Author: james bruce mcnaughton

Jesus came to earth as a baby. And he was a baby much like you and me. He laughed, he cried, he learned to walk. He learned to love… He learned to love us and he especially learned to love his heavenly Father.

Because Jesus was man he could experience all our temptations.  Because he was God and never sinned he could die for each one of us, so that we could live forever in heaven with him.  You can personally know Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas… by talking to him through prayer, by listening to him through reading the Bible, and by loving him through actively doing what he says.  He and his Father will make their home within you and you will know “Emmanuel – God with us” who is the true meaning of Christmas.

To learn more about knowing the Christ of Christmas read the Bible (Matthew 1:23, John 3:1-21, 14:15, 23, 31; Hebrews 4:14-16), talk to a friend who knows Jesus, visit a Church that teaches that Jesus is God.

Rather than stay well away from sin, sometimes we dance as close to the edge as we can without going over. However, before we know it, we find ourselves going over the edge anyway. The climb back is difficult and it sure helps to have someone anchored to the top to come down and help lift us out.

If you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, and are controlled by His Spirit, and you are following Him as best you can, you can be a lifeline to someone who has fallen. First, be careful to resist the temptation to feel superior or to pass judgement.  Second, remember that at times LOVE can be spelled LISTEN.  Usually sin is an attempt to get God-given needs met without God.  You need to respond with reality and compassion (truth and mercy) just as Jesus did.  Remember the paralyzed man lowered through the roof, whose friends had faith but he didn’t, Jesus healed him anyway.  Remember the woman caught in the act of adultery. Jesus said, “Does no one condemn you?  Neither do I condemn you.  Go and sin no more.”  Finally, restore that person to fellowship with God and fellow believers with the same care and gentleness of a doctor restoring a broken bone.  You can literally be Jesus to that person, allowing Christ to restore one of His own back to Himself.

To learn more about God, read the Bible (Galatians 6:1-10, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12), talk to a friend who knows Jesus, visit a Church that teaches that Jesus is God.

Work. God started it with creation.  And He worked with excellence.  In Genesis He pronounced His work “very good,” but His work wasn’t finished.

When Adam and Eve sinned against Him, God set into motion a work He had planned since before the world began. This, God’s ultimate work, would bring sinful men back to Himself.  Jesus said, “My food (purpose) is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His Work.”  (John 4:34, NIV).

His finished work was on the cross where “with (His) blood (He) purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” (Revelation 5:9, NIV).

What good work does God require of us?

Jesus said, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” (John 6:29, NIV).  If you believe that Jesus was sent by God to die in our place, if you believe God raised Him from the dead to live forever as our friend and king, then invite Him into your heart and life today and let Him finish His work in you. He’s longing to hear from you right now.

To learn more about Jesus’ work read the Bible (John 4:27-42, 6:25-59, 17:1-26), talk to a friend who knows Jesus, visit a Church that teaches that Jesus is God.