John 8:31-32 - Jesus said,

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"If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."



There are few things more coveted than freedom. People die for it. People pray for it. People strive for it. True freedom comes from knowing truth. Knowing truth only comes by living in obedience to Jesus. Truth is not something you merely think about or believe. Truth is something you do, you live. Jesus' teaching always ends with the exclamation: Blessed are you who do these things! Only by doing will we ever know the truth that liberates us.

Immanuel

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" — which means, "God with us." Matthew 1:22 - 23

The name "Immanuel" appears twice in the Hebrew Scriptures and once in the New Testament. One of the most comforting of all the names and titles of Jesus, it is literally translated "with us is God" or, as Matthew's Gospel puts it, "God with us." When our sins made it impossible for us to come to him, God took the outrageous step of coming to us, of making himself susceptible to sorrow, familiar with temptation, and vulnerable to sin's disruptive power, in order to cancel its claim. In Jesus we see how extreme God's love is. Remember this the next time you feel discouraged, abandoned, or too timid to undertake some new endeavor. For Jesus is still Immanuel — he is still "God with us."

Filling the Gaps Genesis 2:18

It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.

God created Adam in a state of isolation in the garden; he had no human counterpart. So God fashioned a woman to meet his need for intimacy. In the original text, the Hebrew word for "suitable helper" means "one matching him." Adam needed someone who could complement him because he was inadequate by himself. And this illustrates a third purpose of marriage: to complete one another.

Perhaps you saw the original "Rocky" film before Sylvester Stallone started spinning off sequels left and right. Do you remember the love relationship Rocky had with Adrian in "Rocky"? She was the little wallflower who worked in the pet shop, the sister of Pauly, an insensitive goon who worked at the meat house and wanted to become a collector of debts for a loan shark.

Pauly couldn't understand why Rocky was attracted to Adrian. "I don't see it," he said. "What's the attraction?"

Do you remember Rocky's answer? I doubt that the scriptwriters had any idea what they were saying, but they perfectly exemplified the principle for a suitable helper from Genesis 2. Rocky said, "I don't know, fills gaps I guess."

"What's gaps?"

"She's got gaps, I got gaps. Together we fill gaps."

In his simple but profound way, Rocky hit upon a great truth. He was saying that he and Adrian each had empty places in their lives. But when the two of them got together, they filled those blank spots in one another. And that's exactly what God did when he fashioned a helpmate suitable for Adam. She filled his empty places, and he filled hers.

Have you given much thought to the gaps you fill in your mate's life, and vice versa? There's never been any doubt in my mind that I need Barbara, that she fills my "gaps." I need her because she tells me the truth about myself, both the good, the bad and otherwise. I need Barbara to add a different perspective to relationships and people. She also adds variety and spice to my life.

Psalm 148:11, 13

Kings of the earth, and all people; princes , and all judges of the earth. . .Let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.


The wise men never took their eyes from the star. They had spent the better part of their adult lives watching for this very star to usher in the new Messiah. A new age was come upon the earth, and they devoted everything they had to meet it when it started. They had traveled for months, hoping for little more than a glimpse of the new babe who would set the world straight. Three of the most powerful men of the world committed themselves to worshipping the baby Jesus. Nothing was more important in all the world.

Is that true for us? Is Jesus the most important thing in all the world? Christ comes to us anew each Christmas, and we must ask ourselves what He means to us. For some, He will make us willing to give up everything to follow Him. For others, He will make us willing to begin the journey of the faith. Regardless of where we are in our faith, He will come to meet us there, and He will come with love and understanding.

Christmas message

On Christmas Sunday, our pastor delivered a message about the birth of Christ. You think ho-hum, right? Our pastor asked if we ever thought about the birth of Jesus from Josephs perspective? Have you? I had not really, Joseph seems to be an elusive individual when it comes to the nativity. I wonder how I would feel to be the "dad" to the Son of God. What about you?

Psalm 124:7

Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are expected.


Clifford was a strange man. He served his country in Vietnam and spent three years as a prisoner of war. While a prisoner, he amazed his companions by never complaining about their situation. In fact, when questioned about it, he smiled and said, "I'm not really here, anyway." Once Cliff returned to the States, he shared what he had meant. Each day he sat against the stone wall and began listing in his mind all the places he had ever been that he had loved. He pictured those places, and he selected a different one every day. In his mind he journeyed to the beloved spots and he turned off the reality around him.

As Christians, we need to do the same thing. We're not from here. Our true home is with God in heaven. When the reality around us gets too intense and hard to handle, we should turn our thoughts to God. We can be liberated from the trap if we will only call upon the Lord. God offers us a way to escape the harshness of our earthly life by entering into quiet time with H im. Reach out. His peace awaits.

Forgiveness-Can we give it?

I was thinking this morning about the concept of forgiveness. God has provided ultimate forgiveness for those who have accepted Christs sacrifice. Can we who say that we are his representatives here on earth, can we forgive others the same way? Can we forgive an offense 7 x 70 as Jesus said? How do you feel about being both forgiven and providing the same measure of grace to the one who has offended you?

Psalm 113:2

Blessed by the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore.

Jimmy had heard it all before, but this time there was something different. Though he couldn't quite put his finger on it, suddenly the idea of relationship with Jesus Christ made perfect sense. Before, he had missed the logic, somehow. The image of being born again was so appropriate. A part of Jimmy felt like it had never lived. From this day forward, his life was going to be different. He wasn't sure how it would change, he simply knew nothing would ever really be the same again.

At various times in our lives, the reality of Christ will come crashing through the ordinariness of our days. From those times we face life anew; changed at the very core of our being. We move forward in a new, deeper, strengthened relationship with the Lord.

Psalm 119:137

Righteous art Thou, O Lord, and upright are Thy judgments.


In Scripture we see two sides to God: One is His loving, compassionate, caring side. He is the God who created us and made the supreme sacrifice to offer us eternal life.

Then there is the God of holiness, the God of wrath; the God who judges sin.

I'm afraid the Church today has lost the balance on the teeter-totter between these two sides to God's nature. Too often we emphasize His love and forget that He is just and righteous; He will not tolerate sin.

I don't think we talk enough today about sin and its consequences. The Bible tells us the penalty for sin is hell. These are not popular concepts in our culture of tolerance.

Hell isn't in style today because it represents a couple of things that are repugnant. It represents accountability to someone in authority, and we want to avoid authority. And it represents absolute eternal judgment. We have a difficult time believing that such a place could exist, and we don't want to really believe that everlasting punishment and torment is a reality. And when we no longer see the eternal retribution of our sins, we lose any urgency for repenting of those sins.

So we don't talk much about hell to our children, extended family or our friends.

But hell is real.

To the Greeks, the distance between the bull's-eye and where the arrow hit was known as "the sin." It meant to fall short of the ideal. To sin means to "miss the mark."

God is patient, but He is not tolerant. He is holy. His justice calls for an atonement (a payment, a penalty) for man's sins. Our children must have some understanding that their sins can keep them out of heaven. Their sins must be paid for. And that is what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.

Psalm 107:2, 3

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north, and from the south.


The missionaries were prepared to share the Word of God with the natives of the small isle off the North Africa coast. They were well stocked with crosses and Bibles, and they had become well versed in the native tongue. Nothing, however, prepared them for the shock when they deplaned and were greeted by a band of natives singing out, "God bless you; Jesus loves you!"

The reality of God has spread to the four corners of our globe. Voices sing out His praises continually, and it is often true that our poorer brothers and sisters have the clearest and loudest voices. We can learn a great deal from those people who live day to day in the shadow of poverty, who truly understand how fortunate they are to be alive. Let every woman, man and child sing forth in praise to God. He has been good to us all.