december 25th, 2011

Merry Christmas Everyone!

"For Unto Us a Child Is Born!"

For Better or For Worse

When you are at a wedding, you hear vows of course. 

"For better or for worse..

In sickness and in health...

Richer or for poorer..."

The sad part is... majority of the couples across the world are only in it for the better. The couples don't stick through the worse... or the difficult times. When you marry someone, you are making a lifelong covenant in front of the Lord and other witnesses. Divorce is a normal thing these days, and I don't look down on anyone that is divorced... your business is not mine. You must love the Lord and trust in him... ask him before you marry to make you a good husband/wife and ask upon his name to give you both the strength to make it through a life together as one. 

Ask yourself this... Do you love God? Do you love the one person that has sent his one and only Son to die for our sins on the cross when none of us deserved it? Do you love the one that gave you life? Yes, God has some high standards.. and that pushes some people away. All of us at some point try to believe, "Oh, I'm not a bad person. I care for people." God considers hatred to be murder, and lust to be adultery. You can't love someone because you can't give someone something you don't have. You can't truly love your spouse or loved one until you realize what love truly is. You love your spouse whether they deserve it or not. You love everyone whether they deserve it or not... God loves all of us even though we don't deserve it. We have rejected him over and over again, we've spat in his face, and pushed him away. I strongly believe that you can't love someone without loving the Lord first. 

"You shall have no other gods before me." - First Commandment

This is all between you and the Lord. Are you going to continue to reject him? Can't we all see that we need his forgiveness and his love? 

Marriage is a beautiful thing... if it's handled correctly. Love one another, treat each other with the same amount of respect, support each others dreams and ambitions, stay faithful and honest, be each others best friend, never give up even through the hard times, and most importantly... you both must love the Lord before anything else in your life. People sometimes get married for the wrong reason, and end up divorcing. Majority of the humans on this Earth are only concerned about "my needs, or my rights." Put that person before yourself, and make sure their needs are met. A marriage can be destroyed just as quick as it was started. Are you willing to let your marriage fall apart? 

Marriage is a sacred institution established by God and one that is mean to last for life... not for just the better times. 

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.

Amen.

december 4th, 2011

Remember We Have Been Graced

Have you ever had someone tell you that you are blessed? when in reality... you believe you are not so much. We all go through times in our lives that we are depressed, dealing with family issues, addictions, any personal problem.. it gets us down, doesn't it? 

Gabriel came to Mary to announce that she was giving birth to a son, and his name was going to be Jesus. She didn't understand how she was the one who would receive the favor of God. The reasoning that she didn't believe she deserved it was the same was we all would think... we sometimes believe that in order to receive God's grace we have to deserve it, earn it, or be special in some sort of way. We are all special in God's eyes. We are his children. Mary knew that this child was not going to be just any child.

God told Mary that the grace he was giving her was going to be difficult. It will put her in situations that will put her out of her comfort zone, and it will test her faith. He wanted to show everyone through Mary that the individuals that considered themselves weak, insecure, not good enough, unimportant.... that the world will know that God's glory is not dependent on human power but the grace of Lord above. 

We should be God's servants, and use our lives serving him. Of course it will be hard; it never was guaranteed to be easy. We should know we are graced by our Lord.. regardless of the numerous amounts of difficulties we face throughout our lifetime. We are truly blessed because God sent his one and only Son to die for our sins so we could be forgiven.

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends." - John 15:13

Now that Christmas is coming up in a few weeks... are you going to believe that you have been graced by the love of Christ? and NOT because you are tying to earn it, deserve it, or be good enough or special enough to receive his grace? Mary is a perfect example to show that we can get through rough times and still do it because of His grace and love for his friends. 

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.

Amen.