Making 2015 A Recommittment To Jesus Christ

To me, who am less than the least of all the saints,

this grace was given, that I should preach among

the Gentiles in the unsearchable riches of Christ,

and to make all see what is the fellowship

of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages

has been hidden in God who created all things

through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now

a manifold wisdom of God might be made known

by the church to the principalities and powers

in the heavenly places, according to the eternal

purpose which He accomplished in

Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness

and access with confidence through faith in Him.

Ephesians 3: 8 -- 11

            December 31, 2014, another day, another closing of a year, and while this is just another day and tomorrow will be just another day, it can be important not because we begin a new year tomorrow but it is a day in which the Lord has made and a day in which you can serve the Lord once again.  Yes, it is the end of 2014 and it can be a time to reflect upon the previous months and days to examine how your life fared in the life of Christ.  Tomorrow is more than just a celebration, it's just another day, and yet it can be an important day, it is important as you make it and it should be a day that you not only celebrate because it's a beginning of a new 12 months, but as a day to think about your priorities, and how you will serve the Lord in 2015.  I pray that you will make 2015 a great year and it will be a great year as you apply yourself in the service of the Lord.  Think about this as did Paul, you are one who has been given grace, not because of who you are, what you have, what you know, rather this free gift of grace.  And why was this grace given to you if you are already elected by God to live forever with Him in heaven and this before the foundation of the world? Just as Paul mentions this grace was given so that you can preach the gospel, the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ.  Some of you have the call of God to be a missionary, others to be a pastor, or a leader in a church, and for the most of you were called to be a good father, a good husband, a good member of society, and to manifest Jesus Christ in your workplace, and your playtime, anywhere and everywhere you roam.  What a blessed thing it is to know that God has chosen you for His grace to be given to you, and does not this drive you to make 2015 even greater in the service of the Lord.  This will mean making our priorities properly and that means that Jesus Christ is at the head of all your priorities.  As a Christian who are in fellowship with other Christians, and you are in fellowship with the mystery that was hidden in God, not a god, no, Jehovah God, the creator of everything that exists and this creation done was by His Word, Jesus Christ the Wisdom of God.  This mystery has been made known to the church, you are the church, for you are the called out ones by God and this is to be His temple and even all principalities and powers know this mystery that has been revealed and that revelation was according to God's eternal purpose and that purpose was accomplished through Jesus Christ, by his death, life, resurrection, and ascension into heaven.  Paul in writing to the young minister Timothy wrote to him these very important to words that are also important for us: "Study to show your self approved unto God, a workman that need is not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).  The Greek word that we translate into English as study has a bigger meaning than just to study for it means to be diligent, to make an effort, to be prompt or earnest, to endeavor, to due diligence and to hasten to do a thing, to exert oneself, we are to make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1: 10).  Further Peter added to this fact that we are to be diligent when he stated this: "but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every one who asked you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 2:15).  Christianity is not a placid life, how can it be when the message of the Gospel is not well received by people in this world.  How can it be a peaceful or a calm life when you are taking the Gospel into the world a world that is attempting in every way to destroy Christianity?  Are you looking for some sort of placid life, a life of ease, and everything you are doing in this life is to bring you to that place of calm and ease, a life of abundance?  Or, are you taking your stand for the truth no matter the cost, denying yourself, and picking up your cross and following Jesus Christ?  Will 2015 be the year in which you have made that firm and final commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you not tired of sloppy agape, a form of Christianity that is nothing more than group euphoria, causing a person to feel pious, rather than understanding that you are the least of the saints and your ministry was not to feel euphoric, no, you have a ministry, the Gospel, and that ministry does not end with pastors, it ends with you.  This blog on this last day of 2014 records the words of Paul: "Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart and my tribulations for you, which is your glory.  For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with the might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height -- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever.  Amen" (Ephesians 3:13 -- 21).

            May 2015 be a great year for you and for those who love and may this be the year that you serve the Lord in ways greater than ever before: you won't be disappointed.

O God, my heart is steadfast;

            I will sing and give praise,

even with my glory.

Awake, lute and heart!

I will awake in the dawn

            I will praise You, O LORD,

among the peoples, and I will sing praises

            to You among the nations.

                        Psalm 108: 1 -- 3

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Richard L. Crumb

Living As Ambassadors Of Jesus Christ

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus

for you Gentiles -- if indeed you have heard of the

dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me

for you, how that by revelation He made known to me

 the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which,

when you read, you may understand my knowledge

in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages

was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now

been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles

and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs,

of the same body, and partakers of His promise

in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister

according to the gift of the grace of God given to me

by the effective working of His power.

Ephesians 3: 1 -- 7

            It must be remembered that this epistle was written when Paul was a prisoner at Rome and Paul in this epistle in its design was to lead the Ephesians in the faith of Jesus Christ.  While this was written not only for the Ephesians but for other churches in the Asian area as well can also be seen as the inspired Word of God for all Christians and it has meaning for you when I in this present age.  We use the word dispensation and I think that we need to understand that words have had lots of changes in their meaning over time.  Within the Christian Church dispensation has become associated with dispensationalism which is a different word it has a different meaning so we must clarify this Greek word: οίκονομίαν, this word is best translated administration, if you pronounce this word you will hear the word economy and this refers to the management and in this case it also has the word house in the word so is the management of a household and of its affairs therefore it's the management of property of others a stewardship and is used by the Paul as the arrangement of the administration by God.  We must not confuse this word dispensation to mean a period of time, rather a mode of dealing or an arrangement and this arrangement is overseen by stewards and in this case Paul is the steward of this administration.  Furthermore as we study this word we find that this arrangement or dispensation can be applied to present time, although in this case time is not clearly outlined, but tells us that God will specifically deal with man in a time or in His economy.  The next word that needs to have clarification is the word mystery for the Greek word is certainly different from our understanding of the word mystery.  The Greek word is: μυστήριον, this word has a meaning of those things outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension and can be made known only by divine revelation and this revelation is made known in manner and in a time appointed by God and it is to be given to those only who are illumined by His Spirit.  This mystery is to be found only in Jesus Christ and that mystery is all about why He, Jesus Christ, came to earth and why He had to die upon the cross and what that means to anyone who converts and beliefs in Him.  Part of what we know of this mystery is that now under this new dispensation, or economy of God, the Gentiles have access to the throne of God that they never had before.  Remember, people could from other nations, tribes, and countries, could become converted to the Jewish religion that was established by God and fall under the covenant given to the Jewish nation.  Now things have changed Jesus Christ, the Messiah, has come and has now opened the door by renting the veil of the temple to allow all peoples to now come under the covenant with out having to become a Hebrew.  All peoples are our fellow workers and fellow heirs, and are of the same body and have the same promise and that promise is illuminated to all people by the gospel.  This work given to Paul by Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and was simply a gift of grace that was given and the commission was given to him to take the grace and the message of the Gospel to the Gentiles.  You and I are recipients of what Jesus Christ has done by opening the door in this new dispensation and through His economy to allow us to be one of those who are elected to be heirs with Jesus Christ.  We have so much to be grateful for because all of this was given to us while we were yet sinners.  We have done nothing to warrant the giving of this free gift of grace for it is all due to the Providence and economy and dispensation of God that He gives this gift to anyone.  Yet, He has given it to us, therefore, what are we to do with this gift?  It is clear we are an apostle of God and that means we are ones who have been sent to bring the gospel to our world.  For some this will mean that they will be missionaries in foreign lands.  Others will be called to do pastoral work, and others to be teachers and professors.  For most of us we take this gospel into our work.  We manifest the love of God through our lives, and we demonstrate our faith in our actions and words, and this is a great way to bring the gospel to others.  You may find that when people see your active faith to come and ask questions whereby you will be given the opportunity to bring the good news to them personally.  This will require as Paul has written and other places that you study to show yourself and approve workman of God, and as Peter said we must study to show ourselves prepared to give a defense for our faith.  You are a minister of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This world is not our home, we are just passing through, our treasures are laid up, somewhere up in the blue.  Those words from the old song should become our mantle and we are not to settle ourselves in this world ourhome is already established in heaven with God.  The question is will you live this truth?

The heart of the righteous

            studies how to answer,

but the mouth of the wicked

            pours forth evil.

The LORD is far from the wicked

            but He hears the prayer

of the righteous.

                        Proverbs 15:28 -- 29

You are privileged to bear the cross of Christ

Richard L. Crumb

Living As The Temple Of God

And He came and preached peace to you

who were afar off and to those who were near.

For through Him we both have access

by one Spirit to the Father.  Now, therefore,

you are no longer strangers and foreigners,

but fellow citizens with the saints

and members of the household of God,

having been built on the foundation of the apostles

and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself

being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building,

being fit together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,

in the home you also are being built together for a

dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:17 -- 22

            This preaching of peace was a message of glad tidings, as the Greek word indicates and can also be translated simply a message, but this was a special message for was the message of glad tidings.  This glad tidings was peace could be had by anyone from afar are more from those who are near.  What does this peace mean and how can it be worked out any person's life?  It is simply this that by the one Spirit we have access to the Father.  You're no longer a stranger or a foreigner but you are a fellow citizen with saints and who are now a member of the household of God.  This is also due to one fact that the apostles and prophets set forth the foundation so that you can become one member of the household of God.  The pillar stone, the chief cornerstone, is Jesus Christ Himself for you all are one member that makes up the whole building or temple of the Lord and it is in this temple where the Spirit of God dwells.  Contemplate for a moment on this fact: you are the temple of God and it is in this temple that the Holy Spirit dwells.  Therefore, how should you protect this temple?  How should this temple be viewed by others?  By your protection to ensure that temple is viewed by others as the temple of God how then should do manifest your life before others?  This temple, you, is where the Holy Spirit dwell and if we are not keeping this temple then we are bringing impurity upon the Holy Spirit Who is there to guide our lives.  There is a responsibility placed upon us and we must not shirk this responsibility even though it may cause hardship or persecution.  We are the representatives of God and of his only begotten son the Lord Jesus Christ who came to be seen God's children and as one of God's children we take this responsibility seriously.  As a child of God we are called to serve Him and we serve because we have been saved we then commit to the Lord Jesus Christ and to His claims and this committal must come to a person before it can be activated by that person so that He will commit us to the Spirit’s power for service.  Why did God call anyone?  The calling of God is made up of two parts: 1.  The calling.  2.  The sending.  You have been called and you have been order to go.  We first respond to the call by becoming disciples, that he is this learning time, a time in which you will be made into an ambassador, or simply an apostle, one being sent for to serve the sender.  We began by receiving what God has to offer through his holy Word the Bible it is when we read this word that we feel the touch of Lord upon us and we dedicate our life to Him.  We receive practical training and we become ambassadors were messengers of Jesus Christ and we become prepared to propagate the truth and we seek to bring this truth and impart it to others.  As a temple of the Lord or the Holy Spirit dwells that we have this promised Holy Spirit who will aid us in our mission as an ambassador for it is by Him we receive a source of wisdom, comfort and strength.  Let me ask this question: are you too proud to be called an ambassador of Jesus Christ?  If so how can you expect to become a prince His kingdom? Are you just waiting until you get to heaven and then everything will be bestowed upon you? God has not chosen those who are necessarily of highly educational learning, no, he has chosen the foolish things of this world and it is by those foolish things that the world is confounded his chosen the weak things of the world to show His mighty strength and power and this is done through His children who are His temple.  You are a delegate, a messenger, one who bears a commission and has the commissioner's authority and by this authority as the representative of Jesus Christ you are to bring to the world, your world, this message of salvation.

            Has the culture of this world so influenced you that you seek to be successful in this world according to be way this world views success, or are you attempting in every way to be successful as the representative of the One who has saved you? Let's get this one thing straight; God does not care about how successful you all are in accordance with how this world views success.  We must go out into this world and make a living for ourselves and our family and if you are successful in doing this that isn't good, but that is not the best good, for the best good is when you are acting as what you have commissioned to be by God and His calling and his sending.  We work to make a living but we also work so that we can become His representatives in every way possible, starting at home, teaching our families, studying, praying, and then allow your faith to be seen in your works and that works is to bring to this world that good news message and that is what you have been commissioned to do and to be as His ambassador.  Watch has the priority in your life?  God or worldly success?  Only you can answer that question.  Praise God for those to whom he has commission He will also be there to aid them in this work.

Whatever my eyes desired

            I did not keep from them.

I did not withhold my heart

            from any pleasure,

and this was my reward from

            all my labor.

Then I looked on all the works

            that my hands had done

an ongoing labor in which

            I had toiled;

and indeed all was vanity and

            grasping for the wind.

There was no profit under the sun.

                        Ecclesiastes 2: 10 -- 11

Prepare now to be God's ambassador

Richard L. Crumb

Bringing New Birth: The Coming Of God: The Baby Jesus Christ

Therefore remember that you,

once Gentiles in the flesh-who are

called Uncircumcision by what is

called the Circumcision made

in the flesh by hands-that at that

time you were without Christ,

being aliens from the commonwealth

of Israel and strangers from the

covenants of promise, having no hope

and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once

were far off have been brought

near by the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:11-13

            Here is praying that you had a great Christmas and a time to reflect upon the “Reason for the Season.” Remember: Jesus was born into this world and not from it. Jesus did not evolve out of history for He came into history. This history exists due to one simple fact: Jesus created all that exists and by that existence history began and Jesus entered into this history from outside history for Jesus is eternal and stands outside of history as the Wisdom of God, God the Word, and now from His entrance into the history that He created became man so save man. Jesus Christ is not the best human being; He is the Being that cannot be accounted for by the human race at all. Jesus Christ is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate, God coming into human flesh, into it from outside. Jesus Christ is the Highest and the Holiest entering into the Lowliest door. The birth of Jesus Christ was an advent. You were far off from God and by the coming of Jesus Christ into the world as a Man, the Holiest of Man, the Highest of Man: you can be brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came into the world from the outside, now, He must come into you from the outside into your inside, and this by the new birth to be reborn and you cannot enter into the Kingdom of heaven unless you are reborn from above, a birth unlike the natural birth of man. The being reborn, this new birth, is not just something one thinks upon becoming, when and how by a man’s choice, no, it is a command from God that unless you are reborn you which is the foundation fact. How then can I know that I am reborn? The characteristic of the new birth is this simple: you life changes from what it was into a new life, a life that is completely yielded to God and this occurs due to you being formed into the image of Jesus Christ and His nature begins to work through you. We just celebrated Christmas, the coming into this world by Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Wisdom of God clothed in flesh, the Word of God, God manifested in flesh. All this is possible by the Redemption that is the death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven paying the debt of sin against God, paid by God Himself, and now applies that redemption to you.

            Let us not mistake conscious freedom from sin for deliverance from sin by the Atonement for this would be a great error. Man does not have the reality of sin in his conscious for it he did then sin would not continue in a man’s life. Man does know the horror of sin as it is well demonstrated in the world. Man cannot know that he is truly a sinner until the new birth, that being reborn by the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ did not face your sin upon the cross: no! Jesus faced sin on the cross and conquered sin by living a sinless life and dying, not due to some sin, or criminal activity, no, He died to pay that debt and that is why Jesus Christ entered into our world as a babe, to grow, to mature, to then lead a small band of twelve, to teach others, those disciples that would carry the news that the Messiah has come into the uttermost part of the world. Jesus brings peace, good tidings, for Jesus Christ is Peace: “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, this making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity”(Ephesians 2:14-16). Putting to death, death, this sin against God, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that God can impart His perfection into you, no, not that will become perfect in this life as some have taught, rather that you now are perfect in Him for He sees you through the One Perfect One, His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit applies that Atonement to you and while this is done n the unconscious realm we can see it in the conscious realm for we see it manifested in our lives and this occurs when we fully convert to Jesus Christ. We must walk in the light: “But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1John 1:7). Now, the love of God at work in your life makes you hate sin, a hatred that is caused by the Holy Spirit, His hatred of sin and you remove from yourself all that is not in keeping with the Holiness of God. Jesus came so you can walk in this light so a question to ask of yourself: will I allow this light, this coming of Jesus to pay the debt I owed to God for me, and now applies that redemption to me, to drive me closer to God, to the center of the light?

O LORD, I know the way of man

            Is not in himself;

It is not in man who walks to direct

            his own steps, O LORD correct me,

but with justice; not in Your anger, lest You

            bring me to nothing.

                        Jeremiah 10: 23-24

Turn from the way of sin

Richard L. Crumb

The Greatest Gift: Given By God

But God, who is rich in mercy,

because of His great love with which

He loved us, even when we were

dead in our trespasses, made us alive

together with Christ

(by grace you have been saved),

and raised us up together, and made us

sit together in the heavenly places

in Christ Jesus, that in the age to come

He might show the exceeding

riches of His grace in His kindness

toward us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2: 4 -- 7

            Christmas is on the minds of most people as this is the season for this festival whereby we spend extra money, time, and effort to show love to another person.  It is a great time of joy for most people, and yet, there are those who are alone, even when family will not come around to save Merry Christmas to them, or they sit in a convalescent care home and the only celebration is what the nurses or aids can provide. Depression runs rampant during the great wonderful festival for the focus is on the festival and not the reason for the festival.  It is when we take our eyes off the reason that the festival becomes almost mundane, necessary or others would be feeling rejected.  God reminds us of the apostle Paul that he gave the greatest gift that could be given and this is the reason for this festival.  Some get caught up in dates, or other reasons why maybe they should not be celebrated on this particular day as though they know exactly when Jesus Christ was born.  They don't!  God in his mercy gave a gift of ever lasting life by forgiving our trespasses, our sins, and put us into his family together with Christ Jesus we are raised up together and made alive.  God showed His great exceeding riches which is his grace and His kindness at all this due to the fact that it came as the Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ by Whom we are able to be seen as forgiven and redeemed.  We have reason to celebrate beyond the Christmas tree in presence for as Christians we have the greatest gift ever to be given that gift to you.  I always find it good to study the Greek for their words often have a greater meaning than what we can supply in our English language.  The Greek word that we translate as made us alive is an interesting Greek word for it is an aorist word that means that this event occurred sometime in the past and it is in the third person so it's speaking of more than one person that has the word that we don't use too often except maybe in churches and that word is quickened, it almost has become a theological or, it has greater meaning than just to be made alive for the Greek word used here means to be made alive together and to be clicked in means that it is to make a person able to respond immediately and in a Christian since to respond immediately to spiritual stimuli.  There is no need for growth, nor is timely and necessary before one is able to walk in the Spirit for it is as Paul wrote here in the Ephesians that it is of the spiritual life with Christ that imparted to believers at their conversion.  This occurred in the past it has been given to you as a gift.  This is also true of the word that we translate from the Greek whereby we say that Jesus Christ through God raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places as those words are also aorist so that this occurred in the past, that isn't already done it again it's in the third person, it is indicative an active.  This gift is your gift not due to anything you have done or will do, it is a free gift from God.  Why would God do this?  It is because God is rich in mercy and has such great love, a love that is that He loved us even though we were sinners.  God had no need to do is and you can't cause him to have a need to do this, for all of this is simply a God.  Is Paul here speaking about all peoples for all times, no, for he began this epistle by saying to the saints and a person becomes a saint by the free gift of mercy and love from God.  Proof of this is found in the net versus: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God and not of any works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared the forehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2: 8 -- 10).  God prepared all of this beforehand and we are His workmanship and that workmanship is manifested in our works that is a demonstration of our faith and even that faith is a free gift from God.  Do we have much to celebrate?  Yes!  God chose you!  God loves you enough to give you the faith which is a free gift not because you've earned it but because He loved you enough to give it to you.  Don't let the season go by and let it be just another festival, a celebration of gifts, food, great conversation, beautiful lights and music, which is all good in its place: do this: speak about the reason why we are celebrating Christmas and do this especially to your children so that when they grow up and be mature adults they will understand why we celebrate Christmas.  Praise God for His free gift, a gift prepared for you before you were even born.  Celebrate, enjoy, read the story of His birth from the Gospels and even go back as far as to the prophecy of His coming and make this more than just a simple Christmas day and remember the reason for Christians.

And in that day you will say:

            "O LORD, I will praise You;

though You were angry with me,

            Your anger is turned away,

and You comfort me.

            Behold, God is my salvation,

I will trust and not be afraid;

            For Yah, the LORD, is my

strength and song; He also has

            become my salvation.”

                        Isaiah 12: 1 -- 2

Have a very Merry Christmas

Richard L. Crumb

Alive In Jesus Christ By The Power Of God

Far above all principality and power

and might and dominion, and every name

that is named, not only in this age

but also in that which is to come.

And He can put all things under His feet,

and gave Him to be head over all things

to the church, which is His body,

the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 1: 21 -- 23

            Paul speaking previously and this with fluency and with copiousness of expression desire to express the exceeding greatness of God almighty power.  It is this power that God exerts towards His people, it is by this almighty power that God could raise Jesus Christ from the dead.  Now, there are those who want to separate Jesus Christ from God the Father as being to separate individuals one God, and the other a God, and even go so far to say that the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is not God, but rather a god, and this is true there ignorance of Greek Scriptures and grammar for Paul in writing to Titus uses and it is this: when the Greek word "καί" and in English this means "and" in its place between two anarthrous nouns, that is nouns without the definite article "a" making both nouns refer to one single thing and here is a quote by Paul to Titus" "looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13).  The God  does not have the article "a" in front nor in front of Jesus Christ and Greek grammar demands that when this occurs both nouns speak of one single thing or attribute and in this case our great God and our Savior Jesus Christ is one.  There are many other examples that could be used to put this blog does not allow for that but for those examples but am willing if asked to do so.  Let us think about redemption for the moment for this is the time., Christmas, that we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ as a baby into this earth, being incarnated God.  Reality is redemption, it is not your experience of redemption; for redemption has no meaning for anyone in it till it speaks the language of your conscious life.  What does this mean?  It is by the power of God that anything exists in and it is by this power of God that he freely gives gifts: "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know that things that have been freely given to us by God" (1 Corinthians 2: 12).  Redemption is the reality given to you by the death on the cross by Jesus Christ who gave Himself for you.  To be born again, and this by the Spirit of God giving you the free gift of grace so that you can buy your will choose to convert to Him.  It is not by experiences that this is true for God takes you right out of your self, and then identifies you do with Jesus Christ.  You no longer pay attention to your experiences, for those experiences are not worth anything and less than those experiences keep you identified an associated with the source Who is Jesus Christ.  To try to produce experiences, as some churches teach people to do, is simply to produce that which is subject to a ham this will not take you back to the historic Jesus Christ who died to give Himself for you.  If you do attempt to make your experiences of a God when in fact they are only your subjective experience for does not have God as its source and does not have faith in God as a result and this means that those experiences are and tight Christian, no matter what visions you may have or had.  The Father put all things under the feet of Jesus Christ and made Jesus Christ to be that had over all things to the church.  You cannot damn up the Holy Spirit to produce subjective experiences for only Jesus Christ who is the head of the church can produce anything in you that is to be produced.  Jesus Christ must be the Lord over any of your experiences or you will be trying to Lord yourself over Him.  But church, which comes from the Greek word means to be called out or the assembly, is the body of Jesus Christ therefore you who have converted to the Lord Jesus Christ all our the body of Jesus Christ and all will fullness of Jesus Christ will fill you and you do not need subjective experiences to make you feel godly.  Here's what required of a person who is converted to the Lord Jesus Christ: you must be ruthless with yourself and not spend so much time talking about the experiences you may have had.  Faith that is assured of itself is not faith for the only faith that its crew is that your faith of God and there is no other faith than that.

            Without the power of God who came to earth to be in incarnated, that is to call himself with a human body of man so that he could pay the debt that was owed to Himself and be able to give you the benefit of that payment is the same power that has now made you alive and this life is not in this temporal world but you are made alive for eternal life.  Paul said under inspiration: "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, a spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others" (Ephesians 2: 1 -- 3).  There must be a surrendering of your will and you must deliberately commit yourself to Jesus Christ.  And this means you will transact everything on what He says.

            Two days from now Christmas day will be here and once again we have this special opportunity to be reminded of why we celebrate Christmas and it is not for some sort of joyous experience by receiving gifts even though it is a joy to receive gifts, and it is not just a joy of being around friends and family, and that is very good, rather it is because we are celebrating the coming of God incarnate to save His children.  This coming of Jesus is to be celebrated.  Spend time, special time, on that day to remind yourself in all why we celebrate Christmas and the power of God that has made to alive for eternity.

Praise the LORD!

            Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

            Praise Him for His mighty acts;

Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!

                        Psalm 150: 1 -- 2

Praise the Lord who made you alive

Richard L. Crumb

The Greatest Gift From God

Therefore I also come after I heard of your faith

and the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

do not cease to give thanks for you,

making mention of you in my prayers:

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of glory, may give to you

the spirit of wisdom and revelation

in the knowledge of Him, the eyes

of your understanding being enlightened; or

that you may know what is the hope of His calling,

what are the riches of the glory of His

inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ

when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him

at His right hand in the heavenly places

Ephesians 1:15 -- 20

            Christmas is three days away and the world has turned Christmas, a celebration that Christian view for the coming of the Only Begotten Son of God.  Christmas has become so commercialized, so much about partying, so much about giving of gifts and getting gifts, that the real meaning for Christmas is all but lost.  Yes, it is good to give gifts, it is good to enjoy this time and celebrate, celebrate family, celebrate friends, and most of all to celebrate our Savior Jesus Christ.  Yet, we suffer a possibility of overdoing the celebration to the point where the real meaning of Christmas is lost in the mad rush to buy gifts, to decorate, to show off as some do with great decorations on their homes, which I do enjoy, yet few on that celebrated day actually talk about Jesus Christ.  We speak of the baby Jesus Christ's, and we speak of Him in songs and Christmas carols, all may be good and healthy for those particularly are in convalescent care homes where they get very little attention from others than the nurses and aides, so a visit by those caroling is good.  But, do they actually hear the gospel?  Christmas is a wonderful time, a time of joy, and a time for celebration, and not to be denigrated, rather, use this time to celebrate one another and especially the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.

            Well, this brings a question to mind: why did Jesus come to earth?  Why did I Jesus come many years before?  Why did he come in this era, some 2000 years ago and not come in our age?  Another question: why were you saved?  Why did Jesus have to come as a baby?  God can create so why did he not just create Jesus as a mature man? we could even get into the question is why do we celebrate the coming of Jesus on December 25th as some do and other religious organizations.  Many questions, not only by those who are not Christian but are also in many of the minds of Christians even though not as audibly spoken.  Well let's take a look at this why did Jesus come to earth?  First, God, incarnate, came to earth to satisfy His justice.  They see did by dining upon the cross as an innocent man who remains sinless in his entire life unlike Adam who was sinless but then sinned and had no way to pay back to God for that sin.  Man cannot pay to God this debt owed to Him, therefore, God came in the only way He could come to satisfy this debt, a debt that man cannot pay, so He paid it Himself.  So, God did not come firstly to save man as so many people teach and believe as though they are so important that God would save them.  God's justice had to be satisfied and until that satisfaction occurred man could not be saved.  God saves man by the only means by which man can be saved, and that is through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven by the Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ.  Now, through Jesus Christ salvation can be given to man.  You cannot do anything for your salvation!  So why did God save you?  It is so that the Son of God might be manifested in your mortal flesh.  God elects His children yes this means that God elects whomever He chooses to elect and when you realize your election then you are to bend your energy, your whole energy, your powers to realize your election as a child of God.  When you realize His election you should rise to the occasion of that election every time.  It is true you cannot save yourself, but this does not take you off the hook of what it means to be an elected child of God for you must do something to manifest this election, for you must work out that which God has worked in you. The question for each of us is are you working out by your speech, by your thinking, by your nerves, that is are you still trying to be the same old person and remain in your own way and if this is true then you are lying to say that God has saved you and has sanctified you.  We have to exercise ourselves in the order that the Son of God may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  God's only aim of life is that the Son of God may be manifested, and that everything else is placed before God, that which has a higher priority than God, vanishes.  We're not here to dictate to God, no, we are here to submit to His will that He may work through us what He desires.  When we realize this, God will make us broken bread and poured out of wine to feed and nourish others.  This is Christmas, this is what God has done by His coming.  We have much to celebrate about and celebrate we should do.  We should get together with family and friends, we should give gifts to remind us of the gift that God has given to His children and that gift is Jesus Christ and by means of Jesus Christ the ultimate gift of everlasting life is given to His children.  As Paul said: " that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; or that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:17 -- 18).

There shall come forth a Rod

            from the stem of Jesse,

and a Branch shall grow out of his roots,

            the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

            the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

                                    Isaiah 11:1 -- 2

Behold the coming of our Savior

Richard L. Crumb