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.

Psalm 6:1

O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
Child experts have discovered that one of the most traumatic experiences children face is to have their parents scold or punish them in front of their friends. The humiliation that accompanies the punishment can leave deep emotional scars. The actual punishment pales in comparison with the embarrassment the child suffers. Most children would rather face any penalty other than public chastisement.

Just as loving parents guard and protect their children's dignity, so our Lord protects the dignity of His children. To believe that God would punish us in such a way as to rob us of our self-esteem is ridiculous. God would never do such a thing. God does not deal with us in hot anger, for He loves us too much. He watches us closely, guiding us gently, and regarding us as valuable creations. We need never believe that God has punished us in order to humiliate us. His own Son was humbled by men and women, but the Lord of all life lifted Him up, and He will lift us up, also.

Psalm 5:8

Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.

Barry hated to be left out of the good times his friends had, but he hated it even worse when they went out drinking and cruising. He didn't like to drink, and his friends always mocked him because of it. Thank goodness for Jean. She had come along and given him an excuse not to go out. She really disapproved of drinking and driving, so Barry could do for Jean what he had never been able to do for himself: say no!

God gives us the reason to say no. In those areas of our life where we are too weak to say no to our friends, we can learn to say no because we know that God wants us to. So many people would lead us from path of God, many of them unintentionally. Ask the Lord for guidance. In the face of our strongest temptations, God will give us the strength and the reason to resist.

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?