Word for Today, Thu, 7 Dec 2000: Prepare

#1 · December 7, 2000, 9:12 am

Quote from Forum Archives on December 7, 2000, 9:12 am
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

This is the kind of message I have been looking to share with you
this week. No surprise that it comes from my friend, Larry
Davies. He and I frequently agree on the things of faith that
are important to share.

The pastor who is sharing a series of Advent messages at my local
church, Gordon MacDonald, has also had some interesting things to
share about this season, and some things to think about. Two
weeks ago, he started examining the characters of the Christmas
story. He had spoken to us in the past about "John the
Baptiser", so he opened his discussion with an examination of
Mary, the mother of Jesus. She was only a young woman (you might
think of her as a girl, for she was probably a young teenager at
the time the birth of Christ took place). What was special about
Mary is that she was humble and willing. Those are two important
characteristics for anyone who wants to follow God.

This past Sunday, we looked into the life of Joseph, who was
pledged to become Mary's husband when she was found to be "with
child" - conceived by the Holy Spirit. Joseph was what you would
call a "righteous man", for he obeyed the Jewish law completely.
But his attitude was much better than that. For Joseph, it was
not just a case of obeying the law. Many Jews did that, and
continue to do that. Joseph lived in the spirit of the law. He
did what was kind, as well as what was right. When he discovered
that Mary was pregnant, he must have been shocked. But rather
than publicly humiliate her, he had a mind to quietly divorce
her. Then the Holy Spirit came upon Joseph in a dream and told
Joseph that he should take Mary as his wife, and moreover, he
should name his child Jesus, because his child would save the
people from their sins.

Can you imagine such a sequence of events? What would you do if
you were Mary? What about Joseph? Can you see why they were
such important people to God? They were entrusted with raising
God's own Son! What was it about them that made them the perfect
choice?

* Humility
* Righteousness
* Obedience
* A love for God

As you examine scripture, I think you will see that these are
some of the key characteristics that make us into people that God
can use. As each of us continues to prepare for this season, I
think it is vitally important to examine our own hearts in all of
these matters. Is there something lacking in any of these areas?
If so, this is a good time to allow those things to be exposed by
the illuminating light of God's Word, melted and forgiven by
God's love, changed by God's Spirit, and made new. This process
is called repentence, which is something that Jesus' cousin, John
the Baptiser spoke about, and Larry mentions below.

"Prepare the way of the Lord!"

Brother Brian

From: "Sowing Seeds Ministry" <sowseeds@nesbeonline.com>
To: <sowseeds@nesbeonline.com>
Subject: "Checking Your Christmas List"
Sowing Seeds of Faith Devotion
December 7, 2000

Welcome to the Advent season which simply means a time of
preparation for Christmas. What better way to prepare than by
making a list. What is important however is not the list... it's
what you include in the list. Looking at my list... there was
something missing.

Sowing Seeds old favorite: Moses, Failure and Faith:
www.sowingseedsoffaith.com/moses.htm

Checking Your Christmas List
Larry Davies

Lets see if Ive got my Christmas to-do list done....

v Put up the Christmas tree... check.
v Bought Christmas presents... check.
v Hung stockings with care... check.
v Children visited Santa... Oops...Theyre too old.
v Watched Miracle on 34th Street- 4 times check.
v Heard, Grandma Got Run Over- 400 times Aaaah! check.

Confessed and repented of my sins.... What?

Shades of John the Baptist! What a depressing way to think
about Christmas. Larry, dont you know that confession and
repentance are out? Codependency, Dysfunctional, Fetish,
Psychosis, Neurosis and other excuses are the new terms for the
21st century. Why go back in time? Yet every year during
Christmas and Easter, church leaders and pastors read something
from the Bible about John the Baptist and his emphasis on
confession and repentance. Why?

I would be willing to bet a large sum this is not the Christmas
message you wanted to hear. Am I right? Dont give up hope yet,
there is an uplifting ending, so stay with me.

In each of the four Gospels you can almost hear the shrill voice
of John the Baptist, the animal skin clad, bug-eating prophet who
proclaimed himself as, A voice shouting in the wilderness;
Prepare a pathway for the Lords coming! Make a straight road
for Him! (Luke 3:4) His next statement however should get your
attention: You ungrateful pile of snakes! Dont just talk about
being a follower of God...do something about it! (7-8)That s
pretty strong language. Wait! There is more! Even now the ax of
Gods judgment is poised ready to sever your roots. Yes, every
tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and
thrown into the fire. (9) Ouch, that hurts! No wonder he was
beheaded.

But John the Baptist is right. We need to hear the voice in the
wilderness crying out: prepare a pathway Prepare a pathway is
describing three basic steps of the Christian faith:

1. Sin: is anything that separates us from God.
We all do it. We all must face it.

2. Confession: is the courage of admitting we are
flawed human beings in need of help.

3. Repentance is our willingness to ask for and accept
Gods power to change us.

A recent Gallop poll showed that Americans believe in Jesus
Christ but few translate belief into action. The studies show, as
much dishonesty and unethical behavior within the church as out.
Divorce rates are as high within the church as out. When
surveyed, people described religion as a balm for overcoming
depression rather than a call for serious change. Dont just
talk about it do something!

The crowd responded to John the Baptist by asking, What do we
do? (Read Luke 3:10-14) He said:

* Share: Not just with your family but anyone in need. Give some of
your blessings away. Learning to give is not just putting more
money in the offering plate... its a foundation of your faith.

* Play Fair: Be honest in your relationship with others!
Employers, treat workers with genuine respect! Employees, earn
your pay! Take a stand for what is right but with an attitude of
love.

* Be Content: We all want to be successful but God often has
different ideas on what success really means. It may be time to
ask yourself: Am I where God wants me to be?

This kind of preparation applies to all, from preachers to
pew-sitters to sleep-in-and-forget-about-it believers. Making a
straight path may be the most important Christmas preparation
we attempt.

What about you? Does your Christmas list include an old-fashioned
talk with God about your sinful behavior? Gods promise is to
listen with compassion, offer total forgiveness, enable you to
change and continue loving you. Isnt that great? The Good News
is that by following John the Baptist now you will really
appreciate what happens on Christmas Day. Prepare a pathway for
the Lords coming!

<www.sowingseedsoffaith.com>

More Than 3,400 Subscribers & Growing

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/
The Rules Have Changed...Get Paid to Surf the Web!
www.alladvantage.com/home.asp?refid=BKU-690

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products.
shopping.yahoo.com/

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

This is the kind of message I have been looking to share with you
this week. No surprise that it comes from my friend, Larry
Davies. He and I frequently agree on the things of faith that
are important to share.

The pastor who is sharing a series of Advent messages at my local
church, Gordon MacDonald, has also had some interesting things to
share about this season, and some things to think about. Two
weeks ago, he started examining the characters of the Christmas
story. He had spoken to us in the past about "John the
Baptiser", so he opened his discussion with an examination of
Mary, the mother of Jesus. She was only a young woman (you might
think of her as a girl, for she was probably a young teenager at
the time the birth of Christ took place). What was special about
Mary is that she was humble and willing. Those are two important
characteristics for anyone who wants to follow God.

This past Sunday, we looked into the life of Joseph, who was
pledged to become Mary's husband when she was found to be "with
child" - conceived by the Holy Spirit. Joseph was what you would
call a "righteous man", for he obeyed the Jewish law completely.
But his attitude was much better than that. For Joseph, it was
not just a case of obeying the law. Many Jews did that, and
continue to do that. Joseph lived in the spirit of the law. He
did what was kind, as well as what was right. When he discovered
that Mary was pregnant, he must have been shocked. But rather
than publicly humiliate her, he had a mind to quietly divorce
her. Then the Holy Spirit came upon Joseph in a dream and told
Joseph that he should take Mary as his wife, and moreover, he
should name his child Jesus, because his child would save the
people from their sins.

Can you imagine such a sequence of events? What would you do if
you were Mary? What about Joseph? Can you see why they were
such important people to God? They were entrusted with raising
God's own Son! What was it about them that made them the perfect
choice?

* Humility
* Righteousness
* Obedience
* A love for God

As you examine scripture, I think you will see that these are
some of the key characteristics that make us into people that God
can use. As each of us continues to prepare for this season, I
think it is vitally important to examine our own hearts in all of
these matters. Is there something lacking in any of these areas?
If so, this is a good time to allow those things to be exposed by
the illuminating light of God's Word, melted and forgiven by
God's love, changed by God's Spirit, and made new. This process
is called repentence, which is something that Jesus' cousin, John
the Baptiser spoke about, and Larry mentions below.

"Prepare the way of the Lord!"

Brother Brian

From: "Sowing Seeds Ministry" <sowseeds@nesbeonline.com>
To: <sowseeds@nesbeonline.com>
Subject: "Checking Your Christmas List"
Sowing Seeds of Faith Devotion
December 7, 2000

Welcome to the Advent season which simply means a time of
preparation for Christmas. What better way to prepare than by
making a list. What is important however is not the list... it's
what you include in the list. Looking at my list... there was
something missing.

Sowing Seeds old favorite: Moses, Failure and Faith:
http://www.sowingseedsoffaith.com/moses.htm

Checking Your Christmas List
Larry Davies

Lets see if Ive got my Christmas to-do list done....

v Put up the Christmas tree... check.
v Bought Christmas presents... check.
v Hung stockings with care... check.
v Children visited Santa... Oops...Theyre too old.
v Watched Miracle on 34th Street- 4 times check.
v Heard, Grandma Got Run Over- 400 times Aaaah! check.

Confessed and repented of my sins.... What?

Shades of John the Baptist! What a depressing way to think
about Christmas. Larry, dont you know that confession and
repentance are out? Codependency, Dysfunctional, Fetish,
Psychosis, Neurosis and other excuses are the new terms for the
21st century. Why go back in time? Yet every year during
Christmas and Easter, church leaders and pastors read something
from the Bible about John the Baptist and his emphasis on
confession and repentance. Why?

I would be willing to bet a large sum this is not the Christmas
message you wanted to hear. Am I right? Dont give up hope yet,
there is an uplifting ending, so stay with me.

In each of the four Gospels you can almost hear the shrill voice
of John the Baptist, the animal skin clad, bug-eating prophet who
proclaimed himself as, A voice shouting in the wilderness;
Prepare a pathway for the Lords coming! Make a straight road
for Him! (Luke 3:4) His next statement however should get your
attention: You ungrateful pile of snakes! Dont just talk about
being a follower of God...do something about it! (7-8)That s
pretty strong language. Wait! There is more! Even now the ax of
Gods judgment is poised ready to sever your roots. Yes, every
tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and
thrown into the fire. (9) Ouch, that hurts! No wonder he was
beheaded.

But John the Baptist is right. We need to hear the voice in the
wilderness crying out: prepare a pathway Prepare a pathway is
describing three basic steps of the Christian faith:

1. Sin: is anything that separates us from God.
We all do it. We all must face it.

2. Confession: is the courage of admitting we are
flawed human beings in need of help.

3. Repentance is our willingness to ask for and accept
Gods power to change us.

A recent Gallop poll showed that Americans believe in Jesus
Christ but few translate belief into action. The studies show, as
much dishonesty and unethical behavior within the church as out.
Divorce rates are as high within the church as out. When
surveyed, people described religion as a balm for overcoming
depression rather than a call for serious change. Dont just
talk about it do something!

The crowd responded to John the Baptist by asking, What do we
do? (Read Luke 3:10-14) He said:

* Share: Not just with your family but anyone in need. Give some of
your blessings away. Learning to give is not just putting more
money in the offering plate... its a foundation of your faith.

* Play Fair: Be honest in your relationship with others!
Employers, treat workers with genuine respect! Employees, earn
your pay! Take a stand for what is right but with an attitude of
love.

* Be Content: We all want to be successful but God often has
different ideas on what success really means. It may be time to
ask yourself: Am I where God wants me to be?

This kind of preparation applies to all, from preachers to
pew-sitters to sleep-in-and-forget-about-it believers. Making a
straight path may be the most important Christmas preparation
we attempt.

What about you? Does your Christmas list include an old-fashioned
talk with God about your sinful behavior? Gods promise is to
listen with compassion, offer total forgiveness, enable you to
change and continue loving you. Isnt that great? The Good News
is that by following John the Baptist now you will really
appreciate what happens on Christmas Day. Prepare a pathway for
the Lords coming!

<http://www.sowingseedsoffaith.com>

More Than 3,400 Subscribers & Growing

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/
The Rules Have Changed...Get Paid to Surf the Web!
http://www.alladvantage.com/home.asp?refid=BKU-690

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products.
shopping.yahoo.com/