“For nothing will be impossible with God.”  Luke 1:37 

We shouldn't limit God!

·      An Ax head floats (2 Kings 6:1-7)

·      The sea parts so God’s people can walk safely through on dry land. (Exodus 14:21)

·      3 men survive in a blazing fiery furnace without even the smell of smoke on them. (Daniel 3:23)

·      A donkey speaks. (Numbers 22:28)

·      Peter walks on the water. (Matthew 14:29)

·      A man, dead for days, comes back to life. (John 11.43)

“Ah Lord GOD! behold, you have  made the heaven and the earth by your great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for you.” Jeremiah 32:17  

“But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27

Psalms 103:1-5 “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”

Remember

Yes, we should remember God’s many wonderful benefits, and there are many! The above passage reminds us of seven benifits to remember and to “bless the LORD” for:

1)    He pardons all your iniquities

2)    He heals all your diseases.

3)    He redeems your life from the pit.

4)    He crowns you with loving kindness.

5)    He crowns you with compassion.

6)     He satisfies your years with good things. And,

7)    Your youth is renewed like the eagle.

Therefore

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name.” (Psalm 103:1)

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lam. 3:22-23)

Therefore

“This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

Quote

“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday.“ - John Wayne

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Phil 4:8)

Be careful about your thought life

The Bible says that “we are what we think about.” (Prov. 23:7). That is why it is important to be careful what we put into our minds; the kind of tv shows and movies we watch, what we read and even the musical lyrics we listen to. It all becomes a part of our thinking and affects us negatively or positively. What goes into our mind will eventually affect our opinions, our attitudes, and our behavior in some way. You must be careful to guard what goes in because everything you do flows from it. (Prov. 4:23)

Take captive every thought

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5)

Therefore

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Prov. 4:23)

Quote

“You may believe that you are responsible for what you do, but not for what you think. The truth is that you are responsible for what you think, because it is only at this level that you can exercise choice. What you do comes from what you think.” - Marianne Williamson

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rom. 5:3-5)

Character

Character is defined in the dictionary as the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual. Character is one of the most important things you have. It is what people see in you, what people say about you, and what defines you. It is what people will say about you after you die.

A person of good character walks in integrity

“Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways." (Prov. 28:6)

“O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.” (Psalm 15:1-5)

A person of good character treats others well 

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful." (Col. 3:12-15)

“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35)

Quote

Goodness is about character - integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people. - Dennis Prager

Psalm 65:9 “You visit the earth and cause it to overflow; You greatly enrich it; The stream of God is full of water; You prepare their grain, for thus You prepare the earth.”

God has provided you with everything you need to be successful! He has filled the earth with  everything needed for growth of all kinds. He has given you  the ability to grow, excel, and be fruitful.

Grow  and be multiplied!

“But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.” (Acts 12:24)

He supplies and multiplies seed for growth

“Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” (2 Cor. 9:10)

Your faith is greatly enlarged and your love grows ever greater

“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater.” (2 Thess 1:3)

Grow in grace and knowledge

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18)

“I am not what I might be, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be. But I thank God I am not what I once was, and I can say with the great apostle, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”—John Newton

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11 KJV)

No one knows the exact date of the birth of Jesus, but December 25th is traditionally set aside to recognize that wonderful day. Unfortunately, it has become so commercialized and blurred that the true meaning and importance of who the baby Jesus was is often missed.

About who this baby was and still is today

The passage of Scripture at the top of the page tells us that Jesus was “born unto you." And in this passage, we learn three important things about who Jesus is: He is Savior, Christ, and He is Lord!

•       Savior: One who saves someone or something from danger, ruin, or defeat.

“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” (1 John 4:14 ESV)

“And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…” (Luke 1:47. ESV)

•       Christ: The anointed one. The Greek translation of the Hebrew word is rendered “Messiah”; the official title of our Lord, occurring five hundred and fourteen times in the New Testament. It denotes that he was anointed or consecrated to his great redemptive work as Prophet, Priest, and King of his people. He is Jesus the Christ. 

“He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” (Acts 17:3 NLT)

“When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.” (Acts 18:5 NIV)

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Peter 3:18-19)

•       Lord: One having power and authority over others; a ruler by hereditary right or preeminence to whom service and obedience are due. 

Therefore

“For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11)

“…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9)

Quote:

“There are two hundred and fifty-six names given in the Bible for the Lord Jesus Christ, and I suppose this was because He was infinitely beyond all that any one name could express.” - Billy Sunday

“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” (Rom. 8:11 NIV)

God has poured out His Holy Spirit on you abundantly! 

“God poured out the Holy Spirit abundantly on us through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Titus 3:6)

The Spirit brings life and peace!

“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” (Rom. 8:6 NIV)

The Holy Spirit teaches you!

“The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you.” (John 14:26)

The Holy Spirit helps you proclaim His message boldly,

“When they finished praying, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim God’s message with boldness.” (Acts 4:31)

The Spirit’s presence in you is for the good of all! 

“The Spirit’s presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.” (1 Corinthians 12:7)

The Spirit helps you to pray with power

“In the same way the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express.” (Romans 8:26)

Therefore

“But you, my friends, keep on building yourselves up on your most sacred faith. Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Jude 1:20)

“Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.” (Gal. 6:1 NLT)

Christian should NOT be devouring one another!

It breaks my heart to observe often that those who call themselves fellow Christians, attack another brother or sister in Christ who may have publicly failed in some way, or who they simply disagree with theologically. It shouldn't be that way.

“But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.” (Gal. 5:15 ESV)

No one is perfect

All stumble and do “fall short.” (Rom. 3:23).  Therefore, always be kind, tender hearted and forgiving!

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Eph. 4:32 ESV)

Outdo one with genuine love!

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” (Rom. 12:9-13 ESV)

Have sympathy,  brotherly love  and a tender heart!

“Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. For the Scriptures say, ‘If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.’”