Today Reminder – 25 December 2013 (Day 17 – A Real Christmas)

A reminder for today

The Saviour—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger." (Luke 2:11-12)

I hope my message finds you in a festive mood as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our saviour was send to live a perfect life and die for our imperfect ways. My dear friend, it has been a great year and an amazing month. Thank you for living out a real Christmas and bringing back the glory to the One who deserves it, thank you for celebrating Christmas for our Lord and saviour. 

It is all about God and all the glory should be His - "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) What a message to live by. Jesus was send so that you and I will not perish but that we will have eternal life. 

As we celebrate the birth of our Lord let us remember why He was send and let us lay aside our differences and forget the past and stand united and turn our eyes to God as we look ahead. Things can only get better and with the promise of an eternal life with our Lord, what more do we need. I believe that our world needs Jesus more now than ever before, and what a privilege it is to be able to show Him to this world as we unite in our celebrations. 

My dear and wonderful friend, I pray that your day and days ahead will be blessed and that you will feel His presence in your life as we continue to live a life for His glory. Let us worship Him and let His glory shine in our lives for in the end - "'As surely as I live,' says the LORD, 'every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess and give praise to God.'" (Romans 14:11)

Merry Christmas!

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder – 24 December 2013 (Day 16 – A Real Christmas)

A reminder for today

"But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God's paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside. I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food.” (Job 23:10-12)

The day before Christmas, here we are my dear friend; tomorrow the world will celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21) This is the gift that we celebrate tomorrow. The reason why we are able to live the lives we live, the centre of our religion and the foundation of our faith. What a wonderful time and how wonderful the fact that we can do this every day. 

I like this verse from Job 23 - I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food. This is what we need to do from here on in, we must treasure the words form our Lord and keep them in our hearts. We must carry His words with us wherever we go and share them with everyone we meet. The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. (John 6:63) We need to stop and meditate on this powerful scripture.  It can change your life forever!  God's Word is alive!  It is a living force that will bring life and victory to any circumstance we may face. The Lord Jesus stated:  "No! The Scriptures say, 'People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4).

The Word of God is God's personal promise to you.  Whenever we encounter any decisions or obstacles in life we need to find what the Word says for that situation.  When Jesus made this statement, My Words are spirit and they are life (John 6:63), He was teaching us to see His Promises through the eyes of faith.  The natural mind or the sense ruled mind cannot understand the things of the Spirit.  To simplify it: God or His Word is not bound by the laws of the natural or sense ruled world.  The world was created by the Spoken Word of God (Genesis 1).  This world and the very existence of life was conceived by God in the spirit realm, then made manifested in the natural realm.  Jesus looked at them and said: With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible (Mark 10:27).

So it is so important that we treasure His life giving words for they will bring change in our lives and on our journey. These words of our Lord will give us power and we will defeat the enemy in all the areas of our lives. Come with me today my friend and let us use the Word for the purpose it was intended and let us speak life over everyone we meet as we carry His Words in our hearts and treasure them more than daily food.

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder – 23 December 2013 (Day 15 – A Real Christmas)

A reminder for today

"Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored—so clean up your life. If you give up your lust for money and throw your precious gold into the river, the Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver!” (Job 22:21-25)

And here we are three days away from Christmas. How are you doing, my dear friend, and what are your plans for Christmas? We are having a family day on Christmas day. We are going to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ with our families here at our home and I must say I am looking forward to seeing them all. Families are a blessing and getting together on a special day like Christmas day is truly a gift. 

I have written to you in the last couple of days about having a Christmas where the Lord is our focus and I have mentioned a few things that we should take seriously during this time. I must say I like these verses from Job 22. You see I do believe that now is a great time to reconcile your life with God and with His Word. It starts of so nicely - Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. This is so awesome! It is so important that we just submit to God once again on our way towards Christmas day. The Lord must be the centre of our celebration and to submit to God now is so important so that we can reach a new level in our relationship with the Lord. The next verse continues to remind us that we should listen to God’s instructions and store them in our hearts. That is just so awesome. God should be in our hearts and with Him we should keep His instructions, because living a life for God is as important as the life giving blood that is pumped through your heart each second. 

Then there is this - If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored—so clean up your life. My dear friend, I think this is a daily thing for me. We must start each day by cleaning up our minds and thoughts and focus them on God. When you return to God you will be restored and by being restored it means physically and mentally. Our physical and spiritual restoration is important on our journey towards a real Christmas. 

Finally and so important in this time of year is our lust for money. Let us take away the material side of Christmas and replace it with the Lord as our treasure. The Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver! The Lord must be our treasure in our celebrations and He must be the centre of our focus. The gift that we give and the gift that we receive should be Him and His glory. 

Come with me, my dear friend and let us submit to God, listen to His instructions and store it in our hearts. Let us return to the Lord and celebrate His birth with renewed faith and let us break the power of satan over people by giving the gift that keeps on giving – Jesus Christ.

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder – 20 December 2013 (Day 14 – A Real Christmas)

A reminder for today

"But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!” (Job 19:25-27)

How are you my dear friend? It is only 5 days until Christmas and more and more people are going on leave. Our offices are getting quieter and suddenly there seem to be more parking in our basement. In the shops you hear Christmas music and off course the shops are crazy with people buying Christmas presents. Are you having the same experiences and did you do your Christmas shopping or are you still going to do it? Well I know of two little boys that are going to be very excited when they are going to open their presents and thinking about that made me think about Jesus.

You see, to open your heart and except Jesus is like getting a gift on Christmas. As you start to unwrap the wonder of His love and you open possibilities of having a living God in you, you start to feel the excitement of what you received and you can feel how your feet just wants to dance with joy. Job says here in Job 19 that he knows his redeemer lives. So today I just want you to know or remember that Jesus lives and we worship a living God. 

Standing on our own we will fail, but with Jesus in our lives we can do anything. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

When we open the gift that is Jesus we become a new person leaving behind our old self. Let us celebrate the new life we have in Jesus by sharing it this Christmas. Let all see that Jesus is a life changing decision and that He lives in us wherever we go.

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers

Today Reminder – 19 December 2013 (Day 13 – A Real Christmas)

A reminder for today

I could say the same things if you were in my place. I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you. But if it were me, I would encourage you. I would try to take away your grief. Instead, I suffer if I defend myself, and I suffer no less if I refuse to speak. (Job 16:4-6)

Yesterday I wrote to you about circumstances and how it is so much different in other places of in other people’s lives. We might have a wonderful and merry Christmas where other might have it in fear. Job says here in response to Eliphaz, “I could say the same things if you were in my place.” 

It is funny how we are quick to respond with something similar when we are going through a rough patch in our lives. We would easily feel that nobody can understand what we are going through, because it is not happening to them. People will not understand, because they have never gone through a similar experience. My dear friend, as Christmas lies at our doorstep, there are many that might be going through the same trouble or have gone through a similar experience. They might not talk about it and we might never know their grief, but we can always share our own experiences and in that way try and uplift those people again.

I believe that the hardest thing that you can go through at Christmas is to be alone. Not to have anyone could be devastating. Sometimes these experiences that we share can bring us together and if we know each other’s pain, it could really form a strong bond. The great thing about sharing is that there is someone that knows and understands and that kind of relationship could ease the pain and bring light where there is mostly darkness. 

So my dear friend, do not hesitate to share your experiences and to listen and hear what other have to say. A willing ear can sometimes solve many issues. Let us not get caught up in our own lives, but let us take a moment and listen to the lives that we meet and share our lives with, because being a friend is a huge responsibility and to take Jesus with you in each conversation is so important.

You can make a difference by listening or by talking. Share and let the Lord lighten your burden or the burden of other. Let us make this Christmas a Christmas where no one we know will feel alone.

Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus

Cheers