The Christmas Story

This is an actual manger of that time. Not made like we depict them, but a clay feeding trough our Savior was placed in.

Some of this is pulled from Louie Giglio's sermon tonight at PCC. Some from me.

Do you realize what we got for Christmas those thousand years ago? Man was forced to live under strict laws. The deliverance of a baby released our need for pressure and struggle and gave us freedom and a child named Emmanuel.

I know my life is a mess honestly. I don't have things right or completely figured out and honestly never will. I know a lot of you are on the same page as me too. Its amazing to think though that God knew the mess we would go through even back then when Jesus was born into a manger. God didn't choose the Hilton, a Tabernacle or temple of sorts to birth Jesus, he chose a manger. Why? Because God knew and understood the mess we were in and He didn't mind saying He understood by making the Savior of the planet be born into a mess either. That wasn't clean or sanitary but are our lives honestly clean or sanitary either? We put up with a lot of mess everyday and that's what God was trying to say by birthing Jesus into what we can relate to. He made an infant baby of immaculate importance fit right into what we are used to.

So just remember this on this Christmas. Whatever mess your going through in your life, God is bigger than that. He doesn't want us to make our lives perfect and then turn to Him, He wants us to admit we are imperfect and turn to Him before we try and figure things out on our own. You know Joseph tried to figure things out on his own with Mary before the Angel of the Lord appeared to set things straight. Joe was calling up his buddy Bill and saying look, I don't know what to do with this woman, she is pregnant and I am an upstanding man and I just think I need to separate myself from her quietly as to not humiliate her. Then the Angel of the Lord came in and basically told Joseph that what he was thinking was wrong and that by a mere whisper the savior of the world was placed into his young lady's stomach, a virgin still, to be birthed and his name will be called Jesus. I bet Joseph apologized for the phone call to Bill and hushed up real quick after that visit! It's when we are like Joseph we get in trouble. It is when we try to figure out everything on our own and have all the answers God steps in and says "Woah, don't you realize there are no answers outside of me?" You have to follow God and things may seem messed up right now, but when you may be crying, someone a house over may be getting saved. So just remember God is at work in your life even if you don't see it. If things aren't clear to you right now, don't fret like Joseph, just wait it out and with prayer all things will be revealed and God will reward those who humble themselves and pray. Remember this on this Christmas day.

Jealousy....Among Other Things Too

Pulled from Google Image Search: Jealousy

So this blog post will be short sweet and to the point...
(main ideas pulled from Louie Gigilio's message tonight, but not everything)

You know that song.. "Jealousy, turning saints into the sea..."

Well that is such a true song in our instance as humans. Jealousy can turn the utmost saint into a sinking ship of wrongful emotions. Everyone knows that feeling. Its that feeling when you see your significant other talking to someone else, even if it is purely innocent, or maybe isn't. I don't believe I need to describe what the feeling of jealousy...well...feels like. We have all felt it in some aspect of our journey down the road of life.

But what people don't get is that God is jealous for you too!

Ehh?.....

Yeah I know, its really hard to think about. It really doesn't make a whole lot of philosophical sense until you really think about it. God created you and you are His. We are called to live a life for Christ and put him first in every walk of our lives. He knows this, He spoke to the authors of the book of His which tells us this good news. BUT...there's always a but!

The flesh>God. The flesh tempts us more than God does because that is just what living in the Here and Now does to us. It sets us up for failure. I'm telling you the world can offer some great things in the Here and Now! Drinking, sex, lust, anger, possessions, and the list can go on and on, but there will come a time when everything will be stripped away, and what will you have left? The thing is that God calls us not to live in the Here and Now but in the Now and Forever. He wants us to see that the world can only offer so much, science can only answer so many questions and only offer so much fulfillment until we have to embrace that fact there is something beyond this world, and someONE beyond this consuming disappointing world of ours.

So relating that back to jealousy. When the world offers us this Here and Now package and we pursue that direction, we are turning our backs on God. God wants us, He wants to love us and for us to be in a relationship with Him, and when we turn away from Him, when we metaphorically "sleep with the other woman[fleshly, worldly thing]" then we let God down. He is a jealous God too. He created us and wants us to love Him out of our own free will. He doesn't have us on strings, we can go be with the devil whenever we want to. But He loves us and wants us as His and when we forsake Him, He is jealous for us and wants us back. Just like that feeling in a relationship, that feeling of betrayal, any time we choose something outside of God, He feels that!!!

So as Christians we need to not be so concerned about the Do Not's but be more concerned about the Do's. Like when Jesus comes back and we stand before God and we say:

"Hey God! Look what I didn't do! I didn't murder anyone! I didn't steal anything! I didn't commit adultery! [Laundry list of things...]"
" Thats great and all son....but I am more concerned of what you did DO then what you DIDNT do. I am more concerned about what you did with Me in your life. You know that one thing that I was pushing you towards your whole life? And how you got caught up in the Do Nots of being a Christian and not the Do's of following Me. That's what matters more."

And that's crazy when you think about it like that but its so true! People don't need to look at us as Christians and think that we claim all of these do nots but do them anyways! That's called sin, so yes we do those things and that's just how it is. But instead people need to say look at what that follower of God IS DOING!

So relating back to jealousy finally. God is jealous for you. He loves you and He created you and He wants you to see that He is the only thing that can fill your cup completely to the top. To live a life of "Do's" for Him is what He desires. And He gets jealous when we turn to the Here and Now and "sleep with the other woman". He wants us to see for ourselves and make our own decisions but when those decisions are apart from Him, He frowns because He is jealous for his creation!