Nevertheless, We Choose to Believe—in YOU!
“The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD,
(The Proverbs 20: 27 NASB)
Searching all the innermost parts of his being.”
Have you seen God do more than you ever thought possible?
Christmas is a time for seeing the impossible, for observing what is only possible through God.
Christmas is an opportunity for remembrance, for remembering God’s miracles.
Christmas is a season for recalling the coming of Jesus, the promised Messiah.
- God sent Jesus to us for one purpose.
- God sent His Only Begotten Son to us, so that we might believe in Him.
- God sent to us a babe in the manger, so that Jesus would die upon the cross, paying for humanity’s sins.
- God sent to the world—Jesus, the Son of God—to deliver His people from their sin.
- God sent to us, and because HE DID, mankind has two responses to give—to Him.
Believe in Jesus, the Messiah.
Or
Not Believe in Jesus, the Son of God.
In case you are unaware: Christmas is coming! It is apparent everywhere we look, and in fact, the day gets closer with each passing day. Each morning as I arise and walk through the dark house on my way to the kitchen, I pass my Christmas countdown calendar hanging on the pantry door. As I pass by, I pause to move the cloth mouse, the one that sits inside the calendar pockets, waiting for me to move him to the next pocket, which I will do—tomorrow.
As Christmas day comes, we anticipate so much: family, friends, food, gifts, and the coming Christmas Eve service. Over the years, I have attended my share, sometimes attending the service at different houses of worship: the Catholic church, the Methodist church, the Baptist church, and the Christian church. In speaking with my daughter and our plans for Christmas Eve, we have requested two things of one another. She has asked me to prepare a Christmas Eve meal & I have asked her to select a church for us to attend a Christmas Eve worship service, one with a Remembrance of Candlelight & Communion.
In his God-given wisdom, Solomon instructs us to recall—
“The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, . . .” (The Proverbs 20: 27a NASB)
God created mankind to be comprised of three parts: a body, a soul, and a spirit. Then God gives man a choice: Believe in Jesus OR Choose to Remain in Unbelief. The decision is not forced because to choose is to Accept God’s Gift of Salvation & to Believe in Jesus as God’s Only Son & to Confess one’s sins committed against Holy God.
Nevertheless, We Choose to Believe—in YOU, in JESUS!
“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying,
(The Gospel According to John 8: 12 NASB)
“I am the Light of the world;
he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness,
but will have the Light of life.”
The Life of Christ is the light that shines in the heart of the believer, for we are the vessel through which God’s light shines.
THE LIGHT of CHRIST JESUS!
As we prepare our hearts to attend a Christmas Eve worship service, one with Remembrance of Communion & Candlelight, we consider the second half of God’s proverb given to Solomon—
“Searching all the innermost parts of his being.” (The Proverbs 20: 27b NASB)
Each time I am afforded the opportunity to take part in the sacrament of Communion, as I await the deacons serving me first the bread and then the drink, I find myself rereading the apostle Paul’s instructions to the believers living in the city Corinth. As I read about the Lord’s Supper, I pause each time, pondering two particular verses.
“Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner,
(The 1st Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 11: 27-28 NASB)
shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
But a man must examine himself,
and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
It is serious business to partake of the Lord’s Supper, of Communion. There are certain types of individuals who come to the Lord’s table. There are those who are worthy & those who are unworthy.
The Believers—
- Those who Believe in Jesus, who should take Communion, remembering exactly how Jesus willingly sacrificed His life on the cross to pay for humanity’s sin.
&
- Those who Believe in Jesus, who have unconfessed sin in their hearts, who remember exactly what Jesus did upon Calvary’s cross, and who need to first repent of their sin.
& The Unbelievers—
- Those who are unconverted, who are unrepentant, who choose to NOT Believe, should NOT take part in the Lord’s Communion because the Lord’s table is only for those who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is serious business to partake of the Lord’s Supper because Communion can be defined as the exchange of intimate thoughts, of spiritual fellowship with God. The sacrament of Communion is a celebratory worship service, one where the bread and wine are consecrated (prayed over) and then served to those who BELIEVE in JESUS.
During this time, BELIEVERS pray and meditate, recalling Jesus’ sacrifice,
“Searching all the innermost parts of his being.”
As they do, they recall—
- GOD’S HOPE FOUND THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS!
- GOD’S GIFT, A REMEMBRANCE THROUGH HOLY COMMUNION!
- GOD’S REDEMPTION, CELEBRATED AS WE REMEMBER WE ARE UNITED WITH CHRIST!
& they search, seeking to see if they have any unconfessed sins buried deep in their souls.
“So Jesus said to them,
(The Gospel According to John 6: 53-58 NASB)
[Jesus said these words to those who were struggling to believe in Jesus as the “I am
the living bread that came down out of heaven” (verse 51a)]
“Truly, truly,
I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood,
you have no life in yourselves.
He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life,
and I will raise him up on the last day.
For My flesh is true food, and
My blood is true drink.
He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me,
and I in him.
As the living Father sent Me,
and I live because of the Father,
so he who eats Me,
he also will live because of Me.
This is the bread which came down out of heaven;
not as the fathers ate and died;
he who eats this bread will live forever.”