Kari Lee Fournier
Christmas brings true peace on earth
By Kari Lee Fournier
Such a peaceful scene. Oh, how we yearn for this type of peace and tranquility, along with the related feelings of joy and contentment.
We remember that God's joy that we seek is quite different than earthly happiness – the latter of which is fleeting...something we always seem to be chasing in circles. God's joy, rather, comes from a source deep within us...a source that is based upon complete faith in God's plan for those of us who believe that Jesus was the Son of God who died for our sins and rose again. We realize that all of the challenges that come our way have been filtered through our Lord's loving fingers.
Our faith grows day by day as we step out in moments of trust, little by little – watching our 'faith muscle' grow. This authentic type of faith, instilled in us by the Holy Spirit at our request, leads to true joy – not spurts of happiness, but pure and complete joy in Christ. Although we are sinners, He tells us to lean upon Him in all circumstances – so that even during life's heavy trials, we have an anchor in Him...a calm amidst the storms.
Lately, some are caught up in leaning upon man's wisdom – and not upon God's. They make up their own laws and system of justice – 'to each, his own,' is their motto. What a dreadful mistake to trade in the justice of the living God for a system of laws devised by a human mind – a mind that was created by the all-knowing and all-powerful mind of God. This is utter foolishness and only creates confusion.
God's son, Jesus Christ, came down to earth to die for our sins, to make it possible for us to come up by him in Heaven one day – truly, 'The Great Exchange.' Christ bridged the gap between God and man – out of pure and unconditional love for all of us.
We recently saw God's system of justice and forgiveness on live display amidst an exchange between a wounded United States veteran and a gentleman who had mocked that veteran on the program 'Saturday Night Live.' After an unspeakable ridiculing of this veteran, the veteran came on the show and graciously forgave the actor.
But that's not the end of this hero veteran's noble generosity. Shortly thereafter, that same actor posted something on Twitter that hinted of suicide. Amazingly, the previously-mocked veteran contacted the actor and comforted him, assuring him that "...everyone has a purpose in this world. God put you here for a reason. It's your job to find that purpose. And you should live that way."
What a breathtaking picture of Jesus' words being put into action – action that mirrored God's type of justice, whereby we love God and His ways, and then reflect those principles of love and forgiveness to our fellow man. We demonstrate this behavior even when – no, especially when – we do not even know these people with whom we may have disagreements on things such as current political matters or other types of views. Instead, we simply see these folks as 'children of God.'
As we struggle to bring peace and joy to this confused and turbulent world, let our minds float back to that cozy and miraculous, yet exceedingly humble, manger scene. We visualize a precious manger that actually held God in the flesh, along with His truth and justice – not the man-made type that doesn't work.
And as we look outside to gleefully discover that the snow has begun to softly fall...crisp, white flakes swirling all about...we joyfully recall that wonderful last verse in our beloved Christmas melody:
© Kari Lee Fournier
December 26, 2018
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"Hark! The herald angels sing,
'Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!'"
Such a peaceful scene. Oh, how we yearn for this type of peace and tranquility, along with the related feelings of joy and contentment.
We remember that God's joy that we seek is quite different than earthly happiness – the latter of which is fleeting...something we always seem to be chasing in circles. God's joy, rather, comes from a source deep within us...a source that is based upon complete faith in God's plan for those of us who believe that Jesus was the Son of God who died for our sins and rose again. We realize that all of the challenges that come our way have been filtered through our Lord's loving fingers.
Our faith grows day by day as we step out in moments of trust, little by little – watching our 'faith muscle' grow. This authentic type of faith, instilled in us by the Holy Spirit at our request, leads to true joy – not spurts of happiness, but pure and complete joy in Christ. Although we are sinners, He tells us to lean upon Him in all circumstances – so that even during life's heavy trials, we have an anchor in Him...a calm amidst the storms.
Lately, some are caught up in leaning upon man's wisdom – and not upon God's. They make up their own laws and system of justice – 'to each, his own,' is their motto. What a dreadful mistake to trade in the justice of the living God for a system of laws devised by a human mind – a mind that was created by the all-knowing and all-powerful mind of God. This is utter foolishness and only creates confusion.
God's son, Jesus Christ, came down to earth to die for our sins, to make it possible for us to come up by him in Heaven one day – truly, 'The Great Exchange.' Christ bridged the gap between God and man – out of pure and unconditional love for all of us.
We recently saw God's system of justice and forgiveness on live display amidst an exchange between a wounded United States veteran and a gentleman who had mocked that veteran on the program 'Saturday Night Live.' After an unspeakable ridiculing of this veteran, the veteran came on the show and graciously forgave the actor.
But that's not the end of this hero veteran's noble generosity. Shortly thereafter, that same actor posted something on Twitter that hinted of suicide. Amazingly, the previously-mocked veteran contacted the actor and comforted him, assuring him that "...everyone has a purpose in this world. God put you here for a reason. It's your job to find that purpose. And you should live that way."
What a breathtaking picture of Jesus' words being put into action – action that mirrored God's type of justice, whereby we love God and His ways, and then reflect those principles of love and forgiveness to our fellow man. We demonstrate this behavior even when – no, especially when – we do not even know these people with whom we may have disagreements on things such as current political matters or other types of views. Instead, we simply see these folks as 'children of God.'
As we struggle to bring peace and joy to this confused and turbulent world, let our minds float back to that cozy and miraculous, yet exceedingly humble, manger scene. We visualize a precious manger that actually held God in the flesh, along with His truth and justice – not the man-made type that doesn't work.
And as we look outside to gleefully discover that the snow has begun to softly fall...crisp, white flakes swirling all about...we joyfully recall that wonderful last verse in our beloved Christmas melody:
-
"Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
'Glory to the new-born King!'"
© Kari Lee Fournier
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