This maybe the strangest Christmas Message you’ve ever heard, but stick with me… I promise you’ll be blessed!
Grab a cup of your favorite hot holiday beverage and read on…
Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy and peace… BUT IS IT? It appears to be far from that with all of the frenzied activity of gift getting and gift giving. Office parties and secret Santa’s… Always running and never seaming to get anywhere!
But is it just something that we go through this time of year? Or… As I suspect… Is it the state in which we live?
Joy and Peace are wonderful things that sometimes appear very fleeting. I suppose a good chunk of why our joy and peace seem to come and go is largely due to how we see ourselves… Our circumstances… You see we tend to “rate” ourselves based on how “well” we’re doing (especially this time of year!)…
Are things going well at work? Check. Are my bills getting paid, do I have enough money? Check. Did I finish my Christmas shopping in time? Check. Did a give a couple of bucks to the homeless guy while going into Dunkin Donuts? Check.
Did I tell my brother or sister I’d prayer for them in their financial need and said a quick prayer for them and went on with my day (after all God will provide for them, right?). Check.
How am I physically? Am I OK? Do I have any symptoms? Any pain? Check.
And then: How am I doing “spiritually?” Am I taking time to have my quite times? Check. Am I tithing? Check. Going to church? Check…. Basically, doing everything I’m supposed to do?…. Check, check, and CHECK.
Well then, why AM I STILL NOT CONTENT? WHY DO I FEEL LIKE IM GOING NOWHERE FAST??? I’m DOING all this stuff but I can’t seem to find any peace or rest! I’m still wrestling with anger (the slightest thing sets me off), depression (always down or sad), addictions (let’s not even go there), WHATEVER! WHY?????
Outwardly, we can have everything “perfect” but inwardly there’s a tempest, roiling water that cannot be stilled.
A part of us wants to rebel against all this doing… A cry that says: WHY AM I NOT ENOUGH JUST THE WAY I AM?!? Why do I have to DO in order to be ACCEPTED?
Well, guess what? God’s answer to us is: “I love you just the way you are.”
What??? You say…. How can that be??? You don’t know me… My past… My struggles… I have to DO! This is the way I was raised in the church to SERVE God!
Well then my friend, why are you still miserable? If serving is what God wants, if being “perfect” is what He expects… The why is it not satisfying to you? Why are you not fulfilled in your serving? Why doesn’t it bring you the peace, rest, and acceptance you long for?
And for those of us who don’t even come close to putting a check in the boxes I just mentioned: What Hope is there???
This is supposed to be a Christmas Message????
Hang in there, it gets better…
Well, here’s some great news: Here’s the Word of the Lord to ALL OF US…
“…I have loved you with a love that lasts forever. And so with unfailing love, I have drawn you to myself.” – Jeremiah 31:3 (CEB)
No mention of doing… or serving… or of our failures and shortcomings… NO… Just love…
Love is at the core of who God is. It is what moved Him to send His Son to die for us. Not because we were “perfect” or “performing” well or pitiful or because we were such a mess He needed to clean us up.
NO. That was not His motivation. LOVE WAS. Well, you may say:
“How do I know God still loves me?”
Well… Let me let Him answer that in His Own Words:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16 (KJV)
And let’s go one step further and hear from The Apostle of Grace, himself, Paul…
“But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us.” – Romans 5:8 (AMPC)
For those of still in “work mode”:
Cease from your labors… They aren’t necessary. Stop trying to serve Him and instead receive from Him:
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]
Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.
For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.” – Matthew 11:28-30 (AMPC)
For those of us who still feel “unworthy” because of our “lack of service” or the mess we’ve made our lives: You’ve already been made worthy by His Blood:
“And in accordance with this will [of God], we have been made holy (consecrated and sanctified) through the offering made once for all of the body of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One).
Whereas this One [Christ], after He had offered a single sacrifice for our sins [that shall avail] for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,
For by a single offering He has forever completely cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy.” – Hebrews 10:10; 12; 14 (AMPC)
So draw close to Him with a full assurance of faith. Let His Blood remove an evil conscience (a conscience that accuses and condemns) knowing you have been made clean by His Blood [Hebrews 10:22 AMPC]… Knowing that your sins and iniquities He remembers NO MORE (Hebrews 10:17].
So beloved brethren, no matter where you find yourselves today, and what your needs are… There is FAITH (His Faith)…
No matter your situation that troubles you… There is HOPE (His Hope)…
No matter how far you’ve drifted or how uncomely you feel… There is LOVE (His Love).
Love came down as a babe… helpless, vulnerable, humbly… To bring us to a place and to a state that no animal sacrifice or law keeping could ever bring us to…
So this Christmas the greatest Gift there is, is knowing that Love… LOVES YOU…
As you go to your Christmas Trees to unwrap your gifts… Remember… That there was another Tree over 2,000 years ago that bore the Greatest Gift Of ALL… Receive Him and receive everything your ABBA has had for you since the foundations of the world…
Have a Blessed and Loving Christmas To You and Yours from Pastor Sharon and I…
With Much Love and Blessing Now and In The Coming New Year,
Pastor Joaquin