<![CDATA[Chicago City Blessing Church - Blogs]]>Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:35:08 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Blessed New Year 2010]]>Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800http://www.chicagocityblessing.org/1/post/2009/12/blessed-new-year-2010.htmlNew Year's Eve is one of those few days in the year when just about everybody is thinking about the same thing. There's something dramatic about watching the old year slip away by counting the hours left in it, then the minutes, down the seconds when the old year has passed into history, never to come again.

We seldom think much about time except when we're running late. Time is a lot like a river and it's carrying all of us downstream. Where is it taking us? What are we doing while we're on the trip? A lot of people have trouble with time management, with putting first things first.
If there is anything we truly need in this New Year, it is to get closer to God, to grow in the love of our Savior, and to carry out His will for our lives. That will carry us through no matter what the river of time may bring our way. Psalm 31 is almost entirely a prayer, but you can tell that it's not the kind of prayer that one prays out loud or one that is prayed with folded hands. No, it appears to be the kind of prayer Paul had in mind when he told us to PRAY CONSTANTLY.

There may be times in this coming new year when you will feel cut off from God's sight. You may wonder if God has forgotten you. Oh, there's good news for you here, my friend, good news that you hear at the end of many a worship service. The Lord will bless you and make his face shine upon you. The Psalm says: "Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your unfailing love". When God's face is shining upon His people, that means that he is SMILING upon them. What more could you ask from the New Year than that?

But that's not all--not only do we have the smile of God that we experience each day, we must also remember that there is more of goodness that God has prepared for us each day... The Psalm says: "How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you". This is the God who is able to do so much more than we can ask or imagine. Trust him for your future, both your future on earth and your forever future. The Greyhound Bus Company used to have a slogan that every Christian should apply to the Lord God. They told us: leave the driving to us. The God who is smiling on us says: Leave the driving to me. You just trust me and I'll get you where you need to go.

That's the kind of God we have to guide us through the New Year--One we can trust, One in whom we can have confidence for the future, no matter what the New Year may bring. This new year, face your fears with the help of another. One famous preacher says: Don't settle down to live permanently with your fear. If you do, you will never be happy or effective.

Fears are not removed by saying, "Cut it out! Swallow your fear!" You must replace fear with faith. Say to yourself again and again the words of tonight's text: I trust in you, O Lord; I say you are my God; my times are in your hands.
]]><![CDATA[Merry Christmas 2009]]>Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:12:40 -0800http://www.chicagocityblessing.org/1/post/2009/12/post-title-click-and-type-to-edit.htmlThis Christmas, what does it mean to you personally? Most for long time have experience Christmas without Christ's presence. And it's just like celebrating birthday without the person whose birthday is  present! This story of Christmas should reminds us that we are seeking to be like Jesus, not men; we want the kingdom of God, not to be a good Christian.
This Christmas we must go back to the core and be vigilant to submit ourselves passionately to the Holy Spirit and the words of Jesus, reaching for the holy standards of the kingdom of God. Any focus or goal other than Christ Himself will become a source of deception in the days ahead.

Look at what Jesus did with common men. In just 3-1/2 years, average men and women were transformed into disciples, literally filled with the Spirit of God. They did not shrink at suffering; they did not withdraw from sacrifice. These ordinary people were equipped with spiritual authority over demons and exercised power over illnesses. They were the living proof that Christ transforms people. Three and a half years with Jesus will produce in them what it did in them: the kingdom of God! Those men were as average and human as we are. The difference between them and us is Jesus. He is the only difference.

One may argue that this occurred 2,000 years ago. True, but “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8, NKJV). Or you may say, “But they actually heard Jesus speak; they saw His miracles!” The same Spirit that worked through Jesus in the first century is poured out upon us today. So there's no excuse for from being fearless like those disciples.

The Holy Spirit has not grown old and weak. Indeed, the same words Jesus uttered in the first century are “living and powerful” in the hearts of men today (Heb. 4:12). So Jesus is the same, the Holy Spirit is being poured out, and the words of Christ still apply. We have no excuses. The eternal One who established His kingdom in men two millennia ago is fully capable of producing it in us today. All we need is undiluted Jesus. All we need are hearts that will not be satisfied with something or someone less than Him.

If we divide over forms of doctrines and styles of church, we will miss completely the true purpose of being a true disciple of Christ. Let's make it plain: God is not raising up “ministries”; He is trying to convert people into Christianity. He is raising up kingdom's disciples. After we recognize that the goal is not becoming a good church goer but discipleship, we will begin to see the power of Christ restored in our life.

We must all become individuals whose burning passion is conformity to Jesus Christ. Is this not the highest passion of our heart, to possess the likeness of Christ? From heaven’s view, the issue is will we become people who are seeking hard after Christ? God can use practically any  of us if  we are genuinely seeking Him. The outward form is not the issue with the Almighty—the true issue is the posture of the human heart before Him. As you celebrate this Christmas, may your mind be opened to see the real meaning of the coming of Messiah on earth.
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