Posted on Wednesday, December 24, 2008                                               by Liza B

I am not ready for Christmas! Well, I am ready for the much-needed 2 weeks off, but I am not even close to being finished with Christmas shopping. I have visited some awesome outlet malls, but the truth is that I really haven’t made a budget for my Christmas expenditure. If I don’t do that first, I’m afraid I’m gonna get too excited and end up finishing paying for Christmas gifts in July. I wish I could go all out, but I have to save for my future too you know.

Anyway, as I was mulling over the kinds of gifts I’d like to buy (and my budget), I began to remind myself of the real reason for Christmas: Jesus.

Now normally that would make me calm down and think “Presents aren’t everything. No need to stress out about it.” This time, however, I thought, “Wow! Presents are important to God!”

You know why? God actually blew His budget when He gave us Jesus because that was the most valuable and precious thing He could give us!

I wouldn’t have done that. I wouldn’t even give my worst kid in class (he really drives me insane), but God gave His only, beloved Son.

Along with the gift of His Son the Bible also says that we have inherited all spiritual riches and even become coheirs with Jesus Christ!  Amazing!

This Christmas I hope that you can see how truly gifted and fortunate you are to have the gift of Jesus Christ. Maybe your circumstances aren’t so hot or things aren’t going just as you like them (I understand, I’m still sleeping on the couch because of damage caused by Hurricane Ike), but just put it in perspective in comparison to the immense love God has for you that He sent what Christmas is all about: Jesus.

   Posted on Wednesday, December 10, 2008                                            by Allison J

"God is not making better people, but He is making new men" (C.S. Lewis).  So many times, we try to better our "Adam-like" Christianity and present it to God.  The "Adam-mindset" says things like, "Better yourself," and, "Be a better you!"  Christ says, "...If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).  Die to yourself and then you'll find out what it's like to really be living!  You see, Christianity isn't living better than Adam--it's living in Christ.  And sometimes, in our endeavor to be "better" Christians, we end up having a "religion" instead of a vibrant faith.  We have a religion of books and people--but if we truly want to learn what living in Christ is all about, why not go straight to the source?  He said "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:29).  Take that "gentle and humble in heart" phrase and replace it with whatever it is you're struggling with.  I love praying that back to the Lord!  Resources are a cheap imitation of Christianity.  As a teacher, I find myself realizing that no matter what I say to my students, it is ultimately God's working and moving in their lives that brings them to that point where they realize He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  I can talk to them and touch their hearts, but when Jesus talks to them He changes their hearts.  He's the only one that can do that: the "People-Changer." 

Psalm 51:10 reads, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."  What a beautiful picture of God's redemptive work in us!  He knows we need it and is waiting for us to cry out like Jacob did, "I'm not going to let you go until you bless me!"  Jacob's spiritual walk started out with the "Adam-like" Christianity.  He even went so far as to make a vow to the Lord, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God" (Genesis 28:20-21).  God does a work on Jacob's life and twenty years later, we find Jacob realizing that "he that finds his life shall lose it; and he that loses his life for [God's] sake shall find it" (Matthew 10:39).  When he finishes struggling with the angel, we find that God had taken Jacob: "the trickster," and changed him into Israel: "Prince of God."  THAT is what the "People-Changer" can do, and the work that He does is eternal.  May our prayer be: "God, make a fresh start in me; shape a Genesis-week from the chaos of my life--don't fail to breathe holiness in me" (Psalm 51:10 -The Message-).