Promises, promises, promises

 New Years resolutions are being made, promises to loose weight, give up smoking or spend more time with your family.  All these are good, but I wonder how many people will actually keep these promises?  People make promises, but people also break promises. Not God, He always keeps His promises. One of the best promises can be found in 1 John 2:25 "And This is the promise that He has promised us - eternal life."  Eternal: infinite time; future life.  It boggles the mind to think of "forever", at least it boggles my mind, but I am comforted to know that my Lord and Savior will be there, and that's all I need to know.  Revelation 21:23 "The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light."  There will no darkness there... which means no hunger, no senseless killing of innocent lives (abortion), no pornography, no lies, no promises being broken, NO SIN.  A perfect city, with a perfect Savior, A prefect home, perfect temperature, perfect gardens that don't need to be watered, promise kept by God, absolutely perfect.
(See Revelation 22:1-5)  Who can make a better promise then that?! A promise that will be kept, a promise that gives us hope for a better tomorrow... Hebrews 11:1"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, (of the Messiah) but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.....v16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He prepared a city for them"
(Also see John 14:1-4)  This is our resolution made by God to us through His son, Jesus.  So whether or not you make a personally New Years resolution or not, you can have hope in the New Year and all the years till Jesus comes back again, that where He is you will be too!

The best Christmas gift ever

Yesterday was Christmas and as we read the familiar story of the birth of our Savior. We need to stop and think and ponder as Mary did, about how the story of the greatest gift to all mankind didn't start at a stable in Bethelhem.  It started much sooner then that, even before  mankind started.  John 1:1-3 says, " that In the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God, He was in the beginning with God.  all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made."  Who was the word? Jesus, but I would like to call him by his Hebrew name: Yeshua!  Yeshua was with Yahweh (God the Father), in the very beginning, before time existed, when He said, "Let there be light"  He saw the beauty and holiness of His Father and His master piece He had made, but then sin enter into the world and polluted God's beauty.  Now that sin had came causing a rift between Him and His master piece (mankind) how would that rift ever be pulled back together?  In Genesis 3 God had the plan in motion when He said that the seed of women would crush Satan head, and Satan would bruise His heal.  God would leave His holiness and come to earth in human flesh through His Son to save His master piece and bridge the gap between them.  And come He did.  Not as a prince, although He was of David's blood line, he didn't just pop on down here, like in Star trek, (Beam me down Scotty).  He was born to a virgin and to a carpenter in a cave along side the barn animals.  These were the same animals that were used in giving sacrifices, for Bethlehem was known as the keeper of the sacrificial animals that were allowed to be given as an atonement for sin.  Coincidence? I think not! The Lamb of God was born in the same place as the lambs for sacrifice, but unlike them. He came to die once for all. Came as a baby, THAT, is what marvel's me. Imagine nursing the Messiah?  Changing his swaddling clothes and watching him take his first step, and playing with his toy tool set that his earthly father made him.  Away in a manger, Joy to the world, O Little Town of Bethlehem... THIS is what Christmas is really about.  Praising God for giving us His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes, shall not perish but have everlasting life."  The best Christmas gift ever!!!