This is not the usual Christmas spiel- you know, the whole "It's not about the gifts, it's about Jesus being born" thing. Most of us already know that, and if you didn't, then you know now! ;)
Yes, it is important to understand the true meaning of Christmas, but I'd like to take a slightly different take on it... Namely, the "Untraditional Christmas. "
I recently heard a sermon about how Jesus' birth wasn't as "airy-fairy" as we see on all the Christmas cards and posters. In fact, it was the opposite. Mary and Joseph had to tavel all the way to Bethlehem. Now cars were non-existent back then, so I'm sure they got very sweaty and smelly along the way. When you're 9 months pregnant and about to pop, I don't really think you'll stop for some showers along the way...
On top of that, Jesus was born in a STABLE. I don't know if you've ever been in a stable, but not only do those things have quite the... strong smell, they are filled with animals which normally attracts flies and some other unpleasant bugs. Then Jesus was placed in a straw manager. Straw HURTS :/ I remember my best friend and I once climbing over straw barrels, we got pieces of straw sticking in some very uncomfortable places!
Jesus' birth was not exactly in the most ideal of circumstances, yet look how He turned out! Not only did He save the world, He also gave us some sound advice and showed us how to live a Godly life.
Jesus' life was far from easy. He was mocked, ridiculed, rejected and then crucified. He also travelled from city to city to preach, so He didn't exactly live in the most luxuriest of conditions, yet God STILL used Him.
We look at Moses as well. Moses was not supposed to survive, yet his mother strategically hid him in a reed basket in a river where he was picked up by the pharoah's daughter. Moses' early life was in the pharoah's palace and probably lived quite luxuriously, but then he murdered someone who was mistreating a slave and his easy life dissolved. Moses went on to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and spend 40 years with them in the desert. How he did it, I'm not sure, because with the amount of complaining those Israelites did, I'd probably have duct taped their mouths shut!
Moses led these people to freedom and a new inheritance. Acts 7:35 even says "This is the same Moses whom they had rejected with the words, 'Who made you ruler and judge? '"
Now here's the point:
These are just two men who seemed insignificant or maybe unable to make a change, yet defied odds by God's power and did INCREDIBLE things!
The Bible warns us that we will face prosecution. 2 Timothy 3:12 says, " In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,". Part of this prosecution is rejection. I don't know if you have ever felt rejected or mocked by people for being a Christian? Or maybe you have been rejected or mocked for something completely different, like something you did for example?
Well here's the good news: If you've been born into difficult circumstances, God can STILL and WILL use you to do AMAZING, WONDERFUL things if you let Him!
Maybe you've been born into good or all right circumstances, but have done something terrible and think God won't use you. Well guess what? HE WILL! Paul, one of the most influential men in the Bible, used to KILL and persecute Christians before he gave his life to God! Even after what Paul did, God forgave Him and used him to make such a difference for His Kingdom.
If you've been mocked or rejected because you're a Christian, let me tell you it probably won't stop any time soon. But at the end of the day, do you really need those people in your life? NO! Our life is to glorify God and share about His grace, so if people persecute you for it, isn't that all the more reason to share God's love and Word with them? We are working towards a SPECTACULAR inheritance- God's Kingdom. Heaven is going to be BEYOND AMAZING... So amazing that our human minds cannot grasp it or we may literally explode! So keep moving through the persecution and just think: Don't you want to enter into heaven one day and have God rush to give you the biggest hug saying, I'm proud of you my son/daughter!"
Christmas traditions are important, and Jesus' birth even more important. But sometimes I think it's important to look a little deeper, a little untraditionally. Part of the incredible Christmas moment where we remember Jesus' birth, is remembering that God can still use YOU no matter what.
I'm ready to change the world.
Are you?
Wednesday 24 December 2014
Thursday 18 December 2014
Seriously Single
Today I was running and suddenly thought about my future husband and I suddenly got very excited. I don't know if you've ever thought about the spouse you may meet (or maybe I'm just a bit weird that way!) ?
I thought how much fun it would be to take photos together, go Christmas shopping with him, even run together. But here's the thing- often we're so excited about being in a relationship that we forget what an important time of your life being single is. I once watched a YouTube video about how being single is such a convenient ministry time. When you're married, your priority ministry is your wife or husband and your kids, but when you're single, you're priority ministry is the WHOLE WORLD. 1 Corinthians 7:32-34 says, "I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband."
When you're single, there are so many ministry opportunities and often we don't see it like that. For example, if you feel going to China for a missionary trip, it's so much easier to do when you're single as you don't have to stress about your partner or who will pick up your kids from school and so on. Even Paul said, "Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do." (1 Corinthians 7:8)
Now don't get me wrong, I am not encouraging you to stay single your whole life and invest in 27 cats or anything. God loves relationships, I mean the Bible is filled with some of the most romantic love stories of all time, like Adam and Eve, Boaz and Ruth, and ultimately, Jesus and all of us (we are the bride of Christ after all). Genesis 2:18 says, "The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
God loves love and if His plan is for you to have a partner, that's AWESOME! But, what I'm trying to get across, is if you're single, don't let that get you down. You should try to be so secure in Christ that you don't need a man or woman to make you happy. After all, is God not the best partner you could ever ask for? He will always encourage you to do your best, He will never leave you and He will love you NO. MATTER. WHAT.
Here's my challenge for you, if you're single, instead of being bummed and thinking about how lonely you are, try and grow stronger with God (read the Bible, pray, go to church or speak to a mature Christian) and look for and partake in the ministry opportunities you may not be able to do when you're no longer single! And just wait, if God desires for you to have a partner, He has an AMAZING one in mind; one that will be worth the wait.
Then, if you're in a relationship, remember that God should be the center of your relationship, then it will prosper beyond what you thought was even possible. Have devotionals together, pray together and remember that there are many ministry opportunities for you as a couple. I've seen tons of Christian power couples that are taking the world by storm!
Hope this helps, God bless <3
P.S. If you're a single female, I strongly encourage you check out Woman Alive in Christ on Facebook, it's seriously inspirational!
I thought how much fun it would be to take photos together, go Christmas shopping with him, even run together. But here's the thing- often we're so excited about being in a relationship that we forget what an important time of your life being single is. I once watched a YouTube video about how being single is such a convenient ministry time. When you're married, your priority ministry is your wife or husband and your kids, but when you're single, you're priority ministry is the WHOLE WORLD. 1 Corinthians 7:32-34 says, "I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband."
When you're single, there are so many ministry opportunities and often we don't see it like that. For example, if you feel going to China for a missionary trip, it's so much easier to do when you're single as you don't have to stress about your partner or who will pick up your kids from school and so on. Even Paul said, "Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do." (1 Corinthians 7:8)
Now don't get me wrong, I am not encouraging you to stay single your whole life and invest in 27 cats or anything. God loves relationships, I mean the Bible is filled with some of the most romantic love stories of all time, like Adam and Eve, Boaz and Ruth, and ultimately, Jesus and all of us (we are the bride of Christ after all). Genesis 2:18 says, "The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
God loves love and if His plan is for you to have a partner, that's AWESOME! But, what I'm trying to get across, is if you're single, don't let that get you down. You should try to be so secure in Christ that you don't need a man or woman to make you happy. After all, is God not the best partner you could ever ask for? He will always encourage you to do your best, He will never leave you and He will love you NO. MATTER. WHAT.
Here's my challenge for you, if you're single, instead of being bummed and thinking about how lonely you are, try and grow stronger with God (read the Bible, pray, go to church or speak to a mature Christian) and look for and partake in the ministry opportunities you may not be able to do when you're no longer single! And just wait, if God desires for you to have a partner, He has an AMAZING one in mind; one that will be worth the wait.
Then, if you're in a relationship, remember that God should be the center of your relationship, then it will prosper beyond what you thought was even possible. Have devotionals together, pray together and remember that there are many ministry opportunities for you as a couple. I've seen tons of Christian power couples that are taking the world by storm!
Hope this helps, God bless <3
P.S. If you're a single female, I strongly encourage you check out Woman Alive in Christ on Facebook, it's seriously inspirational!
Wednesday 17 December 2014
Clean Break
I've been cleaning out my room the past two days as I want to redo it. Trust, it's been beyond stressful, as well as time-consuming! I've also had mixed emotions; part of me is super excited to repaint my room and get new bedding and all that, but this other part of me (the lazy, teenage part) does not feel like going through tons of rubbish (well, my gran calls it rubbish but I call it valuable-items-that-may-one-day-come-in-handy) during my holiday when I should be lounged in front of the TV with a few slabs of chocolate in my belly.
Then today I got thinking (yes, cleaning your room actually causes you to have some really deep, profound thoughts!), cleaning out your room and redoing it is often what we have to do on our Christian journey (or even if you're not a Christian, it's something that generally a person has to do in life).
There are times in our lives where we have to redo ourselves, we have to clean out all the "garbage" that is lying rampant in our lives and bring in new, Godly things instead. This is all part of maturing, not only as a person, but also in our relationship with God.
Ephesians 4:14-15 says, "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ."
I will go so far as to say that this is essential in our Christian walk. Often we have this "rubbish" in our lives, whether it may be an addiction to pornography, struggling with lying, devious secrets from our past, or just anything that may hinder us in our walk with God. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to "...throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles...". To hinder ultimately means to delay, and I don't know about you, but I definitely don't anything delaying me from growing closer to God. It excites me see what is in store when we get closer to this incredible, mighty, all powerful God!
Then once we've thrown this rubbish out and have dealt with it, often we have to go through a process of reconstruction where God forms you into the person He has called you to be. After all, as 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, " Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price..." And then in Acts, Luke says, " However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.". Ultimately, our lives are for God's glory completely, but the amazing thing is, although our life is now completely God's, He still allows US to live it and make our own choices and decisions.
Therefore, just as God reforms us and recreates us, He also brings in new opportunities, situations and gifts. He gives you new bedding to be able to cover those with your spiritual warmth, He gives you a new bed to be able to bring rest to those who are overburdened, and, amongst many other things, He even gives you new paint so that others can immediately see the difference in you and want to be changed too.
This is exciting! I'm excited as I write this. God, who created the whole universe and everything in it, desires a relationship with you, and He EVEN REWARDS us for having a relationship with Him, not only through eternal life, but by making a new you.
So here's my challenge: If you're struggling with any 'rubbish' in your life, don't waste another moment! Give it to God RIGHT NOW. Allow God to create a newness in you and let that newness spread- the Gospel is contagious!
Then today I got thinking (yes, cleaning your room actually causes you to have some really deep, profound thoughts!), cleaning out your room and redoing it is often what we have to do on our Christian journey (or even if you're not a Christian, it's something that generally a person has to do in life).
There are times in our lives where we have to redo ourselves, we have to clean out all the "garbage" that is lying rampant in our lives and bring in new, Godly things instead. This is all part of maturing, not only as a person, but also in our relationship with God.
Ephesians 4:14-15 says, "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ."
I will go so far as to say that this is essential in our Christian walk. Often we have this "rubbish" in our lives, whether it may be an addiction to pornography, struggling with lying, devious secrets from our past, or just anything that may hinder us in our walk with God. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to "...throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles...". To hinder ultimately means to delay, and I don't know about you, but I definitely don't anything delaying me from growing closer to God. It excites me see what is in store when we get closer to this incredible, mighty, all powerful God!
Then once we've thrown this rubbish out and have dealt with it, often we have to go through a process of reconstruction where God forms you into the person He has called you to be. After all, as 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, " Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price..." And then in Acts, Luke says, " However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.". Ultimately, our lives are for God's glory completely, but the amazing thing is, although our life is now completely God's, He still allows US to live it and make our own choices and decisions.
Therefore, just as God reforms us and recreates us, He also brings in new opportunities, situations and gifts. He gives you new bedding to be able to cover those with your spiritual warmth, He gives you a new bed to be able to bring rest to those who are overburdened, and, amongst many other things, He even gives you new paint so that others can immediately see the difference in you and want to be changed too.
This is exciting! I'm excited as I write this. God, who created the whole universe and everything in it, desires a relationship with you, and He EVEN REWARDS us for having a relationship with Him, not only through eternal life, but by making a new you.
So here's my challenge: If you're struggling with any 'rubbish' in your life, don't waste another moment! Give it to God RIGHT NOW. Allow God to create a newness in you and let that newness spread- the Gospel is contagious!
Monday 15 December 2014
First Post
Seeing as this is my first blog, I thought it apt to introduce myself.
So my name is Michaela Christophers and I am currently 17 years old with a burning passion for Jesus!
I really enjoy reading, watching movies and EATTTTTING :D I also love the beach! I go to an incredible youth every Friday and two incredible churches that have helped mould me into who I am today. I also enjoy laughing (although I always tend to find things extremely funny in the most inappropriate situations!) and having fun (well, who doesn't!)
Unfortunately, when I was 13 years old, I lost my parents and younger brother in a car accident. Although it was a tough time, we serve a good God and He has strengthened and equipped me through it.
Now let's get to the real purpose of this blog- God.
"They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out."
Acts 5:18-19
Ok, so here the apostles were put in jail for preaching the name of Jesus (the leaders of the law didn't like this very much... Almost as much as I dislike waking up at 2am realising I forgot to do homework!) Miraculously, though, God sent an angel to free them.
Have you ever felt as if you're in a dire situation? Kind of like there is no way of getting out? You're behind bars and there's no one to help you? Well here's the good news : God is there to help you!
No matter was is trapping you and keeping you from freedom, God will set you free from that if you ask Him to.
So you're free. Now what? What will you choose to do with that freedom? Well here's what the disciples did :
"At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people." Acts 5:21
The disciples decided to use their new-found freedom to teach others about Jesus and what He has done for us. The amazing thing about this verse, I think, is that the disciples went out at DAYBREAK. Now imagine spending most of a night in a dirty, small jail cell. I'm sure the last thing you'd want to do when the sun comes out is go and evangelize. These disciples, however, were so completely and utterly inlove with God that the passion burned inside them to never miss an opportunity to share the Gospel.
Now for us as modern day Christians, I believe this concept is essential. Once you're free, there are two choices you will have: One, will you fall back into the worldly sin that trapped you? Or two, will you devote yourself to God and receive the incredible gifts and mighty love He has to offer?
I challenge you today, serve God as best as you can. Even if it's not preaching in the streets at sunrise, use the gifts He has blessed you with to further His Kingdom. Trust me, it's worth it.
God bless!
So my name is Michaela Christophers and I am currently 17 years old with a burning passion for Jesus!
I really enjoy reading, watching movies and EATTTTTING :D I also love the beach! I go to an incredible youth every Friday and two incredible churches that have helped mould me into who I am today. I also enjoy laughing (although I always tend to find things extremely funny in the most inappropriate situations!) and having fun (well, who doesn't!)
Unfortunately, when I was 13 years old, I lost my parents and younger brother in a car accident. Although it was a tough time, we serve a good God and He has strengthened and equipped me through it.
Now let's get to the real purpose of this blog- God.
"They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out."
Acts 5:18-19
Ok, so here the apostles were put in jail for preaching the name of Jesus (the leaders of the law didn't like this very much... Almost as much as I dislike waking up at 2am realising I forgot to do homework!) Miraculously, though, God sent an angel to free them.
Have you ever felt as if you're in a dire situation? Kind of like there is no way of getting out? You're behind bars and there's no one to help you? Well here's the good news : God is there to help you!
No matter was is trapping you and keeping you from freedom, God will set you free from that if you ask Him to.
So you're free. Now what? What will you choose to do with that freedom? Well here's what the disciples did :
"At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people." Acts 5:21
The disciples decided to use their new-found freedom to teach others about Jesus and what He has done for us. The amazing thing about this verse, I think, is that the disciples went out at DAYBREAK. Now imagine spending most of a night in a dirty, small jail cell. I'm sure the last thing you'd want to do when the sun comes out is go and evangelize. These disciples, however, were so completely and utterly inlove with God that the passion burned inside them to never miss an opportunity to share the Gospel.
Now for us as modern day Christians, I believe this concept is essential. Once you're free, there are two choices you will have: One, will you fall back into the worldly sin that trapped you? Or two, will you devote yourself to God and receive the incredible gifts and mighty love He has to offer?
I challenge you today, serve God as best as you can. Even if it's not preaching in the streets at sunrise, use the gifts He has blessed you with to further His Kingdom. Trust me, it's worth it.
God bless!
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