Happy or Joyful Christmas?

I love Christmas! I love everything about it. I love the decorations, the gifts, the food, the fun, the time with family, the laughter, the cooking. I love it all! For me, Christmas is a precious time of the year. Yet it occurs to me that Christmas is not a happy time for everyone. Many are alone, having to do without necessities (let alone luxuries), missing a loved one for the first time, or not in a place within themselves to celebrate anything. For some, Christmas is a struggle.

I know that my enjoyment is temporal. It doesn’t last forever. A time will come when the festivities will come to an end, the decorations will be put away, the food will eventually diminish and we will return home from spending precious time with our families. My happiness will dwindle with the ending of the festivities.

Yet, the joy of Christmas is free for us all and is eternal. It’s the joy of the knowledge that God Himself entered our world to meet with us and to save us. He came to us as a baby – vulnerable, shamed by the gossip surrounding His very existence, His life under threat by those who feared for their position in life. Our God came down to this and was born into the dirt and squalour of a stable. He wasn’t born into a clean, safe environment. His first hours were hours of dirt, mess and fear. He entered our dirty, messy, fearful world to save us from the grip of the enemy. He came because He loves us and wants to draw us back to Himself.

This is the Christmas joy we can all celebrate. This isn’t temporal, it’s eternal. It will last forever. My prayer this Christmas time is that we all find that joy – a joy that deepens as we look to our Saviour and celebrate all that He has done for us. If you’re struggling with Christmas this year, I pray this unfathomable joy will be your strength. For those of us who have much to enjoy, I pray that you won’t lost sight of the deep joy that surpasses our understanding.

Prayer: What can we say to our Saviour who came to this earth to save us? Thank You does not seem enough but it’s all we have. Help us, Lord, to know the joy that is ours for free and is eternal, and help us not to lose sight of this truth as we celebrate your birth. We especially pray for those who are struggling this Christmas time. May You give each one of us the only gift that matters this year: may Your love penetrate our hearts in a deep and precious way. Amen.

Bible Promises

God always keeps his promises. It's in the Bible, 2 Corinthians 1:19-20, NKJV. "For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us"

God never takes back or changes His promises. It's in the Bible, Psalm 89:34, TLB. "No, I will not break my covenant; I will not take back one word of what I said."

None of God's promises ever fail. It's in the Bible, Joshua 23:14, NIV. "You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed."

We have been promised eternal life. It's in the Bible, 1 John 2:25, NKJV. "And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.

God can do the impossible. It's in the Bible, Luke 18:27, NKJV. "But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

We have been promised new hearts and desires. It's in the Bible, Ezekiel 36:26, NKJV. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."

He has promised forgiveness. It's in the Bible, 1 John 1:9, NKJV. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

God promises our sins will be far removed from us. It's in the Bible, Psalm 103:12, NKJV. "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."

We are promised that our sins will be buried. It's in the Bible, Micah 7:19, NKJV. " He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea."

He has promised the fruit of the Spirit. It's in the Bible, Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."

He has promised deliverance from fear. It's in the Bible, Psalm 34:4, NKJV. "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears."

God has promised salvation for our children. It's in the Bible, Isaiah 49:25, NKJV. "For I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children."

We are promised the Holy Spirit. It's in the Bible, Luke 11:13, NKJV. "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

All of our needs will be supplied. It's in the Bible, Philippians 4:19, NKJV. "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

God gave the best He had by giving us His only Son. It's in the Bible, Romans 8:32, NKJV. "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

God does not hold back anything that is for your benefit or good. It's in the Bible, Psalm 84:11, TLB. "For Jehovah God is our Light and our Protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk along his paths."

He has promised wisdom. It's in the Bible, James 1:5, NKJV. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

God has promised peace. It's in the Bible, Isaiah 26:3, NKJV. "You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."

God has promised victory over temptations. It's in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

We have the promise of health and healing. It's in the Bible, Jeremiah 30:17, NKJV. "For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord"

God has promised protection from harm and danger. It's in the Bible, Psalm 91:4-6, NKJV. "He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday."

The Bible promises that the dead will live again. It's in the Bible, John 5:28-29, NKJV. "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."

Jesus has promised that He will come again. It's in the Bible, John 14:2-3, NKJV. "In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

He has promised an end to death, sorrow, and pain. It's in the Bible, Revelation 21:4, NKJV. "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

~E. S. Ray

Personal Salvation vs Collective Salvation

I believe that freedom and democracy are a direct result of Christianity. This is because Christianity was the first religion that encouraged people to be virtuous to themselves and to others in life, and in this way make the world a better place.

People are so worried about President Obama being a Muslim when they need to be concerned about 1st their own salvation.  Some Friends of mine have said.  Scott do you know who you are taking on now? I said, yes, I do. Could it be Satan? I mean, it is a perversion of the gospel.  And I understand that we are dealing with — we're not dealing with — we're not dealing with powers of the Earth. We're just not. This is a perversion of the gospel. And it is such a clear perversion of the gospel, I want to show my friends and foes some collective salvation remarks from our president, that some of you may have voted for.  Sorry it's time as we as Christians stand up and witness for the ONLY true GOD JESUS CHRIST our LORD.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!  Psalm 14:7 NIV

Is not my house right with God? Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part? Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire?  2 Samuel 23:5 NIV

 















Here is the president talking about collective salvation.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: You can take your diploma, walk off this stage and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and the other things that our money culture says you should buy, you can choose to narrow your concerns and live life in a way that tries to keep your story separate from America's, but I hope you don't, not because you have an obligation to those who are less fortunate, although I believe you do have that obligation; not because you have a debt to all those who helped you get to where you are today, although I do believe you have that debt to pay. It's because you have an obligation to yourself. Because our individual salvation depends on collective salvation.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: And recognizing that my fate remain tied up with their fates, that my individual salvation is not going to come about without a collective salvation for the country.

Do we understand what that means, that the sacrifice, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ doesn't do it. It's a collective salvation.  Really Mr. President.  We need to pray for President Obama.

After all he and his family went to the Rev. Wright church for 20 years. It just burn's me up when I hear Barack Obama's pastor who says blacks should not sing "God Bless America" but "God damn America.  My father and many of my friends have fought and some died for us, all America.

What is the Difference between Personal Salvation and Collective Salvation?

Personal Salvation: 
That if a man believes in God, and he follows the virtues set forth by the Lord, then he shall get to Heaven. Likewise, on the part of the man himself there is set forth no condition or requirement for his salvation. Your personal salvation is neither a gift nor a process, but the result of a relationship between each individual person and God. So long as you are faithful, and follow the good works of the Lord, then you shall get to Heaven. They tend to be conservative, and believe that the Government should create an environment for people to prosper, and should allow people to do what they think is best for themselves. That by doing good, people will automatically, as if by default, be doing something to the benefit of society. They may try to convince you as to what is right, yet they will not force you. They believe no one knows what's right, so it's best to encourage personal responsibility rather than to force everyone to believe in your views.

Collective Salvation: 
This is the belief that you have to believe in God to get to Heaven, and if you don't believe in God then it's my job to make force you. If you don't take care of your body, it's my job to force you. An example of this is Michelle Obama saying that kids should be forced to give up dessert. Another example are the people suing McDonald's because toys in Happy Meals encourage kids to eat bad. They tend to be liberal and tend to believe in the Progressive idea that experts, or czars, should decide what's best for man and force man to do what they think is right, or New York Congressmen creating a law telling restaurants they can no longer put salt in foods to force people to no longer eat salt, or lawmakers talking about raising taxes on sodas to discourage its use. They will try to convince you as to what is right, and if you don't follow them they will try to force you. They believe they know what's right for everyone.

I found this comment from Reverend James Robison and who I feel  is one of the biggest evangelical preachers around.  

Anytime you deplete the adequacy sufficiency of the grace of God in Christ and the forgiveness he offers through Christ, when you deplete that by adding to it, by saying we must do this in order to earn it, and you have desecrated the word of God, the death of Christ on the cross, that sacrificial gift of God and then you have placed on man his own responsibility, you really nullify the very act of love that God expressed in the gift of His son on the cross.

The relationship that we have in Christ transforms our lives personally. And by the way, it's the transformation of the individual that leads to the restoration of this nation. We don't need a transformed nation.

 
 We're being told today as the right way, which is nothing but social justice, and the manipulators, including the media and many deceived church leaders are trying to tell people in the church if they don't support this so called social justice that they don't have compassion. And the fact is that when you take and distribute, you have separated people from a compassion connection. And without a compassion connection, which leads to true charity and to an involvement in the difficult circumstances of people who are in trouble, if you separate people from that connection, you are throwing money at an unhittable target, you might as well toss it in the wind and you are actually depleting the possibility of wealth and you don't eliminate poverty by depleting wealth. What you've got to do is get people who have wealth prosperity to be somehow delivered from their own greed and self focused to begin to focus on how we can personally, through compassion, make a difference in other people's lives. And this is what I hear you saying, and much of the church listening to the wrong voices, listening to these deceivers, and they are in the realm of darkness, they are powers and principalities, and they are effective. And right now the church too often is listening to these deceptive manipulative voices and we are missing the opportunity to restore, not transform America but restore America to sanity and restore the principles that our founders, with all their diversity, all their did I distinctive differences, they came together in harmony of heart and understood nature's god and nature's laws and gave us a foundation upon which to build in freedom and liberty, which also implies that we have to be responsible. If you're free, the freedom our founders gave us demands personal accountability and responsibility. And if we don't return to that — I mean, you can mark it down. You can date it. If the church doesn't wake up, stand up, and pierce the darkness, you can literally color America and the freedom we've known and the opportunity we've known, you can color it done. It's over. Now, that's just simply the way it is.

Dear Father,
I pray for all the families in this great nation.  Thank You for loving me. Thank You for dying for me. I want to live as Your vessel to share the Gospel to others.  Lord bless the men & women currently fighting to protect our freedom, as well as the freedom of those around the world.  Father comfort those families of those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.  And comfort the families and armed forces that still are serving to protect our freedoms.
In Jesus' name. Amen


Ray Publishing


Please note that the views in my blog expressed are mine and mine alone... not necessarily shared by WBFJ, Mt. Carmel Church, my employer, friends or especially my family.