The fox watched the chipmunk working all summer gathering seeds and nuts. Every now and then he would try to catch him, but the chipmunk would dive down deep into his hole causing the fox to give up and wander off in search of easier prey. This didn’t stop the chipmunk risking his life every day to get his store of food. One summer day the fox lying in the shade after a particularly good meal asked the Chipmunk,

“Why do you work in the hot sun all the time? You should be like me, I only work enough to fill my belly then I enjoy life!” The Chipmunk couldn’t answer as his cheeks were full of nuts that he was taking down into his burrow. He just shook his head and carried on working in the hot sun keeping an eye on the lazy fox. 

A few months later as the cold of winter had frozen the lakes and streams, and the wiser animals were hiding in their burrows, the fox was starving, cold and very unhappy. He thought that perhaps he could get the chipmunk to come up to the surface, and in that way get a small meal. He called down to the chipmunk, “Chippy, you should come up here and see the pile of nuts that is under this tree. It’s like heaven on earth, I’m sure you will like them!”  

A sleepy voice answered from deep below, “If I wasn’t as lazy as you, I would need to come up there now. However, I have all the food I need in this nice deep warm burrow. I dare say Mr Fox you don’t, and through your bad planning you may die, I would rather live!” 

This story gives a simple reason why we should not be lazy, but does not deal with sloth.

Sloth is more than just failing to actively work. It is failing to achieve what we should be able to achieve in life. We can be slothful and be fairly busy. Just busy doing the wrong things!  

In Matt 25 :14-28 The Story of Three Servants,  Jesus explains how if we are to experience heaven we must take the gifts God gives us and use them effectively in his service. He knows exactly what we are capable of and expects us to do the best we can with our abilities. He doesn’t ask us to all achieve the same amount, just what we each are capable of attaining individually. 

Are we achieving what we can? Do we take the easy way out and avoid doing things we know would do others good and bless us in the process?

If that’s the case we are being slothful! In the story, Jesus explains how when we get to account for what we have done in this life, he will be looking to see that we have taken what is given to us and used it as best as we can.
  

So today, I think I need to take a look at myself and decide what it is that I should have done. Those things I have been putting off because either they appear unpleasant or because I am just being lazy.

How about you? Perhaps if we can clear the backlog of these things we will be more happy and content. Perhaps that should be our hope and motivatation to be less slothful!

Not all countries put up the extensive display of lights on their houses that seem to appear in December in America. The electrical meters spin faster and coloured sparkling lights outline houses, lighted deer decorated the darkened lawns and it as if each street joins in the festivities.

 

Light and festivities this time of the year go hand in hand. Niagara Falls lights up with a light spectacle, buildings offer pulsing views of stars, bells, that portly red guy with the white beard who smiles at us from almost every store. Light and warmth also go together in many of our thoughts. The crackling fire in the fireplace as snow settles outside is a welcome experience and brings much comfort.

 

In contrast the nightmares and worries of our life seem to grow in the dark. We lie awake at night with burdens that cycle through our mind. Sleep can be filled with nasty dreams that leave us waking up shaking and shivering. Dark seems to be where these thoughts and feelings find nourishment. Horror movies always have dark scenes and if anyone has ever walked through a cemetery at night, they will testify that they are not as comfortable as following that same path in the sunshine.

 

That is why I really like the lights on our Christmas tree’s, our nativity scenes and our homes. It represents the true light that really clears away darkness and troubles. That guy John reported that Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”[1]

 

When I see the wonderful lights of Christmas it makes me appreciate these words. Perhaps as you go about your business today, you can consider the lights you see, think how few actually reference the true light. Perhaps you can pray for more of Jesus Christ in Christmas. Wish a few folk happy Christmas (and not happy holidays). Put up a few lights somewhere and lets be glad that all this is being done because the true light came into the world and that once we walk with him, we don’t ever have to fear darkness again!

“Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, jingle all the way?” always makes me think of the coins jingling in the cash registers at Christmas time.

 

It is meant to make me think of an open sleigh, . . .but it doesn’t.

I get that feeling that again the western retailers will be out to fleece me of any extra cash I might have built up in this year to build up their profits and increase their shareholder approval ratings. The society wants me to be buying items for people who really don’t need them, they advertise and prod me to do it in many manipulative and unconcious ways and probably without understanding this I will be getting stuff that others don't need, and they will get stuff for me that I really don’t need!

 

Now Christmas is good! Christmas as a child was especially wonderful, with gifts that made me happy, the smell of delicious cakes, cookies and gingerbread men wafting out of the kitchen, seeing my favourite aunts and uncles who spoiled me. Church even was better with nativity scenes and music that was more upbeat. But that's a child's Christmas! Children get only what they want(if they live in a normal western family), and don’t have to contribute at all. A selfish child’s delight!

 

The problem with us in the western world is that we have dissolved into nuclear families and actually no longer really appreciate having the aunts, uncles and all their children around. Then, for many of us, there are two or more different families to consider. Mom and Dad are divorced(sometimes multiple times), so we may have twice as many gifts to get with the same money. The mad scramble to try and make sure that we see both families on the same day or at least during the same period is tiring unpleasent and leaves us with having eaten far too much. Worse, Mom and Dad can be competing for our affection and we may have to endure  those quiet sneaky interrogations as they try to see what the other is doing over the season and for us.

 

For others Christmas is a time of memories of loss and pain!

What has happened to the true Christmas?

 

It has been commercialized and destroyed by greed, pride, selfishness and some other nastier attributes of our society.

 

What can we do?

 

I for one am trying to change that. This Christmas we will be inviting those that are maybe less fortunate than us to Christmas dinner. My wife and I have asked not to receive gifts but to instead have people provide money to the poor, underprivileged, homeless and needy. Simply send us a card telling us that this has been done, that’s enough. God has blessed us with a warm home, plenty enough food, cars, and wonderful children that love us and we them. I would like to see that for those around us!

 

Jesus said, “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” [1]” We will try and do this at Christmas.

 

How about us? Will we help out at a food bank, give out coats and warm clothing to those that are cold? Or, will we want the latest Wii, an new blackberry, that big screen TV (although the one we have is adequate already), and a myriad of other gifts that are wants, but not needs?

 

Why not extend a hand to help the poor? I am not saying it needs to be a Christian organization that we help, but just a human being that is less blessed that ourselves. That center for unwed mothers, that seniors home with no visitors, that homeless man who sit’s under the bridge near the liquor store. Lets not ask what is in it for us, but how we can improve the world for everyone!

 

That’s a true Christmas!

 

Then, when it’s done, we can come to our wonderful God and say thanks for the opportunity, because I have found that in this selfless act is the seeds of a warm glow of accomplishment and thanks that centers in our being and lifts us to new heights in our relationship with God. After all, he wants us to “love our neighbours!”

A cold morning out in the bush, no view of a road, or chimney, or any view of any humanity.

Lost!  Alone!

I am wanting to find my way, but all I see is leaves, trees, sky and muddy ground. Where am I, where am I to go? What direction should I start out in? The sky is overcast and my spirit is downtrodden. Will I survive, will I be found?

This is the way many people feel! They may not be in the bush. They may be in the concrete jungle, or the suburbs. They may just be in a middle of a crowd, and not feel that there is anyone who understands them, their pain, or their situation. Maybe they have got to the point of thinking there is nobody that ever will understand them.

We can easily get lost as human beings. Alienation comes in many forms, and all of them are nasty. When we loose hope we loose joy of life! When the joy of life goes, then death starts to seep into our souls.

Out in that bush, I put my hand in my pocket to pull out the map. I turn it around and around. It is useless when I am lost! I have to be able to identify something to orient the map. Probably at least two points, and for best results three. There is none to be seen.

Lost people sometimes pick up a bible to try and find direction. Unfortunately it sometimes feels like we will never understand it. It talks of times that are not familiar, in words that are confusing! It is almost impossible to really understand what it is saying that first time we read it. We need help! We need to get orientation and know where we are before we can move on.

I think that's how the world was just before that first Christmas. The old Roman Empire was squishing the Jewish world, fighting within itself, and loosing direction. Then Jesus was born! A small baby, not much to look at, and in terms of the world at the time not even respected. Feared maybe! Herod a nasty king who killed anyone he thought might be a threat to his throne (including his sons) did understand Jesus would be some sort of threat, and send the army into the village to kill the threat.

God protected Jesus and God protects us. Jesus is available to any of us that get lost. He comes into our lives if we invite him in. God wants the lost to be found! 

I put my hand into my pocket and bring out my GPS. It's dead, no batteries! Useless! I decide I want to avoid this feeling of being alone in the bush. I turn up my MP3 player louder! Maybe noise can help me! It doesn't! Music cannot take away the anxiety of being lost. I feel around in my pockets and pull out four $20 bills. They cannot help! Money cannot take away the anxiety of being lost. In desperation I call out to God. "Help! I cannot do this on my own!"

He's waiting for that call. In seconds the thought crosses my mind, "What about the battery in the MP3 player, it can fit the GPS!". Within a minute, the map in my hands comes alive as the GPS identifies where I am and where I must go.

The lost who call on Jesus for help and acknowledge they are lost find that suddenly the power of God in the person of Holy Spirit comes into their lives. They receive power from God. Holy Spirit gives direction. That bible comes alive and guides us through life. Soon we meet and mix with real people, friends in Christ who love and respect us!

We still have to trek out of the bush, but it is work in the right direction. We know where we are going!

Have you got the power of Holy Spirit and GPS of Jesus guiding you away from loneliness into joyful life?

If not, maybe you should try it. If you have, remember to thank God for this joy of life and live it to the full. Start today!

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”- John 1:1-2, 14

This amazing peice of writing was put onto a scroll after Jesus had died by one of his best friends. It describes the uniqueness of that friendship and the extraordinary level of intimacy and knowledge that passed between the men. Friendships are important aren't they?

John understood some really important things about Jesus and this first part of the book he wrote captures much of this. At the time he wrote this, people were starting to say that Jesus was not really a full human being, but that he was just a spiritual entity or force.

John agrees Jesus was spiritual, but says that he was also really human just like us. He however also knows that Jesus was more than "just like us".

"In the beginning was the word" links Jesus to the "word" or if you read Greek, the "Logos". This was like saying to us, that Jesus was the source of all truth that has ever been, and like all the words that capture that truth. It also says he was there when creation occured. The Jewish people would have understood these words to refer back to the first words in the holy writings. Gen 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"

Through walking around and living with Jesus, John had come to understand that this man was a source of all knowledge from the beginning of time. His words, the things he did, and how he reacted showed clearly that he was God himself in the form of a man. John explains that Jesus and God are one. You can read on how this can be understood in one of my previous blogs. Jesus and God are one and the same, but yet they are also two persons! John explains this by saying "and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". 

 To make sure we get it, he repeats that Jesus was with God in the beginning.

Then he makes that Christmas related statement "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." 

God chose to become a human just like you and me. Not with any more powers than that which God has given to Christians today. He provided Jesus with full human abilities, and enabled these with Holy Spirit in Jesus' life. The wonder of Christmas is that these exact same abilities have been provided to us, who accept Jesus work on this earth, and allow Holy Spirit to give us the "get up and go" that we need to do God's work on this earth.

Jesus did this work perfectly and unfortunately, we don't do quite as well. We have to much sin impact (doing selfish, ignorant and nasty things) to have the full abilities of Jesus. We can get closer by saying sorry for those selfish, ignorant and nasty things we do and allowing Holy Spirit to work through us in a more perfect manner. Then amazing things start to happen!

John wanted to be sure we understood Jesus was fully human. That's why he says he had flesh like we do, and then he points out Jesus lived with us. Since John was part of the crowd that went around with Jesus he was definately able to make this point. Are you part of the Jesus crowd on this earth? How do you experience God's power in your life? Do you talk to God daily about the daily things you do and ask for advice and help like John did? You know that when Jesus was alive John misunderstood a lot of what Jesus said. It's okay if we are trying and don't quite get it! God understands!

The last bit that John says about the glory of God is probably something we just don't get at all! Now we think of glory more as popularity and acheivement. That's not really what John meant! Think of a beautiful sunrise or sunset, wonderful mountain scenes. Think of the the wonder and amazement we experience if we see someone giving birth to a perfect new baby. Think of the power of a huge waterfall like Niagara. Consider the power inherent in the explosions on the sun that provide heat and light for us from distances of 146 million Kilometers (91 million miles). That's quite a fire! Combine this with the feeling of awe you would feel in the presence of very important people like the Pope, Oprah, Obama, Hillary Clinton, George Clooney, Bill Gates, Mandela, the Dali Lama and others.

All this combined doesn't start to explain what glory means in the words of John! The Glory of God makes all that I mentioned seem like the the scribblings of a kindergarten child compared to the writings of Shakespear, or the cry of a baby compared the music of a full orchestra in rock concert.

Jesus has all this, and yet he joined us on Earth to live with us. He lived without compromise, something we really battle to do, and he did it full of Grace. What is this grace? Well let's put it this way. He doen't look at our bad points, only our good. Yet, he doesn't ignore our bad points, instead he covers them up with his glory and sheilds us from what we deserve by his love and the love the Father has for him. That way, we are able to respond to God without being vapourised or destroyed as we should be for the way we treated Jesus.

God loves us! He wants us to love others this way! How about we give it go today? Give someone a Christmas treatment. Love them when they don't deserve it!

Have a great day!

The war? This needs more explanation. Do you know Christians see themselves at war continually? 

Let’s see what another leader of that original group of Jesus followers said in a letter to others. This guy who knew Paul and was called Peter said “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.”  Complicated words so let’s just look at the last few.

 

The war is against our souls. What is a soul? One of the best definitions of this is given by Watchman Nee in his book “the Spiritual man”. He points out that the soul is that part of us the houses our emotions, our mind and our volition (i.e. decision making). In modern terms we could say it’s the part that psychologists work with.

 

Notice that the war is against us. Our minds, emotions and decisions are a territory that is being fought over. This is not a visible territory. This war is why we experience confusion, inability to decide and mixed emotions so often. To clear this we have to ensure one side wins. God provides guidelines to remove this confusion and give us a clear way to repel the attacks so that we can be successful in turning our lives over to him. Most of the guidelines are in that set of sacred writings, the bible. In addition, God has established a guide for us that as Christians lives in us so he can be with us every breathing second of our lives.(Okay, I know its weird to think of someone who “lives in our bodies”, but unlike the TV shows, this person is subject totally to our will and never “takes over” unless we ask him too). This is the Holy Spirit who advises us continually regarding daily situations (if we permit this). Unfortunately, he is not the only advisor. There are also negative advisors we have to deal with. God has opposition here on Earth!

 

Let’s discuss the opposition to God in this universe. In a rather difficult to understand part of the bible called Revelations, in chapter 12, it says “And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”

 

This is confusing stuff for most of us, but let’s try and get an idea of what some of it is saying. The dragon mentioned is referred to as a devil or Satan. He is indicated to be leading the world astray, and he has angels with him. Michael is an angel of God. (Michael has lesser ability than God, is on God’s side and he beat up Satan! I guess that made Satan mad since he thought he was as good as God and he couldn’t even stand up to one of God’s angels)

 

Okay, this is weird stuff, so please stay with me. These words are saying that this opponent of God, Satan, looses a fight while in heaven and takes a dive down to Earth with lots of helpers. Angels are spiritual beings so these helpers of Satan are spiritual beings. (You may have heard them referred to as “fallen angels”). This means you can’t go and look for them and find them with our eyes. They are in a spiritual part of our universe.

 I think we can all understand there is evil in this world (whether we actually want to agree it is this Satan and his cronies, or not). The bible indicates evil is due to this spiritual being called Satan and the negatively focused angels that joined him to oppose God. Now please don’t think of little red creatures with horns and a pitchfork. That is not biblical in the least! These negative angels, have been given the term demons by people over the centuries, and are not cute little red devils. They are powerful, nasty and revenge fuelled creatures that enjoy inflicting pain on us simply because they know that causes God pain, and they like that! They don’t care about us, but do like to manipulate and deceive us if they can.

In another letter, the second letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians, in chapter 12, it says “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light”. Often the most evil thing appears to be the best. This super evil creature, Satan, is supposedly the most deceptive creature created. So it’s highly likely we would be deceived fairly easily if we didn’t have a powerful defender in the spiritual realm. Do you think you can be deceived? I know I have been deceived many times!

 

So, if Satan is in the spiritual realm, Satan’s angels or demons are also in the spiritual realm, God is in the spiritual realm, and he has sent his spirit, who we call the Holy Spirit, to help and protect us, and God also has angels that support him (like Michael) that he also sends to us to protect us and to give us messages. These angels are spiritual so the messages they give are generally spiritual. Angels have the ability to appear in human form as well (there are a number of occurrences of this explained in the bible), but this is in very rare occasions. Most of the time angels don’t appear visibly. Angels can come in different types, forms, and with different powers. They are not like us, they don’t get given second chances by God, if they decide to do something that is stupid, ignorant or nasty, then they are put out of God’s service and fall under Satan’s gang immediately!

 

So now that we have probably moved into a rather creepy subject, let’s understand that we are also spiritual and that even our human spirit has a lot of power. When we combine this with God’s power and align with it, then the negative forces loose out! God is victorious already.

The love of God for us, resulting in Jesus taking on the Spiritual forces, including death, and beating them when he rose after dying on the cross. Yay! What a powerful display of winning a war, coming back from the dead! Then he taught us all how to be winners. We are winners today. Lets look for ways to show it as we go about what we do today.

Evil looses as we win! God has already won! We have God in us, so we have to win! What a priviledge!

This writing comes with a word of advice.

This isn’t for you if;

·         if you haven’t yet allowed God’s Holy Spirit to take control of your life,

·         if you haven’t yet told someone that you believe Jesus is the son of God,

·         if you don’t believe Jesus is the son of God who died on a roman cross like a common murderer in the 1^st Century A.D.

·         if you don’t believe in God and talk to him daily

Okay, if you don’t fall into the category of those that can read on, I recommend that you stop here, and read the next article I write. I have no intention of upsetting anyone, or building anguish and tension in anybody. Christians are safe to read this blog. I think other folk may find this one a bit much. Your choice however!

Now, for the rest of us. . .

Satan or the evil leader of the spirits of evil, is a proud, self opinionated, people hating, powerfully manipulative and intrusive being. He is not human, and neither are his supporters. They hate all people because God loves us. They have taken sin to the extreme and do whatever they can to get people to do selfish, ignorant and nasty things.

Sometimes they cause damage to people that is penetrative, recurring, ongoing, unjust and downright horrible! We have people everywhere that are battle damaged in this way. God has an antidote for this, but it is only for those who are very mature and spiritually surrounded by mature solid Christians who totally acknowledge the contents of the Nicene creed and who are willing to enable God’s Holy Spirit to work in their life.

The Nicene creed is a very widely accepted and brief statement of the Christian Faith put together in the year 325A.D. One form of it goes as follows:

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. 

In addition, these people surrounding the person needing help, themselves need to be righteous. This is a big word that says that they must have cleared up all known sins with God (at that point in time) and be living at that point in time sin free!

 

Why is this important?

 

Because they must not have anything in their lives, that Satan can use to manipulate them in any way. They have to be “sold out” to God, love Jesus, and be a pathway or channel through which Holy Spirit can freely work..

 

Once this is the case, the supporting Christian can come to God for the hurting person and ask God to give them supernatural knowledge and wisdom to identify and deal with evil spirits who are in, and around, the hurting person’s life. God’s Spirit will then work through them to lock up the power of the evil and release healing power. Evil spirits who previously had free play in the person’s life, will find themselves cornered and forced to leave.

This is not always an easy process but it is a liberating one! Provided the person asking for the help honestly loves God and also subscribes to the components within the Nicene Creed, this can occur. One difference between them and those supporting them is that in their case they may not be righteous (and probably aren't) at that point in time. God will heal the hurts and remove the things tying the hurting person to the past.

 

This is a very powerful incisive and liberating experience, but not always without deep emotional experiences. We need to have Christian friends and family around us as soon as this is over, to care for and love us. They need to do this as we rebuild the parts of our life that could have become stunted due to the horrible past we have endured or taken part in.

 

This process is not for any non-Christian to take part in as Jesus pointed out. Doing this with a non-Christian only puts them in far worse situations. There is a bible story that explains this, it found in Luke 11:21 to 26 and is Jesus speaking

"When a strong man is completely armed and guards his house, what he owns is safe. But when someone stronger attacks, he is overpowered. The attacker takes away the armor the man had trusted in. Then he divides up what he has stolen.  "Anyone who is not with me is against me. Anyone who does not gather sheep with me scatters them.

"What happens when an evil spirit comes out of a man? It goes through dry areas looking for a place to rest. But it doesn't find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.'  When it arrives there, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then the evil spirit goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself. They go in and live there. That man is worse off than before."[1]

 

We cannot stand against the Evil One and his evil Spirits alone! That is why when we become Christians, God himself comes to live inside us. To protect us! He is stronger than the Evil One, but he never does anything against our own will. We have to decide to let him work and keep ourselves righteous if we are to experience the full protection of God’s power. This way when we chase the Evil One or his evil spirits out, they cannot come back.

Well, there is one way they can come back. . if we stop God doing his protective work and invite Satan back. That woiuld be simply stupid! I really don’t advise that!

 

God can give us the victory! We can live a solid life, stable in God’s love and power! We can know we have power over evil and can help others. We can only do this if we are righteous!
 

Are we righteous or hurting? I pray if we are hurting we will look for Christians that can help, that have courage to do God’s work even when it seems a bit weird and strange, that check everything they do against biblical principles, and who can allow God to work through them to set us free!

 

If God sets us free, we will be free indeed! If you need this help, find the right people who understand all this and can help. Ask for their help!

Well I hope that gave you a bit of background on a some powerful help available to Christians. Have a great day!