20/20 Vision

As the year comes to a close, we all get to look back on the year and reminisce of what happened that was life changing, both good and bad. Every year starts with new hope to have a fresh start. As the year progresses, most of us experience the good, bad, and the ugly for an entire year. We can’t relive the past, but we can learn from it, and we must use that knowledge to push forward in the future. That’s what this trip to Cincinnati taught me.

My Alma Mater, Cincinnati Christian University (Cincinnati Bible College) has closed its doors as of December 20, 2019. As I walked around my campus on my first day here this weekend and took photos, all I could think of was how much that university poured into my life. Every place has its flaws. I had my own failures and failed relationships, but I tried to learn and am still learning from them. As I walked, I could not help but to keep saying, “Why didn’t they ask for help?” Whether it was financially, or advice with extra curricular activities, I wish they had asked for help from all kinds of people and institutions. Pride leads to a fall.

Then, I thought of how many tangled up situations I find myself and wonder why I didn’t ask for help. I have plenty of resources to seek to ask for help, and yet many times my pride keeps me from asking. This next year, I’m learning from my past and I will seek help and advice from all kinds of people and institutions in order to keep growing because pride leads to a fall.

This last summer, I visited my hometown, Daytona Beach, Florida. Although I am now a tourist there, I reflected on my life growing up in that little city. So much has changed in my hometown. My high school is gone and a new building takes its place with a statue honoring the man who gave money to rebuild it, the NBA star, Vince Carter. The town grew up with new stores and restaurants. I grew up too.

When I lived in Florida, I chose to believe the lies that others said about me and to me. I chose to listen to the wrong voices giving me bad advice and had to remember the right voices many years later. I blamed other people for my bad choices. I will take with me in the future to listen to the right voices when I seek the help and advice. I will not live with rules and regulations, but with a freedom that Christ gives me in my life.

As sad as it is that my college has closed, it’s refreshing to know that many of my college friends are still walking with Jesus and leading others to Him.  Christianity is not dying. It’s growing and with growth comes change. Those of us who use a 20/20 vision will be able to lead the people who live in our current generation to Jesus. We will have learned from our past to push forward into the future.

Whatever this year, 2019, has thrown at you, looking back and being reflective gives direction for both the good and the bad. So much has happened in one year. I know that a decade is passing. I’m choosing to take one moment at a time. I can look back at the past and reflect to grow and be present with wisdom and bring that into the future to make the world a better place. I hope we all choose to reflect and then use that reflection for growth and change. I hope we can step into the future with humility and wisdom. May the reflection of the past give us 20/20 vision for the present and the future.

A Savior Has Been Born

With the hustle and bustle of Christmas, even if we demand that people say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays,” we forget the true meaning of the reason we celebrate this day. It’s not about the presents, the greetings, the movies, the music, the food, or even the gathering of friends and family. It is the day that we remember that salvation finally came into the world. Salvation that is a gift if we choose to accept it.

When the shepherds were in their fields and the angel appeared to them, they were told that today, a Savior has been born, which is for all people. Jesus is the greatest gift. He doesn’t demand that we accept Him and his free gift of salvation. He doesn’t guilt shame us if we refuse the gift or take it and are not appreciative of it. Jesus gives it freely. It is not just for the good people. It’s not just for people who go to church. It is for all people.

The question is what will we do with the gift of Jesus? Will we accept it or reject it? The choice is ours. If we accept it, will we be willing to share it with others who need it or just the people that we think are good enough to receive it? Will we accept the gift of Jesus and allow it to change us? Or will we remain the same and demand that everyone around us changes?

These questions are ones that I have pondered for a long time. Once I went back to the basics, I realized that Jesus gives us His gift of salvation freely and it is for us to receive and share with others. There are no strings attached. Once I received the gift, my life changed. It didn’t change because Jesus demanded it, but because the more I followed Jesus I couldn’t help but change. I changed because my life has meaning with Jesus in it. With that meaning, I cannot remain the same. My life changes all the time. I understand that Jesus is a gift for all people. No one is unacceptable of the gift of Jesus. That’s what we taught when He was on earth. It’s what made the religious leaders angry with Him. They demanded that people be perfect before going to God. Jesus gave his gift freely without demands.

This Christmas let us remember that Jesus is the greatest gift as he gives us salvation. It’s not a simple gift. It is a gift that is life changing. May we take the gift feely and share it with those who are in need of Jesus’s gift of salvation. Once we receive this gift of salvation, we will always have a Merry Christmas no matter what is occurring in our lives around us. Have a very Merry Christmas!

Lights of Christmas

I know that many of the Christmas traditions are rooted in pagan festivities hundreds of years ago. I see this as Christians took the festivities and created a holy day to celebrate the birth of Jesus. One of the elements of the festivities that Christians have attained are the lights. Jesus is the light that brightens our darkened world. In fact, a light guided the Magi to Jesus. Christmas lights represent the light that Jesus brings to the world. He brought that light from the moment he entered our world.

Jesus is the light of the world. As a light, he shows us the way to life that is full of peace. We can have peace in turbulent times with Jesus. He gives us light to see the way all the way to the end of any trial. We must take our focus off of the problem and focus on Christ in order to see the light.

In the most difficult times in life, light shines through with wisdom from people in our lives. We may not always accept or like the wisdom, but when we look back and reflect, we realize that the wisdom was a guide to our way out of the situation. Light shines on a darkened path and we can choose to follow the light or to stay in the darkness.

Jesus does not force any of us to follow Him. He allows all of us to choose our path and to choose how to follow Him. People demand that we do specific tasks. Those people are not Jesus. Jesus just asks us to come to Him, and Jesus allows us to come to Him at any moment in our lives and receive the light, even when we have been engulfed in the darkness.

One of the best parts of Jesus being the light is that no matter how far into the darkness of sin and our own evil choices, Jesus desires for us to come to Him. In fact, He is waiting for us, and when He sees us, like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son, he runs to meet us. In this Christmas season and into the New Year, may we walk in the light of Jesus and guide others to walk with us in the light to meet Jesus, so they can walk away from darkness and into the light of Jesus. It all starts with small lights, just like the star that only the Magi noticed. May we all notice the light of Jesus.