It is Christmas here! I'm not sure really what to feel! I'm totally excited to be here, but I miss home so much tonight! In fact, I've missed everyone a lot this month, but I just tried to bury it. Smart move, I think not. But in my sadness and loneliness for family and friends at home, I am being blessed. I have met so many incredible people here and have such a wonderful group of friends here. I am truly shedding tears of both sadness and happiness. I would say the hardest part of living here is dealing with the ever tumultuous storms of conflicting feelings: happiness and sadness, loneliness and freedom, the list can go on. I have missed so many things at home and will continue to miss many events: parties, births, birthdays, holidays-to name a few. Yet, I have been able to celebrate birthdays here, holidays here, parties here. I chose to come knowing the struggles that come from being part of a study abroad program.
A few nights ago, when the stress hit me really hard, I wrote up a revelation I had regarding mission work. Since I have been asked to share it here, I feel that tonight is the most appropriate night to do so.
This is what I wrote:
Here in Japan, I have noticed the lack of God's Presence more than ever. I found that sometimes when I am praising Him, I feel emptied of His Spirit. So after reflecting on this, this feeling reminded me of water being placed in a dry environment. The water quickly evaporates into the thin air and seemingly disappears. However, the water does not simply disappear, it moves from a place of high concentration to a place of very low concentration, a place "needing" the presence of water. This too is like my praise. It does not fall silent and disappear, it merely moves from my soul, which is close to God, to over Japan, where God is desparately is needed. It is for this reason that missionaries in places like Japan, places that are spiritual deserts, get so worn out so quickly.
This Christmas, my friends, pray for the missionaries of these spiritually arid lands, that God may continuously refill their souls with strength and praise. Pray that the missionaries' praise does not fall flat and die in these nations, but may penetrate the harsh darkness of Satan and will one day flourish through God's Great Power.
First off, as I explained on my Facebook, when discussing spirituality, nearly every religion says that it holds the truth to the afterlife. Either one religion is right, or none of them. Many of my friends reacted harshly to my post, saying that Japan was indeed spiritual. And, I must say, if one looks at how they adhere to religious practices, then, yes, it could be said that Japan is quite spiritual. But that's assuming the definition of spiritual is a general acceptance of religion and religious practices. However, I am not talking about that. I am talking about the adherence to truth, God's Truth.
History does not deny the birth of Jesus Christ. He truly did exist! Where secular historians and religious scholars differ is over the Godliness of Christ. In the Book of John, Chapter 14, Christ is recorded as saying, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (NASB). This is a blunt as you can get. No Christ, No Afterlife Paradise. Granted, Jesus could have been a nut whom we still continue to follow to this day.
Yet, if one checks the Old Testament and cross-references it with the Life of Christ, one can see that there were prophecies about Christ's life that He fulfilled. In fact, all the 'Messianic' Prophecies (as they are called) were fulfilled in Christ's life.
Take the Old Testament Book Micah, for example. In this book, Chapter 5, verse 2 , (Micah 5:2) it reads:
But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.
Who knows the carol, "O Little Town of Bethlehem"? Is this not a song about the birth of Christ? Luke 2:11 says:
"...For today in the town of David there has been born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
This 'little town of David' is the birthplace of King David, which we know from 1 Samuel 16, when God sent his prophet Samuel to anoint David as the future king. God said to Samuel in verse 1:
"Fill your horn with oil [for anointing David's head as a sign being God's choice for king] and go; I will send you to Jesse of Bethlehemite [David's father, who was from Bethlehem], for I have selected a king for Myself from among his sons."
While God was specifically referring to David as being the chosen one, this also parallels the coming of Christ, who would eventually come through David's bloodline and from his place of birth. Christ's birthline was recorded for both his parents' bloodlines. His 'paternal' side, being the genealogy of Mary's husband, Joseph, is recorded in Matthew chapter 1. Mary's genealogy is recorded in Luke 3, starting at verse 23. Both bloodlines can be traced back to King David, showing that Christ truly came from the Davidic genealogy.
In Isaiah 7:14, Christ's virgin birth was prophesied. Mind you, the Book of Isaiah was written around 700 years before Christ's birth!
You may consider this all hogwash, but the truth of the matter is that the Godliness of Christ truly means the life or death of your soul. If you choose not to believe, then kiss goodbye your chance to be in paradise after you die. The one thing that separates Christianity from all other religions (minus Judaism, which is just complicated) is that the Bible says we cannot save our own souls. God has already set-up salvation for us. Romans 6:23 says:
For the wages [payments/fines] of sin is death [spiritual death/going to Hell], but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We sin. We hurt others, even when we meant to do right. We lie. We forget to keep promises. We sin. Because we are naturally walking destruction and chaos, we cannot naturally be with God anymore, since He is the totally opposite of us. Just like Light and Shadows cannot be together in the same spot, we cannot be with Him. Yet, God chose to come down in the form of Jesus Christ, as a human sacrifice to cover the payment for our sin. This sacrifice created a bridge between us and God, allowing for our sinful nature, our chaotic and hurtful nature to be covered and forgotten. Also we have to do is accept the gift. We must accept the fact that we cannot save ourselves and God has provided a free 'Out of Jail' card for everyone, even the murderers and the molesters. We must allow God into our hearts and allow Him to change us from the inside out, which will make us more patient, loving, caring, and closer to perfect.
But, we ourselves cannot save ourselves. We can only accept the gift of Salvation.
This is what I mean about the truth, about 'spirituality'. If we as humans are so focused on saving our own souls and upholding religious rituals to win our right into an afterlife paradise, then how can we truly experience the spiritual world for what it truly is?
Japan is dedicated to upholding spiritual rituals. They clean their houses in the beginning of February and let in priests to 'spiritually' cleanse the inside of the houses. They visit shrines on New Years' to ask for a good year. They try to maintain social purity and integrity so that they do not affect their future generations' chances to attain entrance into paradise. Yet they fail to see that their culture tells the story of Christ who gave them free entrance into paradise, paradise with God!
The Japanese fight the truth and are covered in a thick darkness. So, in this way, yes, they are completely submerged into spiritual world, but submerged in the shadows of the spiritual world. If you will, Japan is covered in the Elephant Graveyard of the spiritual world, where Satan's hyenas are awaiting to devour the souls of humans and keep them from leaving the Graveyard.
We see the struggles of the Japanese in their high suicide rates and their cultural obsession with needing to fit in socially. Yet, we Christians offer a truth that will help them escape their struggles.
This offer of not only salvation in the afterlife, but peace within this chaotic world is an offer for everyone. If you haven't accepted to do so, please at least choose to research the legitimacy of this truth. Ask questions about Christianity and the conflicting claims of this world.
If you feel the call of God and believe the truth I have explained is real, then pray to God. No, rather, strike up a conversation with God. You don't need to be formal with Him, you just need to be honest. For more information about who God is and how you can become a Christian, please go this site by Focus on the Family. Focus on the Family is a trusted Christian ministry that offers not only spiritual guidance for the masses, but also offers many resources for the many life struggles we face. Some of these resources include marriage advice and hotlines, abuse hotlines, tips on parenting, the list continues.
I know I went totally spiritual on you today, but this is the truth about Christmas. We celebrate the long awaited birth of Christ Jesus, who came to die for our sinful fine and provide a free escape from the spiritual death we deserve.
As you receive your Christmas gifts this year, remember the sacrifice that your friends and family chose to make to give you that gift, and how that sacrifice (whether monetary or time or both) parallels the sacrifice that Christ made for us.
Merry Christmas my friends! I pray that this season will be special, especially amongst the difficulties of life! And I pray that your New Year will be a blessed one from God!
Until then, Merry Christmas peeps!
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