“Discouraged”

 “You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God” Ephesians 2:19

Imagine yourself a child, feeling abandon on the streets of the projects within the inner city. Your parents are on the brink of divorce/separation. Your mom is diagnosed with critical cancer disease. While she is being treated temporarily you are left to fend for yourself in an orphanage so you aren’t a burden to other relatives. You want to scream but you can’t speak because of the noise of ethnic chants. So, you are left to defend oneself every day from the mental blows of intolerance. While on this path you adapt with harshness and run head first so that you may obtain the prize of being, “Discouraged” and Fear!

As many as 30,000 orphans found themselves in that comparable dilemma in 1850. They slept in alleys, huddling for warmth in boxes or metal drums To survive, the boys mostly stole, caught rats to eat, or rummaged in garbage cans. Girls sometimes worked as “robbers in a panel house” for prostitutes, slipping their tiny hands through camouflaged openings in the walls to lift a watch or wallet from a preoccupied customer.

Immigrants were flooding New York City then, and no one had the time or money to look after the orphans-no one, that is, except Charles Loring Brace, a 26-year old minister. Horrified by their plight, he organized a unique solution, the Orphan Train. The idea was simple: pack hundreds of orphans on a train heading west and announce to towns along the way that anyone could claim a new son or daughter when the Orphan Train chugged through.

The Orphan Train was so successful by the time the last one steamed west in 1929, 100,000 children had found new homes and new lives, some became governors, one served as a United States congressman, and another was a U.S Supreme Court justice.

“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will”

Ephesians 1:11

As you run aimlessly an inordinate length of time. Remember, for the Discouraged, our lives in light of our identity in Christ are filled with a heavenly Father, a large, loving family, and the understanding that we are citizens of another kingdom and not of this earth.

Though all Christians share similarities in their story races, the Lord gives each of us a unique race to run. And not everyone’s weights are the same. The news above provides a vivid parable of the message of Ephesians. To capture Paul’s enthusiasm in the book, imagine one more stage in your life as a street kid. You have learned to survive and fight off undesirable echoes. But one day, someone takes you and puts you on a train jammed with hundreds of other foreign-speaking hooligan kids. It’s 1961 you are in a prejudice situation where you are treated with so many detrimental categories of race noise that makes you hard-hitting, intense and often impossible to love self; while lugging around that Faithless stuff of intolerance 

"There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

 Ephesians 4:4-6

My questions for you today are:” Who are you? Who do you belong to? And what is your purpose?”

But one day, someone choses you and quietly explains that you are now part of their family, our child, by grace you have been saved, blessed, redeemed, a new creation, united to Him, forgiven, have hope, no longer slaves to sin and with belief marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; the pledge of our inheritance. To the praise of his glory. If you feel discouraged or wonder if God really cares or question whether the Christian life is worth the effort, read Ephesians. 

You will no longer feel like an abandoned soul orphan, Paul describes the “riches of Christ” available to all and points to us, God’s adopted children, as his sparkling “Exhibit A” in all the universe. Everything they have is yours to use and enjoy. At long last, by some miracle, you have a family, “the family of God” and a home- what a home! Ephesians contains staggering inspirations. Paul wants us to seize “the breadth, length, height and depth” of the love of Christ. Be activated to express that love, with not one low, grief-stricken note that sneaks in with fearing God as judge; we have the great privilege of coming to Him as our Father!

We are made alive with Him (Ephesians 2:5) we are conformed to His image (Romans 8:29) we are free from condemnation and walking not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1) and we are part of the body of Christ with other believers(Romans 12:5) The believer now possesses a new heart(Ezekiel 11:19) and has been blessed “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:3).

We might wonder why we so often do not live in the manner described, even though we have given our lives to Christ and are sure of our salvation. This is because our new natures are residing in our old fleshly bodies, and these two are at war with one another. The old nature is dead, but the new nature still has to battle the old “tent” in which it dwells. 

When we are in Christ, “we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Romans 8:37) and can rejoice in our Savior, who makes all things possible (Philippians 4:13). In Christ we are loved, forgiven, and secure. In Christ we are adopted, justified, redeemed, reconciled, and chosen. In Christ we are victorious, filled with joy and peace, and granted true meaning in life. What a wonderful Savior is Christ!

God Bless You and This Ministry!

'Today or tomorrow, “it is the Lord’s will”

 During our in-house shelter, I’ve been sitting with hand on chin looking out the window a lot, I call this my Einstein moment, ha ha. Einstein would say “Imagination is more important than knowledge,” His curiosity and childlike wonderment led him to explore problems and concepts that most other people didn’t notice or care about.

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 We do not like to talk about topics on, “death”. In fact, we try to avoid the subject as much as possible. But in recent weeks there has been an emphasis on death due to the Coronavirus. We are told that death is natural and we must be prepared to deal with it. What is the meaning of death? How can Christian faith help us relate to those who are dying? We cannot “practice” dying, but it is important that we be prepared for death, in the spirit of Psalm 90:

“So, teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom

People die because of what is called the” original sin” the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God had warned the first couple that transgressing His law would result in their death (Genesis 2:17) and that is what happened. “The wages of sin are death” (Romans 6:23a). So "Do we have an appointed time of death?"

The Bible tells us that “all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16). So, yes, God knows exactly when, where, and how we will die. God knows absolutely everything about us (Psalm 139:1-6). So, does this mean our fate is sealed? Does this mean we have absolutely no control over when we will die? The answer is both yes and no, depending on the perspective.

The answer is "yes" from God’s perspective because God is all-seeing—He knows everything and knows exactly when, where, and how we will die. Nothing we can do will change what God already knows will happen. The answer is "no" from our perspective because we do have an impact on when, where, and how we die. Obviously, a person who commits suicide causes his own death. A person who commits suicide would have lived longer had he not committed suicide. Similarly, a person who dies because of a foolish decision (e.g., drug use, lung cancer from smoking, heart attack due to a lifetime of extremely unhealthy eating and little exercise), “expedites” his or hers’s own death.

Prayer can help us assess ourselves realistically and use our time more effectively. It can also preserve us from overestimating such things as worldly success, happiness, how are we going to pay our bills and youth. By learning to die, we are learning to live. Nothing can better prepare us for death than a life lived in response to the gospel. There are a number of things we can do on a regular basis to prepare ourselves for death, as well as for life. Among them are these:

·      Use every moment, hour, and day wisely and be of help to those who are dying

·      Allow time for work, planning, conversation, bible reflection, play, rest, and sleep

·      The New Testament clearly affirms that death is not the end. Those who believe already share in a life that is eternal

·      Forgive others and ask them to forgive us

·      Give thanks for each day God gives us

·      Be reminded of the hope of the resurrection in Christ and the promise of eternal life for those who believe in Jesus Christ

How does this affect our lives practically? We are to live each day for God. 

“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31). Therefore, we owe it to our neighbors to lovingly share with them the good news of the gospel. God’s love is evidenced in us as we communicate this precious gospel and love others as we have been loved. So, call, text a friend today!

James 4:13-15 teaches us, “Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.'” We are to make wise decisions about how we live our lives and how we take care of ourselves. And ultimately, we trust God that He is absolute and in control of all things.

I Sing Your Praise All the Day Long, through the follow prayer:

Come, Lord, and cover us with the night Spread Your grace over us as you assured us You would do. Your promises are more than all the stars in the sky; Your mercy is deeper than the night. Lord, it will be cold. The night comes with its breath of death. Night comes, the end comes, but Jesus Christ comes also. Lord, we wait for Him day and night. Jesus is truly the Friend who sticks closer than a brother, and blessed are those who have Him as their Friend

In Jesus Christ, Amen

African Prayer, Fritz Pawelzik

God Bless You and This Ministry!

“I Will Wipe Them Away”

There is something about worship music that completely overtakes me. As I lift my head and heart in praise and as I worship God with the congregation, I am always overcome with intense emotion. There are certain hymns like the, “Old Rugged Cross” that I feel deep in my soul as it simmers up. I become filled with the words of praise and I weep. Every. Single. Time.

I remember noticing this when I was about five or six years old at home. My mom would always begin and end the night with praise through song and I would always bawl my eyes out. As a youth you see I was occupied with grief or fear of the unknow dark, I felt like an anomaly; I felt strange. I would question my emotions. I would be thinking, Why am I crying? No one else is crying. I would try to distract myself during her singing music so I would not cry. I would try to block out the words of the song during my fear of grief so I would not be overcome with emotion. I was self-conscious and I doubted myself.

Sometimes, we cry because life’s sorrows have become chronic, filling our life like unwelcome houseguests who just won’t leave. Other times, we cry because some unexpected grief lands like a falling star and notches a nook in our soul. And still other times, we shed tears and don’t know quite why; the grief evades description and analysis.

Our weeping may tarry for a long, long night. As long as we journey through this current valley during this covid-19 virus, we will be vulnerable to the assaults of loss and disappointment and death. But joy will come in the morning, when God turns our valley of tears into a city of everlasting joy.

While in the custody of his enemies, David wrote, “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle” (Psalm 56:8). David was going through a difficult time. He begins this sad psalm with the words “Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me” (Psalm 56:1). The Philistines had captured David in Gath—David was, at the time he wrote this psalm, a prisoner of war, and he had reason to cry and be sorrowful. David says that his struggles are recorded in God’s book (verse 8), and he asks God to put his tears in His bottle. What does this poetic language mean? Does God really have a bottle where all our tears go? Are the events of our lives really written in a book?

The idea behind the keeping of “tears in a bottle” is remembrance. David is expressing a deep trust in God—God will remember his sorrow and tears and will not forget about him. David is confident that God is on his side. He says, in the midst of this troubling time, “This I know, God is for me”(Psalm 56:9) and “In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?” God may not have an actual bottle where our tears are kept or a literal book where sorrows are recorded, but He nonetheless remembers all the things that happen in our lives, including the suffering endured for His sake.

Our tears are not futile during these times. God knows each of His children intimately, and every tear we shed has meaning to Him. He remembers our sorrow as if He kept each tear in a bottle. In the end, He will share His joy with us when “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4) We will face trials and temptations in life (john 16:33; James 1:2-4). Our faith will be challenged. But it is not only in the difficult times that we dig in our heels and fight for our faith. No, we contend for our faith always. What we do today prepares us for what is in store tomorrow. God is always at work in our lives. Our faith should be ever-growing. Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. My brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling. Election as you tear. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich emotional welcoming cry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” We keep the faith by remembering God’s faithfulness and continuing to grow in relationship with Him 

  

God Bless You and This Ministry!

“Who am I”

 Amidst the Stillness

Once during bible study, the question was asked,” What do normal Christian people think about? “Sarcastically, with grace, it depends on, “who you are” as far as your uniqueness?  Now, for me "normal" should be used loosely because we all have our own little distinctive unique aspects of ourselves, and I truly believe a lot of us struggle in the world today with the words, “who am I”? 

A majority of us claim to be born again Christians. But what makes it so hard to take these claims seriously? Perhaps many think they are Christians because they once confessed Christ in the past and that’s enough? So, Is it a new day? Or perhaps a day based on life that’s repeating itself? Like me are you doing the same things that you did last week? Performing actions that give the minimum that just gets you by. After all, you have done all this before. If you are just going through the motions of boredom, you may need to change your ritual of wasting your time. As the expression goes, in our daily lives is there enough evidence to convict us of being Christians? Think about your answer to this question. Is it to get rid of all “outward things and focus just on “spiritual” things? No, the big problem with that. As humans we are physical as well as spiritual. We don’t just learn things by thinking; we learn by doing. We don’t just add to our knowledge by ideas, but by experiences that add up to the motions of, “who am I” in Christ.

According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” we are regenerated, renewed, and born again, and this new creation is spiritually minded, whereas the old nature is carnally minded. So does the new nature fellowships with God, obeys His will, and is devoted to His service? You ever met someone new, and they ask probing questions trying to establish who your identity is. For me they look at my physique and then they response, “where did you play at”? In Christ we are adopted, justified, redeemed, reconciled, and chosen. In Christ we are victorious, filled with joy and peace, and granted true meaning in life.

If you identify yourself as more than one alphabet, does it leave you with a feeling of neglect for your other ABC parts? Leaving you with lovey milk toast thoughts like, “are they trying to throw dirt on my other “essential” nuts and bolts of me.  Stressing the drama as “a spoon full of sugar”; hearing voices that echo or imply that strange,” Mary Poppins mindset, an agent of moral self-change?” Retorting, “Don’t they know I’m a former feel in the blank. Leaving us with the question, Do we as Christians no longer prefer to love, vs our sin? We wonder why we so often do not live in the manner described, even though we have given our lives to Christ and are sure of our salvation. This is because our new natures are residing in our old fleshly bodies, and these two are at war with one another. 

In fact, we hate the impurity within us and engage in a spiritual battle to defeat it. Maybe God is urging us to practice our faith? That involves both what we do and help other people and what we do to work on our relationship with God.

Praise the Lord, we have the victory in Christ: “The word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one” (1 John 2{14).

 When we are excited, afraid, worried, or elated, we tend to chew over our conversations or actions we either participated in or wish we hadn’t. We may have spells of overthinking when we are engaged in a major transitional thought, such things as political identity, diversity requirements; starting a diet or even what we tithe to the church. Maybe your, who I am identity comes from a disease or condition you have?

Part of the problem goes all the way back to the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods. Anything we put our fear, love, and trust in more than God becomes an idol. And no idol can hold up to that kind of pressure. Our idols will let us down, and then we’re left with a broken who identity.

One way to avoid overthinking this worldly identity subject is to incorporate Scripture and prayer into one’s thoughts as we join Jesus on his mission. The psalmists give us excellent examples of this Psalm 94:19 says, “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.” 

The plethora of details about who we are in Christ, whom we belong to and our purpose, can be spoken in declarations as " I am a child in Christ?" that’s with you daily. So, what does that mean? Should It consume our thoughts for a short normal time? Or Thinking about it daily and giving it to the lord in prayer, with study and action which is good, but overthinking can turn a simple God honoring matter into an overly complex one.

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

Today, let us celebrate and remember God just didn’t go through the motions with us, He sent His Son Jesus into this world to live a whole life in our place and then die a death for us.  That is what frees us to know who we are and do the motions of our faith. It is what Jesus called in our Gospel lesson every day to be a “light” and “salt “of the earth. 

When we are in Christ, “we are more than victors through Him that loved us” (Romans man’s 8:37) and can rejoice in our Savior, who makes all things possible (Philippians 4:13). In Christ we are loved, forgiven, and secure. In Christ we are adopted, justified, redeemed, reconciled, and chosen. In Christ we are victorious, filled with joy and peace, and granted true meaning in life. What a wonderful Savior is Christ! That’s Who we are! In discovering or rediscovering or reaffirming your identity in Christ, God opens the door to learning about who you are, what you are called to be as His child, and to embrace the hope for your life in this world and the world to come. Rather, we are God’s church, a community that comes together around His Word to be the body of Christ. This is what God sees as our identity, that is who we are.

God Bless You and This Ministry!

“Soul Food Anyone”

 “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4 (NIV)

Jesus is making the connection between God’s Word and food. He invites us to think of God’s Word as a nourishing meal.

As we all know our bodies require food for strength to keep it functioning as it should.  It can only go so long without the proper nourishment.  What about our soul? Does it need to be fed?  Most often my soul does, especially during times in the present day, when “sudden death” happens, that make many people stop to reflect on life and the realization that at any moment it could be your last day to spend time with a loved one or family member. The bottom line is this—we live in a fallen world, and “the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel” (2Corinthians 4:4). The sad truth is that most people do not see the Bible as the absolute authority anymore. As God’s Word continues to be marginalized, unbelief will continue to increase around the world. So fellow, brothers and sisters, let’s begin feeding the soulful with our spiritual conversations?

One way someone may feed their soul is through the practice of prayer.  Prayer is as essential for one’s livelihood. It is a daily communion with God.  Most people eat three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, to feed their physical bodies. What about prayer?

Today’s cry, perhaps is a prayer need, from the trenches of reminders phrase, “do not be afraid” which is written in the bible 365 times. That’s a daily reminder from God to live every day being fearless.

For some the idea of talking to God—praying—is kind of odd, isn’t it? Back in the day I use to pray to God as if he were a genie in a bottle, I would throw salt over my shoulder and hope that, if we’re lucky, he’ll hear us and act according to our wishes.

Usually when you talk to someone, you can hear his or her response to you. But prayer is different. Prayer looks like you’re basically just talking to yourself. How do you talk with someone who doesn’t necessarily talk back—audibly, at least? And if you believe that God not only listens to prayers but answers them too, how do you distinguish your own thoughts and feelings from God’s answers?

Then there’s the really big question: Does prayer even work?

But really, it’s a “listening prayer” spending some time talking to the Lord and 90% of the time listening to His response biblically, two-way communication—we talk, and God talks; as opposed to a literal listening prayer voice. It follows the biblical instructions concerning prayer. We are to pray in faith (James 1:6) in direct address to God (Matthew 6:9), in Jesus’ name (John 14:13), offered with reverence and humility (Luke 18:13), with perseverance (Luke 18:1), and in submission to God’s will (Matthew 6:10).

What’s the point of praying if God already knows the future, orchestrates what’s going to happen, and knows what we need? And yet, billions of people all over the world practice some form of prayer. Why bother if it doesn’t make a difference? 

Ask a dozen people, “What is prayer?” and you will likely receive a dozen different answers. “It’s talking to God,” one person might say. Another might respond: It saying the Our Father or some might say prayer is asking a higher power for what you want or need with the heart as well; making prayer and relationship inextricably intertwined as one beat belonging together.

 In the midst of trials our transformed heart needs prayer, resembling the heart of God. It’s not so much about getting tangible “results” from God. It is rather an opportunity to know God more fully, to better understand what he wants of each of us, and to establish a lifelong relationship.

James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” This is the very first thing James writes in his letter after his salutation. Why? Because of its import. Many Christians think once they’ve made that decision for Christ that everything will fall into place and life will be that proverbial bowl of cherries. And when trials and tough times come upon them or continue, they begin to question, “why?” Wondering how they could possibly endure horrible circumstances and consider it joy.

Prayer is a lifestyle of humble dependence, of living in community and harmony with God, the source of life, “a way of walking in love.” Certainly that “way” involves more than repeating words and phrases and hoping that those rote words will magically connect us with God.

This topic is very near and dear to my heart because it is a lesson, I’m relearning each and every day of my life. Why would a good and loving God allow us to go through such things as the death of a mother (cancer), a friend and sister committing suicide, plus injury playing sports to ourselves and a childhood friend resulting in his death, such hardships, worry and fear? Surely, if He loved us, He would take all these things away from us. After all, doesn’t loving us mean He wants our lives to be easy and comfortable? Well, no, it doesn’t. One of the most difficult parts of the Christian life is the fact that becoming a disciple of Christ does not make us immune to life’s trials and tribulations. But you know what I have discovered? Spiritual conversations with “Grace”. Matthew 28:19

 The Bible clearly teaches that God loves those who are His children, and He “works all things together for good” for us (Romans 8:28). So that must mean that the trials and tribulations He allows in our lives are part of the working together of all things for good. Therefore, for the believer, all trials and tribulations must have a divine purpose.

God’s joy really is there. Trials and tribulations come with both a purpose and a reward. You can consider each trial joy; you can greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory even when you feel like you are face-first in the mud puddle. You can endure whatever circumstances are making you quake in your boots right now. If you have been saved through faith in Jesus Christ—you have all you need.

Through all of life’s trials and tribulations, we have the victory. "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ." Although we are in a spiritual battle, Satan has no authority over the believer in Christ. God has given us His Word to guide us, His Holy Spirit to enable us, and the privilege of coming to Him anywhere, at any time, to pray about anything.

God Bless You And This Ministry!

“The Flavor of Time”

 One of the most famous songs from the musical Rent asks “how do you measure, measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee? In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife? In 525,600 minutes- how do measure a year in the life? How about love? Measure in love.” 

I don’t mean if you actually think about why a second is the length that it is, or if you use a wristwatch or your cell phone or a timer to measure time. What I mean is; what are the important events that you use to mark your “Faith” time? The Bible is clear that faith is measured in terms of both quantity and quality. So, what does that mean?

Before going into my whisper of words noting what the Bible says about faith and how to measure it, I ask you the question, “Is Faith a critical element for being a Christian”? Do we measure time in relation to Christ? Yes, in the fullness of time, God came to earth. That’s what we celebrate at Christmas.

 Hebrews 11:1 says it best: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” We understand this to mean that faith is an action which treats things that have not yet happened, and things which are not empirically evident, as truth. There is no practical distinction between the object of faith and reality to the believer. Faith is the ability to believe indeed.

Well how do you measure a year? With a whispered “peace be still. How do you measure a lifetime of purpose? Doing the things that Jesus Christ would do if He were here physically on the earth, “Christ-like,” and Christ-following. Doing every day, the day, the hard way? 

Sometimes, do you look at time and begin to tire, this isn’t living its existence. This strange fruit, I measure daily with pain on the leaves. Then the sudden smell of flesh is the fruit for the birds to pluck. As for the leaves, they drop so strange because it is the harvest of time. The future looking for someone to take it forward with that church piano playing, “why don’t you call me anymore”. Such an echo of music a sound song of beauty of what is beautiful in God’s eyes. Finally recognizing the qualities God has cherished in the lives of his people; which is one way to determine His concept of beauty, “It was not their physique or stateliness but their faith and service that made them beautiful”. 

Why did Jesus come? While remaining God, Jesus took upon a new nature - a human nature, uniting the divine and the human into one being, one person. Jesus Christ was fully God and fully human.It was the truth of Christmas, the favor of time, “love”. God loved His own and provided a way—the only Way—for us to spend eternity with Him. He gave His only Son to take our punishment for our sins. He paid the price in full, and we are free from condemnation when we accept that free gift of love. "But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" Romans 5:8.

The applications for us today is first for those of us who are waiting. You may be single and waiting for marriage. You may be waiting and hoping for children. You may be stuck in a job you can’t wait to get out of. You may have a tough time with your health, and you’re just waiting for things to get better. I know as a believer, I’m always impatient for things to happen faster with the house of worship as well as my loyalty of action; as far as prayer, reading studying the word and dealing with affliction. 

For those of us who are waiting, sometimes impatiently, here’s the first application: God is the God of perfect timing. “When the right time came…” God is always the God of perfect timing.

Here’s the second application. The whole reason for Christmas is this: God wants you to be his child. God wants that kind of relationship with you. He wants you to experience the intimacy, the privileges, that come from being his child. “Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, everything he has belongs to you” 

By growing in the amount of faith one has and by allowing Christ’s faith to work mightily in him or her, the ability for a Christian to obtain the object of faith, whether it is healing, understanding, or righteousness, becomes even more sure. But you see that’s a challenge at this time of year, in this breakneck time between Christmas and New Year’s, when time seems to be confusing. What day is it? What stores are open? What is for dinner? Who else is popping in? With our familiar schedules mixed up, it’ hard to know just what time it is to take our “Medicine”.

God has given to each a “measure of faith” to use for Him. This “faith” is the gift from which all the other gifts flow. Faith is the first gift we receive (for justification), and faith is the gift that brings the other gifts of the Spirit into our lives. When a person is born again, God gives him gifts as a new member of the family of God. We receive the gifts according to the measure that God has given us, and we exercise the gifts according to the same measure of faith.

“To each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it” (Ephesians 4:7). God deals to everyone his portion. Not everyone receives all the gifts, nor is the same gift given to everyone in the same measure. Our sovereign God distributes each gracious gift according to the measure of faith that He has bestowed on us.

As we finish our Christmas celebrations, as we continue to be in this period of uncertain time, we remember that God is the Lord of all time. How will you measure time? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee? However, you do, rejoice in the God who came to save us in the fullness of time, to make us his children and heirs of his promises. 

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). This verse gives clear direction and flavor of time which offers genuine hope to the believer in Christ.

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.Philippians 4:6

God Bless You and This Ministry!