John Chapter 3 :vs1-21 How can someone be "born again"? (New Living Translation)

After dark one evening, a Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to speak with Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "we all know that God has sent you to teach us. your miraculous signs are proof enough that God is with you."
Jesus replied, "I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God."
"What do you mean?" exclaimed Nicodemus. "How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?"
Jesus replied, "The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven. So don't be surprised at my statement that you must be born again. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit."
"What do you mean?" Nicodemus asked.
Jesus replied, "You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don't understand these things? I assure you, I am telling you that we know and have seen, and yet you won't believe us. but if you don't even believe me when I am telling you about things that happen here on earth, how can you possibly believe if I tell you what if going on in heaven? For I, the Son of Man, have come to earth and will return to heaven again. And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole int he wilderness, so I, the Son of Man, must be lifted up on a pole, so that everyone who believes in me will have eternal life."
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it."
"There is no judgment awaiting those who trust in him. But those who do not trust in him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God. Their judgment is based of this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light for fear that their sins will be exposed and they will be punished. But those who do what is right come to the light gladly, so everyone can see that they are doing what God wants."

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Thoughts on Christmas

I've been thinking about Christmas . . .  Thinking about God, Thinking about the too-good-to-be-true  miracle of Jesus Christ, God's only son becoming flesh and walking among us . .  to show us how to live, to relate to our struggles, to show us how to love, and to inevitably die for our sins hung tortured on a cross . .  with nails through His wrists and feet, and pieces of His flesh on His back ripped apart by flogging . . .  pieces of His soul and His dignity,  any His psychological strength and will being ripped away from Him as He was mocked, insulted, lied about, misunderstood, not accepted . . .  and He was PERFECT.  Jesus lived the perfect life.  How horrible and sad He must have felt to know that no matter what He did . .  . people rejected Him . .  how horrible for the world . . that even when someone who was completely good . . . even then a person not go through this life without pain because the world really doesn't like good, kindness, or love, but the world is influenced with deception and evil . . .  the world rejects truth, the world rejects light, and the world rejects the salvation that was given through the blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! Praise Be His Name!

I say "Merry Christmas" to people when I am working (retail) because I believe it is a friendly greeting . .  and in some way . .  I am wishing that even if they do not celebrate Christmas I wish them a good life . .  and a good day on Christmas.  My secret best wish for them at Christmas, however, is that they find real true happiness for this life and in the next . . . and of course the only way this is possible is if they find Jesus  :  )  So I feel I must say Merry Christmas . . it is the least I can do on Christmas.  So many people say "Happy Holidays" but I much prefer to say Merry Christmas . . . If my job had a problem with it then I would have to decide whether to keep saying it or not . .  or else perhaps worst case scenario- lose my job . ..  but as things stand I am not in that predicament . . .  I have been before but am not at this moment . .  and so I choose to say "Merry Christmas" . . .  because every time I say "Merry Christmas" I feel free . .  and every time I have tried to bring myself to say the politically correct "Happy Holidays" I feel like a piece of my soul has died and I feel defeated.  But when I say "Merry Christmas", I feel like I am free to express myself as part of God's Creation!  I know that I am created by God, and so my purpose in life is to give Him glory. 

Some may feel that the 'Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas' controversy should not be a controversy at all . .  but I do not mean to make it a controversy . . . I just mean to express my true nature as a creation of God . . .  just as with being a Creationist, I do not mean to cause controversy  . . .  but I am more afraid of creating controversy between myself and my God . . than "creating controversy" between myself and just people.  God is God and people are just people . . just part of His Creation . .  and so I will say "Merry Christmas" because I can . .  and because it makes me happy to . .  just like it makes me happy to talk about Creation Science . .

I love God and it is in my created nature to say "Merry Christmas" and in some way when I say it . . .  it is like an invite and a blessing to all those who hear it . . so that maybe . . just maybe . .  when they do hear it . . . they will think . .  hmm . . . I wonder what this thing called "Christmas" is all about? . . . and if they would find out the meaning . . . they will find life . . .  eternal life in Jesus Christ . . .  - and THAT is the meaning of Christmas.

And so  . . . though it may even feel like Spiritual Warfare just to get the words out our mouths, "Merry Christmas" I would risk anything to say it . . .  because no matter what job or status I have in this world . . . it is all NOTHING if I cannot acknowledge my Creator especially on the day He gave Himself to us to save my soul and the souls of the whole world.  And so, whatever job or organizations or status or responsibilities I have in the rest of my life . . . I hope to NEVER stop saying "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"


Merry Christmas to you all!  May God Bless You Abundantly,

-The Creation Chick