A Prayer...

Lord,

Your mercy is unfathomable...

Your grace is endless...

Your wisdom is unsearchable...

Your plans... Your plans, O Lord, are so much greater than I could ever dream! Your ways are greater, Your thoughts are higher... Nothing compares to You!

Father, as we approach a new year, let us not forget You in the hustle and bustle of life. Lord, may we instead focus more intently on You. May we rely more heavily on You. May we seek You more diligently...

Give me the strength, O God, to seek You as You deserve to be sought after! Give me a passion, O Lord, to spread Your fame as Your fame ought to be spread over this world. Birth in me a worship that never dies out, but only continues to grow and to bring you more glory, more praise, more mouths professing You as Lord! Instill in me a desire for holiness. To be more like You in word, thought and deed.

May my actions be a direct result of my life having been changed by You, and therefore be an extension of Your hand at work among this generation.

God... all of this to say, 'I love You! ... Thank You for loving me!'

Amen!

A Christmas Thought... or two

Christmas... Emmanuel... God...with us...

What a concept! A child, born with the express purpose of glorifying God as nobody else ever could. With the purpose of a sacrificial death on our behalf! A life that was lived blamelessly. And today we celebrate His arrival into flesh, time, and space. The Christ, who has always been at the right hand of the Father, came down in human form to do what would have been impossible for anyone else to do...

There is no other gift that compares to eternal life... to forgiveness. We cannot give enough THINGS to ever compare to the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness towards us!

Thank you, Jesus!

Merry Christmas, dear Friends!

May God's Grace and Peace be yours in abundance!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

A Time for Reflection

We're getting closer... Christmas is just two days away! Today was Christmas Eve-Eve!

I did something interesting today... I went shopping... it was interesting because of two things:

First, there were people still buying presents for Christmas! As if they didn't know it was coming and only found out a couple of days ago...

Secondly, there was a certain lack of joy... Do you know what I mean? Have you felt it, too? I feel like I'm in a musical version of 'Do You See What I See?'. There's a problem with society's perspective on life... but nobody seems to notice! Perhaps it's like some weird sci-fi movie where we're all sick and we can only see it in other people... maybe we're all sick, but don't know that we have caught what everyone else has.

What am I saying? I'll try to put it simply.... It's easy to judge others, but to think inwardly and reflect on personal thoughts and actions, intentions... this is harder to do. Not only is it harder, it's scarier, because we know there are things that we must change about ourselves. It's easy, though, to ignore our faults and instead find them in others.

Have you ever known someone who was very quick to point out the faults of others, but could never see that they had the same exact issues? This is what I'm talking about... Maybe we are noticing other people that seem to be missing the "Reason for the season," but don't realized that we too have gotten carried away with our gifts and preparations and have forgotten where our focus is supposed to be.

My challenge to you is to spend time in prayer and reading of God's Word, this week, and really focus in on the things that really matter. Spend some time just thinking about what the birth of Christ meant for you personally... Salvation was born that day!

I hope you will join me in reflecting, this season, on Christ's birth and eventual death and resurrection. The ONLY HOPE that this world has is Christ! If we cannot focus in on that fact... how can we expect to share it with others?

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Isn't it sad how we can hear a certain phrase or word all of our lives and only now begin to understand what it is actually implying? I was thinking about the phrase "led me to Christ."

When someone says, "Yeah, So-and-so led me to Christ," I used to think of someone praying with someone else, for salvation... but now... I'm not so sure I'll ever see it quite like that again.

You see, yesterday the Lord painted a picture, in my head, of someone being led to Christ. It looked something like this...

I saw, instead of a prayer, a man literally leading another man to the feet of Jesus. I saw Jesus sitting there, smiling, as the men approached Him...

This is a bit different than the old scenario I used to picture. I used to see a very church-like altar call, if you will, instead of an actual leading to the actual person of Jesus Christ. Does this make any sense? If it does, then you're one step ahead of me! I'm still digesting all of this! It's and incredible way of thinking about what happens when we are sharing the Gospel with our unsaved friends!

Consider this... that instead of "praying a prayer" being the ultimate goal of your witnessing, you are trying to show them Jesus! Christ will do the rest. He already has! He is simply using you, as a tool, to draw others to Himself.

Being a tool of salvation requires, then, that we look and sound like Jesus...
How is our speech? Does it reflect a Holy and perfect God?
How about actions? Do we demonstrate a level of self-control and love that surpasses the normal inclinations of the human heart?
What about the fruits in our lives? Are we growing good fruits and displaying a deep understanding of God's Word?

I guess I'm saying all of this just to say... Be a leader! Be a guide! Be an example! Mirror Christ in all that you say and do. Do I say this because it is easy and I've already done it? You already know the answer, "Of course not!" I say this because I understand that it is what God has designed us for and called us to do. So I'm growing right along-side of you all!

Especially in this time of year, friends, let us be as the light of that Star, from so long ago... Shine brightly, friends, to show those who are seeking the Christ, where He may be found!

Be the light, dear friends!

Grace and Peace!


Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .