.....::::: ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE :::::.....

Do you ever feel that your life is too complex for God to understand?

Do you feel that your problems are too hard for God to solve?

Do you feel like God would not comprehend what you are going through?

Jesus goes by many names. One of them being "Immanuel", which means “God with us.” When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He was God in the flesh. We can’t see God with our eyes or touch Him with our fingers, but people could see and touch Jesus. And because Jesus was human (while still being God), He completely understood what it was like to be human—to be tired, hungry, thirsty and tempted.

Here is a parable that I was reading and I hope that it may help you better understand.

Once upon a time, there was a man who looked upon Christmas as a lot of humbug.

(Humbug is deceptive or false talk or behavior.)

He wasn't a Scrooge. He was a very kind and decent person, generous to his family, upright in all his dealings with other men.

But he didn't believe all that stuff about God becoming man, which churches proclaim at Christmas. Why would God want to do anything like that?

So when his family left to attend midnight services on Christmas Eve, he stayed home. Shortly after the family drove away, snow began to fall. He went to the window and watched the flurries getting heavier and heavier. Some time later, as he was reading his newspaper by the fire, he was startled by a thudding sound that was quickly followed by another. Then another.

When he went to investigate, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They had been caught in the storm, and in a desperate search for shelter had tried to fly through the window. I can't let these poor creatures lie there and freeze, he thought. But how can I help them? Then he remembered the barn. It would provide a warm shelter. He quickly put on his coat and boots and tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on the light.

But the birds didn't come in.

Food will bring them in, he thought. So he hurried back to the house for breadcrumbs, which he sprinkled on the snow to make a trail into the barn.

To his dismay, the birds ignored the breadcrumbs and continued to flop around helplessly in the snow. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around and waving his arms. They scattered in every direction — except into the warm, lighted barn.

They find me a strange and terrifying creature, he said to himself, and I can't seem to think of any way to let them know they can trust me.

If only I could be a bird myself for a few minutes, perhaps I could lead them to safety.

Just at that moment, the church bells began to ring. He stood silently for a while, listening to the bells pealing out the glad tidings of Christmas.

Then he sank to his knees in the snow. "Now I understand," he whispered. "Now I see why You had to do it."

http://youtu.be/iAT_kv4ZNng

Need I say more? I think it is pretty clear. Have an amazing day and stay blessed!

(Devotions/ Devotionals)

.....::::: CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE? :::::.....

Ever look at yourself in the mirror and think, "wow, I have changed?" Have you ever realized the changes your body goes through over the years? Amazing right? It's even more amazing when others can tell the difference as well! The same thing goes for your walk with Christ. Have you ever worried about whether or not you really are a Christian, if you have changed or are you in the same place you were before you experiemented Him?

But what is a Christian though? A Christian is anyone who has the Spirit of God living in him or her. Some people believe that to be Christian, one must be perfect. But that is far from the truth.

No one is born perfect. Whether you are a believer in Jesus Christ or not, no one comes close to perfection but Christ himself. But how do you differentiate your lifestyle to that of those who are not Christians? What makes your walk any different than others?

In the Bible, in Ephesians 5 verse 8, we are called to live as children of the light. The Apostle Paul told the Ephesians to leave behind their sinful ways and their old life of sin. Yeah...I know it's hard, especially when everyone else around you is doing the cool and seemingly fun things but at what cost?

Living the Christian life is a process. It's an everyday thing. Yes, we do fall short of God's glory everyday but that shouldn't be the reason one decides to give up and do what he or she wants while screaming, "yolo" to the sky. Being a Christian means that our new nature and identity are found in Jesus Christ. Although we have a new nature, we don't automatically think all good thoughts and express all right attitudes right away. But that is the beauty of it! If we keep listening to God, the beautiful change is bound to happen with help from the Holy Spirit.

Looking towards the future, you can't help but feel positive and optimistic! Why? Because our old way of living life before we believed in Christ and His mission on Earth, death on the cross and His resurrection, is COMPLETELY in the past! Like clothes that have become too small for us, we should outgrow our old sinful lives and find peace and tranquility in Jesus. When Jesus was crucified on the cross, He was the replacement for your old life! Our "old self," our sinful nature, died once and for all, so we are freed from our past. We need no longer live under sin's power. For us to return tk the things we used to do in the past is basically making Christ's actions on the cross be for nothing. God does not take us out of the world or make us robots and we may even sin but our sin does not define us! The difference is that before we were saved we were slaves to our sinful nature, but now we can choose to live for Jesus Christ.

To conclude, we need to seek the One who can help us change. The way the world we live in functions, it does the exact opposite of what God recommends that we do. Instead of loving, society often discriminates. Instead of finding joy in God, it tells us to find joy in almost everything but Him. Instead of being at peace, patient, kind, good, faithful and gentle, the world demonstrates the opposite. And when it comes to self-control, it tells us that we "only live once". Think about a time before your walk with Christ and look at yourself now. Do you see the changes? And if so, how are you helping others seek that change too? Even if you can't see the changes now, hope is not lost. Let God speak to you today. Have a blessed day and stay in faith!

Ephesians 4:17-24 "So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."