Right now, in this time of restricted isolation; what are your hopes? Do you hope not to get sick, or are you worried for enough toilet paper? Or are you actually in fear?

Fear, is the word to describe this event of time. But do we have to be afraid? The birds in the air are still fed, the stores are still open (though some shelves are empty) Our hearts are still beating… Farmers are still preparing for food supply, hospitals are still available, and trees are still growing. The sun still comes up. Rain provides us for spring: a time of planting.

Being ‘locked up’ may feel hopeless, though we have cloths on our backs and roofs over our heads. Now, my dear people, if you wonder what you can do with your ‘spare’ time: turn off the TV and dive into a book. For example: the Bible. It opens your eyes and will feed you with hope. Because hope is found in Jesus. He see’s us now, He see’s our struggles, frustrations. Pray for guidance, for strength and hope. Leave it with Him; He carried all our burdens for us on the cross. That works been done already. So let us now, take up that cross and bear with Him.

He wants you: He doesn’t want your attention towards the media; He doesn’t want you to side-track. No He wants your attention. Be ready, always! Be prepared, not only to survive, no be prepared. Because sooner or later He’ll show up. Either at the end of God’s timing in this world or at the time when you take your last breath.

This virus-lockdown is a warning, and not a small one. Do not fear; do not hide your hearts. Dear friends: Hope for tomorrow and may He guide you in your steps. For what tomorrow brings will happen anyways, but what will happen now, may change your life: Confess, believe and don’t give up, because He is not either! His love endures forever.

‘But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.’ (Isaiah 40:31)

‘Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may bound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ (Romans 15:13)

Fear is what is being created by this virus. Whether it’s man-made or not. Fear is what the devil wants you to feel, he’ll do anything to keep your attention away from the Truth. So when our governments don’t allow us to worship together anymore in large gatherings, it does not mean to give up. And we shouldn’t be afraid of tribulations if we’d keep at it. It’s God who reigns.

The church doors may get shut; But God’s door is wide open!!!

Please take the time to also read October 13, 2019’s blog called: H.O.P.E.

Christmas time, what does that have to do with the bread of life, you may wonder… God send manna from heaven to Moses and his people, really a fore-scene of what He’ll send from heaven for what we celebrate with Christmas. Jesus’ birth. Manna, bread, Jesus; send from heaven. See the connection? Now Jesus explains to us in John 6 that and why He is the Bread of Life.

‘Then Jesus said to them, ”Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives His life to the world.” (John 6:32-33)

Do you want this everlasting food for life?

Jesus follows; “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)

You may or may not have plenty of food and drinks in your cupboards. Or a special meal planned for Christmas… Food is a necessity to live. A life on this earth. But how about the life after we pass on? The necessity for everlasting food for life? Isn’t that what we really need to celebrate? This glorious and gracious coming of Christ to the earth to deliver. Deliver from sin and evil… And what does He tell us to do?

‘And this is the will of Him who send Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.’ (John 6:40)

The answer is clear; see and believe! But see what? Jesus in person? No, seeing the gospel, which is told throughout the Bible. What is the gospel? Christmas! Jesus birth, His life sacrificed for our sins, His life sacrificed on the cross later on in His life. Then what, you say? Believe… believe the gospel! Is it really that simple? Basically yes… He didn’t come for nothing… for a celebration ones a year that may bring worldly treasures, that in the end, you can’t take with you. The only thing you can bring is that gospel of seeing and believing. Treasured in your heart, soul and mind.

So this Christmas, what food will you celebrate on? Sure, you can have a nice meal and be filled, but may you also be filled with the everlasting food for life; Jesus Christ.

A last resort for justice. Where the judge may serve for decades and put a final judgment on cases presented. Years of study and court related jobs, building up the title of judge, even more so for the Supreme Court.

Supreme stands for ‘highest’ or ‘above’. You may feel like knowing where this is going… But who is the Highest, the most Above? It’s God, and yes, He, as a matter of fact, is our Judge. Our Judge will have all of us stand in His Supreme Court on the Day of Judgment. Believer and unbeliever. No way for escape or to get around it. Face to face, you and God. No judging panel, no force, but you’re present. Together with your bag full of a life time events and sins. Time for explanation? No worries, He already knows. Time for an appeal? Not necessary, it will happen then and then only. Time to answer? Are we to speak up for ourselves? I believe we answer with our life; I mean our way of living, thinking and worshiping God Himself. What about our sins? Do we drag them along in His court? It depends… it’s quite simple actually; do you believe in Jesus or not? Have you dedicated your life to Him? Because on that day in God’s court, there will be an Advocate; for you! Yes, Jesus Himself, but when you’ll meet your Maker face to face and you haven’t had that Advocate come into your life before, I’m afraid you’re too late… He’s already advocating now, for all believers. Pleading for your freedom. All our cases of sin dealt with, that is, if we’ve asked for His forgiveness and strength towards no repeat.

You see, Jesus Himself was the case of the Supreme Court at the time He was on earth. Blameless, free from any fault, He was sent into destruction. Is that fair? Was that necessary? Yes, it was God’s will and plan. Because without Jesus’ sacrifice and now being our Interceder, we would all be sentenced to death… Not one of us can join God in His Kingdom without the saving help of Jesus. So did He die and got that sentence on the cross for nothing?! Or are you willing to give up your own ego and except Jesus handshake to have Him plead for you? Right now? Or are you keeping off and one day be too late when you meet Him face to face…

‘Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.’ (Psalm 100)

Did you know the word ‘halloween’ came from the word ‘hallowed’? Which means holy. Halloween, a much “celebrated” day every year. But is it really Satan’s birthday? Or is it just for fun, candy and dress-up time? We personally don’t celebrate it. This time of ghost and spirits chasing is alarming to me. Are people realizing what they participate in? And is it then not a matter of believing it? Why believe the bad only and not look for the other side for the good?

Why am I writing this? Well Ephesians 5 verse 11 says; ‘And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.’ Bring it to light as the scripture follows. The light as in Light; Jesus. He’s not a ghost; He became man and went to heaven to intercede for us. Now we do receive the Holy Spirit. (Or a different name, Holy Ghost.) Is it a ghost then? Well you can’t see it, but it’s there, likewise you can’t see the angels, but they are also there.

I can tell you this: spirits are real, but you don’t want to mess around with them. Since Satan dwells among some of them. And spiritual matters should be left to God, not to us, man. He is in control of it all, He is the Holy Spirit.

So why the dark-death themed day? Why announcing these things to small children? Why scare them off and then treat them with candy? Why is it that these so called worldly holidays/events are misleading or taking us away from the Truth? Now that’s the Devil’s work. And that’s why we don’t celebrate halloween. We are not supporting his work by giving him a hand. Believe me, I love to see kids dressed up and handing out candy to good behavior. But why in such a circumstance?

The Lord’s prayer teaches us; ‘hallowed be Thy name.’ His name only. He’s not playing tricks on you, He only wants to treat! He’ll gift you with his spirit, the Holy Spirit. Who will dwell in you and will be hour helper. He gifted us with the life of His only Son, Who forgives all our sins. He’ll gift us with eternal life, to celebrate His glory.

So how much more do we want or need? Or rather have a bag full of candy, which will be gone in a few days. Memories of scary scenes that won’t make you fall asleep. Your child’s life engraved with dark impressions…

While in the meantime the Light is waiting to hand out His treats.

Recently I came across this quote; H.O.P.E.; Hold on Pain Ends. Very powerful few words. We all deal with pains from one way to another. Hope is all we need. But hope in-and what? What is Hope? Trust, full expectations. As a Christian we base hope on the eternal love. To share a piece of Bible text that really sums up the faith and hope: Romans 5: 1-5.

‘Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.’

To come back to my last piece of writing ‘Feeling Cursed’, tribulations we all face, but one more then another. How much can we handle? How do we persevere? Hope; hope, trust and expect; in the promise of God. Who stands above all, because His Love endures forever. We can blame Him for choices we made, but that’s not fair. God gave us the freedom to make our own choices, and how they are rooted and how they are made can be based on self-protection or on hope and trust in His love.

We all know it all ends for us someday, but is this really true? End, it’s over, nothingness. But then what meaning does hope have? Remember; Pain Ends. But what will begin? Love. Eternal Love. For God there is no beginning and no end. He is just that; ‘I am the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.’ (Revelation 22:13) But He promises eternal life to those whom believe; ‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal Life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Romans 6:23) Christ put on our sins, our poor choices upon Himself for us whom believe.

So eternal means; no end. No end! Endless love; no pain, no sorrow, no hard choices, no hard situations, no. Just joy in love. So hope! Hope in Him, He’ll set you free!

Cursed; not the most inviting word. Where does it come from? Where are its roots? All evil comes from the Devil; he is trying to make our lives as much miserable as possible. Why? And why more to one person then another? Satan is willing to break a person, to keep you as far away from hope as possible. When terrible things happen in your life, you go through a period you may feel numb. After a while you realize you need to keep living. And you find the strength to do so, but over and over again you face bad situations. How much can a person handle? The word ‘crush’ is very close to ‘curse’, they work together, or more clear; Satan uses this. Trying to crush whatever hope you still have. And why more to one person to another? We are all made unique, the one person can handle more then another, but we all have a ‘crush-point’. And that’s exactly what the Devil is after. He doesn’t want you to be happy, to have hope, hope in a good future. Why he does that? Because he’s cursed himself, cursed by God Himself. Wanting to be like God. But no one can be, because there’s only One God. So thrown out of God’s Heaven, Satan’s after you… not wanting you to have hope, not wanting you to be happy. Because he knows what happiness can be like and he’ll never receive it himself.

It’s in these dark, bad situations that there are two forces pulling on you. You might not realize, but you’re getting pulled on your arms one way and your legs the other. Somewhat powerless; But! In the middle is your heart and it’s capable of choosing direction… You’ll either choose the direction of self-centered; I can do it all by myself, just like the Devil thinks and wants you to think like too. Or you’ll choose to give in and leave your live depending on Jesus. ‘The One who became a curse for us.’ (Galatians 3:13)

Here you might think; here we go again, another ‘Jesus-freak’. But let me tell you, you may feel like you are cursed, but Jesus actually was cursed, cursed for our sins, not His own, but ours. So when you getting pulled by two forces, the one way is screaming for your destruction, the other for hope and yes, delivery from your destruction! This is a choice we all have to make in life, for one day total destruction will come to this earth and to the Devil too. But for those who have faith, have eternal rest. Eternal rest!! No more pain, no more crushing situations. Just love and joy! You’re not alone; we all have to testify one day. And may we together share our hope and share in eternal love and joy through Jesus! ‘That we may receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.’ (Galatians 3:14)

‘Jesus said: Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for such is the kingdom of heaven.’ (Matthew 19:14) Believe like a child, it’s not hard. A child believes pretty much anything it hears… Just choose the right force, don’t get stuck in the middle, remember your heart being there? If the two forces both pull really hard, your heart will split in two; broken. And guess who wins then…

I do so hope and pray that you might find eternal rest, do not let your heart be broken, but fix it with hope, love and joy. Through Jesus!!

When you are not talking, you are still speaking. Your whole body language shows. An important organ; your eyes. There can be a twinkling, they can be sad or even crying. They can roll or look away. All emotions that are leading from the mind and soul.

I’m taught that when you talk to someone, you must look them in the eyes. It’s true, they can tell you so much… The Bible tells us in Mathew 6:22-23 the following: ‘The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness, how great that darkness!’ When you’re angry, you’ll eyes most likely will show this darkness… solution; get over being angry… But this passage means that when you’ll walk in the Light, that is with Jesus, you’re eyes will show! How amazing! When they are in darkness it’s like a hunger, a yearning, searching for the better, searching for light! When you turn of the lights, it takes a bit before your eyes are used to the darkness. You’ll only see silhouettes, so it’s like you know that it’s there, but you can’t do anything with it. When the lights turn on you’ll see clearly. It’s like that with faith, its eye opening. When God, through the Holy Spirit turns on that light in your heart, and you keep it burning, instead of turning it off, you’ll accept the faith of Jesus in your life.

A lot can change in a blinking of an eye… it’s been said that we blink our eyes 15 to 20 times per minute, that’s up to 1200 times per hour! And it’s so true that our focus shifts so many times as well. Now we are told that at the last trumpet we shall all be changed, (1 Corinthians 15:52) this is a mystery, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye… ‘For behold, He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him.’ (Revelation 1:7) Every eye shall see Him! Every eye, even the blind will see and even the eyes that pierced Him, who denied Him! That will be a lot of eyes! How then, will your eyes talk? In light or in darkness? In calm, reassuring Truth or angry, uncontrolled bitterness?

We all grieve one way or another. These periods in life are full of sorrow and pain. And often we ask ourselves the why question… We even ask God for answers… For He knows all, but He won’t always let us know why. And why is that?! Maybe it’s to keep us from more grieve or it’s just that in His big plan we are not yet revealed the why’s. This can be very frustrating, but also comforting. Comforting in a way in which all things are in His hands.

Why the ‘grieve, from old to new’ in these festive days? Because it’s in these times we are surrounded by those we love and are not with us anymore… In my life, I’ve had a number of close people pass away from life. And although I’ve grieved them all different, it still comes down to grieve. I can be very emotional when it’s about the events of life, shedding tears is something deep and meaningful.

Recently we were reading the story of Jesus being lost as a 12 year old. (Luke 2) Joseph and Mary were in deep sorrow of where He could be found. It took them 3 days to find Him! So I thought, at Jesus death it was also 3 days later until He raised up from the death. It seems like a foreshadowing, but only to find Him alive and well! Mary and many others were weeping over Jesus death, while He was overcoming the dead to bring new life for those who believe in Him. This is the message from old to new. New life is waiting after we pass! One day all old will be new, all tears will be wiped away, and to think of all; by the Great King Himself! All glory and honor are to Him, He gave His life. This revealed to us through the Holy Spirit. May you also find comfort in His love for us in the years to come!

It’s amazing how God’s timing works. Our Christmas card has the theme Peace to the World and our kids Christmas school program’s theme was about Peace…

‘For He Himself is our Peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.’ (Ephesians 14-18)

Isn’t the whole gospel summed up in this piece of scripture? Jesus birth was to break down the wall of separation. At the time of His birth the country was in great separation, as everyone had to go back to its city of birthing roots. It was Caesar Augustus who wanted to account for all of the people in his kingdom, but God was doing the same!! By sending His only Son, for Him to account for those in need of a Redeemer. He broke down our walls, He is the only One who can stand between God and sin, us sin-born people. He fulfilled the law to give us peace.

Now currently I’m reading the book of Job. In his depressing time he also is looking for peace. He even said in Job 9 verse 33; ‘Nor is there any mediator between us, who may lay his hand on us both’ Job was looking for Jesus! And because Jesus wasn’t born yet, Job had no hope and peace no more. How depressing that must have bin! Although Jesus did not come down to earth yet, He was already with God and the Spirit. His coming was revealed in the book of Isaiah and His coming was known by God all the time already. This Prince of Peace is our know Mediator. And that Job didn’t know Him yet, was a big test for him. I don’t blame Job, because He simple didn’t know.

So, peace, what does it mean? Freedom from disturbance, quiet and calmness. These are quality’s Jesus has, and what He can give to you! He can give you a peace of mind that is rest for your soul… He does this all through the Holy Spirit. Freedom is what it is, freedom from sin. Because He’s our Mediator and Prince of Peace. May His peace also be with you!

‘And let the Peace of God rule in your hearts’ (Colossians 3:15)

‘Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.’

Luke 2:14

A song of joy, praised by a great multitude of angels. An announcement of Jesus birth. The Lord is honored and glorified by praises in His name.

Even angels knew of Jesus birth, were they send by God or was there a huge party in heaven already at the birth of Christ… For God this must have bin a joyful but also dreadful day, as He only knew what His Son was going to face later in life… But also joyful, as He came to save sinners.

So small, so tender this Baby and so special in all ways. Born in a barn… as poor and low society seen, but oh, if they would have known! The Savior of the world was born, announced years ago, announced by angels and the brightest star of all. What a mysterious, still wonderful way of telling the world!

What does this praise of the angels tell us; that all glory belongs to God. Also in this big event, the miracle of Jesus birth. He sends peace to the world, peace as in Jesus! This song of praise took place in a peacefully scene, where the shepherds were guarding their flock. Just like Jesus is our Shepherd and watches us day and night! This brings us peace!

‘Sing your heart out’- is a slaying, but truly it can be a giving of your heart to God in honor of singing songs of His glory. Even the angels praise God. What a wonderful thought. A Christmas party sounding through the air, may it also come from your tongues these Christmas day’s!