Spiritual Reflection on Christmas

WHAT IS CHRISTMAS ALL ABOUT?

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

…. (18) This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (19) Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. (20) But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. (21) She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:18-21).

Christmas is one of the most beautiful holidays celebrated by the majority of the people in the world. The well decorated houses, stores and streets bring a joyful feeling for the season. However let me focus on the person of Christ and to call my reflection - “….Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Lord Jesus promised His Apostles before His ascension to heaven: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18) And He indeed returned as the spirit, because the Holy Spirit is the spirit of Christ (Romans 8:8-9) and has His personality, nature and character. He is as real in the spirit as you are in your body. You cannot see Him in a human body but He still hears and speaks (Mark 3:11/Luke 12:12/John 14:26).

Let’s consider how the spiritual being of Jesus Christ could relate to another person. What would you do if the Lord Jesus would appear to you in a human form?

• Would you talk to Him?
• Would you ask Him questions or petition Him for something?
• Would you open your heart to Him and tell Him your problems?

Perhaps you answer is ‘yes, of course!’

This is the reason why the Holy Spirit was sent on earth, for Christ to be with you personally.

Lord Jesus lets His presence be known to each faithful believer. Since He is your friend, He wants to commune with you as well as to guide you, protect you and make you stronger (Matthew 11:28-30).

He says,

• I am yours!
• I live in your heart!
• We should walk together and talk!
• I know your weak points!
• That is why I want to be close to you as your best friend!

You may believe the Holy Spirit was sent to the world but not to you personally, so you could say ‘He is mine!’

Exactly! - Because Christianity is first and foremost about relationships rather than rules. It’s about the person more than a philosophy. It’s about the most important relationship of all - our relationship with God. From the beginning, we were created for this. Because of the disobedience of the first people, the connection to God was separated. Separate but not forever (Romans 5:12-18). From this cause, Jesus came on the earth and today, thanks to Him, and only to Him (Acts 4:10-12 / John 14:5-6 / 1 Timothy 2:5-7) you can return to a close relationship with God. Many people, (even me) get this benefit.

I am sharing this with you today because there are many people suffering from pain, sadness and depression. Maybe you could be one of them but no one has told you yet that JESUS IS THE SOLUTION FOR YOUR PROBLEMS. I plead for you to understand that only a relationship with Christ will help you to restore your life, give it purpose, joy and inner peace in difficult times. No church, religious affiliation, great spiritual leader, psychologist or medication can fill your inner hunger for a deeper meaning to your life (Ephesians 3:14-21). If you want to do something about that, I encourage you to take the first step.

# 1. Understand and admit that your sins separated you from the Holy God (Isaiah 59:2), (Jeremiah 5:25).

Have you ever confessed to God the things in your life that hurt him? Your ego, your pride, your selfishness, envy, immorality etc? The Bible says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

All (including you) are separated from the Holy God. So it is time to confess to him and openly admit your sins and receive forgiveness, love, and establish a relationship.

# 2. Believe from the bottom of your heart what the Christ has done for you on the cross (Romans 5:8) and (1 John 4:10).

In the book of (Isaiah 53:6) we read: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the inequity of us all.” Christ died for us on the cross so you can receive forgiveness and restore the relationship with God. Everyone deserves punishment for their sins against the Holy God. But in his unselfish love he sent his beloved Son who took upon himself punishment for our sins.

# 3. Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord (Your Spiritual leader) (Acts 3:18-23) and Savior (Redeemer and Mediator 1^st Timothy 2:5). Confess this from the bottom of your heart. The true Christian faith cannot be inherited, taught, or worked for. Receive Him into your heart; this will start a new chapter in your life, building a relationship with God. All of us who belong to Christ had to come to him by themselves.

How can this be accomplished?

Bow your head and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in a short prayer. “Dear God, I confess my transgressions against you, and ask your forgiveness (take time to remember your sins, and confess them to God). Please forgive me, and remember no more my sins. I'm aware that I broke your just and Holy Law, and I'm a sinner in need of forgiveness. I desire to turn away from my sinful life and make amends for the wrongs that I have committed. I ask for your help in that. Jesus thank you for dying for my sins, justifying me, and giving me the gift of eternal life. I believe that you were resurrected from the dead and are seated on the right side of the Father from where I can receive help. I open the door to my heart and invite you to be my Lord and Savior.”

Please live in my heart through the power of the Holy Spirit, restore me, give me strength and lead me according to your will. I put aside my old habits and desire with all my heart to rely on your grace. Please help me with that. In your hand I put my life, my faith, and hope. Amen.

I pray and wish that you;

• Patiently wait for God's answer to your prayer.
• Understand and experience that Christianity is relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Start to study God’s Word (The Bible).
• Look to Jesus to help you in your problems.
• Find people who take God seriously and grow spiritually with them.

P.S.

For the Christmas season please accept our sincere wishes of healthy, peaceful and joyful Holidays.

It is our hope that living Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you being rooted and established in love, may grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:17-19).

Luke & Iwona

luke@zaJezusem.com

My Biography

Short biography - Luke Tomaszewski

I was born in the Polish traditional family which left me a lot of great memories. I spent my school years in Poland and graduated from mechanical High-school. Next, I worked as a technical mechanic and afterwards I decided to open my own business.

During this time I met the women of my dreams and we got married in 1991. We were blessed with a son Damian the following year. Shortly after that I won a green card which allowed us to come to USA.

Our next child, Samantha, was born in 1994. In order to support my family I worked a lot and my wife took care of our children. Although we missed Poland greatly, we decided to stay in the United States and become U.S citizens.

In 2003, a very special and key thing happened in our lives, we came to Christ.

We met with Polish Christians who later inspired us to read the Bible and discover the true values and purpose of our life (for more information you can read our testimonies). [więcej na ten temat możesz dowiedzieć się czytając nasze świadectwa; Luke - http://www.zajezusem.com/index.php?num=5058 and Iwona http://www.zajezusem.com/index.php?num=4846

In 2005, God blessed us with another child, Nicole, which we were very fortunate of. We now make a happy family of five.

We live in north suburbs about 50 miles from Chicago.

I work in a company which designs precision components and tools - http://www.panekprecision.com/  

For most of my free time I dedicated myself to evangelical ministry. I fill up my time with correspondences and supportive discussions, especially with disadvantaged people. My passion is to carry hope and share Christian life with people as well as spread the good news about Christ. So in 2007, my dream was to share the gospel throughout polish people on the north side of Chicago. I am in the middle of this, believing that God will support this.

Right now me and my family are active:

•           In a local church: Harvest Bible Chapel in Lake Zurich,  http://www.hbclz.org/

•           Worked in a community rehabilitation center as volunteers, http://oldapps.lakecountyil.gov/winhouse

•           Work with North American Mission Board in planning new churches in the United States, http://polishmissionnetwork.blogspot.com/

•           Share the gospel with Polish, Latin, and American people..

•           Help with Polish home groups, with the people in the different churches.

•           Work with Polish Baptist Association in United States and Canada, http://ebenezercamp.com/

•           I help with a Polish group Polonia z Jezusem, http://www.poloniazJezusem.com/

•           I formed a Polish evangelical information website, http://www.zaJezusem.com/

Thank you, Luke

luke@zaJezusem.com 

My Testimony

MY ROAD TO EXPERIENCING LIVING GOD – testimony of Luke

I used to live like many other “good people”. I had no addictions, a good family, permanent job, friends and money. Since I was a actively religious man, and I was not afraid of God’s wrath, because I was sure that my disciplined and careful lifestyle will be rewarded. In this stage of mind I visited Christian church and I listened to the sermon about the Holy Ghost. This sermon gave me a desire to get to know what is in the Bible. After I read the Bible and I learned about God’s holiness, about His love and how to be saved, I had changed my mind and decided that I am a great sinner. I questioned my faith that I was raised in. At this moment I had to make a life decision;

• Should I follow my childhood religion?
• Should I be obedient to God’s will as shown in the Holy Bible?

I had no problem with the choice; I decided to be obedient to the truth included in the Bible and to throw away my sinful lifestyle. After that I quickly understood that true Christianity is not a religion, or belonging to a religious organization, but is a lifestyle based on faith, truth, and love. I experienced an “internal change”, by altering my outlook on life and accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Many people, not understanding my decision said that I had “changed my faith”. The truth is that I did not change my faith but that faith had changed me. Now I am really a free man, full of the thanksgiving to God, full of love of people, joy and hope. I found the sense of life in Christ.

Therefore I encourage anybody to come closer to God, who has created us in His image and is not far from us. In Him we live, “move” and find joy, love and true value of life. Remember that God loves you (John 3:16-17), That He has mercy on you and that each day without Him is a wasted day.

If you want to deeply understand the road on how the Bible “opened my eyes”, and how God changed my life, continue to read below;

In the world of many faiths, religious duties based on human thought are the main requirement. Variety of theories and opinions on this subject motivated me to look for truth. I based my search on the question, “What should I believe and whom should I believe”. Anybody can ask this question: believer, unbeliever, Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Jehovah Witness, or a person belonging to any other denomination or church. Therefore in the beginning of my search I wanted to find a source of information about God and His will. For this reason I asked myself these questions;

(1)     How do we know that God exists?

(2)     Where do we learn about creation of the world and man, or possibility of salvation?

(3)     Who and in what way had given us this information?

(4)     Where can you read about life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus?

(5)     Where can you read about life of the first Christians and Apostles who received the Gospel?

(6)     Where can you find God’s promises, prophesies and His will?

(7)     Otherwise – where can you find in-depth information about God?

There is one answer to the above questions; we learn all from the Holy Bible. When I accepted the Bible as the trustworthy source of knowledge about God, [as well as the way to salvation], my next step was to learn in detail what is in the Bible. Through reading and meditating on God’s Word I found out that this great “book” of wisdom has excellent advice about the way of live. I never thought before about using this advice. I felt “chilled” for a moment when I realized that the Bible could be used in a wrong way, [by using different interpretations]. However I received a superb answer which put me at ease and supported me in my search of true face of God;

2 Peter 1:19-21 

….(19) And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (20) Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. (21) For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 

I also found a few verses describing the Word of God as a complete formation, and I got convinced that the Bible is inspired and infallible. Three fragments spoke to me very clearly;

 Proverbs 30:5-6

.... (5) Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. (6) Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

Revelation 22:18-19

…. (18) I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. (19) And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Galatians 3:15-16

….(15) Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. (16)The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.

I learned from the above what the New Testament is, and I accepted that God can only save me according to His will and that I have to be obedient to teaching the Gospel included in the New Testament. Apostle Paul writes in his 1^st Letter to Corinthians 15:1-2: (1) Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. (2) By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

I thought also about the possibility of “believing in vain”, if this belief would be based on a wrong foundation. These examples were the Pharisees who created their own laws different from God’s will. By closing their hearts and minds to the truth and love, [while in the same time observing religious rights], they missed the coming of Messiah and they crucified Jesus Christ. This was to me a warning about the possibility of misunderstanding God, and it made me to “hold tighter” to His Word. When I opened my heart fully to God, I was convinced that God sees my desire to follow the right road.

During farther “look for truth” I concentrated on the people, called Christians, who choose the way of the Gospel. (Acts 11:21-26). Acts and Letters of Apostles gave me information about them. Christians really believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and they started to live according to His teaching. Their lifestyle, character, passion of working for God, love of others and hate of sin made them different from other people. I asked myself if the people that attend church who habitually lie, don’t forgive others, and are selfish, jealous and querulous; have anything to do with the true Christianity? Many times these are very religious people but their lifestyles are far removed from the biblical pattern.

I started to analyze my own life and to ask myself these questions;

How should my own Christian life look like?

Is the chain on my neck or the cross on my room’s wall the symbols of this life?

Does my Christianity consist only of regular church attendance, religious symbols, participation in holidays and reading of the Bible?

Does the Lord delight in these activities?

In regard to the “Lord’s delight”, the 1^st Book of Samuel spoke to me;

….(22) But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

So obeying “the voice of the Lord” is a more valuable than a religious lifestyle. I realized that God expects from me a “different kind of obedience”.

When I was still in this confused mood, God had mercy on me and blessed with His grace. What I have received is described exactly, by the prayer from Letter to Ephesians 3:14-19; ….(14) For this reason I kneel before the Father, (15) from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. (16) I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, (17) so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, (18) may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, (19) and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

When I experienced this my “eyes were opened”, and I understood the source of the Christian life. I found the “key” to the personal relation and knowledge of God (Colossians 2:2-3) in the person of Christ and in His love. Jesus became my spiritual guide and He filled me with faith, hope, love, as well as with desire to serve others. In this I had found the sense of life and its true value. I finished my search and God’s love “poured” into my heart removed all my doubts.

I wanted to share with you the way God had changed the “course of my life”. Remember that my case is not unusual and that God is waiting for you too.

Luke / luke@zaJezusem.com

www.zaJezusem.com