Christmas: Without It Earth Would Be More Of A Hell (Than What It Already Is!)

Christmas: Without It Earth Would Be More Of A Hell

(Than What It Already Is!)      By Kelly Durant 

Psalm 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

 

2. How many of you have seen a movie called, “Back to the Future”? It was about a young man that went back into time and then goes back into the future. There is one part where something didn’t happen the way it was supposed to in the past, and if he didn’t get things the way they were supposed to be, in his case it was the getting together of his parents to marry, then the world was going to become a different, horrible place, a living hell full of crime and no love! Thank God Michael J. Fox was able to fix it and make it right!

 

This imaginative scenario provoked me to reflect and ask myself this question, what would the world be like today if it had not been for the birth of the Son of God on Christmas over 2024 years ago? (More or less, Gregorian calendar has flaws) Imagine a world today without a deep concept of love, without Christ followers who are salt and light, those who are wonderful examples of Jesus’ love, compassion, and salvation? And without those helping others in need?

 

But because there are people who listen to the spirit to God, much peace has been brought into our world. In my youth we use to sing, “All we are sayin’, Is give peace a chance”! Well, there is peace in Jesus and He said in John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

 

3. Imagine a world totally hell bent on destruction without any leadings from God’s gentle Holy Spirit? Imagine a world without churches & social work helping the desperate, without missionaries bringing a better standard of life to the poor, imagine living without the wise teachings of Jesus Christ and most of all the fact that His message of the forgiveness for sins through repentance offers ‘whosoever will’ the opportunity to have eternal life? Eternal life was God’s Christmas gift to us! And this life is something money cannot buy, nor does anyone earn it by points with God! Jesus’ message changes lives totally!

 

The world today I speculate would be a thousand times more full of violent atrocities; it would be even worse dominated by many Satanic cults as were historically in Europe and the Americas with human sacrifices devastating innocent life with abuse, violence, and war. More wars would have prevented our technological progresses of electricity, transportation and more. Ignorance, oppression, and misery would be the norm as it was for thousands of years and is today in places where the gospel is suppressed and not allowed due to atheism and false oppressive religions. 

 

This picture of anarchy, chaos and violence is the way the world recently was in many places before European missionaries went to immigrate into the world on ships about 500 years ago. On the islands and in most continents, people had never heard the gospel of Jesus. It was the Christians who helped the world progress out of the dark ages of murderous false religions, cannibalism, demon worship, and slavery. 

 

Christians were the ones who founded all of the prestigious colleges of high learning in Europe and in the Americas. It was the Christians who developed the world scientifically, through great Christians like Galileo, Da Vinci, Pascal, and others. Christians also were the ones who fought for the freedom of slaves. Conservative Christians have been influential in and putting the brakes on rampant debauchery, alcoholism, prostitution, and vices which have destroyed the lives of spouses and children. 

 

4. Jesus has been the best gift this world has ever received! But let’s look at what attributes were involved in order for his birth to happen. First, there had to be a willingness to give. God, our Father, was willing to give His only Son from the Kingdom of heaven for us on earth. Jesus himself had to give of his own self to be willing to be born in humble circumstances and then to be horribly treated by those of this world, even those of his own flesh and blood. Take note of the mystical part, God prepared his coming by dozens of prophesies even a thousand years prior so that when Jesus came, all who are studious and wise would make no mistake in recognizing Him as the chosen Messiah, the savior of the world, worthy of our honor, worship, and service.

 

Jesus renounced heaven, his home which is a place of pure perfection, and love and peace, in order to come here to be on this hell of an earth to give Himself, and his life’s body as a human sacrifice in frail flesh on the cross, to die a horrible death so whosoever believes can be saved!  Only Jesus is the Prince of Peace!  

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 

The first thing that Christmas, (Jesus coming), should do to you is convict you (and me) to give everything of ourselves to serve Him, because he really is the only King of kings of all ages! No other being so loving powerful and peaceful is going to be born! You and I must give our lives to Jesus in gratitude, and this includes teaching our families to obey to Him, loving Him with all our hearts and minds, and souls because no other gift in return to Him is acceptable! 

 

5. Jesus gave the ultimate example of humility, he was born in a humble little manger from a poor family, and came not to be rich, nor powerful as the kings of earth are, but he came to serve and to give his healing power and life for all of us! 

 

There are many people in the world still that are ignorant of His love and they live by the total opposite of His example. They believe that Christmas is a time to be extravagant and party, and to ask, receive, and to get. I know as a child I got picky and demanding about what I wanted my mother to give me for Christmas and that was being spoiled and wrong. Being gift focused is a mistake and the opposite of what Christmas should be all about!

 

Since I had no father in the home, my mother, always tried to make it up to me by giving me many extra toys at Christmas time. But the toys were fun only for a few days before the reality of the world’s brokenness would come back. All that I had received did not bring me a lasting happiness. The newness disappears within days! 

 

6. It was later in my life that I learned the joy of giving after I dedicated my life to the Savior, the one who started the Christmas celebrations. If you want happiness then give Jesus to others! 

 

Acts 20:35 

I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. It is more blessed to give than to receive! One more time… Jesus said, it is more blessed to give than to receive! 

 

We need to teach ourselves and our children to give to others so that neither we nor they just think about their own fun and own selves at Christmas time.  Give your time in service to God, give your food, your money, your will, everything to serve Jesus; and if you do, then you will be following the words and example of Jesus and you will be celebrating what Christmas is really about! 

 

7. Today there is a serious problem of people trying to take Jesus & God out of Christmas. They say, “Happy Holidays”, and across the nation not everyone say “Merry Christmas” anymore. This nation is losing it’s peace and power! From the office of people in power, from the people in huge business corporations, even from your own families people are minimizing God & Jesus and the “reason for the season”!  People have become so materialistic and worried about gifts and the details of parties that the people of this nation, and of most others as well, have forgotten who the party is for and how He wants those at His party to be! Which is to be in Christian love celebrating His birth. There is no logic, and it is a huge insult, if Jesus is being left out of His own party! 

 

What should come to my mind about Christmas is that it brings a message of hope and salvation to a corrupted dying world! What did God have all the angels announce to the humble poor shepherds when Jesus was born? They all declared, “Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth and good will towards men”! 

 

God showed his love and favor to all of us in such a miraculous strange way with a virgin, with angles, with shepherds, with kings from the orient, with animals in a manger. Jesus has brought you and me a new hope, a new life, a life of peace, an internal peace that gives us strength. 

 

8. God gave us His good will and peace. God gave us His goodness and without Jesus there is no goodness and peace! You and I have a deep obligation to honor Jesus as the angels did, and know that the way we honor him is by sharing and obeying His words, and giving as He gave. Without Jesus people are beasts, full of jealousies, violence, adulteries, & selfishness. If we forget God at Christmas and every day then we will end up as  described in Psalm 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

 

I have travelled a lot like many of you and seen this, that the communities that are authentically Christian with a variety of Christian churches have much less violence and crime and more peace than the rich corrupted materialistic dying mega-metropolis Gotham city hell holes in our world today.

 

When we pause to remember the birth of Jesus, we are giving ourselves and the world a fresh hope that there is someone much better and more beautiful than ourselves that can solve all problems by bringing peace, saving our souls, and giving us a hew hope and perspective on how to live.  Christmas unequivocally indicates that by accepting Jesus we accept love and peace and the fact that you and I must change everything about our lives in order to model this love, humility, peace, and giving of one’s self! 

“Know Jesus, Know peace!” But “No Jesus, no peace!”

Are You a Peacemaker?

Are You a Peacemaker?                      Matthew 5:9       By Kelly Durant

2.Missionaries have always fascinated me. Today our schools teach only secular, sterile, and usually considerably boring history dealing only with politics and power. But the real interesting stories of history are those about people who went to faraway places for the first time like David Livingston, the Scott who was the first white man in Africa in the 1800’s. He was almost killed several times but saved by miraculous means; you should read his stories! How many of you have heard of him or read about him? Not long ago everyone knew of him and his adventures, along with Hudson, Muller, and Wesley. 

One story worth repeating from the 1950s is the Jim Elliot story. He was one of 5 missionaries that were making friends with the Quechua Indians in deep the jungle of Ecuador which had never had any outside contact with modern man before. For weeks they dropped gifts from their airplane but when the day came to land and meet them they were not received well. All five were killed but here is what I want to emphasize: when authorities examined the area later it was discovered the missionaries had loaded guns but they had chosen not to use them! How Christlike that was! It was in Elliot’s diary that it was better to die for Jesus than to kill for him. He was a man of peace. 

The most famous quote from his diary which I love is this one: “You are no fool to give a life you cannot keep, to gain a love you will never lose”.  Over time the Indians did convert, TTL! 

3. Blessed are the peacemakers! In the end only Jesus’ way and heart changing words brings the peace to the human race. When the angels announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, they said, “Peace on earth” (and goodwill to men)! As the old bumper stickers that use to appear on cars reads: Know Jesus, know peace, No Jesus, no peace. 

Why am I preaching on peace today? Like it or not all of us seem to be exposed to an abundance of people who do not practice peace. Some people have the worldly idea they have to always fight for their own and make their point stick not caring if they are disrupting the peace and harmony of the larger group. I thought I should address this issue because amongst ourselves at times everyone experiences inner family or extended family conflicts. These happen inside and outside the church. 

James 4:1 (MSG) 4 1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.

4. Many opinions on current events are circulating right now and some confused Christians even believe that God’s justice includes doing something harmful to others to make a point. Romans 3:8 And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just. The irony is that even a few so called Christian Reverends vow for justice by demanding things, but justice is never achieved through mob rule, railing words, or violence. Violence usually has a way of being counter-productive as it just brings about even more violence until someone forgives and stops the cycle of revenge. Romans 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

Regarding character and how to have a controlled one, concerning how we should behave, let’s examine Jesus most famous opening statements to everyone for all generations: 

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Those who are not full of themselves and proud are ready for heaven)

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. (Those who are empathetic, and offer consolation to others in pain get comfort returned to them)

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. (The humble, non-aggressive people will win)

 

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (People who want God’s way of doing things)

 

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (People who forgive & love as they want to be loved)

 

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. (Those who are not doing anything corrupt, those who are being holy as God is holy)

And now the emphasis of today:

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (So agitators by default are the children of who?)

 

5. Jesus Sermon on the Mount was influencing thousands towards the stopping of the cycle of violence in his day. His entire message was always of peace and of loving your enemies, a feat considered impossible by some. Everything about his message and example was diametrically opposed to the lifestyle and message of all so called glorious oppressive dominions. Recall at that time how badly the Hebrews wanted revenge on the cruel enslaving Romans. 

 

Jesus infused a diametrically contradictory governance model into the world on how to conquer by meekness and peaceful means. It was like pouring vinegar on baking soda, the outcome was a reaction that neutralized the harbored bitter properties. This example eventually served as the means to overcome the aggressive Roman Empire with the new Constantine Holy Roman Empire.  In the words of an oriental saying, the teeth are hard and fall out, but the tongue is soft but remains.

 

So why do we have agitators today trying to stir up division however they can? Do you recall the phrase, “Divide and Conquer”, all of these tactics are Satan’s same old game! The recent racial wars, class warfare, and religious disunity are a product of the obvious concerning politically motivated people: They have their own personal gain agenda, and they feed the inner carnal debauched appetites of others for vengeance, violence, and power. 

 

6. Contrary to this there are outstanding examples of people who changed the world for the better and brought peace to many and even to entire nations.

Let’s look at just a few of these modern day peace heroes and peacemakers who were blessed and blessed others. Who has been successful in diffusing race and economic power differences preventing massive deaths in our own century?

 

One of them is Mahatma Gandhi.  The oppressive English lost the battle with him because his way of protesting was by peaceful means, even fasting until the violence and killing stopped. India won independence from England in 1947 after he had protested many times by peaceful means. Non-violence worked because the world felt sorry for the suffering Indians under the English because the violence used against them was excessive. Gandhi attributed the Bible and the Sermon on the Mount as being a big influence in his life.  An International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2 October on the birthday of Mohandas Gandhi to celebrate the effectiveness of the victory won from the outcome of his peaceful protests. 

 

7. Another hero of peace is Nelson Mandela. You are aware how oppressive and segregated the country of South Africa was and unjustly he served 27 years in jail. When he was released having fame due to his writings and support of being an anti-apartheid  freedom fighter for the oppressed, he was exalted to being voted in as the President of the country. On his release he immediately said he was called to be a humble servant and he pleaded for all tribes to unite and to not take revenge on anyone. He made a court system in which if the white oppressors were to come voluntarily and confess their sins against the people and ask forgiveness, forgiveness was granted. Quote, “For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy, then he becomes your partner”. This outraged all the African blacks that wanted revenge on whites for their crimes, but due to these peaceful measures, he prevented even more bloody massacres from happening. May God bless him in his final days on earth, amen? He turned 95 last Thursday 7-18-13!

 

8. Americans also recognize one of their own peacemakers, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: a modern day hero of civil rights and peace. He spoke at protests emphasizing peace and due to his marches, many laws were changed for and more equal rights were achieved for Afro-Americans. Quote, (I Have a Dream Speech) ”With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together…” I think it is a pity his Christian principles are not emphasized enough. When we compare Dr. MLK to others such as Malcom X, Luis Farakan, and other current voices, his gospel of influence outweighs in all areas.

 

9. When we think of peace what verses come to mind?  

Peace emanates from a person pleasing God.

Proverbs 16:7

When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

The benefits of being a peaceful person brings on God’s blessings and even good health.

 

Peace comes from knowing God’s word and practicing it.

Psalms 119:165

Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them.  Someone could offend you and it will not even phase you because you have your value in God, not in opinions.

 

Peace is directly connected to Jesus and the Holy spirit.  

Galatians 5:22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

 

People who have peace almost always have a face (happy and calm) that reflects that peace. In our case as Christians, we bring peace (or take it back) according to how people receive Jesus message. Matthew 10:13

If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.   You should be bringing peace to everyone everywhere you go! (If they deserve it!)

 

10. The question today is, are you a real peacemaker as Jesus had intended? I have heard some people in the past take pride in saying, “Oh I’m just brutally honest, I’m just a firey Irish, or I love a good fight”, but these qualities are of the world and not of God. Some people always love going against others just because they enjoy seeing people get bothered and red in the face. 

 

Today God is calling you and me to influence everyone with a peace that is supernatural!  A peace that is divine in nature overwriting your human nature! 

 

Peace means not speaking loud to express your point trying to dominate every conversation because you believe you know more than others. That is pride. Some people even argue Bible?! 

 

Peace means saying, “Hi”, and talking to a person whom you feel has offended you in the past.

 

Peace implies letting others have contrary opinions to yours, and quite often opinions really do not really matter so much from either you or others! But of course Christians should not tolerate people who offend God’s truth in the Bible so when exposed to moral or blasphemous words, practices, or beliefs, we must speak the truth even if it does disrupt the peace.

 

11. There is a time for peace and a time for war according to Ecc. 3: 8  A time to love,

    And a time to hate;

A time of war,

    And a time of peace.

One must evaluate what fight God wants you to pursue though. If you are standing up against hypocrisy, and against sin as Jesus did, then you are correct to disturb the peace and to bring on a war cry provoking conviction in the hearts of evil doers.

 

In the world today, however, beware that many fights are created only as diversion tactics so someone can pull off some bigger scandal and not be noticed since all the focus is on the hyped conflict. Our world is full of political division. By praying (and being watchful) the Holy Spirt can reveal many truths to you so you fight for the right things at the right time.

 

Jesus chose his fight against sin, but not with the drunks and harlots who would easily recognize their wrongs against God, but He disturbed the peace with the religious hypocrites who were damaging the faith of others by misrepresenting the character of our God of love, peace, and mercy.

 

12. Does your face reflect peace to those around you? Peace-making is a lifestyle that can only be lived out by a person who is filled with Jesus peace and the Holy Spirit.  John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

 

If you are full of Jesus, then you are full of His peace! Will you start becoming more peaceful as of today? 

 

Final prayer…by St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.