Bragging is Alright With God, Just Do it the Right Way

I was in church today and we sang a song during the Breaking of Bread meeting in the morning. It was "How Deep the Father's Love For Us". And as we were singing, the lyrics just touched me and made me think.

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that left Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Verse 5 stood out the most to me. I had come across a verse that mentioned that as well as I was looking through my Bible.

So, as the Scripture says,

"If people want to brag,

they should brag only about the Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:31

The part of Scripture that was mentioned there came from Jeremiah 9:24, which states

But if people want to brag,

let them brag that they understand and know me.

Let them brag that I am the LORD, 

and that I am kind and fair,

and that I do things that are right on earth.

This kind of bragging pleases me," says the LORD.

Sometimes we find that we want to brag about what we've done to show others how good of a person we are. We always want to brag about earthly things. Things we've accomplished and things we're involved with. But have we ever taken a moment and tell others about how great our God is? Just like how easy it is to brag about ourselves, we need to be able to brag about the LORD that way. It is quite hard since many people reject the LORD. But what is keeping us from bragging about how awesome our creator is? And when we brag about ourselves, do we then take a moment and thank our God for giving us that opportunity or talent in front of everyone? Our God has done more than is comprehendible for us. We've failed him numerous times and dishonoured him. We cursed him and yet he accepted us and forgave us. So why can't we brag about the God who loves us so very extremely much that he rejected his own perfect son just for us to have a way to be with Him? 

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Man

Man

We are made out of the dust,

and we will return to dust.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust

of the ground, 

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;

and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread 

Till you return to the ground,

For out of it you were taken;

For dust you are, 

And to dust you shall return. (Genesis 3:19)

We are made in the image of  God.

And as we have borne the image of the man of dust,

we shall also bear the image

of the heavenly Man. (1Corinthians 15:49)

Whoever sheds mans blood, 

By man his blood shall be shed;

For in the image of God He made man. (Genesis 9:6)

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. (Genesis 1:26)

So God created man in his own image, 

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

God knew them before he made the world, 
and he chose them to be like his Son
so that Jesus would
be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:29)

We are sinners.

For there is not a just man on earth who does not sin. (Ecclesiastes 7:20)

Truly,
this only I have found:
That God made man upright,
But they have sought out many schemes. (Ecclesiastes 7:29)

In the eyes of the Lord we cannot function independently.
Nevertheless, neither is man
independent of woman,
nor woman independent of man,
in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 11:11)

We do not deserve Him.
What is man,
that You should exalt him,
That You should set Your heart on him (Job 7:17)

We have a spirit and an understanding.
But there is a spirit in man,
And the breath of life of the Almighty
gives him understanding. (Job 32:8)

We betray
But Jesus said to him,
Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man
with a kiss? (Luke 22:48)
And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined,
but woe to that man by whom He is 
betrayed. (Luke 22:22)

Now I've talked about how "Man" is explained in the Bible, but there is also another Man that is spoken of in the Bible.


THE SON OF MAN
For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. (Matthew 18:11)

THE SECOND MAN
The first man was of the earth,
made of dust;
the second Man is the Lord from heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:47)

HEAVENLY MAN
As was the man of dust,
so also are those who are made of dust;
and as is the heavenly Man,
so also are those who are heavenly. (1 Corinthians 15:48)

THE MAN OF WAR
The Lord is a man of war;
The Lord is His name. (Exodus 15:3)


We betray the Son of Man,
we sin against the heavenly Man,
we curse the Alpha and Omega,
the Lamb of God,
the Son of God. 
And he still loves us,
forgives us,
cares and tends to us.
He treats us as if we are sheep and He is our shepherd.

I'm forgiven, 
because you were forsaken.
I'm accepted,
You were condemned.
I'm alive and well, 
Your spirit lives within me,
because You died and rose again.
Amazing love,
how can it be?
That You, my king would die for me?
Amazing love,
I know it's true.
It's my joy to honour You,
in all I do I honour You.


So what are YOU going to do for the God who forgot all you did to Him, who loved you when you didn't think it was impossible for anyone to love you,
who forgave you for the many times you sinned against Him?

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One Moment

Some people say that God is always just, merciful, loving, kind, and generous, but

There was one moment when God wasn't just, when God wasn't merciful, when he wasn't loving,

when he didn't show kindness and turned his face away, when he wasn't generous.

That moment was when he sent his son to die 

for the sins of man and suffer on the cross.

God did not show mercy to Jesus, 

he was not just, 

he wasn't loving and turned his face away,

he was not generous and kind to Jesus. 

When Jesus bore our sins upon himself, 

God could not bear to look upon his son.

He did this so that WE may be forgiven,

So that WE could live and praise him forever and be with him in eternity,

so that WE could have a second chance

so WE could walk with him like we once did.

He loved us SO MUCH that he allowed this to happen:

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How Much Is THIS Much?

Wow, just looking at that picture makes me sad and so full of joy at the same time. God was willing to send His Son, ONLY Son to come and suffer the worst death possible because he didn't want you to go to Hell. He wanted to provide a way but so many rejected.

 But he was wounded for the wrong we did;

he was crushed for the evil we did.

The punishment, which made us well, was given to him,

and we are healed because of his wounds.

We all have wandered away like sheep;

each of us has gone his own way.

But the LORD has put on him the

punishment

for all the evil we have done.

Isaiah 53: 5-6

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Merry CHRISTmas!

All the excitement  and gifts/stockings, the things we've wanted, the things we got, the dinner and the family, the desserts and the activities. The boxing day sales on the next day. With all these things in mind, we can forget the true meaning of Christmas, or we might remember, but it is not as exciting as the gifts or the events. It is just a story that you hear every year, or really, are you listening? Or thinking about the dinner and presents that you might be getting?

"But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not just an insignificant village in Judah. A ruler will come from you who will be like a shepherd for my people Israel. "
Micah 5:2

This verse is a prophecy of the event which we know as the Birth of Jesus. It says that a RULER will come from an INSIGNIFICANT village, not some high and mighty nation, Jesus our saviour came down to Earth not to be known as great and mighty but as one of us. Once you look at the details of the story, it is truly significant.

"The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be joy to all the people. Today your SAVIOUR was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord. This is how you you will know him: You will find a baby wrapped in pieces of cloth and lying in a feeding box."
Luke 2:10-12

This verse is kind of humorous, the angel told the shepherds that their SAVIOUR was born and that they will know who they're looking for is the SAVIOUR because he will be wrapped in pieces of cloth and he will be sleeping in a feeding box. First of all, how many people do you know were born in a feeding box wrapped in pieces of cloth? It would be more likely back then, but theses shepherds were looking for a SAVIOUR. You'd think that he would be born someplace amazing and expensive, but he was practically born in the worst possible place, pretty much. But if you look outside  the box, God had a greater plan for Him. If you just take a second to step into the shepherd's shoes, Jesus didn't sound that significant, but considering that it was an angel that delivered the message, that probably would've been enough for them.
I just thought I'd share this, I know it's kind of random, but I really hope that today I will be and that you'll be focusing on the real meaning of Christmas amidst all the excitement and family.

 Merry Christmas Everyone!

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