“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; (Exodus 20:4, NIV)
Good Morning and Merry Christmas. Come on in and take a seat. The coffee is brewing and there are pastries and donuts in the back. Today we have a dark roast from Columbia and a special Christmas blend that has hints of peppermint mixed with chocolate. We are so glad each of you could make it for the Christmas Edition of the Coffee Corner. For those w
ho are new, this is just a little blog thingy where I, Pastor Jonathan, ramble a little and try to bring encouragement and hope to those both in the system and some outside the system. It’s a little corny at times, hopefully a little funny and I pray a little informational. And this is all brought to you courtesy of Cellblock Ministries and the man in charge my good friend Bubba.
Any hoot. What a year it has been. Just crazy, hasn’t it been? In one way or another I think all of us have felt the strain of being locked-up in one form or another. Yes, I know, some of us are a little more restrained than others. However, I think those on the outside are getting a very small taste of what it is like for those on the inside. And we concur it stinks. But unprecedented times have called for unprecedented actions. I am not here to make judgement on whether our leaders are right or wrong in their decisions. I am sure we all have our opinions. But no matter our point of you I think we can all agree for one reason or another, this has been one trying year.
The future for many of us seems uncertain and some of us have had some close calls with our health. I think all of us have felt a loss in connection with COVID-19. This year has been a reminder how much we, as humanity, are not in as much control as we would like to believe and that unsettles us. And yet this time of year is a reminder that as a Christian we do not have to fear the future for we know the last chapter has already been written and God promises that as long as we believe in him and follow his ways that we will live forever with him.
During this time of year we are reminded of this promise through our remembrance of what happened in a stable in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago. At that time God himself, became the most vulnerable among us when he sent his only Son, Jesus, to be born of a virgin. It was not a grand entry like we would suppose God to come. It was not with pomp and circumstance befitting a king. Instead he came unceremoniously as a baby in a stable to an unwed, rather poor, virgin girl. This set the tone for all of Jesus’ ministry as he reached out to the most unwanted, the untouchable’s, the vagrants, the poor and desperate and promised them that one day they would all be prince and princesses.
In the birth of Jesus we find the HOPE we all need in this uncertain time. No matter what befalls we can endure for we know that this world is not all there is. And that God cares for us so much that he sent his only son to not only be with us but to become one of us. God knows all of our temptations, suffering and pains for through Jesus he has experienced them all. Our hope is not just a wish but I firm belief in what Jesus said is true and what he promised will happen.
Through our HOPE we have found JOY. Joy everlasting in the knowledge that we are children of a ever-living, ever-present God that knows us. This joy that we have is not a fleeting happiness. Instead it is a constant unexplainable joy that springs from our inner most core. This joy resides in our soul so that no matter what happens to us we are always thankful and optimistic. Joy unspeakable as they tell us.
When we combine both our HOPE and JOY what we experience is PEACE. Peace that passes all understanding. We find contentment in all circumstances. Peace comes when we have faith in what Jesus told us. As we learn in Hebrews 11:1 “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see” (NLT). We can only experience this type of peace when we are a committed relationship with Christ. But oh what a blessing this peace is. And the interesting thing is when we have this type of peace it brings us joy and hope for tomorrow and the more joy and hope we have the more peace we experience in our lives. See all of these are connected to one other. To truly experience one or more of these will lead us to experience all of them.
When we experience HOPE, JOY and PEACE what we will find is we experience LOVE. And not just any love but a heavenly love from our God and savior. How much God must have loved us when he sent his son to be born. How the love he had knowing that not only was he sending his son to be born but ultimately his son would die the most horrible death we could imagine. And this all was done because he loves us so very much. And it all started in the stable, in a feeding trough.
When we experience this type of love, it truly changes us from the inside out. When we allow ourselves to feel the love of God, we cannot contain it and it will flow out of us to the lives of others.
And when LOVE begins to flow out of us people will see our HOPE, JOY and PEACE as our LIGHT will shine brighter and brighter. But it is not our light but the LIGHT of the one who lives inside of us, JESUS. His light shines through us through our love for others. When we love we are able to spread hope, joy and peace to those around us. Our family, our friends, our neighbors will see something different in us and will begin to wonder what that is. Our light will point their way to a little babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, in a manger over 2,000 years ago. Oh what a blessing.
So as we look to Christmas this year, no matter where you find yourself, remember what all God has promised you. He promises to take away all your sin, to bring you back into right relationship with him and to live with him forever. The unexpected will still happen in this life but we can have faith that one day all our pain, all our suffering, all our hurt will be taken away and we will be made new. We will have eternal life with God who loves us more than we can ever imagine, on a new Earth and he will walk with us for eternity.
If you do not know this HOPE, JOY, PEACE, LOVE and LIGHT and want to experience all of this and more it is not that hard. God promises to give all of this to you if you believe in his son, Jesus and believe he came to Earth, lived, suffered, died and rose again for you. That through his death and resurrection he took your sin and paid the price. All you gotta do is believe this and confess your sins and then try to follow his ways and you will experience this and so much more.
If you need any more help in this please seek a clergy member wherever you are or reach out to Cellblock ministries or even another Christian. We would all be glad to help you experience all the HOPE, JOY, PEACE, and LOVE that you can handle so that you can be a beacon of LIGHT to those around you. During this Christmas season take some time to remember Jesus and what this season is truly about. The only true gift that matters is the one that was born 2,000 some years ago.
All of us here at the Coffee Corner and Cellblock Ministries wishes each of you to have a Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year.
Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Jonathan
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