-sins are already cancelled. The debt has been discharged—the wages paid. He makes it an argument for immediate return and acceptance, "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins; return unto Me; for I have redeemed you."
What can we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Romans 8:31
-by John MacDuff, 1864
"I—yes, I alone—am the one who blots out your sins for My own sake and will never think of them again." Isaiah 43:25
"I—yes, I alone"—the Great, the Pure, the Holy, the Righteous God! Surely if there be one way more than another, in which God's thoughts are not as man's thoughts, it is this—pardoning the rebel, welcoming the undeserving, forgiving and forgetting. How we remember the sins and the failings of others. How we harbor the recollection of ingratitude or unkindness. We say, "I forgive, but I cannot forget." God does both. Forgiveness is with Him no effort; it is a delight—"The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness' sake."
"I—yes, I alone"—the God who for weeks and months, and, it may be, for years, we have been wearying with our iniquities, whose Book of Remembrance is crowded with the record of our guilt—"I—yes, I alone"—the very Being who has registered that guilt, is ready to take the recording pen and erase the pages thus blotted with transgression!
How can He thus forgive? How can the God who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, cancel the handwriting that is against us in these volumes of transgression, so that they are remembered no more? It is through the atoning work of Jesus. "The Son of man has power to forgive sins." He shed His precious blood that He might have a right to say, "Your sins, which are many, are all forgiven you." What a complete erasure! Crimson sins, scarlet sins; sins against grace, and love, and warning, and privilege—see them all cast into the depths of the sea, never again to be washed on shore!
"Whatever our guiltiness is," says Rutherford, "yet when it falls into the sea of God's mercy, it is but like a drop of blood fallen into the great ocean." "The ancients said there was nothing so pure as snow. But we know of something purer, a human soul washed in the blood of Christ."
What is the impelling MOTIVE with God in so wondrous a forgiveness as this? It is, it can be, nothing He sees in us. No repentance, however sincere; no good works, however imposing or splendid. It is His own free sovereign grace! "For My own sake!" "Thus says the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel; but for My holy Name's sake." If He had meted out retribution in proportion to our deserts, His thoughts towards us must have been of evil, not of peace—our blood would, long before now, have been mingled with our sacrifices. But He is God, and not man. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed." "O Israel you have destroyed yourself, but in Me is your help found."
Most wondrous chapter in the volume of God's thoughts!—His full, free, unconditional, everlasting forgiveness of the guilty and undeserving. All the most gigantic thoughts of man look poor and shabby after this. God, the just God, yet the Savior—just, in justifying the ungodly.
Lord! I accept the gracious overture of pardon. I joyfully repose on this thought of Your forgiving mercy. "My debt is very great, neither can I pay anything thereof myself. But I trust in the riches and benignity of my Surety. Let Him free me, who became surety for me; who has taken my debt upon Himself."—(John Gerhard). Yes, He has taken my debt! Think of God, not only willing to blot out and bury in oblivion a guilty past—but hear Him giving the assurance that the legion-sins are already cancelled. The debt has been discharged—the wages paid. He makes it an argument for immediate return and acceptance, "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins; return unto Me; for I have redeemed you."
What can we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Romans 8:31
-by John MacDuff, 1864
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
THE COMPROMISING CHURCH
WHAT WE DO NOT OPPOSE,
WE TOLERATE.
WHAT WE TOLERATE,
WE ACCEPT
WHAT WE ACCEPT,
WE PRAISE
WHAT WE PRAISE,
WE PRACTICE.
Friday, December 01, 2006
THE MOST HIDDEN, SECRET AND DECEITFULOF ALL LUSTS
The most hidden, secret, and deceitful of all lusts-A letter addressed to a young lady in the year 1741)"To fear the Lord is to hate evil. I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech." (Proverbs 8:13)Remember that pride is the worst viper that is in the heart, the greatest disturber of the souls peace, and of sweet communion with Christ. Pride . . . was the first sin committed, lies lowest in the foundation of Satan's whole building, and is with the greatest difficulty rooted out. Pride is the most hidden, secret, and deceitful of all lusts--and often creeps insensibly into the midst of religion, even, sometimes, under the disguise of humility itself!
Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards
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