One of the greatest (if not the greatest) revelations in the Bible is this: Matthew 1:23 — Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”

Only believe:

Without Emmanuel there would be no salvation, no freedom from sin. Because of this we realize we aren’t just forgiven of sin: we are free from it. Big difference! What we must understand is that Jesus was fully man and fully God. If we don’t believe this, we cannot be born again a child of God.

Test the spirits:

1 John 4:1–3 — Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2) By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. 3) But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

Walk with God:

So, in order to walk with God, we must believe that Jesus is God come in the flesh. Jesus is all God and all man.

As we celebrate this Christmas season, let’s never forget who Jesus is — Emmanuel. God with us! He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

Just a thought,

PSS

Our level of disappointment is directly proportionate to our level of appreciation.

Unspoken expectations:

We all need to live life with great expectations. But our expectations need to be reasonable ones. Some of us have unspoken expectations. We expect things from others that were never agreed upon or spoken about. We expect something of someone or something that was never discussed. It’s these expectations that get us.

Realistic expectations:

We expect so much from God, even when His word doesn’t say what we expect. When this happens, we get disappointed. Disappointment is defined as the feeling of sadness or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one’s hopes or expectations. We will hear people say things like, “I thought you meant this,” or “I thought you said this.” We really need to govern our expectations with reality — the reality of what has been said or agreed to.

Godly expectations:

Especially when it comes to God, people so often accuse Him of not caring because He didn’t meet their expectation at the time. But what they expected wasn’t based on fact or in the core truth. Let’s find out what the word of God actually says, then adjust our expectations to what has actually been said or agreed upon.

What we will find is that we won’t experience as much disappointment in our lives.

Just a thought,

PSS

From the song O Holy Night,it says, “Long lay the world in sin and error pining till he appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!”

Expectation:

Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines thrill of hopeas piercing, penetrating desire and expectation of an obtainable good. Hope, true hope, can be found in one place and one place only — Jesus — the only true hope that was birthed into a world filled with sins, pining for redemption (Colossians 1:27; Matthew 1:18-23). The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Proclamation:

“The lord is my portion,” says my soul. Therefore, I will hope in Him(Lamentations 3:22-24). “Lament” means to mourn, grieve, weep, to wail — not a happy book but the very book that speaks about Hope, true hope — not a wishful-thinking hope, but a hope built on faith.

Manifestation:

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen(Hebrews 11:1). Hope helps strengthen the immune system, improves social relationships, helps support mental strength and happiness, and helps you wake up feeling positive.

Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future. Let’s keep our hope alive, believing and serving Jesus.

Just a thought,

PSS

As we go about building the Church — when I say building the Church, I mean helping people, reaching the lost, being a city on a hill, a light for everyone to see, being salt and light, the last beacon of hope — His name will be the Hope of all the world (Matthew 12:21).

Building the wall:

We need to keep building the wall (the Church), no matter who comes against us with fear and intimidation. Way too many pastors and churches are weak. They believe the Church can be dictated to by a lost world. Out of fear they call it concern, being caring. They have shut their doors. They have stopped being the hope of the world. They have decided to acquiesce to an ungodly governor.

Protesting:

Acquiesce means to accept something, but without protest. This is why we have changed our services to protests: we are protesting for our religious freedom, being free to help those who are hurting and afraid, those who are broken, hopeless, relapsing into addiction. That is why the church should remain open.

Watching:

We must decide what we believe and what we will follow. You can follow the lost world or follow the word of God. Are you going to stay on the wall working or come down to your peril? Our city, our state is depending on us to continue to stand watch and continue to build the wall — the Church.

It’s always our choice. Which will it be for you?

Just a thought,

PSS

Government has an insatiable appetite for power. And dependence on the government is the fuel for this power.

To my point, everything that is happening with COVID19 is to make people more dependent on the government. This is the government’s way of becoming irreplaceable and creating dependency for all of its citizens. Too many have fallen for the lie of putting our hope in the government: “It will save me,” “It will keep me safe,” “We should follow all the rules,” many say. This misguided mantra that runs throughout our culture will cause people to willingly bow down and worship at the altar of safety and security, clinging to their warm government blanket.

Nearly everything we have experienced in this pandemic has been about control and social conditioning. Even the language that governmental officials use is a part of this power play: “Social distancing” is a more palatable euphemism for “Isolation.” “The New Normal” is a more acceptable way to say “Conform to the new restrictions, loss of freedom, and more governmental requirements.” These are simple ways to get us to willingly—even gladly—lay down our arms. Is there any wonder that mental illness and suicide are on the rise, perhaps at all-time highs in some places?

We are being driven apart right in the time we need to come close. They are sowing discord in the place of unity. We need each other at the exact time they are forcing us to consider it harmful to gather. How many of you have felt that—all of a sudden—your neighbors, friends, even family members now seem like enemies to be avoided—literally—like the plague? But all of this is a prerequisite for their ultimate goal: communism. Relying on the government exclusively leads to socialism leads to communism: the ultimate loss of personal responsibility, freedom, and courage.

George Orwell could be writing current events columns for today’s newspapers in his eerily-similar-sounding-to-present-day-reality book 1984. In it he describes how the “Party” gains control:

“… no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.” –George Orwell, 1984

We are seeing this today as power-grubbing politicians make government the center, not God. God has to be the center of your life. It is sad to see so many Christians cower to, even welcome governmental control. All they while they happily give up their God-given freedoms in favor of being controlled by ungodly people who do not have their best in mind.

Take, for example, the Governor’s announcement yesterday; it created mass hysteria. People endured long lines both inside and outside stores just to get a scrap of toilet paper. This was not happening before. People were able to go in get what they want and go home. But with such long lines and panic, she has caused more of the spread this virus. Will she admit to it? No, she always wants to blame everyone else. We have to fight for our rights and freedoms. If we don’t there will be nothing left to fight for. We need to wake up. These new “two weeks” will be the longest ever, lengthening into another 9 to 12 months of lockdowns.

Taking away personal freedom and removing personal responsibility is wrong; and the Church of the Lord Jesus has a duty and responsibility to stand up against this evil and to fight for our religious freedoms. We will be doing that at Legacy. When many churches will falter, we will not. Standing up can be difficult, especially if we have to stand alone. But now it is time to really count the cost of being a disciple. That is what every Christian must do.

Just a Thought,

PSS