Sunday Blessings - The Lonely Christian

Lately  I  've   been  going  through  some  trials and  this  quote sent  by  a  friend blessed  me. When  Jesus  stepped  onto  the  earth  as Emmanuel,  God  with  us,  He  also  choose  loneliness.


The Loneliness of the Christian

“The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone. The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding caused them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.

“The man who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens. He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.

“It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else.”

AW Tozer
 
My  blog  friend  John  Cowart  is  an  author of  repute he inspired  me  to  start  blogging . He  made a great Christmas video   called  CHRISTMAS  IN  A  TIN  BOX
Please  visit  his  blog  and  watch  him  tell  the  Christmas  story in  his  own   way.

Bond With The Best

Bond   with   the  best was  the  theme  for  the  EU  Christmas Outreach held  on  Dec  6th. And  that  motto  was  fulfilled   most  certainly.  More  than  100  people  comprising  of university  students  and  families  with  Young  children came to  hear  the  Christmas  message.

The  university chapel  is  very  far   from  my  house  but  God   provided  transport (motorbike rides) so  I  could   participate  and   enjoy  fellowshipping  with  friends   I  "meet"  on  Facebook.

Worship  leaders

Brother  David  gave  the  message   from  John 5:24
   “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgement, but has passed out of death into life. (words  of  Jesus)

He  gave  his  own  testimony , how  God  saved  him  from  a  life  of   crime and   empty  living. And  what  it  means  to  be  saved.

There   was  special  music  and  a  video  presentation.

The  students  were  cooking  a   meal of  vegetable  rice, a  curry  of  potatoes  and  fresh  green  peas and  yogurt  salad (raita). Believers  contributed  money  for  that and a  professor  donated   cake  for  dessert.

There  was  some  delay on that   front  so  the seniors  presented  special  songs  and  kept  everyone  lively  and  happy.

The  ride  back on  the 

motorcycle  was  chilly

but  my   heart   was  warm  seeing 

God  at   work 

among   young  people.

Let  me  end  with  what  I  read 

in  my  morning  devotions.

==============

What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! ...As it is written:

'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one
who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there
is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues
practice deceit. There is no fear of God before their eyes.'... no one will be declared
righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious
of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known...
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

--Romans 3:9-12, 17-18, 20-22



Someone once asked an evangelist "Is it hard to get people saved?" He thought for
a moment then replied, "No, but it sure is hard to get them lost!" He's right. It's
hard to get people to see how utterly lost they are. Yet before the Good News can
sound good, a person must hear the bad news -- that "all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).


No one is righteous before God -- not even the person who tries to consistently
do the right thing. It's impossible to always live the right way, to always keep
the law. The purpose of the law is to show a person how far he misses the mark.
But bad news never sounded so good... for then, we see the need for a Savior


Christmas is upon us and our hearts are happy as we celebrate the arrival of Jesus,
God's Good News! But let's not forget the bad news - that a heart without Christ
is full of deceit. Oh, how we need Jesus; and to live rightly is to live dail
in his grace. It really is all about him!

Father, it's hard to understand how lost I really am without Jesus Christ. Help
me to live completely and totally on the grace of Jesus today!

(Joni  Eareckson Tada)