Isaiah 7:14  Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign; Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.  (God With Us!)

Merry Christmas to you all!  I pray God’s blessings on you as you continue to follow His word, His will and His ways.

Immanuel, God with us.  Imagine if we lived our lives with the reality that God truly is with us?  Jesus told us in John 14:17 the Spirit of Truth…dwells with us and will be in us.  Paul then said in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Christmas takes on a new meaning when we realize that God is truly with us.  Through the good and the bad.  Through the happy and the sad.  I don’t know about you, but I want to live the rest of my life on earth in light of the reality that God is with me.  That means that I must be careful how I live, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15)

Many folks don’t live with the reality that God is with us.  My prayer is that thoughout this day and days to follow that you will rejoice in the reality that God is with you everyday.  And may that knowledge change your attitude which will intern change your behavior.

Do you recognize this name?  If so there is only one of two reasons that could be.  One you are like me and heard about this ridiculous web site from someone else or two, well… lets not go there.  Ashley Maddison if you haven’t heard is a secure online networking site for those who are married and want to have a “safe affair.”  The tag line to the company is “Life is short, have an affair.”  If that doesn’t make you sick maybe this will, the site has over 4 million subscribers.

This is one of the biggest lies that the devil has convinced our society in the 21st century.  The lie is shhhhh….. nobody has to know.  The truth is that there is no such thing as a “safe affair.”  A marital affair is adultery and God has some harsh words for adulterers. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived.  Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Surely God doesn’t mean that, right?  You believe that if you want to.  Now let me say this, I am not the judge.  That is the job of one person and that person is Jesus Christ.  Why do I say that? Because inevitably someone is going to write and ask this question, are you saying that everyone who has an affair is going to hell?  So my answer to that is, I am not the judge, I have just been called to deliver the mail.

I have a Pastor friend who is leading a large bible teahing church in Florida.  He is a truly great man that exhibits all the character traits that Jesus is looking for in a man of God.  He is humble, authentic, transparent and honest.  His integrity is second to none.  This week he was in tears because one of his staff members, a 29 year old, youth and worship leader, was sleeping with a 14 year old student involved in youth group.  On church property no less!  Unbelievable!

Do we have no fear anymore?  Are there truly no boundaries on which we will not cross?  I cannot for the life of me understand how one can sit under solid biblical teaching and live a life that is completely contrary to the teaching and feel not an ounce of guilt or remorse.  How could this happen?

I’m sure somewhere along the line he rationalized his behavior, trying to convince himself that what he was doing really isn’t that bad.  Now I am not trying to condemn, for if not for the grace of God, I could be that man.  Jesus said, “he who is without sin cast the first stone.” (John 8:7)  However, we need to wake up, because He also said, “go and sin no more.” (John 8:11) 

Often times we get ourselves into trouble because we began to compare our lives with someone who we feel is worse than we are.  This causes us to live average lives.  Instead Jesus tells us to compare ourselves with Him, that way we can live the abundant life that only comes to those who follow His example.  May this be a reminder to us to live a self-examined life.  1 Corinthians 10:13 says, Let him who thinks he stands take heed least he fall.

Have you ever had a secret that you didn’t want anyone else to know about?  Here is the problem with secrets, usually along with a secret comes a lie. There are three facts that the devil would like us to believe about secrets. 

• 1. Everybody has secrets. 
• 2. Nobody has to know. 
• 3. No one will ever know.

I’m sure you heard that Tiger Woods had at least one secret that he kept for almost three years.  Tiger was having an extra maritial affair with Jaime Grubbs a cocktail waitress from LA.  He made the same mistake that most of us do when we have a secret, he assumed that no one would ever find out.  You know what they say about assumptions?

The only way to combat the devil’s lies is with the truth.  So here is the truth.  Matthew 10:26 says there is nothing covered that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known.  We need to live lives of transparency so that we aren’t forced to keep secrets from those that we love.  Tiger made a statement apologizing for his transgression and he says, “I have not been true to my values?” 

This begs the question, what values do you have, and are you being true to them?  Many will say that they value life, and yet they will go out and engage in risky behavior that could cost them their life.  Others may say that they value health, and yet they will fill their bodies with things that are unhealthy.  Finally, most will say they value marriage and yet they cheat on their spouses with out a moments hesitation.  All of these are examples of not being true to the values we hold.

I will end with this final thought.  Tiger woods was introduced to his wife by a fellow golfer named Jesper Pannevik who had this to say, “We probably thought he was a better guy than he really is.”  Ouch, here is my last question, are you harboring a secret right now in your life, that if exposed would cause someone to say, “I thought they were a better person than that.”