Tag / Jesus

by The Monahans

The Best Gift Ever!

Ralphie   In 1983’s “A Christmas Story”, the affable and ever-scheming Ralphie conspires to assure he receives the “Holy Grail of all Christmas gifts,” the Red Ryder 200 shot range model air rifle BB gun with a compass in the stock, and “this thing which tells time.” Believing this to be the best gift a boy could ever receive, Ralphie, despite dire warnings of serious eyeball injury, will not be dissuaded, and goes to any length to achieve his quest. His father understands and ultimately makes Ralphie’s Christmas the best ever!

Just like A Christmas Story, I have my own tale of the best gift ever. It was the mid 1970’s, and we were the only family in the neighborhood who did not have their own snowmobile to ride. My oldest siblings had grown to maturity, somehow surviving adolescence without skipping across the white, winter landscape at high rates of speed, but for my younger brother and I, another snowmobile-less winter meant certain black-balling, consigning us to lonely days playing by ourselves indoors while all the other kids sped to and fro on their shiny snow-machines.

Our family tradition for Christmas at the time was to start the holiday festivities with a great family gathering and feast on Christmas Eve, after which we would attend midnight mass, before attempting to sleep despite our childish excitement for the glorious gift opening that would occur the next morning. Despite our later than normal bedtime, my brother and I were usually up at the crack of dawn, to the certain glee of my grandmother, and possibly the exasperation of my otherwise loving parents. This Christmas was no different, at least as far as my brother and I could tell.

For children, even teenagers, who are focused on the Christmas Day gift opening ceremonies, Christmas Eve family time can seem a bit lengthy, and dare I say, tedious. To add midnight mass to the evening seemed insufferable. I can only imagine we were not the most pleasant company for my parents as we sat among their friends and neighbors for the late night church service. I’m almost certain we were fidgety and prone to misbehavior, though I honestly don’t recall specifics. To us it seemed only the normal torture that must be endured prior to the delight of Christmas morning.

Christmas morning came that year, as it normally did, with gifts aplenty under the tree. I cannot recall with any specificity a single present that I opened, but the opening ceremonies took the usual form and, I think, the standard amount of time. And then it was over, all the gifts opened, all the wrapping paper properly placed in garbage bags ready for disposal. Life was pretty good…..and then my father uttered a sentence that remains more or less in my memory to this day, “There’s one more present I’m going to need your help with.” And we were instructed to follow him to the garage, which we did, with my mother and the rest of the family close behind.

And there it was. The greatest possible gift a kid in his teens could ever receive, a shiny Arctic Cat Panther snowmobile, with the 303 Wankel engine, perched upon a trailer, right there in our garage. It would be an understatement to say my brother and I were flabbergasted. I think the surprise and excitement my brother and I felt at that moment was beyond description. We had a snowmobile! But how? We had been in the garage during the festivities the night before. There was nothing in there then. How exactly did this snowmobile magically appear? Was Santa Claus real after all?

Arctic Cat Panther 2

It turns out Mom and Dad must’ve loved us more than we could imagine. So much so that they went to great lengths to purchase this perfect (and rather large) gift; and then enlist the aid of their close friends, Mr. and Mrs. Knight, who concealed the beautiful black sled at their house, and then delivered it to our garage while we squirmed and fidgeted during midnight mass. We came home and went to bed none-the-wiser. A flawless and extremely well-executed, and somewhat devious, plan. I never knew, before that morning, that my parents’ had such clandestine capabilities.

I have received many wonderful gifts in my many years on this planet, most of which I can no longer specifically remember, but none was as memorable as that Arctic Cat Panther snowmobile. But there is another gift I received that was even greater, and that is the gift of eternal life through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) And this gift is available to all, including any of you reading this now. Have you availed yourself of this gift? It’s absolutely free!

Merry Christmas to you all and may you experience the joy of our Savior during this holiday season. As always, feel free to drop us an email at ReignDropsBlog@gmail.com.

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by The Monahans

Wages

Romans 6_23 God’s rules are like the boundaries a parent sets for his or her children, they are for our benefit and protection (though, like a child, we often seem to think we know better). And when a child breaks their parents’ rules, they can usually expect consequences, some naturally occurring and some in the form of disciplinary measures. Similarly, there are consequences of breaking God’s laws.

But I’m not going to discuss the obvious consequences such as emotional pain, financial loss, broken homes, lost jobs, drug addictions, STDs, or any of the overly numerous ways we manage to mess up our own lives. (Proverbs 19:3 comes to mind: People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord.) No, for this entry I’m going to stick to the bigger picture – which is the eternal consequence of our sin.

Romans 6:23 says: “For the wages of sin is death…” This is an understandably difficult verse for many people. “How can a loving God sentence someone to death?” one is tempted to ask. I have had the same question myself. And this could lead us into some very deep theological territory, but I am going to attempt to avoid this with a simple analogy that will show that a god who doesn’t punish sin is actually an unloving god. Yes, it is precisely because God is so loving that He punishes sin.

How so?

Glad you asked. (Well, I assume you asked.) Let’s posit that a criminal has been apprehended and tried for an especially heinous crime against an especially defenseless victim. Perhaps it was a small child or an elderly couple who were viciously attacked, beaten, or killed. The prosecution’s case was airtight and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that this perpetrator was culpable. The jury has come to a unanimous verdict of guilty on all counts.

The day has come when the judge will hand down the sentence. The family of the victim stands in the courtroom, tightly holding hands, anticipating the justice they will finally receive. They nervously look at each other, sure of the outcome but wary none-the-less. The tragedy of this atrocious crime has taken its toll and the lives of the family members will never be the same. Finally, the judge enters the courtroom and announces his sentence: “No punishment. You’re free to go.”

Can you imagine the horror that would pass through the family and all those in the courtroom? No punishment? Wouldn’t that be the most nefarious, unloving act the judge could possibly take? Of course it would! A horrible crime demands an appropriate punishment. And it is no different with God. When we break laws, the only fair, just, and loving thing God can do is hand out punishment. And, eternally speaking, that punishment is far worse than the temporal consequences we inflict upon ourselves.

And lest we should begin to think that we are not guilty, let’s be reminded that “all have sinned, all fall short of the Glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) And let’s also not try to minimize our crimes, either, by claiming that God’s standards are unreasonably high. A simple reading the Ten Commandments reveals rules that are reasonable in every regard, and are clearly for our own good and for the good of those around us.

Yet we steal. We commit adultery (Jesus said that if we look upon another with lust we have committed adultery in our heart – Matthew 5:28); we murder (Jesus said if we even are angry with our fellow man we are subject to judgment – Matthew 5:22); we lie; we covet; we fail to honor our parents; we fail to hold God in proper esteem. If you disagree with the concept that you are a sinner, then you are being disingenuous because we all inherently know we are guilty. No, as is explained to us in Romans 1, God has made the truth plain to us through His creation, we all intrinsically know that God exists and, therefore, we are without excuse.

But there is good news, Romans 3 says, in verses 24-26: “Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.”

And that’s how loving God is. He sacrificed His own Son to pay the price for our sins so that we can be made righteous. The question is: have you availed yourself of God’s forgiveness? If you want to know how to be sure you are forgiven, please write us at reigndropsblog@gmail.com.

Until next time, God bless.

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by The Monahans

Happy Independence Day

fireworks-828643_960_720The fourth of July is a national holiday celebrating our independence from Great Britain. Now it was on the 2nd of July that we actually declared our independence, but in typical bureaucratic fashion, it took Congress two days of debate before they were able to come up with a declaration containing verbiage agreeable to all. Hence…we celebrate on July 4th, which is the date on the Declaration of Independence (many historians believe it was not actually signed until August 2, 1776). (Reference: “Top 5 Myths About the Fourth of July!“. History News Network. George Mason University. June 30, 2001.)

Whatever is the true and correct date of our independence, it is on the 4th of July that we celebrate as a country with parades, carnivals, patriotic displays, and, of course, fireworks. It is a time we spend with family and friends, relaxing at the lake, enjoying freshly grilled cuisine together, or any combination of fun-filled activities. Our independence as a country is certainly something worth celebrating, after all, the United States of America is the hallmark of freedom to the entire world!

Another lesser known fact about the 4th of July is that it is the day three of our past presidents entered their eternity. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, both signors of the Declaration of Independence who later became president, both died on the same day: July 4, 1826. And President James Monroe died on July 4, 1831. I bring up these facts for a simple reason, to remind us all that the 4th of July is as good a day as any to contemplate that one statistic that is beyond argument: we will all one day pass from this world.

And while death is never a fun topic for discussion, it is from this very holiday that we can all find reason to rejoice! Because when the United States of America became independent it led to the eventual adoption of our constitution (in 1789) and bill of rights giving us the promise of the free exercise of religion (the first amendment was ratified in 1791). And it is with this guarantee that we are free to investigate and pursue our own religious convictions.

So, on this Independence Day I want to challenge you to spend some time contemplating the simple reality that you will eventually die and there is no escaping that fact. And, while you are celebrating your freedom, I want to further encourage you to thoroughly investigate the validity of the Christian faith. Because if you do investigate with an open heart and mind, I am confident you will conclude, as tens of millions of others have, that Jesus Christ is real, that he surely walked this earth, that he was crucified on the cross, died a horrible and agonizing death as payment for our sins, and that he truly rose again.

In our independent country, we place a lot of faith in eyewitnesses. There were hundreds of eyewitnesses to the resurrected Christ. The apostles were so convinced of the reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection they endured beatings, jail time, and eventually death so that the message of salvation through faith in Christ would go out to all the world.

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” And, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Folks, if you haven’t already done so, why not make this 4th of July the day you secure your eternal home with Jesus. It’s really simple, all you have to do is ask him.

(For further reading, we are pleased to recommend “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel.)

To learn more about securing your eternity with Jesus Christ, please visit:

KnowGod.org

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