Jesus: The Gift of God's Grace
If we lived in that first century and met someone like Jesus, it would take our breath away. As Christmas arrives, we think of the great blessing that is ours because of Jesus. This charming grace.
If we lived in that first century and met someone like Jesus, it would take our breath away. As Christmas arrives, we think of the great blessing that is ours because of Jesus. This charming grace.
John 3:16 is about the love of God coming to the rescue of men and women in their needs. John says it’s about Gods love. “So much does God love the world.”
Jesus was referred to by the prophet as the “hope of Israel.” Hope always is looking ahead and those many righteous Jews down through the centuries living on tiptoe, anticipating Messiah’s coming, fulfilling the promise that He would arrive.
Shame and pride keep our disabilities safely tucked out of sight. In shame, we fear the humiliation of finger-pointing when others see our weaknesses, and in pride, we suppose that a show of perfection will elevate us to heights of success and acceptance.
For many of us, our busy schedules filled with appointments and obligations keep us occupied to the brink of breakdown. We don’t have time for self-reflection or to take note of triggers and internal alarm bells telling us we’re not OK.
God makes some people large, others moderate in stature. Still others are small in size. We frequently make the mistake of calling small folks “little,” but that is an unfortunate and unfair tag. I’m not picking at terms...there is a great deal of difference between being small and being little.
When the Apostle Paul was alone in Athens, as recorded in Acts 17, he found himself in the busy market place full of idols in the streets of Athens, far away from home and a long way from Christian friends. It’s in that context that we are given an example of the fruit of biblical preparation and compassion as Paul delivered a free-speech platform and proclaimed the God of heaven and earth and His Son, Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead.
Ever wish you could reach out to a friend in crisis, but you’re just not sure what to say? Most of us tend either to avoid the person or situation altogether or to rush in and say too much.
To combat ageism, we first need to become aware of it in ourselves and those around us. We become informed by reading about aging and talking with older people about ageism.
We have been learning how to study the Bible for ourselves, through observation, interpretation, correlation, and then application. We observe what a passage says, interpret what it means, correlate what it says elsewhere about the same subject, and then ultimately we apply it.