lovejoy

last week, the little comet called Lovejoy disappeared into the atmosphere of the sun, and astronomers fully expected it to be destroyed by the sun's great heat. but amazingly, it survived and emerged on the other side!
in the last couple of days leading up to Christmas, the comet, with its new tail, has been visible from our space station and from an observatory in Chile. the commander of the international space station said it was "the most amazing thing i've ever seen in space!" and that's something coming from an astronaut!
it made me think about the original Christmas story. Jesus came to our broken earth, He "wrapped our injured flesh around [Himself]" (MW Smith), He ate our food and healed our sickness...
then He chose to allow evil's heat to consume Him in death, a terrible death on the cross. He entered the burning heat of the sun.
and when all was lost, when He was laid in the grave, when darkness had fallen, when the disciples had given up hope and were overcome with grief, He came out on the other side of Hell's heat!!! He rose from the dead! He took the 'tail' of our sins to the grave and left them there! and when He appeared again, His new 'tail' was the gift of salvation to us!!! it shines in the night sky for all to see. no matter who you are, or where you come from, you can look to the sky and follow His light.
don't wait! just as comets are only visible for a period of time, so your chance to follow Jesus is limited. He WILL come again to judge the living and the dead, and He will come unexpectedly.
the time to accept Him is NOW!

what's on YOUR to-do list?

in our hearts, do we really believe that Jesus is here, now, in the room with us? as believers, we say we do...
but if i could see or touch Him here in this room, would i really watch tv shows, read my book, bake some muffins, write on facebook, and check my email, all BEFORE talking to Him???
when orlondo is in the room with me, i am constantly aware of him, commenting to him, noticing what he's doing, listening for him to speak to me...
i say i believe Jesus is real. i say i believe He's in this room, and that He lives in my heart, but i usually neglect to spend time with Him till it's SUPER late and i'm 5 minutes from falling asleep!
i'm not saying i have to become a morning person and spend my waking-up minutes reading the Bible, because i'd be even sleepier at that time... but i AM saying that Jesus should have my PRIME minutes of the day, whenever those may be. He should be #1!

Christmas is here... a time when we too often get too busy, buying and wrapping and traveling and visiting and eating... at the very end of the season, on Christmas eve, or maybe even Christmas day, we finally take a moment to remember Jesus' arrival on earth as a baby. we look at some cute renditions of a nativity scene and we feel a little happy warmth...
i challenge us to do it differently, starting today! there are only a few days left, but i say we need to put aside the 'stuff' in our 'Christmas season' and look FIRST at Jesus.
GOD, the Creator of all things, became a human BABY! GOD with US! somehow He wrapped Himself in skin: fully God, fully human. and He came with the sole purpose of dying, so that He could rise from the dead and free us from the death WE deserved!
doesn't He deserve to be the first thing on our to-do list this Christmas???

what happened to the real Jesus?

after living here in the 'Christian' country of America, i am beginning to wonder if we've completely lost sight of who Jesus really was in His time. i've had numerous conversations with different people over what Jesus might want us to do.... i've watched t.v. and listened to the radio...
and i'm gathering that here's how most Americans think Jesus acted while He walked the earth, thus this would be a list of how we are supposed to act if we're Christian:

don't do bad things
do good things
be nice to people
walk around with a smile on your face
make sure you're following your dreams
climb the ladder of success
always keep the peace; never ruffle anyone's feathers (that wouldn't be nice!)
don't ever 'judge' anyone for what they are doing (that would ruffle feathers!!)
try your best; that's all you can do
above all, don't kill anyone or wear something out of style!

and while Jesus was kindhearted and gentle and loving, did He really live like that? if He did, why in the world would anyone kill Him??!
the Bible tells us that He 'had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him." (Isaiah 53:2) He didn't come to set up His earthly kingdom or to be 'liked' by us. He came to bring us truth and to save us!
why did we need saving? well, we were choosing ourselves (following our dreams, climbing our ladder of success, doing our best) instead of choosing God. Jesus showed us how to choose God over ourselves. the ultimate example was the night before He was killed. He spent all night praying (in Matthew 26, Mark 14, & Luke 22) for God to spare Him from having to absorb our sins (He was innocent!). the easy way would have been to walk away from us, but instead, He chose God's way, which meant He had to die in our place! He chose to bring our sins to God as though He had committed them, and to take our punishment, which included God turning away from Him!
how could anyone kill an innocent man like Jesus?? well, He spoke the truth, always, and it didn't make Him popular. He didn't walk around with a perpetual smile, He didn't always keep the peace, and He didn't even refrain from judging people when it was appropriate. In many places, Jesus is recorded as arguing with the religious leaders of the day. at one point, He called them 'white-washed tombs,' (Matthew 23:27) because they looked good on the outside with all their 'good deeds,' but inside their hearts were shallow. He pointed out truth. and it made people mad. mad enough to kill.

so what should we make of Jesus?? and how do we follow His example? i think more understanding comes when we realize it's all about what's BEHIND our actions. He cares about our heart motivation. if you've accepted Jesus as the One who died in your place to make you right with God, then your heart will be a thankful one and you will want to live your life for God. when you live your life for God, then HE is what guides your actions.

so we don't do bad (like killing, or any other sin), we do good, but not so we can 'earn our way into heaven,' but because we are thankful to God and we want to point other people to Him. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
we are nice to people and might even have a smile on our face, but not to make a good impression or to lead them to think we're so sweet, but because we truly care about them and want them to know Jesus. (1 Peter 2:12)
our success is measured in God's terms, and our dreams need to match up with God's will, so we read His words in the Bible and talk to Him in prayer so that we can get to know Him as well as we can. (Romans 12:2, 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
we live at peace with everyone, as much as we can (Romans 12:18)
we don't judge if someone is God's child or not; that's God's job. but we DO judge between right and wrong, so that we can live a life that pleases God. and it's even ok to tell someone else (truthfully, not rudely) that they are doing something wrong, so that they can know. (the whole Bible teaches us the difference between right and wrong)
we do our best, but it's not for people, it's for God. 'our best' won't get us into heaven, but it shows that we love God. (Colossians 3:23)

Jesus wasn't just a happy, hippie-looking guy with 'LOVE' tattooed on his arm, as it would seem our culture thinks these days. He lived and died so that we could be right with God. His actions were driven by that purpose, whether He offended people or not. and He sure did offend many.
as i need to remind myself everyday, 'let's not be scared of living that way!'

persecution

persecution.
it's not something we think of a lot in the US. but it's happening all over the world right NOW. i read somewhere that there are more Christians being persecuted NOW than in all of history combined! and our country, with all its political correctness and so-called 'freedoms', is headed in that same direction of hating true Christianity.
i get a magazine called 'Voice of the Martyrs' (find them at www.persecution.com), which spreads the news of the persecuted church and reminds us to pray. it's hard to imagine that there are Christians getting their eyes gouged out and their fingernails ripped off in places like Afghanistan and Indonesia, while i'm sitting here wrapped in my warm blanket typing on my keyboard.

persecution.
i've known about it all my life, partly having grown up in Nigeria, a place of religious extremes, where Muslims can be riled to violence at any moment. and i've always been an avid reader of books on the Jewish plight during World War II, amazed at the courage of ordinary people during a time of such rabid persecution and torture...
and i've always hoped that, if i were called to be persecuted, i would be strong, that i would stand up for God's name, no matter what.
but what do i really know of pain? i've never had a broken bone, i haven't thrown up since 7th grade, i've never been in a fist fight, i get nervous when i think God is calling me to speak to someone and sometimes i even chicken out when the worst i fear is rejection!!!
what do i really know of being tortured? yesterday, while shopping for work, i (briefly and barely) smashed my finger under a carton of apple juice in the grocery cart. it hurt so badly that all the neighboring fingers were tingling and, for a second, i felt slightly sick to my stomach! no blood, no bruise so far, though it still hurts... and i thought of the persecuted pastors getting their nails ripped off for just BELIEVING in Jesus, and thought, could i handle it??!
i think i'm realizing that the answer is a resounding NO! I could never take it. but God's not counting on ME to take it, He promised that HE will be my strength in times of need.
if the time comes and i get taken away from my family, just for believing, or if someone is killed in front of me and i am forced to watch, i pray that i have the courage to trust wholeheartedly in JESUS to live through me at that moment. He's the One who, amidst the horrid persecution of suffocating while hanging by nails in his hands and feet on the cross, used His precious breath to ask God to forgive those who had put Him there.
may i do the same, dear Lord!!!

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom i trust.'" Psalm 91:1-2

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

"'Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.'" Joshua 1:9

"But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one." 2 Thessalonians 3:3

"But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps." 1 Peter 2:20-21

what is your position?

Esther was a Jewish woman who was chosen by the most powerful man in the land, the king, to be his wife. she didn't pick her circumstances. she didn't even get to pick her husband.
meanwhile, an evil man in the same kingdom was plotting to annihilate Esther's entire race, and he was was planning to use her husband to do it!
she was the only one in the position to save her people, and her uncle urged her to risk her life to do it. he said,


"Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"
(Esther 4:14)

if you call yourself a Christian, i urge you to contemplate the position you are in.
God has chosen you to be His heir! You have been grafted into His family as His child, to be like a brother or sister of Jesus, even though you don't deserve it! though you are not in the bloodline, you are in a position of ROYALTY!
so what is going on in the world today? so many things happen that we wouldn't have chosen. i'm sure you can think of someone in your life who is hurting, or who is lost, or who struggles with anger... or maybe you are the one who is aching with depression, or who is fighting doubt because you just lost your job, or who has prideful thoughts...
because of Jesus, you have a direct line to GOD, the Creator of the universe! you do not need to go through anyone else to get to Him. His answer to your prayers may not be what you wanted or what you expected, but He does promise that if you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you (James 4:8). and it makes sense to me that if He is near to you, then those around you (including those for whom you are praying) might be drawn closer to His presence as well. and isn't that our goal?
Esther went on to dare to enter the king's court and plead for her people, and God saved the Jewish people through her.
what is God calling you to do? do you dare believe that God has brought you to royal position for such a time as this?