Taking up our cross daily does not seem fun. We ask ourselves, “What must I give up for this menacing God who created this universe?” Maybe the questions we ask ourselves are scarier than that. “What if there is no God?” we ask ourselves. Who or what can we turn to then? I have seen man treat his fellow man in most horrible ways. I have seen wars and rumors of war. I have seen men riot and destroy property and people. I have seen children mistreated and abused. Did they not even kill Jesus, the Son of God? Yet, I have seen the Amish community come together and raise a barn for their neighbor. I have seen people come from different states to help victims of natural disasters who have lost everything. I have seen people give to telethons to help people attend college. I have seen people who jump into the water to save people who are drowning.
If you have been mad at God for a long time, ask yourself "why"? Whatever happened or did not happen, did God really cause it? God so loved this world that He sent His only begotten son, Jesus, to die on a cross, so that we might be reconciled to Him. Is this the kind of God who puts sickness on a child? Why would God do that? The Bible tells us in Matthew 7: “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” How much more does our Heavenly Father know how to give than our earthly parents? When God gave us His son Jesus, there was nothing else comparable with that gift.
The Bible describes Mary pondering the things she had been told in her heart. Mary, the mother of Jesus, would suffer as her son suffered. There was great rejoicing in Mary's life as well when Jesus arose from the grave and came and met with her and the disciples. Everything Mary pondered came true. We serve a God who knows the end from the beginning. Perhaps God has told you of wondrous things to come: ponder them in your heart. This Christmas have a Mary Christmas. Remember that God can use you to accomplish great things. Sometimes great things are acknowledging the person begging for money on the side of the road. Helping feeding the homeless is pretty amazing. Giving coats you no longer wear can be a great thing to a person with no coat facing a freezing night.
The Bible tells us that our Father in heaven collects our tears in a bottle. It is interesting that we have the ability to cry and even more amazing that our Father thinks enough of our tears to collect them. You cannot solve every problem in this world, but you can solve some of them. Do not become paralyzed by the enormity of the problems of this world, help the starfish you can. Become an ambassador for Jesus to someone today.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is well known for his "I have a Dream Speech", but Dr. King also wrote a famous letter from jail called, "Letter from Birmingham Jail". This letter is in response to white religious leaders criticism of his nonviolent objection to the segregation in Birmingham. After reading the letter, a person of common understanding and common sense would have to agree that even though Dr. King was in jail, jail was not in Dr. King.
Jesus encountered a woman of Samaria to draw water from Jacob's well. Jesus said to her, "give me drink". The woman found that an unusual request because Jesus was a Jew and Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans. As the conversation unfolded, Jesus began to tell the woman her life story. Jesus knew of her ex husbands and that she was currently living with a man. The conversation turned "religious" and the woman brought up where different people worshiped. Jesus revealed Himself, as Messiah, and let the woman know that His Father was a Spirit and in the future true believers would worship Him in Spirit and Truth.
Finish Strong Never Quit 
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