Turn Back The Clock

Turn Back The Clock

- Author Unknown

Turn back the clock 2000 years and you will hear no man or angel saying, Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. What you will hear are the things that spoke wonders of His name, the glory of His presence, and the meaning of His birth. You will hear the voice of the angels of the Lord proclaiming to a small band of shepherds the following good new, "Have I got something to say to you! It is something that is too good not to be true. It's news that will flood you with joy from your head to your toes. God has done it! He has sent the One that He has promised to send, the Jewish Messiah, from David's very seed. Yes. It is Yeshua, God's Salvation, who has come to save you from your sins." The news was so exciting that a huge number of angels could no longer contain themselves. In one thunderous voice they shouted out, "Glory, glory to God in Heaven's highest place. He has sent Him to earth's lowly place His gift of perfect peace, and it is now available for all who will believe."

May you celebrate this Christmas season the One who was sent to save each one of us. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Christ centered New Year!

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

That title is usually referred to as a Christmas gift that can be used long after the Christmas season is over. Well, so am I.

The Christmas story depicted in Luke 2 is the story of a woman having a baby.

Some people might say big deal. What's so great about woman having a baby? How do you go from the gift that keeps on giving to a story about a woman having a baby?

When you put the whole story together, it begins to make sense.

Let's reconstruct the story from the beginning.

Luke 1:26-35 (NIV) says: "In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The Virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.' Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid. Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever: his kingdom will never end.' 'How will this be,' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?' The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.'"

Mary risked being ridiculed, talked about, even stoned when she accepted the Lord's plan for her life. But because she lived a righteous life, she was chosen for a special assignment. She was chosen to carry the gift that keeps on giving.

What happens when we expect a gift or we unwrap a gift that is exactly what we want? We get excited, right?

In Luke 2:13,14 the angels began rejoicing. The gift had been unwrapped.

Other than the obvious, how can a baby be a gift?

Read Isaiah 9:6 and John 3:16. God gave us a gift in the form of His Son Jesus Christ.

Babies grow and begin to fulfill their destiny. God's plan for their lives. Just like with all of us. We have a plan. We have a reason for being. It's just that we don't have a clear understanding of the plan God has for our lives.

Baby Jesus grew up - Luke 2:52 - and scripture tells us that Jesus not only grew up physically, but in wisdom and in favor with God and men.

As we grow physically and spiritually, we gain favor with God and with man. It is as we grow in wisdom that we can begin to understand the plans that he has for us.

This baby was destined to save the world.

Matthew 1:21

How will He save us?

I John 4:9-10; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Ephesians 2:8

How is He the Gift that keeps on giving?

Hebrews 7:25

"Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them."

Gift Giving

As we prepare to close out 2011, I am reminded that since I'm still here, I have a destiny to fulfill - a job to do.

I want to encourage women to be all that they can be. To do that I need to be a model. That is what I will strive to do.

In this season of gift-giving, I want to remind you not just about God's gift of Jesus Christ, but of those gifts that He has placed in us. Those gifts were imparted into us before we were born to enrich the Kingdom of God.

So while you travel around thinking about December 25th and how much you have to do in the natural, also think about what you have to do in the supernatural.

While you plan the perfect gifts for your loved ones, think about how you can share the gift or gifts you have already received ~ Christ and the unique way that you and only you have to show His love.

Merry Christmas!!!

It's Time To Jump!!!

Have you ever felt you were ready for something - something more - something big, but you weren't sure where, when or how?

That's how I feel now. I feel as if I'm on the prcipice of a cliff, poised and ready to jump, but also conscious of the fact that I have to leap at the right time.

If I step too soon I will fall into an abyss and have to climb all over again. Like the israwlites, I could circle the same mountain for years until I learn to hear from God. Not only hear from God but trust Him.

If I step too late it's a missed opportunity and again I would have to wait until I hear from God and trust that He knows what and when is best for me.

If I jump at the right time I see myself being carried off into that which is unimaginable to my finite mind. Not only do blessings abound, but a real impact is being made in the Kingdom of God.

The point here is, are you ready? We have to be so in tune to the Word of God that we can take a vertical leap of faith. The moment we hear Him say, NOW!! We jump.

I heard a pastor say once that she was waiting in patient anticipation for the move of God. We are patient because His timing is perfect, but we anticipate and are excited about what He is going to do because we know how good He is.

Don't allow the fear of the hump keep you from your purpose.

Purpose brings passion!

Believe, Obey & Wait

The Lord gave Noah a word - then He gave Noah a commandment. Noah, believing a word that didn't make sense spent approximately the next 100 years of his life (Gen. 5:32; 7:6) being laughed at ridiculed and condemned. Those people either didn't hear what Noah heard or heard it and didn't believe and therefore did not act.

Noah found grace and favor. Genesis 6:8
Noah did all that God commanded. Genesis 6:22

Noah didn't know when he would see the fulfillment of all that God had spoken to him, he just walked in habitual fellowship with God.

Noah did not start building until he had clear, concise instructions from the Lord. (Genesis 6:14-16)

Scripture doesn't indicate whether there was any dialogue between Noah and God. There is no evidence that Noah balked at what God told him to do (he never said I can't, I don't know how). Nor does it state that he consulted others about the feasibility of what he heard. He just did it. I believe that it is what God is requiring of us.

When God gives us a word of instruction or knowledge, our first responsibility is to believe that God will bring it to pass.

The next step is obey. Obey in spite of what others may say or what your situation looks like.

And last but not least, wait. Yes wait. Having faith also requires patience.

A word from the Lord is to prepare us for what He is about to do - in His timing.

Believe, obey and wait. The Lord is Sovereign and will bring His word to process.

In Pursuit of Worship

Not praise but worship. Do we really know the difference? Praise is expressing my gratitude for what God has done. Worship is exalting Him - just because He IS.

When King Hezekiah began his reign in 2 Chronicles 29, his priority was to restore the house of the Lord, which his father had destroyed. He could have said, "my father has done this terrible thing and now I don't know how I can make things right. The situation is too bad to be corrected". Instead he had all the priests and Levites cleanse and sanctify themselves and the Holy Place. His main desire was to honor God.

There are times when we can't see beyond what we see, and when what we see doesn't look good we start to doubt God's work and word in our lives.

Worship says that no matter what I see, Lord I want more of You.

Are we willing to say that? What type of priority are we willing to give worship? Do we limit worship to Sunday morning when the praise team sings or do we make it a way of life? Maybe we don't want to sanctify ourselves because that would mean we could not hold on to those hidden areas of our hearts that we're not ready to have revealed.

Psalm 29:2 says: "Give to the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness or in holy array." (Amp)

Once you've seen things from God's perspective, the devil's devises won't bother you anymore - you've read the end of the Book, and you're sitting next to the Author.

Be blessed.

In Pursuit of Christ

"[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [inspirit into His likeness even] to His death, [inthe home]" Philippians 3:10 (Amp)

How many of us can honestly say that we are determined to get to know Christ more intimately? I can. In spite of everything He allows me to go through, I want to know Him that much more deeply.

When things/circumstances or "life" starts happening, my first thought is, "What did I do wrong? Why am I going through this?" It is at that point that I have two choices - run away or run to.

Which do you choose? If you choose to run to, that is when you will "come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection".

In Pursuit of Promise

The Lord has been revealing to me that there are areas in my life that He is not pleased with and the more I pray and fast, asking for His promises, the more He brings to light those things I thought I could hide or keep secret.

So often we want the promises of God, but we don't want to live the lives He requires of us. We sometimes conveniently forget that to whom much is given, much is required. (Luke 12:48b) If we want to pursue those promises (much given), our lives have to change (much required).

When God starts to set us up in His plan for our lives, He wants us positioned in such a way that no one will be able to question our integrity or our character. (Titus 2:7,8)

This month, I encourage you to ask the Lord to open up your heart and mind to the things that He wants you to change so that He can begin to pour out those blessings He has promised you.