Good day to you and welcome to Day 4 of the 7 Christmas Letters! If you have noticed, these letters are counting upwards; rather than backwards toward Christmas Day. This is the way the Spirit of the Lord instructed me, because the message of Christ did not end 2000 years ago. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus the Christ was the end spiritual death; and the beginning of life with God through Christ.
There is no end to eternity, each day counts forward into the infinity of eternity with no end.
Holidays are traditions that pass, but what is your purpose in Christ today?
Our purpose in today, is to discover the comfort and joy of the Lord in our personal relationship with God through the Living Christ Jesus! And the way to Grace and Peace is by Seeking God first! Yes! There is Hope and God does love you this much that He put it on my heart to write to you, because God has known and loved you since before you were born!
You may look at the “you” in the mirror of your memory that you have known and come to recognize as the world defines, but God sees you much differently, than perhaps you even see yourself! God looks at us through Christ’s eyes and sees the newness in us made new; and with Christ, God also sees our new abilities and possibilities! God knows our measure of faith and Number of hairs on our head! God loves you So much that God gave His Son to die for you, so that you might choose life and blessings!
Do you know and believe in the love God has for you?
Perhaps you just can’t quite see the ability in Christ who lives in you yet? Well, neither could Saul, until Christ got his attention; and the scales fell off his eyes and God renamed Saul to Paul!
There are marks that change our perspective on life; but remember that it takes a dark, cold pressure, buried under the ground to make a flower bulb grow! They are buried deep under that Created soil with a purpose to bloom! What if that bulb was more like us and had a choice? What if that flower bulb said to the sun, “I know you are out there, but the ground is much too hard to break through right now!” Imagine life without flowers! Now imagine this world without you knowing you were meant to bloom! What if, flowers had a choice? Would they bloom, if they knew the obstacles to burst through that ground?
God can’t imagine this world without you knowing you were meant to bloom
You are more than a flower!!! Perspective matters on how we choose! Knowing all things, like good and evil, because of sin, has brought many challenges to us to overcome in this world. Yet, we are not alone, we have a Savior and Lord!
I hope this day is a mark of encouragement and comfort to you in your life; and also to your day of remembering The Christ in Christmas and every day remembering Christ overcome, so that we can live eternally with God.
Focus on the HOPE God sent!
Have you discovered your grateful heart yet? It is not easy when things are not right in this broken world, but remember that God is God, and yes there is HOPE! God is working all things together for the good to them that love God. And being transformed into the image of God is a part of that process!
Are we always showing God how grateful we are for what Jesus went through for us? Take time to think on everything good and lovely; and when pressure is applied to our ability to overcome, remember we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.
The Wise men traveled to see that Child; they showed God and the world how grateful they were for the Christ Child! Are we showing God how grateful we are for Christ? Are we living life to the full with God? Is Joy blooming from our heart planted with the seed of God’s Love? How about Peace in our life? Are we living a life remaining in peace? Are we showing God how grateful we are by abiding in love, because Jesus left peace and gives us peace.
Are we showing God how grateful we are for Christ?
Are we counting down, or looking up? The message of God’s love has not ended; God is still patiently waiting; not willing that any should perish.
God didn’t just make dust and dirt
The count has begun; In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word was with God. After God made the soil; yes, God didn’t just make dust and dirt; God put nutrients in the soil to provide nutrition for food, shelter and shade trees to grow for us –then God made man; and took care of his every need. God was not even willing to leave man alone at the beginning of Creation! God made Eve! It wasn’t long until God had to reveal hope to man, because of man’s sin against God; and then, the monumental moments of our history in the making, continued on to the birth of Jesus; and coming of the long awaited Messiah!
In fact, with the birth of Christ, who was anticipated in hope from the beginning of the world by mankind; Wise men began seeking Jesus and followed that star from God. According to Matthew 2:16, “…from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men;” yet the countdown to Christ did not end there! Today, Wise men still seek Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
At the age of twelve, Jesus asked his parents who thought that he was lost, when he was in the temple, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s (God’s) business?…as we read in Luke 2:49, “49“Why were you looking for Me? He asked, “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”
Wist: There should be no confusion about the message of The Christ! The definition of wist is an old English way to say someone has knowledge of something. Shouldn’t have the parents of Jesus have known somehow where Jesus would be? Are we any different today? We still need Jesus to tell us what we need the assurance and confidence in Christ to know.
Where are you Jesus?
The Child Jesus was already about doing His Father God’s business!
Ask, Seek Knock
Proof of the Trinity
Does God ever amaze you? Mary and Joseph, going along their life in normal business, seemed amazed when they found Jesus; in a place that they should have somehow known he would be …
Amazing Grace
When I think of God, I have learned not to use the word surprised, but perhaps they were amazed to see God’s Son doing what they knew God’s Son was capable of! This is how God amazes me every day! I am never surprised by things that I know that God does, but I am amazed when I see God’s grace powering through any and all things, in the beautiful ways of God as when His Grace appears!
Yes, Jesus is a powerful Name!
And the Message of Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God is not limited to Christmas day in 2016; nor was the message ever limited to that one eventful day when Jesus was born! The only thing in this broken world that is lasting, is the effects of Jesus on our choice of life with God; and that choice is only ours to make for a time that we can choose; as long as God calls this day today / not willing that any should perish, but that all who might believe will come to know and believe in the love God has for us!
God is the True and Living God!
The birth of Jesus was the beginning of hope that God planned from the beginning. God is the God of new beginnings, and Jesus Christ is the hope in this broken world, the old must die, for the new life to appear.
Christ died, but he didn’t stay dead! He took on sin and the old has died and the new has appeared, because Christ has risen; and in Him, so have we!
Are we living our life grateful
for what God has done?
Where is our temperance? Oh yeah, temperance is my word of the last 2 weeks. A great and powerful word worth our time under the pressure to see that bloom appear by the grace and glory of God through strength in Jesus Christ alone! Glory, glory to God in the Highest! Temperance is a powerful word to be added to our knowledge!
Above all things you get,
Get Understanding from God.
You can … So, please look up and call on Jesus Name! Focus on Jesus (as the life in the flower bulb grows toward the sun) and grow toward the Son of God!
The Word of God is the Seed!
Have Faith in God; and God makes it grow!
Call on His Name and Open your Bible to come to know and believe in the love God has for you; and grow in your measure of faith that God has given you! This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! These are the words God has placed on my heart to say to you in this Christmas letter. Is that, Christ is NOT a “count-down”, to a “let-down” that the anticipation of hope falls short of something great, nor does hope, all of the sudden come to a sudden stop [in this day that the Lord has called today], [and as long as God calls this day today]; until that day God has numbered … Love hopes all things!
Love
…6Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things,hopes all things, endures all things.
Today, if you are reading this, I can proclaim: Yes! There is Hope in Jesus! Call on His Name!
Yes! There is Hope in Jesus!
Call on His Name!
Yes, one day, when hope will have no more work to do in this broken world; but in this day, Hope in all things! …even death cannot stop the power of God of life in Christ. Hope is the beginning of why Jesus come; and when hope has no more work to do, new things begin anew for those in Christ and the promises of God!
we have an assignment by God in each today, including weekends and holidays
So we have an assignment by God in each today, including weekends and holidays, because God has given us a measure of faith:
Partakers of the Divine Nature
…4Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5For this very reason,make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;…
- To your faith add virtue
- and to your virtue add knowledge
- and to your knowledge add temperance
- and to your temperance add patience
- and to your patience add godliness
- and to your godliness add brotherly kindness
- and to your brotherly kindness add charity
- (love).
1 John 5:7King James Version (KJV)
“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”
How long would you follow that Star?
Will you add temperance to your knowledge?
How long would you follow that Star? Wise men and women still seek Him! What would you personally sacrifice to see that Child? Would you follow that star for two years?
How long can we hold our tongue for the glory of the Lord in the mind of Christ?
And, do we know when to hold it; and when and how to speak?
We need jesus for direction!!!!
Will you seek to follow the Christ today?
How? One way, the Lord is teaching me to follow Christ is by my temperance! Is there any obstacle in your way? Then, Pray…
Wise Men still seek Him! We still need Him!
This Christmas Time, and all days, let us remember how important it is to seek the light of God always; and in all things grow in the faith that pleases God. What does please God? We need our knowledge from the Word of God; not from situational conditions, opinions or interpretations of man; we need our personal revelations from the Holy Spirit of God as we read to understand what the Word of God means and how God’s message to us applies to our life.
We need our knowledge
from the Word of God
Tuning in to a Scriptural Focus, if you have your Bible handy, open the Word of God to James Chapter 5, and let’s focus in on Verses 13-16; teaching to realize that we can pray for ourselves in Jesus Name!
Is there any obstacle in your way? Pray!
Consider…
Recently, I was personally saddened the way a TV ministry taught and used prayer to their financial advantage, whether knowingly or unknowingly, but {after learning from James 5:13 in a personal way}, and the way prayer was being used on TV, it was just sad to me.
Perishing from a lack of knowledge is avoidable
The lack of knowledge in a world filled with knowledge is sad that there are those in the world that will take advantage of people seeking to believe. Don’t be so quick to believe everything all people say. Seek the truth from God’s Word and learn to understand what God is really saying to you about His method of prayer.
This particular TV ministry team was instructing listeners to open their wallet and send them their “afflicted” prayer requests, so that they could pray for them. But God’s Word says, “If any among you is afflicted, let him pray.”
That the whole message on TV of giving and prayer were tied together incorrectly according to the way God teaches me to pray; and the way God teaches me to give. Yes, there is a divine connection, but God’s way is holy and pure at heart. This particular ministry TV team was instructing listeners that they were their personal source to prayers being answered and that by sending them money, their prayers would be answered…
We need to always remember that
God is THE Source of all things!
Why do I share this today and at this time? As the Lord leads, this all ties together. In the world, there are terrorists and such to the same like, who scam people every day. They call our homes; and tell an almost believable story, but with a false sense of hope in them; and the scammers goal is to swindle money from people.
In Christ, we don’t have to a person who believes everything that we are told. We have the Spirit of Truth living inside of us, who helps us and we can pray for Wisdom from God.
We don’t have to jump at the appearance of fear; fear the Lord God Almighty and remember that faith pleases God! Trust in God and look UP to Jesus as your helping hand! Jesus has one hand on us and one hand on God. Yes! There is Hope! And, even if we make a mistake, God is the source of all provisions! And, God restores all things as new! Seek God first and thank God for Whom God is! Trust in God and follow Jesus! We can show God how grateful we are for Jesus, by growing in our faith that pleases God!
Yes! There is Hope!
Learning how to grow in faith that pleases God!
We need our own personal trust in God as our source and the Bible is our personal way to know that we are doing right by God’s standards. And, also how to pray God’s Way! We can ask God for Wisdom and follow the peace of the Lord to protections! The world operates differently than by God’s standards, as the world still represents those who don’t know Christ yet. “For God so loved the world that He gave…so whosoever believes on God’s Son shall not perish, but have everlasting life; and Jesus come, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him (John 3:16-17).”
And, wow! There’s more! In Christ, we are made to be a Citizen of Heaven; and with that address of at home with God we have certain privileges and rights in Christ; like prayer and discernment.
Yes! There is Hope!
Do you know how valuable you are?
And do you really know and understand what Jesus the Christ has done for you?
The love of God is the gift!
Prayer can’t be bought and we have a responsibility and ability to pray for ourselves in certain things, like troubles and afflictions.
In Addition, the Bible does not ask for us to open our wallets during those times we need to call on the Elders of the Church to pray for us. That is not what the Bible says. Our offerings and Tithes are a separate topic. Prayer is not for sale. And, God is the Source of all things. God does not need our money, but giving is the way that God has structured; but giving God’s way. Yes, Lord willing finances to sail, but only to be blessed to be a blessing as God is our source. To put a price tag on prayers is wrong. And, to put a price tag on the value of our prayer for another is wrong. I would think Jesus would throw over those tables in the temple, because Jesus knows what it took to restore our relationship with God.
Now, we can show God how grateful we are by learning and growing in our knowledge and faith with understanding from God.
The Bible teaches in John 5: verse 13,
- “Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray!”
- Sick? -Let Him call on the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, …
James 5:13-16King James Version (KJV)
13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Wise men still seek Him!
Learning to pray the right way begins with loving God, by learning trust God by faith; and realizing how much God has SO loved us. God is not going to let us down! Yet, will we choose to follow Jesus by faith? And what does this mean?
Open your Bible and learn God’s method and way is through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord! There is structure and order with purity and grace to God’s method (Jesus is the Way).
Jesus teaches us, “Do not LET your hearts be troubled, Trust in God and trust also in Jesus…” Yet, we have the command to, “Come and follow Him …”
God is our source –Satan attempts to confuse people forgetting that God is our source of all things.
We can pray and believe God Can!!!
If any of you in Christ are afflicted (suffering / in trouble / tribulation), let him pray.
suffering / in trouble / tribulation?
If you are in trouble, pause right now to pray; and seek God’s direction for your faith … Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. … And if any of you is in suffering, let him pray, and if rejoicing, let him sing songs. We can sing to God, praise God, pray to God for ourselves in Christ Jesus; and, after we have suffered a little while, we can also be of a comfort to others in any affliction!
Isn’t comfort and encouragement unique to spoken words of prayer? To speak well to someone is to bless them, and a blessing is a strong encouragement, YET, it is the power of GOD who comforts us in our affliction.
We can pray for others and encourage them that they have the strength to overcome any trouble, but it is up to “HIM THAT IS AFFLICTED TO PRAY.” Listen to God’s still voice …
What are we learning about prayer?
Wise men still seek him!
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
The God of Comfort
3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows.
What do the unwise men seek?
What about those REVERSED (lack of knowledge) prayers, that are seeking something, but not seeking God first? These prayers are with illegitimate promises that man can never keep to God in human ability alone … Sometimes, promises are made to God by people to get what they want, but promise things to God that are impossible for man keep.
God will help us unconditionally, because of Whom God Is: God is love.
“If only” promises may be an insult to God?
Jesus is the only way …
What about that hurtful “IF ONLY”? “If only you will help me through this, God” … “Then I will never do this again; or I will follow you forever…etc.” Pray about it. But, as for as I believe, these are illegitimate promises / oaths to God.
It is on my heart of God to encourage us all in learning and growing in our knowledge of God. God IS the Father of unconditional mercies! There is no “if only”; just believe. And, God sends rain to the just and the unjust…
God is love! I am thinking that perhaps, it might be an insult to God [if God were human], but God is God and He understands that we are learning and growing up in our faith that pleases Him. That is the beauty of Christ in our life!!! Jesus is our teacher and God loves us!!!
the beauty of Christ in our life!!!
I believe that there is a notion about who we are to God, but do we fully comprehend the love God has for us? Our faith alone in Jesus Christ has made us to be a child of God; and our position in Christ has made God our Father! We are saved by grace, through faith; not of our own doing; it is a gift of God.
Ephesian 2:8 (NIV)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Sealed by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith, and it is by grace we are saved! In this grand plan of working Salvation, we are equipped and complete in Christ. We have available the powerful help from God, in which we need to overcome all things! This is how we survive in this world after the miracle through Jesus!
Wise men still seek Him
“IF ONLY” is reversed in these human begging and emotional moment prayers that are attached to conditions that can only be kept linked to the power of God with a willing human heart that reaches to the hand Jesus has stretched from Heaven. How about changing that prayer from “IF ONLY; then I WILL” to “I pray for the strength to overcome next time…and with your help, I will”
Praising God for His unconditional help to overcome all things is looking to God as the Wise men who were seeking to see Jesus ….
The “IF ONLY” should really be applied to us: If only we are willing to ask God to help us with the strength to overcome and change our way of thinking that leads to a changed behavior more in line with God’s will.
One of the most powerful Scriptures to me is found in 1 John 4:16
1 John 4:16King James Version (KJV)
16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
Abide in the love of God from where the Light of Christ shines in the fullness of the JOY that is in the LORD!
This Christmas, is a perfect time to evaluate priorities and learn that our prayers are heard by God!
God is listening and looking at our heart. The Question really is, are we seeking to know God more?
Sad, sad things happen in this world, but my mom called attention to me yesterday in one sentence that took me all day to write to you! She said to a woman, “Oh, please don’t be mad at God.”
“Oh, please don’t be mad at God.”
Perhaps, people are not blaming God as much as being angry with God?
The revelation come to me that most times, people want God to change His mind, but what we really need to do is to change our mind to trust God! If Adam and Eve had their way, they would have eaten from the Tree of Life the very next day! Think what a doomed world that would be … As much as we want to hold on to this life, God knows there is more and better! A place of no sickness awaits! A place of no death awaits! A place of no insects or crappy moods or weather awaits! And, this life is like a vapor …
We the people want God to change His mind, but what we really need to do is to change our mind to trust God!
Please, hold on to your faith and find your grateful praise to God for not leaving us where we don’t belong. God loves us way too much to leave us ! God is making all things brand new … including me and you!
I hope this is a blessing of strength, comfort and of encouraging love in Christ to you to add to the strength of things you may be dealing with today!
It is Christmas-Time.
Is it a time of Change and Reflection to you? Or, has Christmas become the most busy and stressful –or sad time of the year for you?
Jesus is more than a Traditional Holiday. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God who has comfort for you (and God still has the ability to help me too) in any trouble. Come to Jesus in a new and seeking way this Christmas and celebrate the Life that God births inside of whosoever will believe and seeking to know the Lord Jesus, each and every day!
Get rid of the “If Only;” and add the Praise and Thanksgiving!
Wise men still seek Him to know Him!
Wise men still seek Him to know Him; and when we know the true and living Character of God and come to know the love of Jesus, we will show God how grateful we are with our Thanksgiving and Praise; our truly grateful heart!
Enter into His Gates! Father God, I thank you for YOUR Comfort, Mercy, Grace, Forgiveness, and Love Everlasting! God I thank you for my life!
Enter into His Courts! Father God, I praise you for Whom YOU are! You are the God of Mercies and the Father of all Comfort! God, my Father, I praise you! You are the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
God knows us better than we know ourselves! God knew our human weakness to sin; before God even created the 1st man that He named Adam! God is NOT surprised by where you have been or what you have done!!! God loves you anyway and sent you HIS Son!
True ability in a new nature in Christ / Change has come and this is the meaning of Christmas to love God because He first loved us!
This is NOT a time to celebrate what we have done; but rather to remember what Jesus has done and celebrate in the love God has for us … all honor and glory to God who lives above! Christmas is a time to remember how much we need God and a time to trust HIM even more.
Why do we need to remember temperance? Because, Christmas-Time has become a celebrity of tradition all on its own to the world –We need to remember that all people are flawed (including me and you), but without the meaning of Christ in the heart of the giving that 1st began with Jesus who gave His life that we might choose to have life through Him, life can become more impersonal and self-centered.
A life Centered on Christ is the true Peace we seek! Sometimes it is a struggle to battle human emotions, but seeking God first will always provide the right way to the light at the end of the tunnel!
I hope this is still flowing that Wise Men still seek to find God’s Son; that in our every situation there is an opportunity to choose a blessing, by rolling our thoughts upon the Lord first before we react in emotion! By committing our thoughts and trusting them wholly to God’s ability to lead and guide us! And, the God of all comfort, mercy and grace, by His power will cause our thoughts to become agreeable to His will; and thus our plans will be established and succeed.
Yes, that Temperance is a good and powerful word! Press through all things to get to where God wants you to be! Moving in the power of the Peace that is in the Lord!
The giving is of our heart to God … and, Jesus is the ONE True LIGHT from Heaven!!
How long would you follow that star in the sky to see this child that God has given the world?
What would you expect to find when you got there?
Seeking God’s Son is much the same today, just that JESUS (the star is born), and He Lives in a believer’s heart because of the Death, Burial and Resurrection!
Pursue Peace!
I hope this has been a blessing to you to grow in your faith that pleases God!
I hope these will continue to speak more blessings of goodness and encouragement into your life to continue to grow in the faith that pleases God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 Amplified Bible (AMP)
3 Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts and encourages us in every trouble so that we will be able to comfort and encourage those who are in any kind of trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as Christ’s sufferings are ours in abundance [as they overflow to His followers], so also our comfort [our reassurance, our encouragement, our consolation] is abundant through Christ [it is truly more than enough to endure what we must].
Grace and Peace be with you in Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord!
Focal Topic: Seek God first, Believe, Gain your knowledge, Get your understanding, learn God’s Trut and Way and live God’s life freely in His Grace and Power. Learning that Prayer is effective God’s way! Building a Christian Life on Virtue requires Prayer. Is God pleased with our thoughts and are we showing God that we trust in Him? How is our relationship with the Christ? If any among you is Afflicted, LET him Pray! If any among you are sick, let him call on the elders to pray over him …
Over time, has God’s method gotten blurry among the traditions of man? Seek God 1st and discover what is already there!
See Also:
- INTRODUCTION
- A letter to you Speaking Light to your seed …
- Day 3; Part 1: Blood, Purity and Life Everlasting!
- Day 4; Part 2: Wise men still seek Him!
- Day 5; Part 3: The Story of a Christian life is about Jesus!
- Day 6; Part 4: How Does a Christian Grow in the Faith that Pleases God?
- Day 7; Part 5: Personal Note from Karen
- Focal Topic: From the birth to the Resurrection, our Hope is Jesus!
- Recommended Daily Reading, 2 Peter Chapter 1
Love in Christ,
Karen Rowe
Hope in Today Ministries, Inc.
The Train Whistle, Sounding the call of God’s Love
