The thief!

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10 NIV)

Why did Jesus come to live with us? This verse says it all: someone has been trying to steal our lives and baby Jesus was born to give us back our lives and to make sure we are able to live them to the full. It's not much simpler than that.

Our communities are filled with people that are victims of the thief. This thief has stolen their joy. He has stolen their life. Orphans, the homeless, widows, the lost are all victims of the thief. But they are not the only victims. I see people every day that trudge through their day oblivious to the joy of the Lord. I see people that can't find the blessings sitting right before them. I know people who say they love their lives but demonstrate extreme negativity and demonstrate real hate for those around them. It's so sad to see people who can't look at life through the blessings of God. Even worse is many of these same people claim to be children of God. How can you live a life of dispair and claim Jesus as your savior?

There is an enemy out there trying to take your life. Christmas is the time to defeat this enemy. When we look at the joy of Jesus coming into our lives to save us, you have to feel victorious. One of the best ways to defeat the enemy is by sharing the joy of Christmas. It's this time of year that we see more people helping others in need. It doesn't take a lot of money to share the gospel message and this time of year more people are open to that message than any other time of the year. The fullness of life begins at Christmas, in a manger, in the little town of Bethlehem, with shepherds and Angels. Take this wonderful time of the year and commit yourself to the babe. Ćommit yourself to sharing this wonderful message of hope, peace, and love. You will be amazed how it defeats the enemy. You will be surprised how sharing the love of Jesus gives you your life back.

Merry Christmas and enjoy th fullness of life that starts with the birth of Jesus!

I'm a thief!

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10 NIV)

Have you ever stolen anything? I'm going to confess. I have stolen before. I remember going to the store,  as a little kid, and sticking a pack of gum in my pocket. I'm not proud of it. It was a very selfish act on my part. I never forgot the guilt I had. I couldn't even enjoy it. I knew my mom and dad would know I stole it if they saw me chewing gum. They knew I didn't have any money to buy gum. Then I was worried my breath would give me away. It was a valuable lesson. I never stole again.

A thief is selfish. A thief wants to take and give nothing in return. Someone who enjoys or feels compelled to steal convinces themselves they deserve more, they have been cheated by society and they should be compensated. Many times they convince themselves it's ok to even kill someone in order to get what they want. Even if you've never been a "thief" I'm sure you have had feelings of selfishness or entitlement. Our entire society is in a battle over the idea of entitlement and sharing wealth. There is a battle between the haves and have-nots. It may be harsh, but the have-nots are trying to steal from the haves. They want to take and give nothing in return. The haves don't want to be forced to give. While I agree no one should be forced to give, we should all give like Jesus. If we could change the hearts of men of wealth, the haves would freely give to the have-nots. 

Jesus offers the ultimate gift, eternal life, for free. He gets nothing in return. He makes no demands. We don't have to earn it. Other religions have a rewards system. You get an equal amount to what you give. Our faith is unique. Jesus died for us without even asking if we wanted him to. He died after living a perfect life so that we may have life and have it to the full. We just have to accept the gift. A thief has ulterior motives. You can't trust a thief. The world is a most formidable thief. It's deceptive. You can't steal joy, peace, happiness, security. You can't build wealth for yourself through destroying others. You can only get those things through Jesus. We need to share that message to everyone. The world needs to know Jesus. The thief needs to know Jesus.