The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) is an anti-Taliban armed group active across several regions of Afghanistan. AFF is one of the main armed group
Reason for the Season…. By Shiny Eric
With Christmas approaching soon and another year coming to a close, its a good time to reflect on how we spent the year 2005 and contemplate on the New year resolutions we might have for 2006.
For some of us the passing year might have been full of happiness and contentment, for others perhaps things weren`t that joyful but whatever the case may be, if we are honest enough we can still count our blessings and be thankful for the little things which happened in our lives that brought joy to our hearts.
Christmas is a time of giving and sharing with others.
In the hustle and bustle of the season it`s so easy to get caught up in the festivity and the celebration and forget the actual reason for the season â€" the birth of Jesus Christ
Jesus came to the earth with a message of hope; our faith revolves around the saving work of Christ, Jesus reached out to the lost, the least, the last and the littlest.
And so it’s a good time for us to reach out to those who might be hurting or to those in need.
Jesus was there for the discouraged and the broken hearted, similarly we are to take His message to hope and restoration to the hurting world.
In the words of Henry Nouwen:
"Still we ask ourselves which persons in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not-healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is the friend who cares" 1
And that’s the kind of person we find in Jesus and that’s what the world is seeking and needs to know. Jesus came with a message of hope and restoration for the lost mankind. His faithfulness towards us is so immense that "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
Maybe this season we can all try and be a little more patient, show a bit more grace and be slightly less critical of others, the only one who has the right, the divine right to be critical is God Himself because only He has all the facts. If we want to be successful in winning people for Christ then we need to do what Jesus did, He showed grace to those around Him and accepted them just as they were and that led them to open their hearts to Him.
Something to think about…..
"God grant me
Serenity to accept the things
I cannot change
Courage to change
the things I can, and
Wisdom to know the difference"
MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
1. Henri Nouwen, from Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life (Notre Dame: IN: Ave Maria, 1974), in Seeds of Hope: A Henry Nouwen Reader,ed. Robert Durback (New York: Bantam Books, 1989), 129
For some of us the passing year might have been full of happiness and contentment, for others perhaps things weren`t that joyful but whatever the case may be, if we are honest enough we can still count our blessings and be thankful for the little things which happened in our lives that brought joy to our hearts.
Christmas is a time of giving and sharing with others.
In the hustle and bustle of the season it`s so easy to get caught up in the festivity and the celebration and forget the actual reason for the season â€" the birth of Jesus Christ
Jesus came to the earth with a message of hope; our faith revolves around the saving work of Christ, Jesus reached out to the lost, the least, the last and the littlest.
And so it’s a good time for us to reach out to those who might be hurting or to those in need.
Jesus was there for the discouraged and the broken hearted, similarly we are to take His message to hope and restoration to the hurting world.
In the words of Henry Nouwen:
"Still we ask ourselves which persons in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not-healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is the friend who cares" 1
And that’s the kind of person we find in Jesus and that’s what the world is seeking and needs to know. Jesus came with a message of hope and restoration for the lost mankind. His faithfulness towards us is so immense that "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
Maybe this season we can all try and be a little more patient, show a bit more grace and be slightly less critical of others, the only one who has the right, the divine right to be critical is God Himself because only He has all the facts. If we want to be successful in winning people for Christ then we need to do what Jesus did, He showed grace to those around Him and accepted them just as they were and that led them to open their hearts to Him.
Something to think about…..
"God grant me
Serenity to accept the things
I cannot change
Courage to change
the things I can, and
Wisdom to know the difference"
MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
1. Henri Nouwen, from Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life (Notre Dame: IN: Ave Maria, 1974), in Seeds of Hope: A Henry Nouwen Reader,ed. Robert Durback (New York: Bantam Books, 1989), 129
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