What do I want for Christmas today?
I want to always know the heart and mind of God for my life, and to walk in it, that His name would be glorified.
I thank you Father for the cross of Jesus which makes this possible through Your Holy Spirit and Your Word.
“When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.” Ezekiel 33:18-20 (KJV)
What do I want for Christmas Today?
I want to live, walk, and stand in the righteousness that is found only through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and to live in His power, glory, and strength; and I want you to join with me; because the righteousness of mankind is as “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6), and will keep us from GOD.
What do I want for Christmas today?
I want to thank my Lord and God first of all for His love, mercy and grace; and His many, many blessings; and I want to thank him for you the ones who come to this site and take the time to read these posts on Christmas Day.
There are many of you who come here day after day, and some ever since day one (December 26, 2015) for these Christmas daily wants.
We are well over halfway through the task, and it has been a blessing to me; but I do need to say I will be glad when Christmas Day actually arrives. I do not know that I would do it again. It has been a time of great thought, and provocation for me.
Again, to all of you THANK YOU.
“For thus saith the Lord GOD; ‘How much more when I send My four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast? Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it. And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it,’ saith the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 14:21-23 (KJV)
Jerusalem, Judah, Israel were being judged because of their rebellious, hard headed, hard hearted actions against God, His Word, and His ways. They were being disciplined by a loving, caring Father who loved them deeply, but loved them too much to let them go to eternal destruction.
He does not judge, or discipline without purpose or cause.
What do I want for Christmas today?
It seems to me that our nation, and much of the world is given to idols of our own making; recreation, entertainment, are two of the most popular; and to be clear; there is nothing wrong with those, except when they take us away from God and His Word; So I want that my heart and mind be on Jesus, His Word, His way for my life, living for Him, and Him alone, and the knowledge, wisdom, and power to live with joy, and praise in my heart and life solely because of Him; and I want all others to know this same joy, power and praise, and to have the same assurance of eternity with Jesus, due solely to the fact of the death, burial and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.” Ezekiel 11:16 (KJV)
In their captivity God is giving His people who are known to have rebellious, hard hearts, a promise of His presence, peace, safety, and security in a foreign land.
What do I want for Christmas today?
There is an absence of the presence of God in many lives, because they do not know Him; I want all to be aware of the presence of God, and His love for you shown on the cross of His Son Jesus where He bled and died, was buried, and bodily arose from the grave, coming out alive conquering sin, death, hell and the grave, and gives peace with God, and everlasting life.
“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him.” Lamentations 3:22-24 (KJV)
Though the prophet Jeremiah is lamenting the tragedy of Judah and Israel, he recognizes that the mercies of the LORD are without fail. They are “New every morning”. Mercy is a great power and offering from our Lord to us every day.
What do I want for Christmas today?
When I wake up of the mornings I want to be thankful for the LORD’S mercy that He has given me another day, that I am breathing, that I have a beating heart, for all the manifold blessings He has given me; and I want to share that mercy, those mercies, as much as within me, with my family, friends, neighbors, and those who may not be at peace with me.
Through the mercies of God we can know His grace through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son Jesus, God the Son.
“And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison, and spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon, and changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life. And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.” Jeremiah 52:31-34 (KJV)
Jehoiachin was a king who “…Did evil in the sight of the LORD” (2 Chronicles 36:9) yet finds Nebuchadnezzar to be merciful, and releases him from prison, and gives him a seat with himself.
What do I want for Christmas today?
I want to always walk in the mercies of GOD, to behold His goodness, mercy, love and grace; and I want all to know the same mercy, love and grace that has been shown to me throughout my whole life that has been given to all who will receive it through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ Son of God, God the Son.
“And I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes,’ saith the LORD. ‘But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam,’ saith the LORD.” Jeremiah 49:38-39 (KJV)
Elam, Moab, and Ammon are nations promised to return from captivity. Some, along with Egypt are promised to share in the same blessings as Israel. These have been God’s pronouncements against the nations which tormented and persecuted Israel – God’s mission people from their calling.
What do I want for Christmas today?
I want to have the mind of Missions, in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with every lost soul God brings into my life and path; if not by word; by the life that I live, and the joy and praise to God from my heart, tongue and mouth.
“But fear not thou, O My servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. Fear thou not, O Jacob My servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.” Jeremiah 46:27-28 (KJV)
Fear was the thing that led the left behinds to their disobedience to God, His prophet, and their going to Egypt for “Safety”. Fear moves people to do terrible things. No matter what age of this world fear is a motivator of evil.
What do I want for Christmas today?
I want to walk with GOD, because when I walk with Him, I am never afraid.
For clarification – To walk with GOD is to be in total agreement with Him,
“Can two walk together, except they agree.” (Amos 3:3)
“Thus says the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: ‘If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever.’ Thus says the LORD; ‘If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done,’ saith the LORD.” Jeremiah 31:35-37 (KJV)
Because the love and promises of God are so vast, so deep, so broad, to the people of Israel; I can rest assured that His promises to me through Jesus Christ will never, never, never fail.
The science of men has searched, and is continually searched for, and endeavored to measure the vastness of the “heavens”, yet to no avail. They have not fully found the secrets of the whole earth; and never will.
What do I want for Christmas today?
I want you to know the vastness, the depth, and breadth of the love and promises of God for you; how much He loves you is shown in the cross of His Son; in His burial all our sins, shame, guilt, condemnation, and death was left there; in His bodily resurrection He gives us eternal victory over the power of death; I want you to know Him, His love, and His promises; that He never fails.
“Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying, ‘Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.’ ‘Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? Did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented Him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.'” Jeremiah 26:17-19 (KJV)
Jeremiah was facing the religious leaders, and they were trying to determine if the prophet should be put to death or not. He had spoken against the temple, said it was going to be destroyed, and doing so made him worthy of death.
What do I want for Christmas today?
To always be bold in the Spirit of God and His word, to be faithful to His Word, and never diminish a word of what God has said; to always lift up Jesus Christ and His cross – His death, burial and resurrection, and that He is the eternal Son of God, God the Son, and that He is the exclusive way to God and eternity with Him
“They have lied about the LORD, and said, ‘It is not He. Neither will evil come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine. And the prophets become wind, for the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them.'” Jeremiah 5:12-13 (NKJV)
The people in Jeremiah’s day were not believing the LORD, thus they lied about Him, by denying His word. If one does not believe the Word of God they are in affect calling God a liar…
“He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.” 1 John 5:10
What do I want for Christmas today?
To be forgiven for the times I have not believed the Word of God; and I have been forgiven; and I want you to confess your sin of calling God a liar, by your unbelief, rejection of His truth, and today begin believing Him, trusting every word He says, and believe the testimony that God has given us His Son Jesus Christ.
“And judgment is turned away backward, and justice stands afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth fails; and he that departs from evil makes himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no judgment.” Isaiah 59:14-15 (KJV)
The above verses are a part of Isaiah’s prayer confessing the sins of God’s people, and they had forsaken truth; which the prophet was confessing as their sin as well.
What do I want for Christmas today?
For courage in the midst of evil and wickedness; to stand faithful to God and His Word no matter what the wicked ones may do; even if it means my life; to always remember that God’s Word is the truth, even when others forsake it, trample it under feet, deny it, or twist it; God’s Word is sure; and every word of it will be fulfilled just as He has spoken it.
“Fear not; for you shall not be ashamed: neither be you confounded; for you shall not be put to shame: for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more. For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called. For the LORD has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you was refused, says your God. For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you. In a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on you, says the LORD your Redeemer.” Isaiah 54:4-8 (KJV)
What do I want for Christmas?
I want to daily rest in the arms of the Maker who is loving, merciful, forgiving GOD of grace; and do know that He is everlasting, His love is everlasting, and though I may at times be unfaithful to Him, He is always faithful to me, and to all who have called on His name; that He is my Redeemer.
“Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath…” Isaiah 45:22-23 (NKJV)
What do I want for Christmas?
Seeing how God has spoken His Word, and that not one word He has spoken will ever fail; but all will be fulfilled, just as He has said; I want to live with His Word in my heart, and mind, and seen in my hands and my feet as I live for Him; so that others around me might see Him at work in me; so that they might have the Word of God – the Living Word, who is Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, and God the Son – empowering, protecting, loving, and God being glorified in all who will call on His name.
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’” Isaiah 41:10 (NKJV)
To deny that there are things which would make us fearful is a frivolous way of dealing with life. To continually live with crippling fear is, well, crippling, and hinders us from accomplishing great things.
To deny the truth of evil, and decay is in fact deceit, self deceit, and a lie.
What do I want for Christmas?
As a born again, blood bought child of the King; I want to live knowing that God is always with me; that I will not be afraid in this wicked world; that I will be strengthened in the Lord, daily, knowing that He will help me in every trial, trouble, and situation of my life, my home, family, Church, Nation and the world; and that He upholds me with His righteous right hand.
“Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18 (NKJV)
What do I want for Christmas?
I want to trust in the LORD, and to daily wait patiently upon Him, because in His mercy and grace He tarries, He waits for me, and for all who trust, who wait upon Him.
To “Wait on the LORD” does not mean we sit idly by on some mountain top doing nothing; but that we keep on trusting Him, living our daily lives under the direction, and guidance and filling and power of His Spirit.
“In that day a man will look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
He will not respect what his fingers have made,
Nor the wooden images nor the incense altars.” Isaiah 17:7-8 (NKJV)
This is the second “In that day” which is written in the Prophet’s prophecy; of chapter 17. What day? Following the judgment that is to come upon them.
What do I want for Christmas?
I want to be always mindful of the grace, love and mercy of God; and I want all to know that the love of God, and His judgment are not separate; I want you to know today, that one day you will look upon your Maker, and realize all the things of man’s making are vain, and of no eternal value; I want you to know your Maker today – He is Jesus (See John 1:1-5, 14).
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD has spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me. The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel does not know, My people does not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? You will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.” Isaiah 1:2-9 (KJV)
What do I want for Christmas?
I want to always hear the Word of God, spoken by God’s servants, and do the word and will of God; and I want all those who call themselves Christian to hear and do the word and will of God; so that God will be glorified in and through our godly, Christlike living.
TITLE: LAWLESSNESS
TEXT: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he…
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“A serpent may bite when it is not charmed;
The babbler is no different.
The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,
But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;
The words of his mouth begin with foolishness,
And the end of his talk is raving madness.
A fool also multiplies words.
No man knows what is to be;
Who can tell him what will be after him?
The labor of fools wearies them,
For they do not even know how to go to the city!” Ecclesiastes 10:11-15 (NKJV)
Seeing how one’s speech reflects the heart (Matthew 12:34; Luke 6:45) of that person…
What do I want for Christmas?
I want the words of wisdom from God to proceed from my lips and my mouth; and to use words for the honor and glory of God my Savior.
“Do not be rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words be few.
For a dream comes through much activity,
And a fool’s voice is known by his many words.” Ecclesiastes 5:2-3 (NKJV)
What do I want for Christmas?
I want to be a Christian man of few words, but when I do speak to speak greatly of my God and Savior Jesus Christ of heaven and His riches; and the glories of heaven for all who will come to Him.
“A righteous man who falters before the wicked
Is like a murky spring and a polluted well.” Proverbs 25:26 (NKJV)
Understanding that the “Righteous man” is one who is declared “Righteous” by God Himself because of the cross of Jesus Christ, and not a decree of the man himself, or of any other human decree…
What do I want for Christmas?
I want to be that righteous man who never falters, who never falls before the wicked or wicked causes; and I pray that all who are righteous through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ may stand against the wicked and wickedness, and always stand for God and His righteousness.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:24-27 (KJV)
What do I want for Christmas?
I want all those who come to this blog today, and in the days to come to be certain of their eternal destination; and that that destination is to the place where Jesus is; and I want you to know that He has prepared the way, and the place for you (John 14:1-6), that you can call on Him, He will hear you and deliver you from all your sin, and its shame, guilt, condemnation, and give you eternal life in His presence.
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15 (KJV)
…And read Matthew 6:5-13 as well.
Praying people will be forgiving people. Praying with pretense, or for show, shows nothing, but hypocrisy.
What do I want for Christmas?
When I pray I want to be heard by God, not men; I want my prayers to always be offered to God with a heart that knows it has been forgiven by God, and in knowing that in my heart, soul and mind I will always forgive those who have offended me.
The Fire and Hammer 