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On the twelfth day of Christmas…

On the twelfth day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me Eternity that’s free, A thousand songs to sing, Streets of pure gold, Mansions above, A Robe and A Crown, A body glorified, Power from on high, Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting life and Salvation full and free!

You made it….the twelfth day of Christmas is here… and there is a reward at the end of this post for your patience 🙂

This year, I’ve had a few conversations who do not believe in Jesus in Christ but claim to believe in God. Almost all these people do not deny that there is a God who is in all of us and works through us. Variations of this include statements that we are all gods, God is the sum of all us, or that God is the force that drives everyone to do good. Paul in his day encountered a similar group of people in Athens who had built an altar to an unknown God. These people believed there was something bigger than themselves and bigger than all the other gods that they worshiped and the named this thing “the unknown God”.

2019 presented me with the opportunity to encounter this God people are so desperately trying to describe more intimately in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the ultimate gift given to man by God out of his immense love for us and as a way to bring man to an understanding of who He is. Jesus is what the world needs; He is what every heart is desperately searching for. God gave us Jesus so He is no longer the “unknown God” but a God who is known to all and by all in this world and for all eternity.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NIV

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 1 john 4:9 NLT

God wants man to live in relationship with Him forever and that is why he gave us Jesus so forever becomes a reality. And what will it take? Belief. You have to believe that Jesus is of God, from God and is God. That is the first and most important step on this forever journey. Are you seeking to know God? It’s not too late! Don’t wait till  January 1st, 2020 to make life alternating decisions. You can start right now…

Now for your reward… here’s a video of the full song which served as the series for the past 12 days:

Merry Christmas from Yours truly to all of you wonderful readers. It has been an amazing year and I am grateful for your patronage.

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On the eleventh day of Christmas…

On the eleventh day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me A thousand songs to sing, Streets of pure gold, Mansions above, A Robe and a Crown, A body glorified, Power from on high, Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD. Psalm 40:3 NASB

Someone recently said to me, “I can’t wait for 2019 to be over! This is one year I will not miss!” She was lamenting to me about her woes and struggles of 2019. When I look back at 2019, I can pinpoint many times I too was filled with uncertainty. Sometimes  I felt like I was stuck on a hamster wheel called life and I questioned my very purpose on this earth. A few times I had full-blown anxiety attacks.  But one thing I know for sure is that the blessings of the LORD upon my life in 2019 were incredible; some of them utterly unbelievable!

If I were to count those blessings, words would not be enough to thank God. For starters,  He has woken me up for 357 days in a row. I am on this side of eternity and I am ending the year with a heart of gratitude in spite of everything that went down in the year. That is enough to burst out into songs of praise.

O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise!

Yours truly.

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On the tenth day of Christmas…

On the tenth day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me Streets of pure gold, Mansions above, A Robe and a Crown, A Body Glorified, Power from on high, Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.  Revelations 21:21 ESV

God promises us the pleasure of living in a heavenly city someday whose street is made of pure gold.  Gold in its purest form can be beaten down to very thin sheets that it appears transparent. Do you know how much refining the gold would have to endure to be that flawless? While we look forward to walking on the streets of gold, there is something very close to that here on earth: the words and promises of God.

And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times. Psalm 12:6 NIV

The words of God found in his holy scriptures are as flawless as the gold that makes the street of gold and it is right within our grasp.

But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it. Deut 30:14

The promises of God are sure and give us hope and so in this season, as you merry and eat and drink, feed your mouth and heart with the word of God. let it be near you and let it refine you so that someday you are fit to walk on the streets of gold.

Yours truly.

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On the ninth day of Christmas…

On the ninth day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me Mansions above, A Robe and a Crown, A body glorified, Power from on high, Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:2 KJV

I learnt this scripture many years ago in Sunday school but this week I took some time to think about the words. A mansion is a large impressive house according to dictionary.com. Interestingly, Jesus is saying here that His father’s house (singular), comprises many large houses. This caught my attention! My mind went back to the story of when Jesus was driving away those selling in the temple. He said “my house will be a house of prayer” again singular use of the word house.

In this season, I am reminded that there are many Christians from all over the world that are celebrating the birth of Jesus into the world;  not all of them belong to the same denomination. Some are Catholics, Protestants, Pentecostals, Apostolics and what have you.  God’s expectation of all Christians all over the world is that they together, regardless of race and creed form one house. The scripture from John above is true of our eternal home in heaven but even more so true of how we live on earth: On earth as it is in heaven!!

You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5 NIV

Together, all denominations that truly call upon the name of the Lord build a spiritual house: the house of prayer where acceptable sacrifices are offered unto God. So in this season, let’s not be divided by which church or which faith one belongs to. We are many mansions in God’s house.

Yours truly.

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On the eighth day of Christmas…

On the eighth day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me A Robe and a Crown, A Body Glorified, Power from on high, Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

Christmas time presents many opportunities to celebrate. We celebrate the end of the year, the company of friends and loved ones, and the exchange of gifts. The sound of laughter and merrymaking is heard in many homes. This Christmas I want to present you with two new reasons to celebrate:

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation: and with the robe of justice he hath covered me, as a bridegroom decked with a crown, and as a bride adorned with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10 Douay Rheims Bible

You have been adorned by God Himself. You are like his very own Christmas tree. He has decked you with the garments of His salvation and dressed you in the robe of His justice. He has shrouded you with jewels and beautified your life; and like the star atop a Christmas tree, he has put on you a crown. That’s what God sees when he looks down from Heaven at you this Christmas: His very own well-decorated tree. And this is all so that He will be glorified…plain and simple!

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release from darkness to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who grieve in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. Isaiah 61: 1-3 BSB

Yours truly.

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On the seventh day of Christmas…

On the seventh day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me A Body Glorified, Power from on high, Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

So earlier this year I was diagnosed with a chronic condition and I was devastated. One of my prayers for the year was that no one in my family would receive a new diagnosis of any disease in 2019. My prayer seemed to have been answered as everyone seemed to be dodging the diagnosis bullet except for me and I was disappointed.

I am reminded in this season that there are so many people (Christians and otherwise) who are living with chronic conditions and the stress of the holidays does not make it better. While some are bustling away and enjoying the shopping and busyness of the Christmas season, there are many that dread this time of year; It is a reminder of the fact that they cannot do the things that they love, or eat the things that love, or hang out with the people they love because of the state of their physical and mental health.

This morning, I was encouraged with a promise from scripture:

Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. Isaiah 51:11KJV

There will come a day and soon when those who have been ransomed by God shall return to Heaven (Zion, the beautiful city of  God) with singing and rejoicing and this imperfect body riddled with diabetes, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, paralysis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and whatnot will be stripped away.

I could not have said it any better; such powerful and encouraging words right from scripture:

What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. I Corinthians 15:50- 53 NLT

What blessed hope!

Yours Truly.

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On the sixth day of Christmas…

On the sixth day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me Power from on high, Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8 NIV

I have given you the power to trample on snakes and scorpions and to defeat the power of your enemy Satan. Nothing can harm you. Luke 10:19 CEV

Why is having power so important? Well, the scripture gives us at least two reasons why:

  1.  To be able to be effective witnesses of what we believe. Ever notice that powerful people are confident? Remember the post from a few days ago. God wants us to hold on to our confidence because it will be greatly rewarded and power helps us to do that. Secondly, powerful people have influence. You cannot be an effective witness if you have no sphere of influence. If no one listens to you or cares what you say. The power that God gives us from on high makes us influential. Jesus was endued with power from on high and he had a very large following. People wanted to hear him speak; not only that people believed his message. That’s what power will do for you.
  2. To deal with unseen forces that wrestle with us. Not hocus pocus.. real demonic activities that seek to bring chaos to our lives and the world. Powerful people command authority and when we are endued with power from on high, that authority extends not only in the physical realm but also in the spiritual. These forces work to discourage us so that we are not motivated to share the good news. They seek to shroud us with darkness so the light of Christ does not shine through to the dying world. But today I  come to tell you that you have the POWER to be a witness in spite of. Nothing can harm your soul which is anchored in Christ (even if your body and mind are beaten metaphorically!)

The main purpose of having power is to point others to the source of all that power… to point others to God as a witness. Use your influence, your confidence, and your power for good today.

Yours Truly.

 

 

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On the fifth day of Christmas…

On the fifth day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

J.O.Y. hmmm… What is joy and how does one get joy?  I find joy although not intangible, is one of the most difficult phenomena to describe. I believe this is partly because joy, very much like peace happens in spite of present circumstances. Although it comes from deep within a person and spills right on the outside, it is beyond a person. When I think of joy, I think of something that wells up and overflows from the inside like a bubbling spring. More importantly to me, than trying to describe joy is how I can get joy in my life.

I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. John 15:11 BSB

Whoa! What did Jesus say that gives us joy? let’s backtrack…

As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.  John 15:9-10 BSB

If you love me, you will obey my commandments. John 14:15 NET

well… I guess the secret to joy is out of the bag! It all comes down to love and obedience!  If we love God we will obey Him; When we obey God we will be in God’s love and one of the perks of being in God’s love is that we will have joy. Seems easy yes? Well…. the obedience part is not so easy otherwise the word obey would not appear 69 times in the King James Bible(this does not include other variants of the word)! But there is good news:

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome, because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. Who then overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:3-5 BSB

You can do this! You’ve got this! Love God… and obey Him and reap a bountiful harvest of joy!

Yours truly.

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On the fourth day of Christmas…

On the fourth day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me Love for all men; Peace in my heart, Everlasting life, and Salvation full and free.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. Romans 5:5 BSB

God showed his love to us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us and he has poured this love into us so that we love one another. He does not merely ask this of us. He commands it:

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. John 13:34 NLT

When my husband read the first few lines of the post, he snickered and said “you.. love for all men! You can barely stand XYZ!” And truthfully there are people that I cannot tolerate at all and yet the command of God is to love everyone. I acknowledge that while this is a daunting command, it is possible to obey it to the fullest. Jesus is our perfect example.

In creation, Jesus knew that one day the tree that he created would become an emblem of his shame in the form of the raw material for a cross. And yet he still made trees and blessed them and said everything including the tree was good. when he made plants like the beautiful rose bush, he knew that one day a crown of thorns would adorn his head but he did not despise shrubs but blessed them too and said they were good. Oh! he knew full well that man that he had created would turn around and be his tormentors but he still blessed man at creation and gave him dominion and authority over all things and said humankind was good. You see, Jesus saw the good even though he knew the disappointment would come. He chose to bless when he had the opportunity to curse, or ignore, or despise or say “I cannot stand XYZ!” The key is to see people as Jesus sees them: GOOD! If with all my failings and frailties God sees me as good, then who am I to not reciprocate?

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV

Yours truly.

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On the third day of Christmas…

On the third day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me Peace in my Heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9: 6 ESV

I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. John 14:27 NLT

The peace that Jesus promises is not one that is the absence of chaos and turmoil but one in spite of. It is that blessed assurance that regardless of the present circumstances grace has got you and you are not alone. It is living this conviction every day:

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. Isaiah 43: 2 NLT

But this peace just like salvation is a gift of God and you can choose to not accept it. You can choose to worry and fret about the what-ifs and the current happenings in your life. My advice: accept the gift of peace of mind and heart in this season. Let not your heart be troubled. Jesus has overcome the world!

Yours truly.