Why He Came

Hey y'all. Merry Christmas!!

It's Christmas day (or a few days past it if you're reading this later) and I think it's only fitting to first  look to Christ today. It's the day we've chosen to celebrate His birth - of course we should celebrate that everyday, but this day in particular we can pause from our day to day routine to focus on Him. I think whenever we think of His birth we should always remember why He came.

• We are sinners and are in need of a Savior.

Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

• Jesus took on flesh to dwell among us.

John 1:14, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

• He came to die for our sins.

1 Peter 3:18, "For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,"

• He came to die because there cannot be forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood.

Hebrews 9:22, "According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."

• He came as a perfect sacrifice.

Hebrews 9:25-26, "He did not do this to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the sanctuary yearly with the blood of another. Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself."

• God sent Jesus because of His great love for us. 

1 John 4:10, "Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins."



That's the gospel. We cannot fully celebrate His birth until we realize why He came. He came to die for our sins. We cannot begin to grasp His love until we realize how much we have sinned and how much we need Him.

Romans 5:10, "For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life."

Wow. That verse says that we were enemies of God. Yet He came to redeem us from our sins and our former way of life, to reconcile us to Himself.


1 John 4:16 (ESV), "So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."

I don't know about you, but I love the word abide. I think that's why I really like the English Standard Version of this verse.

Abide means to remain, continue, to stay. It means to dwell and reside. It means to continue in a relationship.

Me? Abide in Jesus? Remain in Christ? To stay and continue on in the King of Kings? To continue in a relationship with the Creator of the universe? To have the Spirit of the Living God dwell and reside in me? I don't know about you, but when I think of that all I want to do is shout amen!

God didn't save us to leave us. No, He wants to have a relationship with you. He wants for you to abide in Him and He wants to abide in you! He wants you to seek Him. He wants for you to know Him personally and intimately.

Maybe those things sound strange to you, that God would want that. God doesn't need you... He wants you. He loves you more than you could ever imagine. I'm not sure where you are right now.... but please remember those truths.

~

Whew, when I sat down to write this post I had no clue it would end up being this long. But when the Spirit takes over He takes over.

I hope you have an amazing Christmas. Most of all, I hope you remember God's great love and remember why He came. Let's praise Him this Christmas and every day after!

Merry Christmas!

The Word became flesh....

I'm a few days late this week, but that's okay. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to write yet... but I do want to talk about a certain passage of scripture that's been on my mind recently. It's actually one of my favorite passages in scripture now.

Before I dive into this post I highly recommend reading John 1:1-18 (you can click here to read it) because that's the passage I'm going to be digging into today.

It's Christmas time. In just a few short days it'll be Christmas morning. Christmas music is playing, people are watching Christmas movies, eating yummy food, and Christmas decorations are everywhere. It's a wonderful time of the year... but it's easy to lose sight of what Christmas is truly about in the hustle and bustle of things. So let's turn to this passage right now in John and look to Jesus.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created." (John 1:1-3)

These verses state these truths:

• In the beginning Jesus was.
• In the beginning Jesus was with God
• In the beginning He was God. 
• Jesus is eternal... He has always existed. 
• All things were created through Him. 

The next verses in the passage talk about how in Jesus is life, and that life is light. The darkness cannot overcome that light. Jesus is the true light.

Verse 9 says, "The True Light that gives light to everyone, was coming into the world."

Wow. So first we learn that Jesus is God and He is eternal and that all things were created through Him. We learn that in Him is life and He is light. Now we hear that He's coming into the world.

Verses 10-11 say, "He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, and yet the world did not recognize Him. He came to His own and His own people did not receive Him."

Wait... so now we learn that Jesus - God - came to earth and we didn't recognize or receive Him?

Verse 12-13 says, "But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God."

Many didn't receive Him. But to those who did - do - receive Him, He gives the right to be children of God.

Verse 14 says, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Jesus stepped down from heaven, took on flesh, and dwelt among us. He came to suffer and die for our sins. He came to bring life, for He is Light.

Verse 16 says, "Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from His fullness."

We've been given grace.


Christmas is to celebrate Jesus' birth. But we shouldn't forget why He came. He came to save us. We were lost like sheep without a shepherd, He came to guide us. So let's remember Jesus and what He's done for us. Let's give Him glory for what He's done and is doing.

Merry Christmas.

In Between

David. What pops into your mind when you think of him? Often we think of him as the shepherd boy who went up against Goliath, or the king of Judah who was called a man after God's own heart, or the writer who wrote around half the book of Psalms. But in this post I want to talk about two other times in his life.


Put yourself in David's shoes. You're out in the fields with the sheep, watching them for your father, probably playing the lyre. You most likely heard about Samuel coming, about your family being invited to the sacrifice. But you remain in the fields, tending the sheep.Then someone your father sent runs up, summoning you. You go to your father and see the judge, Samuel. You've heard stories about him. He anoints you with oil and you feel the presence of the Spirit of the Lord in you. Samuel anoints you to be the future king of Judah.

Samuel leaves and you go back to the fields, back to tending the sheep. What now? Nothing really changes for you, at least for now, except for God's Spirit in you, You find yourself waiting, but you put that time to use. You tend the sheep, write Psalms, and play the lyre.

Fast forward several years. You've fought against Goliath, played the lyre in King Saul's presence, become a great warrior, but now Saul is trying to kill you. You are on the run for your life. This lasts for not days, not months, but years. You've probably asked yourself, or God, many times: Why is this happening? You were anointed to become king one day, but it doesn't seem like that's happening any time soon. Yet, deep in your heart, you know that what God has predestined, will take place in His timing.


Two times in David's life when he was in a "in between season". I think we all feel like we've had those times, when we've finished the last chapter and waiting to move onto the next. But its not just an "in between season", it's a time of waiting - and preparing.

Those seasons where we feel like the next season will never come, when we are tired of waiting... those times are so important! Those seasons are not to be wasted. Those are seasons of preparation for the next season. But we can still glorify God no matter what season of life we're in. We can serve and praise Him right where we are.

What God has predestined, will occur according to His plan and timing. Waiting for what lies next in your life may seem endless... but maybe that's not what God has planned for you anyways. Often we like to get ahead of God and start making out our life plans. I'll go to this college, I'll major in this, I'll get this job, I'll get married at this age, I'll have kids at this age... But life rarely goes as planned. I'm not saying it's wrong to think about your future, on the contrary, I like thinking about what my future holds sometimes too! But we still need to trust Him with what happens, and trust in His perfect timing.


~~~

Let's talk....

What has God been teaching you recently? What season of life do you find yourself in?

Constant One

You are the very reason I feel joy inside

You call me Your daughter and will never cast me aside

God, Your faithful love endures forever,

It has no end, not now not ever

You are the constant One I can cling to

You’ve been with me in it all, all I’ve been through

You are my hope and refuge,

And the gift You offer is huge

A free gift of love, an eternity with You

Through all time You remain true

You created the earth, You created it all

To You, my knees will fall

I want to genuinely worship You,

Worship You with a heart that’s pure and true

I don’t want empty words to come forth, out of my mouth,

But a song from my soul to the One who is north, west, east, and south

You are the very air I breath,

 In You I’ll always believe

Praise Your great name,

May the whole world tell of Your fame

~~~~~

God is constant. His love is faithful. He is so amazing... how can we not praise Him?


Psalm 104:1, " My soul, praise Yahweh! Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with majesty and splendor."