My daughter glances
at a decoration which I keep out year round in my kitchen (it displays Joseph,
Mary and baby Jesus with Luke 2:11 engraved to the left of the scene). Intrigued, she stops to enjoy the scene. She confidently tells me, “Mommy, that is baby
Jesus.” Of course, I agreed and assured
her she was correct. She proceeds to
say, “I want that baby.” “I want Him.” My response?
Oh, my dear sweet girl, you have Him always with you.
See, I believe
there are many individuals like my daughter who want Jesus in their lives but
just can’t seem to grab a hold of Him.
They see Him all around them, but just don’t know what they can do to
have Him in their everyday lives. What
barrier prevents those from knowing Jesus is always with them?
One barrier could
be shame and guilt of past experiences.
Some believe their past is full of ugliness that will never be accepted
in church or forgiven by Jesus. Okay, so
this is a huge lie that Satan has been using for generations. The Bible teaches about numerous instances
that Jesus befriended sinners of all kinds.
No sin is too great for our God not to forgive. Jesus, born in a manager, dwelt among us and
took ALL our sins to the cross. His blood washed away ALL sin.
If this were not true, I would not be where I am today. My past would have kept me from even seeing
His hand at all. Guess what! I am forgiven. While reading my history, one may think it to
be very ugly. God sees it as my
ministry. Every experience, He works out
for His good. Reach for Jesus, accept
His forgiveness and walk boldly down the path laid for your life. ALL are welcome.
Another barrier
might be fear. We all like to be in
control; I know I sure do. I want to
know exactly what is to come, how it will play out and assure that I agree to
all the terms before moving forward.
Well, God works a little different than that. He holds the plans for our lives in His
hands; we simply follow. Yes, that is
scary to step into the unknown and not be given any clues as to what may take
place. My fears consumed my life. Guess what!
God’s promises rang true and the path He laid for my life has been full
of blessings. He will not take us
anywhere that His grace cannot cover us.
He lights the way and protects the path before us. Trust is His Word which must consume our
hearts and minds. Trust in our God to
lead us and guide us. He has plans for
each of us. The awesome thing about these
plans. . .they are not for harm, but for good and prosperity. Have hope in our God.
One other barrier
may be conformation to this world. My
husband shared a statistic with me the other day; in society today, 18.4% of
Americans attend church. . .should the trend continue, by 2050 the percentage
will drop to 10%. Sad, if we think about
it. But, again a barrier to reach for
Jesus exists in the fact of ‘keeping with the Jones’. Well, my neighbor does not attend church, my
friend does not attend church and neither do my parents and they seem to be
just fine; so, I am just going to sleep in on Sunday. Or, sports events, hunting, parties and life
circumstances veer us from attending church on Sunday. Now, don’t get me wrong. . .church is not the
ONLY way to have Jesus in our lives.
But, it is a huge piece in the puzzle to grow us spiritually. Church allows us worship our God, be
strengthened in faith and filled up with Truth to challenge us to become more
Christ-like. It is like a sponge being
soaked up with water to then dispense it out for good. Become a sponge, thirsty for Truth, to then
dispense Truth to others in need of this message. Let us stop the trend NOW ! Not
only can we prevent the percentage from falling; we can RAISE the percentage by
2050. Don’t conform to the patterns of
this world. Stand firm in His Truth and
serve our God regardless of the influences surrounding us.
Then, my daughter
goes on to sympathize with Jesus. She
said, “Jesus is cold”. I explained to
her that there was no room for Him in the inn and no real blankets for Him to
keep warm. She said in a concerning
voice, “You mean, He did not have a blankey?”
Let us recall the
whole experience of Jesus and not forget what He did for us. Yes, He was cold as a baby in that manger, He
was treated wrongly, He was abused, beaten, spit on and ridiculed. He stood firm in faith, knowing His worth in
God. He did not give up, but continued
to follow God’s plan for His life. He
knew His purpose. . .to follow His Father at all times. He kept His eyes on the prize. Keep your eyes on the prize and praise Him
always. Treat others as God would treat
them every day. Do you think you would
have given Jesus a blankey in that manger on the evening of His birth? Do you think you would have stood firm in
faith, against the others spitting and beating Jesus in the moments as He
carried our sins on His back?
Fill up with Truth
at every opportunity to guard yourselves against the lies of Satan. Don’t allow Satan power to build barriers
between you and God. Your past is
pardoned, your present is protected and your future is formed. Take that step into the unknown with
confidence that God is guiding you and He is with you.
“For God, who
said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to
give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of
Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)
Keep praying harder
than the devil can work.
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