REDEEMING the TIME... In Season and Out

+  +  + A Personal Note to Fellow Christians... 

Courtesy of BiblePictures.NET

+  +  +

CHRISTMAS is not celebrated, as is done in Western Civilization, in The Holy Scriptures. There is no feasting, gift-giving, and other celebrations recorded about the BIRTH of CHRIST JESUS. 

So... what SHOULD we be doing ? 

Although many Christians no longer keep Christmas, we have noticed one thing: 

the worldlings do !

 

We have gone for decades avoiding the Christmas traditions we all were raised with, much to the consternation of our families and some of our Christian friends.  

However, every pagan, heathen, and “good” citizen in our community  --- including the public school children ---  all celebrate Christmas Day with as much festivity as they can find and many, alas, beyond what they can afford.

Scripture instructs us:  “ Walk circumspectly, redeeming the time because the days are evil.” 

We are also instructed:  “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.”

As our LORD HIMSELF+ has said, “  I+ must work the works of HIM that sent ME+, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”

There is simply no better time to witness at large than during the Christmas season. 

A plate of goodies accompanied by JESUS tracts and  a wonderful cd from Voice of the Martys , JESUS, HE+ Lived Among us,  goes into hearts, homes, and businesses of our acquaintances during Christmas …. because they will accept the witness at that time.

Statistics bear out the fact that there are more suicides and depression at this season of the year than at any other time.  Is not it better to issue HOPE to the ones who would be drowning their sorrows in the bottle or drowning their bodies in the sea, out of despair?

Would it not be better to utilize this season of raw emotion to point them how to come OUT of the sea of lies ? 

What better time to issue the Royal Invitation that there IS INDEED ONE+ Who+ loves you, ONE+ Who+ cares that you are lonely and hurting, ONE+ Who+ will make a “home” for you ?

 

We have been able to place JESUS-tracts inside some very dark homes and hearts by this method, all places that would not normally receive an open witness. Children are especially open to the Gospel message at this season and the elderly are always touched by an act of kindness.

One church we know of urges its congregation to do UNEXPECTED acts of kindness during this INCARNATION Season, as they go about their errands. So they do things such as buy lunch for the fellow behind them in the fast-food drive-in, on a work day, IN THE NAME OF CHRIST JESUS.   

How effective that is ! The fast-food worker receives the witness as well as the unknown stranger in the car behind ! 

So, in all this,  do we promote "keeping of Christmas" and its traditions to the un-saved ? 

NO.. by all means, NO !  

We pick JESUS-tracts that talk about repentance, the need to be saved, the dead-end street of following sin, flesh, and the devil. These tracts invite the readers to JESUS. 

Ourselves, we consent to remember only one thing:  His+ Coming, His+ INCARNATION.  

Because...  if our LORD JESUS had not humbled HIMSELF+ to be robed in human flesh and come in the likeness of man, not ONE of us human beings could have been saved. HE+ had to come! 

Even the serious Christmas hymns, like Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and O Come, All ye Faithful, and some others, give the Gospel message in a nutshell. 

This we all know and agree with, I’m sure.

Scripture only gives us a peek at the season in which HE+ came: at the time of Roman taxation after the fall harvest of crops. 

Shepherds were still in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night. It seems reasonable to think SOMETHING happened in the last month of the year, either the Conception of the HOLY BABE+ or HIS+ Birth. 

The exact date, however, is ... ALTHOUGH PRECISE ... is not necessary for us to know.    

We agree that The LORD is precise as to the prophetic timing of His+ breaking into human history as the SON+ of Man, but HE has not deemed it necessary to inform us of that precise time, like HE did with the certainty of PASCHA / Resurrection .

In addition, it certainly is in keeping with Scriptures to offer adoration of the CHRIST at His+ birth: the Holy Angels of GOD did it, proclaiming loudly to the shepherds; the shepherds themselves did, hastening to the stable to look with  awe upon their MESSIAH come in the flesh. 

Even up to child-hood, we see the Wise men from the East who not only came to worship the young child JESUS, KING+ of the Jews …  but also offered HIM+ gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, as we all well know.

Because we --- from a distance of 2,000 years away from HIS+ first Advent ---  are so far removed from the actual event, it can be FRUITFUL in CHRIST to offer HIM+ our adoration in awe of what HE+ did, coming as a helpless Baby into this hurtful world. 

It seems fitting, during this season, to offer HIM+ thanksgiving for descending to take on the robe  of Adamic flesh. There is NO OTHER remembrance of the INCARNATION of CHRIST become flesh in the Christian calendar.

It is a blessed season to use 

our gold, frankincense,and myrrh as GIFTS 

for those who do not know HIM+, 

that they might be drawn 

to this HUMBLE JESUS 

Whom+ we love and serve.

Now, I will not argue with anyone either for or against “keeping” Christmas: let every man walk in his convictions in this matter, for whatsoever is not of faith is SIN.

As it is written:

One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike.

Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the LORD; 

and he that regardeth not the day, to the LORD he doth not regard it. 

He that eateth, eateth to the LORD, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the LORD he eateth not, and giveth GOD thanks

This is simply to share with you how we redeem the time, how we share CHRIST and HIM+ crucified, in season and out. 

Yes, the satan has snatched the INCARNATION of CHRIST away from its rightful owners and drowned it in worldliness.  

Are we able to look above

the tawdry and mundane worldly celebrations 

and snatch the MOMENT… 

redeeming the time, 

because the days are evil… 

and darkness is coming, 

in which NO MAN can work? 

USA LABOR DAY 2013

Work.... 

for the night is coming

www.123rf.com FULL ECLIPSE of the SUN ROYALTY FREE 

I+ 
must work the works 
of HIM
Who sent ME+
while it is day: 

the NIGHT COMETH
when
NO MAN
can work. 
Words of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST, 
John 9:4



For behold, darkness 
shall cover the earth 
and 
gross darkness
the peoples.

O, 
Earth, 
Earth, 
Earth...

HEAR

The Word 
of 
The LORD.
Jeremiah 22:29 

Labor not
for the food which perishes
but for the food which
endureth
unto everlasting life, 
which the SON of MAN+ 
shall give you: 
for HIM+
hath GOD The FATHER
sealed. 
John 6:27

GIFTS... VS... DISCIPLESHIP

Gifts... vs... Discipleship

We LIKE GIFTS!

The gifts from GOD are "... without repentance," according to the letter to Romans, 11:29. It says: For the gifts and calling of GOD are without repentance. His+ gifts are blessings for us, helping us through the struggles of life.

His+ GIFTS are freely given, freely dispensed as HE+ sees fit, being the Captain of the Battleground. HE+ equips various ones of us for The Battle... some in one way, some in another... according to what is needed to get the job done His+ way.

Some take the GIFTS as a sign that they are really special, kind of above the rest. I think the GIFTS are given to those who are least, to those who really are humble enough to receive them and humble enough to listen to His+ directives on how to use them. GIFTS are certainly no virtue on our part... but rather on His+ ! That HE+ would entrust us with His+ anointed GIFTS is amazing, in and of itself.

GIFTS come in many ways and for many purposes. I have a special one that helps me; it is what I call the gift of the conviction of sin. (Most wouldn't think of this as a "gift" from GOD, but I do.) No-one can even ENTER the Race without a conviction of sin upon the heart, which should lead to repentance and conversion and salvation. Likewise, no-one can STAY with HIM+ without the correction that this wonderful conviction brings. Woe to that man who turns a deaf ear to the conviction of sin sent upon him... whether he is regenerated or not!

I thank The LORD for giving this gift of His+ grace, called the conviction of sin. Where would we be if we didn't receive His+ conviction when we go astray in our heart? How blessed we are as a people, whom The LORD monitors closely enough to bring such conviction! How blessed, how holy, are those who listen closely enough to Their LORD to receive that conviction!

That goes hand in hand with The GIFT of the HOLY SPIRIT, as in Acts 2:38.

And yet, as splendid as the Gift of the HOLY SPIRIT is... it does NOT take the place of our own discipleship. The Baptism of the HOLY SPIRIT, the Anointing of His+ HOLY SPIRIT, does NOT do the walking in discipleship for us. It can pull us along, to some extent, if we are willing to walk in His+ ways. It can reveal to us what we NEED TO DO in order to walk with HIM+. It can "nudge" us along when we're dragging our feet. And, it can comfort us when we are hurt and sad, encouraging our hearts.

BUT... the HOLY SPIRIT CANNOT AND WILL NOT do "our" part in walking with The LORD. We must simply embrace the cross, embrace discipleship, in order to stay WITH The LORD once we are saved.

Discipleship is how we grow. It changes us from gangling youth into mature Christians.

Discipleship is what we do to return unto HIM+. It is how we pick up our cross and die daily to ourselves. Personal discipleship trains us how to die to ourselves and live unto CHRIST.

Our actual labor is not church attendance, as important as that may be. It is not participating in activities, as wholesome or as demanding as they may be. It is not even using the GIFTS HE+ gives us, as exciting as they are to see in operaton.

Discipleship is our gift to

HIM+.