Sunday, December 23, 2012

I need thee

This week has been a rough one. As many of you know, that tragedy in Connecticut has really taken the wind our of my sails.  Each morning i still wake up thinking of those kids. Those parents. The friends. That town.

I pray diligently for peace and for God's love to just cover those families. And then i try to carry on with my day. But its never quite out of my mind.  There is a new pain that i am learning to live with.


At first it was a sorrow. And then anger. And now there is just a piece of me that is always imagining those families-- How is there day going at this exact moment. And then i imagine my precious children's faces. And remind myself never to ever grow numb. Never to go back to normal.


Because, that is in fact, what i think its wrong with this world.  We grow accustom to this stuff. It shocks us, saddens us. Maybe for a brief moment, but eventually we all return to our normal life.


And i am refusing to do that. I will be changed by this. And i will not go back to life before it.


As i was waiting in line at Target this morning I happened to glance over at the magazines. And there it was. PEOPLE's cover, filled with pictures of 26 beautiful lives--Lost.  And i had to look away.  Because that is how i am preserving myself these days. I have yet to see the news.  I just can't. I don't want to. I am healing and every glance that i see and every thing that i hear-- just sets me back. Puts me in their shoes. And i am stuck.


As i drove home, i thought about life without Christ. What a hopeless life that would be. And many of my friends and family live that life.  And it breaks my heart. Saddens my soul.


How?


How do you get through something without hope? Faith--in things not seen? Trust in our heavenly Father. Our Saviour?


How do you go about life. Without a greater purpose?


To be honest, I feel lost some days with Christ. So how do you do it without him?


I have been praying fervently this past week. Soul searching, really.


Wondering if God just looks down on us and shakes his head saying, what will it take to get you to focus your eyes on me?


 My soul cries out for Gods provision. Each moment of every day.


 I think of the lost. I think of the saved.


Are we really living our lives heaven bound? Do we focus on Jesus in all hours of the day? Do we focus on Jesus in any hours of the day?


Because i want to.


We need to.


This is my plea. As we celebrate a holiday devoted to God's child--Jesus. Let us be reminded that its not just a story. Its history. Allow yourself time to take it all in. Give yourself time to truly envision it... HE was a baby, not unlike yours or mine, that was born in a manger. He came to earth to die, so that we could truly live.


Not here on earth, but in heaven. Where there will be "No more night. No more pain. No more tears. Never crying again. And praises to the great "I AM." We will live in the light of the risen Lamb." (David Phelps lyrics)


That is my Christmas wish for you.

To take life seriously. We don't know what tomorrow brings, but we can put our hope in Jesus. Right now.

Think about it. Do it. Don't wait.

Open up your Bible, and ask God to forgive your sins and cleanse you white as snow. That you may live in eternity with Him. 

Ephesians 2:8 :For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is a gift from God!

John 3:16 " For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 14:1 " Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God...

John 16:33 " In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

I can not imagine a world without the HOPE of Jesus Christ. The uncertainly of where death will take me. The fear of the unknown. 

God is clear. Matthew 7:7 says "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." 

Don't just think about it.  

LIVE IT.

Ask, seek, Knock!

Trust Him and you will know a peace like never before!! God doesn't promise us that we won't have troubles on this earth, but he does promise us eternal life. Because "greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." (1 john 4:4)

I know i sound passionate about this, but its because i am. If i offend you, that was never my intent. Never. We just can't keep tip toeing around this earth.  We need to stand for something. We need Jesus and we need to be the change this world so desperately craves. 

Listen to this hymn, let the words sink into the depths of your soul and cry out to Him. This is my prayer for you--today and every day that follows.