Merry Christmas from the Fusion!

British soldiers were spending Christmas Eve 1914 on a French battlefield during World War I. After four months of fighting, over a million men had perished in the bloody conflict. The bodies of dead soldiers were scattered between the trenches of the opposing armies.

It was in the middle of a freezing battlefield in France, that a miracle occurred! British troops watched in amazement as candle-lit trees appeared above the German trenches.

“From the German parapet, a rich baritone voice had begun to sing a song I remember my German nurse singing to me ... the grave and tender voice rose out of the frozen mist. It was all so strange ... like being in another world,” a young British soldier wrote in his diary.

“Silent Night, Holy Night. All is calm. All is bright.”

When the German soldiers finished singing, the British decided to retaliate. Rather than retaliate with the roar of a cannon, the army chaps from England sang,

“The first noel, the angels did say, was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay ...”

When the boys from jolly old England finished, “Born is the King of Israel!”, the enemy began clapping and struck up a rousing rendition of “Oh Tannebaum!”

When the British troops began singing, “Oh Come All Ye Faithful!”, it was at that moment that the Germans immediately joined in. They were singing with the enemy.

This was a most extraordinary event taking place in the middle of a blood-drenched battlefield! Two opposing nations were singing the same Christmas Carol in the middle of a fierce war. It is recorded that enemy soldiers greeted each other in the no man’s land that just minutes before had been a killing zone. Soldiers wished one another a Merry Christmas and agreed not to fire their rifles on Christmas Day.

Thousands of soldiers celebrated the birth of the Prince of Peace among the bodies of their dead.

A solitary voice began to sing “Silent Night” in French ... he was joined by another voice singing in German ... and finally the words were in English.

Who do you need to make peace with this season? Have you been engaged in a fierce battle that has extracted the very life from your soul? Christmas is a moment in history when peace is abundantly possible because of the Baby who came to bring peace for all of the ages.

Excerpt taken from YouVersion.com's Christmas Bible reading plan Joy! To Your World

Need a Bible? Go to YouVersion.com and take your pick for FREE!

JOY: a lifestyle

It's Christmas time--the time when we celebrate Jesus' birth. There's an overall confusion about Jesus these days. Some think He was a Jew with a Mexican name. Some think He was a lot like Mr. Rogers (I ask you, who would crucify Mr.Rogers?!). Some think He gave us a bunch of ridiculous rules and unreasonable standards to load us full of guilt and shame.

The truth is, Jesus invaded our world to bring joy! Not a momentary feeling but a whole lifestyle of joy. And how was He going to do that? By bringing us the news of grace, the best news ever which is simply: quit trying! You don't have to DO anything but simply believe! 

Here's some quick theology to explain why: Jesus' death on the cross ended the old covenant and began a new one. The old covenant teaches all the things that you have to DO to be acceptable to God, like the 10 commandments. The NEW covenant teaches that Jesus already did it all! The old covenant requires us to examine our lives over and over to see where we've failed, but the new covenant turns our eyes away from ourselves and we instead focus on Jesus!  (Theology lesson over...throw yourself a party: you survived!)

Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we are no longer demanded to perform since it's not about what we can do or what we should do--it's about what Jesus has already done. It's not about trying harder--it's about simply believing that Jesus is who He said He is: the perfect sacrifice once and for all who fulfilled every requirement of the law on our behalf.  If we have to act a certain way for God to accept us, that would mean that Jesus' death on the cross wasn't enough, which isn't true. So we get to QUIT TRYING! We simply believe to become a Jesus-follower, and we simply believe to live the life of a Jesus-follower. We don't have to DO--just believe!  Your own efforts to live a "good" life just plain SUCK compared to depending on Jesus and Jesus alone for victory! This is the crazy-good news (gospel) that Jesus came to Earth to GIVE to us. The gospel of grace is what the apostle Paul calls the ONLY gospel! And truly understanding God's grace leads to relief & thankfulness which leads to a LIFESTYLE OF JOY!

So quit trying, let go of all the guilt and condemnation, stop working and wondering if you measure up! Jesus did it ALL for you! All you need to do is BELIEVE! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Here's some scripture to start you off...there's way more...do your own research Galatians is a great place to start :)

Romans 11:6

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

Galatians 2:21 

I don't turn my back on God's gift of undeserved grace. If we can be acceptable to God by obeying the Law, it was useless for Christ to die.

Hebrews 10:11-12 

The priests do their work each day, and they keep on offering sacrifices that can never take away sins.  But Christ offered himself as a sacrifice that is good forever. Now he is sitting at God's right side,

Colossians 2:14 

God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross.

Galatians 3:1-5

You stupid Galatians! I told you exactly how Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. Has someone now put an evil spell on you? I want to know only one thing. How were you given God's Spirit? Was it by obeying the Law of Moses or by hearing about Christ and having faith in him? How can you be so stupid? Do you think that by yourself you can complete what God's Spirit started in you? Have you gone through all of this for nothing? Is it all really for nothing? God gives you his Spirit and works miracles in you. But does he do this because you obey the Law of Moses or because you have heard about Christ and have faith in him?

Galatians 1:6-9 

I am shocked that you have so quickly turned from God, who chose you with his gift of undeserved grace. You have believed another message, when there is really only one true message. But some people are causing you trouble and want to make you turn away from the good news about Christ. I pray that God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from our message to you! It doesn't matter if that person is one of us or an angel from heaven. I have said it before, and I will say it again. I hope God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from what you have already believed.

When You've Messed Up So Bad

Have you ever thought you've messed up so bad that you're not sure how you'll ever fix it? You watched your future go down the drain and your hope shrivels up and you experience a pain in your chest that is SO BIG that it just feels...numb. 

You're not sure how you got there, but it's not good. You know you've gotta get out of there, but how?

So you begin to try, but every attempt just puts you back down in that black hole. Faith becomes as elusive as luck, hope is reduced to wishing. The worst keeps happening over and over, the bottom dropping out again and again...so you begin to expect it. It's safe to expect the worst. then you're not disappointed.

But expecting the worst doesn't safeguard us from disappointment--it's the vehicle of disappointment! When we're cynical, everywhere we go we'll just see more to be skeptical about. Cynicism breeds cynicism! And here's the worst thing: it closes our eyes to all the good that's already around us! It deafens our hearts to the encouragement God is speaking to us on a daily basis. When we're not thankful until the BIG THING happens, then we're missing the WHOLE THING because it's the little details, the small everyday kind of miracles that make our lives so rich, not some destination, some moment when we've magically arrived! 

Live life to the fullest! Sometimes life is pain, but pain isn't always bad. Sometimes it's the pain of change as God is bringing something new to your life, rather than the pain of injury. Experience it all! Don't reason away the good God wants to give you--don't doubt it away--but believe for the impossible! Dream! Risk! Hope! Try it again! Look for the best from God and you'll be sure to find it! The Creator of the Universe promised you some good things in your lifetime--you can trust God when He makes a promise!

Joshua 23:14 AMP

...Know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one thing of them has failed.