Happy Holidays!

No, we’re not opposed to saying Merry Christmas, but I’m including a belated Happy Thanksgiving as well as Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

While the season greetings is always HAPPY _______! (you fill in the blank) many people are anything but happy.

I have come to know this season of holidays as the Silly Season. It’s at this time that people become severely depressed, angry, lonely, and begin to think unhealthy and even destructive thoughts.

Depressed, as they are not able to buy the expensive gifts that others can afford (so they think, truth be told most Americans outspend their income by a large percentage). Depressed over unmet expectations or desires relationally and materially. Depressed over poor choices in the past.

Lonely as friends and family have moved away, loved ones have died, and even present relationships are nothing more than skin deep, superficial.

Angry at ourselves for letting ourselves down and at others for they way they’ve hurt us and let us down. Angry over unmet expectations and desires. Angry over stress, pressure, crowded stores and traffic, you name it.

Unhealthy & destructive thoughts, we begin to think about how we’d like to hit that person or kill that person, how we hate the holidays, how we hate life, how we’d be better off dead.

Every year people by the millions suffer with the silly season. What’s the cure?

1) Remember the reason for the season! It starts with Thanksgiving… be thankful for what you have and how God has blessed you. The middle is Christmas… keep Jesus Christ at the center of all your life and all you do. The end is New Years… celebrate the work of God in your life (an OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW celebration).
2) Remember the celebration isn’t about getting, nor is it about what WE can give. It’s about what God gave. Keep Jesus as the reason for the season.
3) Don’t get caught up in the materialism. Budget what you can afford and go with it. Don’t spend what you don’t have for gifts that most people won’t even remember or ever use.
4) Remember the greatest gift you can give someone is love and truth. So use this season to spend time with family, loving on them, and sharing the good news with them that God so loved the world that He gave the greatest gift of all, new life through His Son, Jesus Christ.

The fairness of the gospel

As I’ve spent much time witnessing to non-Christians I’m constantly questioned on the fairness of God in requiring people to go through Jesus alone to be saved instead of alternate means. Why not just being a good person will get you into heaven? Why not just any religion will do?

If you entertain these questions seriously other questions must inevitably be asked. Like: How good is good enough? Where would you draw the line?

It wouldn’t be fair for God as the creator of all mankind to have made some able and good enough to do it on their own while others fail (some in little ways and some in major ways).

And, in regard to various religions: How do we deal with the exclusiveness of some of the religions? In other words, All religions claim to be right, but many of the religions claim to be true and the ONLY way.

For example: Islam claims to be the only way. Christianity claims to be the only way. Hinduism claims that all ways are right. Buddhism believes the state of perfection is ultimately the state of nothingness and in the big picture there is no right or wrong, no God or man, it’s all one, it’s all nothing, but something (this particular religion is a contradiction in itself). It is clear that while all these religions claim to be right and true, they cannot all be right and true. Whether it is due to exclusive language claiming to be the only way, or whether it’s beliefs that contradict other religions and spiritual reason, the bottom line is THEY CANNOT ALL BE RIGHT.

We all have different personalities and abilities. We all have different desires and dreams. While to one being rich is a sign of being blessed, to another it is a sign of selfishness and sin. So, we can clearly see that man is not the one who should be in the position of defining the standards of right and wrong or deciding for themselves or others what’s the best way to heaven.

So, back to the question… HOW CAN GOD BE FAIR IN REQUIRING THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN TO BE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST?

The fairness is this:
Rather than basing a mans eternity on his own standard or the standard of others God established the standard, so it would be fair to all and show with absolute clarity and accuracy the standard of right and wrong.

This Perfect Standard is found in the Old Testament and is known as The Law.

God showed the world what is good and evil, right and wrong, according to HIS standard, which by the way is the standard of heaven. Therefore, in fairness God established the code and, in fairness, no one measured up. No one could make it to God on his or her own merit. No one is perfect or good enough by God’s standard.

Thus God implemented a second phase of his plan for imperfect people to access a perfect world/existence; by the perfect man and sacrifice, Jesus Christ.

It’s perfectly fair for God to say, no one measures up and therefore all need a savior.

It’s perfectly fair to put all of humanity in the same boat of imperfection and need. And, it’s perfectly fair to make the issue of right standing with God an issue of faith in the work of God in the flesh (Jesus Christ) as opposed to one mans moral goodness over another.

Faith is something we can all do, being good enough (if it were possible) would only be for a select few who were educated and influenced to make sound moral judgment over personal wants and desires.

The fairness of God is that he equally loves and values every person and has made the way to heaven equally easy by simply choosing to put our faith/trust in the work He (God) did on our behalf through Jesus Christ. By simply choosing to make Jesus the ruler of our life and do our best to follow his way from this day forward, which, by the way, Jesus summed up the spirit of the law (not the letter) by defining it as simply loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself.

So, as Jesus becomes the ruler of our life and we start to follow the Jesus way of life it is simply a life lived in love toward God and people.

How much fairer could it be? Trust God instead of earning it and from that point on do things his way (loving God and loving people) as best you can, always striving to get better. It just doesn’t get any easier or better or fairer than this!