Reflections 2: The Truth about Christmas

The traditional Christmas season consists of a Christmas tree in the living room with gifts underneath, the smells of good food being prepared, music made with bells and stringed interments, and the story of old St. Nick. Family spending time together is the theme, the giving of gifts the main attraction.

Sadly and ironically we symbolically act out the biblical traditions of the three wise men, but many could not explain the significants of it.

We hear all the time, the reason we celebrate Christmas as it was the day Jesus was born. But Christmas is much more than that, it is the event which Rabbi’s preached in the synagogues, prophets proclaimed to countless generations, men and women of faith clung to in the harsh days of exile, and it became the motivating factor which stirred many to rebel against their Roman oppressors. The power of hope in a savior that would come to liberate them from taxation, cruelty, disease, and a corrupt system of religion and government forever changing our world.

Rebels clung onto this idea of a savior in such a way that the land had been filled with false messiahs, men who were nothing more than military leaders and religious zealots long before the birth of Christ, and yet within this confusion, God found a way to make his son, Jesus Christ so recognizable and tangible that there was no mistaking him for anyone else, fulfilling prophecy.

“6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Christmas is also a story of sacrifice, hardship, perseverance, loyalty, and love. To believe in the biblical Christmas, you have to first believe that God sent an angel to Mary, that she gave birth to Jesus as a virgin, and that Joseph really had a prophetic dream. Christianity demands that this be at the core of the belief in Christ.

The truth about Christmas however is even greater than our interpretations of history, our faith in God, and it transcends our modern day customs. Because the truth is, that the human race after two thousand years still celebrates the birth of Christ, that he holds such an exulted place in every society on Earth. The gift, the miracle is more about our acceptance in Jesus, than it is about whether all the circumstances of his divinity can be proven true or false.

The simple truth is, God can do anything he so desires, yet he chose to be with us, to be like us, to walk among us. The revelation is not that Jesus was simply born, but rather he chose to be born, chose to breath air, chose to live and die for our salvation and redemption. The miracle wasn’t that an angle came down from heaven to tell Mary about what God wanted to do, but rather God was still interested in our welfare. The miracle is that our one God, after two thousand years still wants our salvation, he still loves us, and he has not given up hope on us. That God sent a savior as he promised, as all of his promises he will fulfill in his own time.

So this Christmas celebrate the birth of Christ from the perspective of our gracious God bestowing a gift which can never be taken away, it can never be over shadowed, and will always be the reminder of our God’s affection. Remember that Jesus had a choice, that God had a choice. If this is how we view Christmas how much more love could we find in our hearts to give to those who are in need. Just as Jesus gave to us the gift of love and graced us with his birth.

Amen.

If you have been moved by this blog, I humbly invite you to leave a comment, and may all your days be filled with peace, love, and God’s eternal joy.

God Bless and Merry Christmas,

Reflections 1: What is the Truth?

In a world that is filled with such deceit and lies it is hard to understand why we would every believe in God and the Bible in the first place.  From the first man who ever walked on planet earth to the millions who live today, Satan has been about proving God a liar,  a false God,  someone we should never trust.  Satan has unleashed such hatred in the world that which has kept mankind at war for thousands of years separating us from God without peace, all based upon faith, veiled by the term “Holy”.  Truth has become so maligned that we can not see the most basic things, such as:  “How can the killing and the shedding of blood be Holy?” or even:  “How is using the very words of God justified in the persecution of others, when his message is of peace, love, and forgiveness?”  But then again what is truth?

The word “truth” in the free online dictionary, (Dictionary.com) means the following; 1. Conformity to fact or actuality.2. A statement proven to be or accepted as true.3. Sincerity; integrity.4. Fidelity to an original or standard.

a. Reality; actuality.

b. often Truth That which is considered to be the supreme reality and to have the ultimate meaning and value of existence.


In all these definitions truth is defined as our own perception.  What we see, feel, think, as a group as being excepted as real, is thus the truth.  It is our own reality of existences which defines truth.  So anyone then can make the argument if you believe it to be so, others believe it to be so, then it is within your perception of being the truth, whether or not it is, does not matter because it is an excepted reality by more than one individual.  With that logic we have based our laws, our judges have sent innocent people to death, and parents have lost their child only to have them become the ward of the state.  If a lawyer can argue his case the best, use the most trickery and slightest of tongue then he or she wins, be it right wrong or indifferent. This system does not care about what is the truth, but rather what fits with a logic which is based upon cold and Grey peaces’ of information which may or may not be based in truth.  This very thing is what makes any human system unjust.  The very fact we do not know truth, is the very thing which makes all of us susceptible to sin, and to Satan’s lies.  In fact Satan’s argument is so convincing he fooled one-third of all the angels to follow him, that would be equivalent to looking up into the night sky and then suddenly watching one-third of all the stars disappear.  Satan’s argument is so convincing that how do we really know that he, himself, is telling the truth.  If God is not telling the truth, and Satan is not telling the truth then how can we trust Jesus is telling the truth, or any of the prophets, and saints are telling use the truth?  By calling God  a liar, then we are bringing into question everything which is, which we think, feel, and believe to be true, is suddenly false, and we are doomed to fail without hope,  absent from God.  Under this logic anything a person does, says, or believes can be called into question, anyone can turn anyone else in be them family or neighbor, friend or foe.  Under this logic our faith is eroded and we become visual beings, believing only what is in front of us, and blind faith in God disappears as akin to a distant memory, or like the stars in heaven or the fallen angels turned into Satan’s demands.  But more than all of this is simply the quest for the truth strikes at our very core, our values, and our entire way of life, it is preprogrammed into every living being to recognize the truth when we see it.  Thus it is free will which allows us to ignore it or to accept it, in this we are driven to ask, “What is the Truth?”

The Bible defines truth as:  God our creator, his very word is the definition of truth.  God’s truth is shown in many ways but none so perfect as;

“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17, p. 1664, NIV).


These words spoken by Jesus in the sanctification of his disciples, describes the very nature of God, and of himself. It closes the question forever to who is, and what is truth as being one in the same.  There is no greater testimony than that which is spoken by the mouth of God.  There is no truth more pure, and holy than the words uttered by the dieing Jesus on the cross. Truth therefore is God, and God is truth.

So based upon this logic, we can then begin to see the error in our human logic, our sin is revealed, and we become ashamed of our denial of the truth.  In the eyes of God we also are clearly guilty, and thus God had no other recourse than to sacrifice his only son in the forgiveness of man sins. In this act we see God’s truth, his wisdom, and his undying love.


“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2-3, p. 116, NIV).

God spoke his name to Moses from the burning bush when Moses asked him who shall he say sent him to free the slaves in Egypt, and God Answered,

“I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM’ has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14, p.92, NIV).

With this declaration God has drawn the line upon the idea of truth, and defined it as being himself.  There is no other truth than that of God himself.

Amen

If you have been moved by this blog, I humbly invite you to leave a comment, and may all your days be filled with peace, love, and God’s eternal joy.

Reflections 17: Destructive Nature of Accusations (Relationship Series)

In examining this word, “Accusation”, and to understand its effects on peoples relationships, it is prudent to look it up in the dictionary. So the meaning of this word is defined as: 1 : the act of accusing : the state or fact of being accused 2 : a charge of wrongdoing. This word comes to us from 1250-1300’s, meaning: to call to account. So when you stand up and accuse someone, then you are making an accusation of guilt. The problem with this is in our modern day society of rules and regulations, the accusation must meet the burden-of-proof.  Thus if one is merely repeating what someone else said to them, believing without investigating, then that person has not meet this test. But there is a large segment of our society which has no problem ignoring this test, some have dangerously ignored not only the burden-of-proof, but have ignored the evidence they have amassed in their own investigation, in doing so they have perpetrated a grievous act, one which God told us to avoid; “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” In plain English God commanded us not to lie! The problem of course becomes evident when we seek to uphold this baseless accusation regardless of its outcomes, regardless to whom it destroys.

There is an evil temptation to take the words of children; whose perceptions are immature to start with, as if they are the gospel. Social Workers do this in the name of protecting the innocent children, as does Teachers, Principles, Lawyers, Judges, and Commissioners, but upholding this underscores the parents authority in the eyes of the child, destroys trust, and overwrites the bond which was God given. Any time the full body of the evidence is ignored or twisted and manipulated to uphold a baseless accusation from no matter who it comes from, remember then it is done in a manner which is destructive. Husbands and wives are separated, and their trust in each other is utterly destroyed. Families are ripped apart, loving parents are forced out of the home, and our family unit is slowly being devoured by this one word and its effects on our hearts and minds, “Accusations!”

So I am completely justified, as anyone else who this has happened too, when baseless accusations have been leveled in the most hurtful manner possible. In fact I despise the way people come bulldozing their way into other people’s relationships, assume they know what is going on as if they had lived that person’s life, or had walked in their shoes. Then make baseless accusations that tear that relationship apart. Or when people say that something was said, when in fact they were never in the room, the house, nor on that same side of town when the remark was supposed to have been made. My personal favorite is when the accused stands up to defend themselves, to speak the truth, no matter how negative the incident was. Knowing all the facts because they lived it. Then have a trained accuser tell the accused that indeed they have not been robbed, when in fact they have been, and with the slightest of tongue condones the robber.

9 “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossians 3:9).

I say to you that indeed we are in good company, as this was the case of Jesus Christ, King David, John, Paul, Mark, Matthew, Job, and let us not forget, The Jewish People under Adolf Hitler, and the Christians under Roman occupation.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12)

We human beings have a capacity for getting involved in other people’s business, when they should just stay out of it all together. It is no secret I am not a fan of third party intervention, especially when the third part is as much responsible for hindering the growth of the relationship they are supposed to be helping. In fact it is impossible for that third part to help if they have made baseless accusations, for the sake of exercising power, illusive as it may be. See God does not want us at odds with one another, nor does he condone usurping power from any relationship. No in fact Jesus stated quit clearly:

Q77 “If a companion does something wrong to you, go to the person and point it out. But do it privately. If your friend listens and says, ‘I’m sorry’, forgive and your bond will be strengthened.”

What Jesus was saying to do was to keep it private, one-on-one, friend to friend, sister to sister, brother to brother, mother to father, parent to child. We are commanded to forgive first, for the sake of our relationships, as our Father in heaven has shown us grace, and mercy enough that He has forgiven us our transgressions. As I have stated before in past postings, forgiveness is the hardest pill to swallow, especially when you have been wronged by a third party, who has spouted baseless accusations.

God despises accusations, or better known as baring false witness against your neighbor. The truth of the matter is, it goes beyond the words which were exchanged, the hurtful manner which the blood was spilled, it transcends our mortal existence, and it leaves a boil upon our hearts, separating us from God. Baseless accusations are the work of the devil, because he wants you alone and vulnerable, this makes it easier to pick you off like a week sheep. But it does something else, which is needless, it puts you in jeopardy.

“1You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. 2You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. 3You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute” (Exodus 23: 1-3, NKJV).

Morality in our day and age has become so perverted, as people become more spiteful. Gossip harms the person it has targeted, and often times inflict more wounds which run deeper than had you used a sharp instrument. Gossip and accusations destroys relationships, hardens the heart, and makes people not want to forgive. Satan knows this, and he uses this every chance he gets.

Medically speaking accusations causes stress and anxiety. The longer a person is exposed the more the likelihood of the effects will have on the human condition. When nervousness and anxiousness become panic, fear, skepticism, and leads us to build up phobias which are subconsciously connected to our exposure of the traumatic experience which was brought on by the accusations, and lies. It is real, the mental attracts as well-as the spiritual attracts which is being played out in our lives as Satan battles for every last soul. This in the mental health profession is known as: Anxiety Disorder; which is a serious mental illness. “For people with anxiety disorders, worry and fear are constant

and overwhelming, and can be crippling” (WebMD, 2009) Found Online: http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/mental-health-anxiety-disorders

God does not like those who deal in this dangerous art of winning no matter the cost, by using bits of information which have been taken out of context, melded into a clever lie, or accusation, for the purposes of attaining something which did not belong to you in the first place. For in this God does not let it stand, he smites it with his power of righteousness and love. If there is one message I would hope one could take from this reflection it would be this; God and Satan are at odds, and the weapons used in this battle are both real and spiritual. As Christians we are commanded not to fall into the trap of lies, and make baseless accusations against each other as this serves the purposes of Satan. But also know that with this treachery comes a heavy cost, and it will devour our minds, body, and souls, forever spoiling the love God holds for us. It will destroy our relationships, families, society, and our nations, as it has done so many times in the past; we only have to look at past civilizations to understand this drama, for it is nothing new.

Amen.

May peace be with you all the days of your life? If you have been moved by this blog I invite you to become a follower, and learn to Listen Faithfully to our Lord Jesus Christ.