CHRISTMAS - GOD SEEKING US

Vol. 14 No. 25

December 1, 2015

Dear Friend,

Consider these remarkable words of the Lord:

I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;

I was found by those who did not seek me.

To a nation that did not call on my name,

I said, "Here am I, here am I" (Isaiah 65:1-2 NIV).

We often speak about seeking God... seeking God in solitude, seeking God in fellowship and worship, seeking God in the tough times.

Yet, here we Isaiah speaking of God doing the seeking.

As a matter of fact, he describes God seeking people who were not praying to him or seeking him or calling his name.  The initiative was all God's

Christmas is, of course, all about God seeking us.  Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Initiative of God.

Even when we seek the Lord, our very heart to seek has been given to us by the God who first sought us.

No matter what has occurred in your life, regardless of what is going on in your life right now, God loves you, God seeks you, and God welcomes you.

Become newly aware of the love of God that is asking for you to respond, seeking your heart, and knocking on the door of your life.

Say, "Here I am, Lord! Be the Shepherd of my heart."

Joy to you - 
E. Stanley Ott                                 

THANKSGIVING

Vol. 14 No. 24                          

 

Dear Friend,

Consider these words from the famous one hundred and third Psalm:

            Bless the Lord O my soul, and all that is within me,

            Bless His holy name.

            Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all of his benefits (Psalm 103:1-2).

Basic to the practice of giving thanks is the practice of remembering, of recalling God's many benefits in your life.

This Thanksgiving, remember God's benefits to you:

            The people God has placed in your life to bless you and to lift you.

            The events in your life that God has used to encourage you.

            The things in your life that God has given you to help you.

Thanking God for the many specific benefits He has placed in your life will help you grow in the overall attitude of thanksgiving.

The giving of thanks helps you see that God is at work in your life, that God loves you deeply and that God demonstrates that work and love in very specific ways in your life.

God's greatest gift was His own son, Jesus Christ.

Remember the work of Jesus Christ today, his ministry on this earth, his death on the cross for you and me, and his present work in our lives as we trust Him by faith.

Joy to you - 
E. Stanley Ott                                 

MARY'S LOSS

Vol. 14 No. 23           

                                                                                   

Dear Friend,

Leonardo DaVinci's Pieta, received a great deal of attention when a vandal broke and defaced the sculpture.  Indeed, more attention was focused on the desecration of the work of art than what that work of art really portrayed:  Mary, the mother of Jesus, holding her dead son. 

A great many, probably the majority of works of art, publications and sermons dealing with the death of Jesus bring focus to the loss and pain experienced by the God, the Father Almighty who had been in continuous fellowship with Jesus the Son from all eternity past.

What about Mary? True, she knew him to be God's son, the Christ.  He was also her little boy.  Imagine what went through the mind of the woman who sang, "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices is God my Savior" when she learned she was pregnant (Luke 1:46 NIV).

If you have lost a child or anyone very dear to your heart, then you know Mary's heartache.

Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was the loss of a great deal more than his own life. Everyone bound up with him sacrificed deeply.

There is a suffering side to life. The Author of life, himself, and his family, are well familiar with it. It is the same for all who would follow him.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles... "(2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV).

With joy,

Joy to you - 
E. Stanley Ott                                

WORSHIP

Vol. 14 No. 22        

                                                               

                                                                                   

 Dear Friend,

Were you in church last Sunday? What about the two Sundays before that?

If you were not in church, honestly ask yourself, "why not?"

            __ I was not in the mood.

            __ I was sick.

            __ My husband, wife, friend, guest did not want to attend.

            __ I don't believe regular attendance means every week.

            __ It is boring.

            __ It is an effort.

            __ Other

Frankly, I can think of only one really good reason (outside of blizzards, hurricanes, and earthquakes) and that is illness (your illness or that of someone you are caring for).

I urge you, challenge you, invite you, plead with you to see worship with God's people as a basic commitment and not a matter of convenience or mood.

This is not a "guilt trip" or a nagging reminder to shape up. This is a call to follow Christ. Worship with other believers is basic to following Christ.

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another" (Hebrews 10:25 NIV).

Worship in church every week you are physically able to attend.

Joy to you - 
E. Stanley Ott