I was asked recently the question, “What has God done for you? Well, let me answer that with the following. First, God gave me hope. He gave me Jesus who became my Lord and Savior. And Jesus gave me the Way and the Truth while the world gave me nothing. Then He gave me Jan to be my wife. Then He gave me my children. He has given me and my family good health which I NEVER take for granted. He has given me a way through his word in the Bible on how to live a life of purpose and meaning. So basically, His view of life is completely different then the world’s view. Obviously, I could go on and on pertaining to the things God has given me and still overlook much.

In conclusion, I greatly appreciate and am thankful for all that God and His son Jesus has done for me. I am overwhelmed by his Grace and unconditional love. I give Jesus my gratitude. Thank you, Lord. Amen

John 14:6 – I am the Way, and the Truth, and Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

I am not qualified to have God put His creation under my feet but that exactly what God does according to Psalms 8. Words like awesome and epic and greatness do not even come close to describing who God is.. These words and others do not come remotely close to describing His creation. Yet, God is mindful of us and loves us and wants to care for us. God crowned us with glory and honor. God made us ruler over His works. Yet, we manage to mess things up everyday. In our sin we have become irresponsible stewards of His creation. Yet again, God steps in and forgives us of our sins and continues to love us unconditionally and extending His amazing grace to us. That’s unbelievable when you think about it. He gives us way, way, way more then we deserve…..He is incredible. I believe in you Jesus and want to continue to pursue you into the mystery of your creation.

Psalms 8:1 – How majestic is Your name in all the earth. You have set your Glory in the Heavens.

Christian writer Max Lucado put the importance of Christmas in perspective when he wrote the following words……”when it comes to goodies and candy, rosy cheeks and red noses, go to the North Pole. But when it comes to eternity…Forgiveness…Purpose…And Truth…go to the manger, kneel with the shepherds and worship the God who dared to do what man dared not dream. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb…God became man…the Creator of Life was created. AMEN

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND GOD BLESS YOU ONE AND ALL.

I believe there are lots of ways to arrive at the decision to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. In the Bible Jesus says that He is the Way and the Truth and nobody comes to the Father except thru Him. This is non negotiable. Jesus is the Way. However, there are many, many stories about how one arrives at this decision—to believe that Jesus is God. Some people believe when they are quite young some when they are quite old and even others in their last days. For me, the light went on when I was 38 years old. I was in the middle of an 8 year Bible Study program when I really accepted Jesus on purpose. Before that I was just kind of hanging around Jesus not really committed to a decision. I think what really moved me forward was my job as a high school biology and human physiology teacher. As I taught high school kids how the human body works it became more and more clear that each one of us is a miracle. We are a miracle of God’s creation period. Charles Darwin is quoted as saying, “to suppose that the human eye could have been formed by natural selection is absurd in the highest degree.” This is coming from the “father of evolution”. I believe he’s 100% correct. We are miracles created by a greater miracle—GOD! Jesus is my God and the mystery behind all of the above I accept based on faith. I don’t need a scientific proof. For last 30 plus years I have been pursuing God through His teaching, reading countless books, and following His word in the Bible and I have been Blessed. I still have years to go and Jesus is not done with me yet. I believe it!

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

When my daughter was around 10 years old and was acting up I exclaimed, “Allison, act normal”. Her answer was, “what’s normal Dad”. That answer stopped me cold and actually made me smile as I thought…..”what does normal look like”. The dictionary defines normal as, “conforming to a standard; usual, typical or expected”. Well, based on that definition who wants to be normal. I don’t think I want to be remembered as usual or typical. I think I would rather be unique, different or one of a kind. I think of Jesus and “usual” does not come to mind. Words like unique, awesome, different, one of a kind, and revolutionary come to mind plus many, many other words. Jesus was an unbelievable individual. He was completely unique. No human has ever come close to being like him through all of time. Was it normal when he healed people, was it normal when he was resurrected? Every day is Easter Sunday for me because of Jesus. Thank God for Jesus and by the way, my daughter is 38 years old and has not been normal a day in her life and I am thankful for that!

Psalm 139:14 – I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

A favorite song of mine is “Thank you Lord by Chris Tomlin, Thomas Rhett, and Florida Georgia Line.” Its a upbeat simple song about things to be thankful for. The following lyrics express thankfulness in these words……

The small things….

Blessings on Blessings on Blessings…

for my mamma, for my friends…

for your love that never ends…

for my babies, for my girl…

for the hard times…

for lighting my way in the dark times…

for pulling me in, forgiving again…

for keeping me humble…

for picking me up when I stumble…

and although I change You stay the same…

AND I DON’T SAY THANK YOU ENOUGH…

John 14:6 – I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…..

We all need to be saved…..Primarily from ourselves. We are all broken in the same and different ways. Jesus knows this. He is God. He created us. He knows exactly what we need. He knows our failures; He knows exactly who we are. There is nowhere to hide from God. And that’s OK because God through Jesus loves us unconditionally. He extends us never ending Grace. It’s on us. We either choose God or we Don’t. Yes or No. In or out. Jesus never condemned anyone when He walked the earth. Any condemnation of us comes from us. and let’s clear up the misconceptions about who is God. Jesus is God. There is one God and one Jesus. Lots of false gods, but only one true God.

John 14:6 – Jesus answered, ” I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Many, many people think they can describe Jesus with words that fall woefully short. Others use way too many words. Long sermons, long prayers will not help to figure out Jesus and his ways. In the Bible Jesus says to us to “just believe”. He understands us and our needs better than we do. I know it is hard at times to fully trust Jesus because we think we know better than Him. But the truth be told, the truth is seldom told, and Jesus is the Truth. He is also the Way. Thus, if one wants to know The Way and The Truth then they need to “believe in Jesus. And that is the truth.

John 6:28 – “the work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent”