Yaaaaay! it is Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!!!, Everyone!.

Today, we celebrate the birth of the Son of GOD, our Lord and Saviour, The Lord Jesus Christ. On this day many years ago, Jesus was born. His birth gave way for direct access to God. He left his heavenly glory and riches to become take the shape of a man. He lived among us as one of us. His coming into the world was foretold and many expected a much grander entry with heaven shaking and angels singing to the hearing of everyone...But no, our Lord Jesus came as a baby as every other human born of a woman. His birth was one of wonder as there was no sexual relationship between His virgin mother, Mary and His carpenter earthly father, Joseph.

Jesus Christ lived as a human and grew the growth of a human child, growing from a young child to a young boy to a man. He had a mission and never deviated from it. As a true son of His Father, God, He followed the path prepared for Him. Not moved at all by worldly materials, He went around preaching God's word and turning souls around for God. His mission was to build a connection and bridge the huge gap that existed between man and God...and he succeeded in His mission.

As a christian, I believe strongly in the power of that day Jesus was born, the purpose for which He was sent here and all the blessings He has in store for all who choose to follow Him. It is sad that the world has come to believe in itself and its strength, forgetting we have no power of our own.

Jesus Christ is our everything. Our Source, our Sustainer, our Protection, our Provider, our Hope and our All. He is the only one who truly understands us and our nature.

Without Jesus Christ, we are nothing, so on this day, the day He was born, let us celebrate Him. Let us reflect on why we are really here and ask for His guidance where we feel lost, confused or hopeless.

In the midst of the eating, drinking and merrying, let us not forget the reason for the celebration of this day, this season...Jesus Christ!

The Word For Today: This Christmas, Look for Jesus

‘They saw the child…and worshiped him.’

Matthew 2:11

The Wise Men couldn’t have imagined humbler circumstances than those surrounding the birth of Jesus. Max Lucado paints the picture: ‘The ground is hard, the hay scarce. Cobwebs cling to the ceiling…Mary looks into the face of her Son. Her Lord. His Majesty. At this point the human being who best understands who God is and what He’s doing is a teenage girl…She remembers the angel’s words, “His kingdom will never end.” Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable.

This baby had once overlooked the universe. His robes of eternity were exchanged for the rags keeping Him warm. His golden throne room abandoned in favor of a dirty sheep pen. Worshiping angels replaced with shepherds.

Meanwhile the city hums, unaware that God has visited their planet. The innkeeper would never believe he’d just sent God out into the cold. And people would scoff at anyone who told them the Messiah lay in the arms of a teenager on the outskirts of their village. They were all too busy to consider the possibility. But those who missed His Majesty’s arrival that night missed it not because of acts of evil or malice. No, they missed it because they weren’t looking for Him!’

This Christmas, in the midst of the toys, the tinsel, and the tumult, stop and look for Jesus. If you know Him as your Lord and Saviour, take time to worship Him. And if you don’t, make Him your Lord and Saviour. If you do, it’ll be the best Christmas you’ve ever had :)

Zech 3-4, Rev 16

The Word For Today: Learn to Say ‘Enough!’

‘After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.’

Matthew 14:23

Jesus dismissed a crowd of listeners and fans in order to spend time with His Father in prayer. As a result, when He returned to the crowd He was empowered to work miracles. Think about it; before an airliner takes off, the attendant tells you that if the plane gets into trouble you should secure your own oxygen mask before attempting to help others with theirs. After all, unless you’re getting enough oxygen, how can you help them?

So, are your own needs being met? If not, it’s time to start taking care of yourself before you burn out. You can’t travel quietly through life hoping people will recognise when your plate is full. Speak up, or they’ll just keep pouring on more problems and responsibilities. Personal empowerment begins by taking control of your life. Overloaded people fail at marriage, ministry, and management. They fail at parenting, partnership, and personal endeavours.

Like an airplane, if you carry too much baggage you won’t get off the ground. When you’re motivated by the need to please others or impress them, you’ll take on too much and fail to reach the heights God planned for you. Or you’ll crash because you ignored your limitations. Every situation that arises doesn’t warrant your attention! Was Jesus misunderstood when He dismissed the crowd? Probably. And you’ll have to make that same decision too.

People who don’t recognise your needs and respect your goals will drain you, divert you, and keep you grounded. So what’s the answer? Give what you can, and learn when to say ‘enough!’

Amos 7-9, Rev 5

The Word For Today: Share Your Life

‘They shared everything they had.’

Acts 4:32

When you read the story of the New Testament Church, you tend to get caught up in its explosive growth and amazing miracles. But here’s a component you shouldn’t miss: ‘No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had…There were no needy persons among them…those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money…and it was distributed to anyone as he had need’ (vv. 32-35 NIV 1984 Edition).

You say, ‘If I just had more money I’d be happy.’ You might feel more secure and have fewer worries, but you wouldn’t necessarily be happier. In the Journal of Happiness Studies, researchers looked at what distinguished quite happy people from less happy people. One factor consistently separated those two groups. It’s not about how much money you have; it’s not about your health, security, attractiveness, IQ, or career success. What distinguishes consistently happy people from less happy people is the presence of rich, deep, joy-producing, life-changing, meaningful relationships. 

Social researcher Robert Putnam writes: ‘The single most common finding from a half-century’s research on life satisfaction, not only in the U.S. but around the world, is that happiness is best predicted by the breadth and depth of one’s social connections.’ But you can know a lot of people without really being known by any of them, and end up lonely.

Those folks in the New Testament Church got it right: it’s in sharing with one another spiritually, emotionally, financially, and relationally that you achieve your highest level of joy.

Amos 4-6, Rev 4

The Word For Today: The Cure for Spiritual Boredom

‘Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.’

James 1:22

Why does the Bible say, ‘Be doers of the word, and not hearers only’? Because hearing without doing becomes boring - every time. You can get to the place where you’ve heard so much preaching and teaching that you say to yourself, ‘Oh no, not another sermon!’. The problem isn’t the Word; it’s that you’ve become oversaturated and spiritually numb. You’re bored because you aren’t putting it into practice and reaping the rewards of what you’ve heard.

Jesus said, ‘If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them’ (John 13:17 NKJV). Once you start doing what you’ve been told to do, you won’t have time to be bored. The phrase ‘hearers only’ is from the Greek noun akroates. Today we’d use it to describe students who sit in on a class just to hear the teaching, instead of taking any assessment or being graded. These folks weren’t interested in learning, passing exams, earning a degree, and going out to make a difference in the world. They were there because they found it intellectually stimulating, and they loved the excitement of being with the crowd. Often they followed their favourite teacher from one town to another; they loved new speakers, and when the class ended they’d get together to eat, drink, laugh, and discuss what they’d heard. Mostly, they just wanted to look knowledgeable in each other’s eyes.

Don’t let that happen to you. ‘Remember…knowing what is right to do and…not doing it is sin’ (James 4:17 TLB). Open your heart to the truths you’ve heard preached and begin to put them to work in your life. When you do, rest assured you’ll never again suffer from spiritual boredom.

Amos 1-3, Rev 3

Video: Touching short story about the importance of family

Blood is sure thicker than water, but even if though water can not totally replace blood, its almost as important. Family is everything. Some people are blessed to come from a family that they can totally rely and depend on, while others. . .well.

This video opened my mind to some things. Sometimes, its not like parents don't care for their children or vice versa, its just that life happens. Some parents still see their grown children as kids and take almost forever to adjust, while some continue being supportive parents regardless of how old their children are. Parents are supposed to raise their kids to be old enough to start taking responsibility for themselves and sometimes children think they are old enough even before they are actually old enough. In some families, the relationship between the parents and the children deteriorated because of one or many reasons. Regardless of that, good parents never stop being parents. As a parent, you cannot resign from your responsibilities even when your children have grown and gone on to have their own family. You have to be there to keep supporting them. Children in turn aren't supposed to neglect the counsel of their parents, except in cases where the counsel becomes an abuse of some sort. Parents are supposed to keep their children together not tear them apart. Parent are supposed to be there for their children instead to send them away based on whatever baseless reasons. When children drift so far away from home, there could be so many reasons and in some cases, the parents have got a hand in it.

Bottom line, if you are blessed to have parents who would still go to the moon and back for you, then cherish them. No matter how busy one gets, family is important and time should be spared out of whatever busy schedule to communicate and/or spend time together.

Sometimes, its not really the fault of the children though. If only some parents made it easy to love them.

Let death never be a reason for a family reunion, Amen. I hope this video inspires you :)

The Word For Today: Control Your Anger!

‘Don’t sin by letting anger control you.’

Ephesians 4:26

Uncontrolled anger is like jumping into your car, revving the engine, and discovering too late that the brakes don’t work. The Bible says, ‘Don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life’ (vv. 26-27 MSG). Did you get that? Uncontrolled anger opens the door to Satan – and it’s all downhill from there! So before you say something you’ll regret and can’t take back, ask yourself:

1) Is the relief I’ll get from venting worth the aftermath? The Bible says, ‘A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger’ (Proverbs 15:1 NIV 2011 Edition). By sounding off, you run the risk of making the finest speech you’ll ever regret. By its very nature anger encourages exaggeration, and makes you say things you can’t retract. Long after you’ve moved on, harsh words maintain their power to wound and divide.

2) Is it really worth dragging other people into it? Anger inevitably affects those around you because it’s human to want to take sides, even if you’ve ‘no dog in the fight’. Involving other people is usually a way to feed your ego and justify bad behaviour. Don’t do it.

3) Is my anger appropriate? Anger over ignorance and injustice has always led to progress. But it’s easy to let small stuff like thoughtless comments and cranky kids make you overreact. For anger to have a healthy result it needs to be measured and constructive.

Paul says, ‘The mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace’ (Romans 8:6 NIV 2011 Edition). It comes down to a control issue, and a controlled response is a Christlike response. It always wins.

Joel 1-3, Rev 2