Looking forward to Advent... Looking forward to Christ's Return

Advent to many of us is a time when we open the calendar with the doors and the hidden chocolate, or maybe it's the decorations, or maybe it's the shopping, the food the festivities.  But, do we often get wrapped up in the festivals, and forget the true meaning.  Advent is looking forward to the coming of Christ, the savior of the world, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and remembering his first entrance into the world (incarnation) and His return.  Often when I think about Jesus's return I think about Jesus's parable of the ten virgins  in Matthew 25:1-3.   When I celebrate Christmas with the folly and festivity, am I also putting oil in my lamp?  Am I prepared for His return?  Am I foolish, or am I wise?  Or will I simply fall in to the daze of Christmas, and not even remember the reasons for the season.   Be prepared... His return is imminent.

This world is not my home

This week I was blessed to hear an honest message from God, a constant reminder that this world is not our home.  So often I want to be comfortable, I want to avoid suffering simply because I buy into this Idea God wants better for us because He loves us..  He does love us, but his plan for us is so much bigger than our comfort.  God wants nothing of us, He needs nothing from us,  He loves us so deeply, but this world is a dying world, it's simply a shadowland. 
If we suffer, we must give Him the glory, because it's so much better on the other side. 
When we have loss, we need to give Him the glory, because there is no loss on the other side. 
When we have pain, we must give Him the glory, because there is no pain in Heaven. 
When we see evil, we must give Him the glory, because there is no evil in Him. 
When we are given much, we give Him Glory... Don't we?   Maybe..  Sometimes we might recite a prayer... a speech of thanksgiving, a mumble of praise.  
We live in a fallen world, and I want to live Gloriously giving all praise to my King, my Creator, my Savior, my God.  It was God who saved us, who provides for us, and allows us to see this depraved and wicked world for what it is.  It is also God who created perfection, though I don't think I can even comprehend a world that isn't bent to sin. 

I would recommend if you have time this week, listen to this little sermon:  CrossPointe

Where will the next year lead us

It's November and I'm already looking forward to change... some kind of change, either for the better or the worse, but change is defiantly on the horizon.   With Gold prices at all time highs and the dollar dropping like a lead balloon, change is happening all around us.  Will our country be struggling with a stagnant economy, or will there be no economy to speak.  Tax cuts won't be an issue, because there won't be money to pay the taxes, we will be a country in poverty, debt up to our eyeballs and no means to pay.  
Next year we might see China take the lead as the worlds superpower, what will that mean for the world, for human rights, for everyone?  We could see increased hostilities against the United States, maybe even on our own soil.  Who knows, we might even see Texas secede from the union, and California become a territory because it's so broke.
What might happen and what will happen are two different things, but what's for sure we are looking for Change.