Friday, December 24, 2010
Christmas: God Is for You
by Rick Warren
But the angel reassured them. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. Luke 2:10 (NLT)"And if God is for us, who can be against us?"
Knowing God is for you will change your whole perspective on life. You'll stop thinking of God as someone looking down from heaven, ready to yell, "Gotcha!" anytime you mess up.
Instead, you'll realize God loves you; God is with you; and God is for you! God is for your success in life; he created you for a purpose and he wants you to succeed. It is God, your Creator, who will measure your success in life, and no one else.
This is extremely good news!
It means you don't need to be afraid of God because God is for you. Yet, some people are so afraid of God they get nervous just talking about him. Do you know why? They feel guilty, and then they start thinking, "If I get close to God, he's going to lecture me. He's going to remind me of all the things I've done wrong, and then I'll feel even worse!"
Nothing could be further from the truth of God. Jesus said, "I did not come into the world to condemn it, but to save it." In effect, Jesus is saying, "I didn't come to scold you, I came to save you."
And if God is for us, who can be against us?
Jesus came to save us, not to scare us. That's why when the angel was telling the shepherds about the birth of Jesus, the first thing he says is: "Don't be afraid!"
In fact, when God sends a message to people in the Bible, it's not unusual for the first words to be: "Don't be afraid." There are 365 messages from God in the Bible that begin with a phrase like, "Fear not!" In other words, every single day of the year you can read a message from God that says, in effect, "You don't need to be afraid. I am for you; I am with you; I love you."
We celebrate Christmas because of this good news from God!
