Christmas message

Merry Christmas, God loves you!

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

John 3:16

Romans 10:9 (NIV)If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord. I Thessalonians 4:16-17

(Jesus said) “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.” Revelation 22:12

Prayer of repentance and commitment to Jesus as your Lord and Savior:

Dear God, thank You for your love for me and for sending Jesus. Thank you, Lord Jesus for dying on the cross for my sin. I believe that God raised you up from the dead. Please forgive my sins.  I open my heart to you. I commit and trust my life to Your Lordship. Please help me, Holy Spirit, to live the life God has planned for me.  In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

If you pray the prayer above, you are now a child of God and forgiven because of Jesus Christ! What to do next?

Christianity is not just a religion. It is a personal relationship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

God speaks to us through reading the Bible every day. (www.biblegateway.com)

  1. We speak to God through prayer in the name of Jesus.
  2. To hear good Bible teachings, look for a good Bible believing Christian church to be part of, or maybe look for online for now.

Thebiblegateway.com 

Published
Categorized as Devotion

JESUS HUMBLED HIMSELF & IDENTIFIES WITH US

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” 

Philippians 2:5-11(NKJV)

At this time of year, we often think about Jesus coming to earth in the form of a helpless baby, but do we really consider the implications of Jesus humbling himself by coming to earth?  Think about it.  Jesus left all the glory & splendor of heaven and the worshipping heavenly hosts to come and live among us.  He gave up His omnipresence to live in a human body confined by time, space, and geography.  He gave up the perfections of heaven to live in a body that was subject to hunger, pain, and discomfort.  I can imagine that, upon occasion, Jesus suffered the pain of hitting his thumb with a hammer or stubbing his toe on a rock.  When Jesus fed the five thousand, have we ever considered that Jesus himself was hungry?  When Jesus spoke with the woman at the well, have we ever thought about how thirsty Jesus must have been?  And after a long day of ministering to the physical needs of hundreds of people, have we ever considered how tired Jesus must have been?  Or after seeing how the religious leaders of his day despised Him and His teachings, have we ever considered the degree to which Jesus felt the pain of being misunderstood and rejected?  And let us not forget the emotional pain that Jesus felt when his earthly father Joseph, his cousin John the Baptist, and his friend Lazarus died.

Dr. David Jeremiah recently did a teaching a series about the Nativity, has listed several reasons why Jesus came to live among us.  We often think about the obvious reasons – to fulfill the Old Testament prophesies and to save us from our sins.  But do we consider that He also came so that he could fully understand what it means to be human, to experience human emotions and to empathize with our weaknesses?  The writer of Hebrews brings out this point:

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” 

Hebrews 4:14-16

I don’t know about you, but these verses bring me great comfort!  When I feel discouraged, I can remember that Jesus also felt that way from time-to-time.  When I feel alone, I can remember that there were times when Jesus also felt the pain of isolation.  When I am tempted, I can remember that Jesus also faced temptation, although of course He never yielded to those temptations.  Isn’t it comforting to know that whatever we are going through, we can bring those cares to the One who understands our struggles (I Peter 5:7), knowing that He has promised never to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).  And there is nothing that can ever separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39).  Now that is truly Good News!

Published
Categorized as Devotion

Christmas 2020 Prayer Letter

Season’s Greetings, and Merry Christmas from the Creels! We hope that you and your family are doing well and enjoying this festive season. Even in this most unusual year, we have much for which to be grateful. At the top of our “gratitude list” is the gift of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who gave of Himself so that we might enjoy abundant life here on earth and eternal life someday with Him in heaven. We are also grateful for your partnership as we proclaim “Christ to the World by Media” until all have heard the story of Jesus. For more thoughts on thanksgiving, please see our blog at thecreels.org.

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