one day

MERRY CHRISTMAS

peace on earth

goodwill toward men

all men

the Nice ones

the mean ones

the peaceful ones

the violent ones

keep your eye on the prize

Jesus came down from heaven

He was God, yet CHOSE

to be human

to be fallible

but was not FALLIBLE

he was perfect

our example

No matter what people did to him...

He still CHOSE to be a servant to all

to wash the filth and dirt off of people's feet

he did weird things

like spit in mud & stick it in people's eyes

and He put his fingers in people's ears...

WEIRD

totally unconventional back then, and now

but He was FOR REAL

He healed, changed lives

People CHOSE to follow Him

He did not make them

We have a free will

No one wants to be loved by someone

That is being made to love them...

 They want you to CHOSE them

People also CHOSE to walk away from Him

He still loved them

He still died for them...

He loved the most unlovely!!!

He came for us all- we all have a CHOICE

To be like Him

To love the mean, the cruel the ordinary oddballs

To love the people that hurt us...

They don't realize what they are doing

and we must forgive them

because we do it to...

We have a CHOICE to love unconditionally like Jesus did...

We have a CHOICE to choose to follow Jesus and His example

Christmas is a very hard time of year for many, 

It certainly is for us...

But we have this HOPE...this PEACE...this JOY that we should not have...

We have this HOPE as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. 

This Hope enters the inner sanctuary.... behind the curtains

So you all have probably seen the Wizard of Oz right?

Man behind the curtain, you could not see him, 

but you could hear him,

he was all powerful

and did things for you

and to you......it was a sham....

Well in the Old Testament days,

There was a thick curtain that shielded 

the Israelites from the Holy of Holies-

The place where they kept the Ark of The Covenant- 

Which was a trunk, for lack of better words, 

that housed God's Spirit...

so in essence, you were separated from God by a curtain 

 

It was a most sacred room, 

A place no ordinary person or  ordinary oddball could enter

You had to be clean, spotless, pure to enter past the curtain

NO ONE except the high priest could enter

And he could only enter once a year!

 Anyone else who entered the Holy of Holies would DIE.

HARSH

It was not great for a lot of people who thought maybe they were good enough, 

clean enough...

...they got zapped or disintegrated...

kinda like in Raiders of the Lost Ark- 

if you have seen it...

remember when the German guy wanted to open the Ark, 

They do a ceremony & open it & 

it appears to contain nothing but sand. 

but suddenly, angelic beings emerge from the Ark 

and float around the people

Indiana knows the Bible & its history

& warns his girlfriend to SHUT HER EYES

suddenly those angels angels of death. 

a huge vortex flame appears above the Ark 

& like an atomic bomb

swallows up the nazi's...

heads explode, 

bodies shrivel in flames, faces are melted...

they are all doomed and die

except Indy & his girlfriend

So it was probably like that- but worse in real life

But in all seriousness..

To be in God's presence- was a  scary thing

A sacred thing, not to be taken lightly

A privileged thing, denied to all but one...

Until Jesus Came

When Jesus died, the Bible says that that Veil was torn!

His body was the veil

He was torn for us to have immediate access to God 

and His Holy Spirit and its power!

So now we can have pure uninterrupted intimacy with Him

We can access Him anytime, 

He never leaves us

He is with us literally- 

ALWAYS

 
We can now boldly enter into God’s presence, 

“The inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 

where Jesus, 

who went before us, 

has entered on our behalf.” (Hebrews 6:19-20)

THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS

LIFE AND LIFE ABUNDANT

THAT IS WHY JESUS CAME

THAT IS WHY JESUS DIED

TO BE IN RELATIONSHIP

ONE ON ONE

NO PRIESTS, 

CURTAINS, 

MANS RULES IN THE WAY

JUST YOU AND JESUS

ASK HIM TODAY....

TO COME IN YOUR HEART

HE WILL GIVE YOU THE SAME HOPE 

THAT WE HAVE

TO KEEP WALKING WITH BROKEN LEGS

TO KEEP SINGING IN THE MIDST OF THE TORNADOES

TO  KEEP YOUR EYES ON 

THE THINGS THAT ARE TO COME-JESUS!

ONE DAY WE WILL BE TOGETHER 

AGAIN WITH JESUS, 

WITH CALLI

WE CAN'T WAIT

BUT UNTIL THAT FINAL DAY...

WE WILL KEEP HOPING

WE LOVE YOU ALL, MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

 

WE LOVE THIS ORTHODOX JEWISH RAPPER 

MATISYAHU- "Gift of God"

IF YOU CAN'T DOWNLOAD THE VIDEO ON YOUR PHONE...

LOOK UP THIS SONG ON YOUTUBE :)

MATISYAHU- ONE DAY

Sometimes I lay
Under the moon
And thank God I'm breathing
Then I pray
Don't take me soon
'Cause I am here for a reason

Sometimes in my tears I drown
But I never let it get me down
So when negativity surrounds
I know some day it'll all turn around because...

All my life I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
For the people to say
That we don't wanna fight no more
There will be no more wars
And our children will play
One day

It's not about
Win or lose
Because we all lose
When they feed on the souls of the innocent
Blood-drenched pavement
Keep on moving though the waters stay raging

In this maze you can lose your way 

It might drive you crazy but don't let it faze you no way

Sometimes in my tears I drown 

But I never let it get me down

 So when negativity surrounds 

 I know some day it'll all turn around because...

All my life I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
For the people to say
That we don't wanna fight no more
There will be no more wars
And our children will play
One day 

One day this all will change
Treat people the same
Stop with the violence
Down with the hate

One day we'll all be free
And proud to be
Under the same sun
Singing songs of freedom like fire 

All my life I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
For the people to say
That we don't wanna fight no more
There will be no more wars
And our children will play
One day