Based on devotions by Max Lucado, Charles Stanley and Alice
" Behind the curtains of Christmas"
Christmas songs, Santa' s world, gifts and presents, Christmas cards, Christmas tree and decoration- one of the nicest seasons in the year.
Why do we celebrate Christmas? There is a saying 'Christ is a reason for a season' and that is right! The greatest gift God gave to us was Jesus. But do we have a room for Him or we celebrate His birthday without Him?
Jesus was still in Mary’s womb when the innkeeper said, “We don’t have room for you.” (Luke 2:7)
And when He was hung on the cross, wasn’t the message one of utter rejection? “We don’t have room for you in our world.”
For those who fond a room for Him and accepted Him into their life, the life brought completely a new meaning! Christmas time became a different marvelous celebration of His coming to earth.
A few days I read a Bible verse talking about the past and how God was disappointed with the mankind wickedness and regretted that He created everything; "When the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts in his heart was only evil continually ....And the Lord said " I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land ....for I am sorry I have made them" Genesis 6;5-7
It sounded sad, God could have wiped us out completely, nobody would stay alive. The reason we are all hear still existing on this earth is thanks to Jesus. Christ is our 'second chance'! And that is a great news!
God decided to spare the human race. He was determined, however, not to leave things in the chaotic state they were in. His ultimate goal was to restore man and his world to its original state. But there was still the problem of sin and the curse it brought upon all creation. What resulted was a two- part plan by which sin and its consequences could be dealt with once and for all. And the plan was...Jesus- the Redeemer promised from the very beginning.
God could have wiped out every creature and just forget, but in His love He didn't. Jesus coming to the world was the greatest expression of His love, to come and wipe away our sin, reconciling us with God. That's the greatest gift to the world. But the gift must be accepted, it is not enough to know about it.
"The New Testament writers were calling people to place their trust in the person of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and the promise of eternal life.
It was more than acknowledging that Christ was from God. It was more than hoping that what He said was true. It was a personal commitment to dependency upon Him for forgiveness.It was a matter of casting hopes for eternity upon the claims and promises of Jesus Christ. God's gift of forgiveness must be accepted on an individual basis. Although it is an universal offer, it has no effect on the sin debt of a man or a woman who has not personally put trust in Christ. It is like a paycheck that is never picked up. Christ creatively communicated his concept of "put your trust in Me' through the use of word pictures and parables.
He told the woman at the well to ask for 'living water'. ( John 4;10) He instructed the Jews to come to Him and receive 'life'. ( John 5;40)
He told one group that they would have to 'eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood'
( John 6;53) which meant to feed on His words. To the leaders of Jews He said " If anyone keeps my word, he shall never see death" ( John 8;51) He presented Himself to the Pharisees in this way; " I am the door, if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. ( John 10;9) He used every conceivable illustration to show His audience that they needed to personally and individually respond to God's gift of eternal life for themselves. Most people want to avoid the subject of accountability to God. Hearing the gospel might be bearable but making the decision to place their trust in Christ to be the payment for their sin is going a step too far. It is easy to focus on Christmas time as a nice tradition without going into its meaning. But that means to 'overlook' the greatest gift, never opening it! It is to ignore 'the second chance ' God gave us.
" For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given and the government will be upon His shoulder . And His name will be called; Wonderful Counselor , Might God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" Isaiah 9;6
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Christmas night
"Dear Jesus,
It’s a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.
These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated.
The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?
It’s a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.
These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated.
The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?
Your
world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark,
right? You came at night. The shepherds were nightshift workers. The
Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To
see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark
with Herod’s jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty.
Dark with violence.
Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.
Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won’t you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.
This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.
Hopefully,
Your Children"
2012 Max Lucado
Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.
Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won’t you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.
This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.
Hopefully,
Your Children"
2012 Max Lucado
Sometimes we wonder where is God when all the bad things happen.Then let us think what happened to Jesus when He came? Was He welcomed into everybody's life because He came from God? No, instead of He was killed. We would say, oh, but I wasn't there, I didn't kill Him, but is He in your life now or you keep Him away? The only peace and safety that you can have is in Jesus." Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you . Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14;27
Saturday, December 1, 2012
God's gift - eternal life
“For a closer look at the gift, God has for man, we must turn to an
ageless literary miracle, the Bible. People throughout the history
have died to keep this book in their possession and centuries of critics
have failed to remove it from the best -seller list. Why? Because
the Bible has a power of its own, it transforms lives. Lots of
skeptics trying to disprove it’s content end up on their knees in
awe of the treasure they find. They uncover the gift. The overriding
theme of the Bible from beginning to the end is the gift God has for
man. That it is itself a miracle that 60 individual books would
produce a unified system of information when written over a period
of more than 1600 years by more than 40 different man.
Inspired by the One who operates outside of our time domain, the Bible books reveals history before it takes place. Almost one-fourth scripture is prophetic.
Accurate predictive prophecy sets this book apart from all others in the world. Although most people are aware of the Bible and may own many copies, majority have no idea what its pages contain. Not too many notice the scarlet thread which runs from one end of Scripture to the other, leading one to God’s gift. This book is designed to reveal this scarlet thread , woven throughout the Scripture, that seeking hearts might grasp what God desires to bestow.”
“the free gift of God is eternal life(…) Romans 6;23
To understand what this gift is about is in the words of Christ as He prayed for those who would receive this gift.
” And this is eternal life , that they might know Thee, the only true God, and your Son Jesus Christ.” John 17;3
Reading that verse carefully it says that eternal life will bring an individual to the place wherein he or she will know
“the only true God.” Eternal life- is to know and experience personally the Creator of the universe. God’s gift of eternal life is is to accept in this life. It is received this side of grave or not at all.
God says that knowing Him is the only thing we can boast about in this life;
“Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts , boast of this, that he understands and knows Me.” Jeremiah 9;23-24a
God would not make that declaration if it was not possible for us to experience Him. The innermost self, by design, finds rest and true fulfillment only in relationship with Him.
God’s plan -scarlet thread-leading to His Son.
In the prophetic book of Isaiah we read that His Son would be;
v.5 “wounded for our transgressions, crushed because of our sins,
the punishment that brought us peace was upon HIM and by HIS wound we are healed“
v.11. ” My righteous Servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities“
As the verse 10 says; He made HIS soul offering for sin .He made HIS life a quilt offering,
Left on our own everybody of us is destined to receive God’s wrath, which is the just response of a Holy God toward sin but God has devised the way to spare us that wrath. In His mercy and love for man there can be forgiveness for every one of our failures because HIS SON DIED IN OUR PLACE.
He took the wrath- we would have incurred -upon Himself.
Would people throughout the centuries die for a lie or for hope they put in God’s promise of forgiveness and everlasting life?
The Vail of the temple torn.
As`Jesus died, the 20 foot high and 60 foot long curtain covering the Holy of Holies in the temple was split supernaturally from top to bottom .
Woven of dense linen fiber as thick as a man’s palm, this massive curtain has served as a barrier, separating man from God’s presence for centuries. It was now taken down by God Himself, revealing to all the world that His presence was open to those who would come to Him through faith in the finished work of His Son. The book of Hebrews10;19 tells us;
“Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is His flesh..”
“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, set down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Hebrew 10;12-14
Reconciliation between God and all mankind became possible that day on the cross.The door is open into God’s presence for any individual who will enter.
A decision set before every man.
Foretold hundreds of years before His birth, was the fact that His mother would be a Jewish young woman, and He would be born in the city of Bethlehem. He would be one of the tribe of Judah and of the seed of Abraham. King David would be His ancestor . He would be called out of Egypt and known as a Nazarene. The miracles ; the lame, blind, deaf and dumb would be healed by His touch. He would be light to the Gentiles . He would raise the dead. He would be revealed as the Messiah 483 years after a decree was issued to rebuild Jerusalem following the Babylonian captivity. He would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey . He would be betrayed by a friend for thirty pieces of silver, and that money would be used to purchase a potter’s field. He would be beaten, spat upon, and disfigured through cruelty. Tormenters would pluck out His beard. He would be forsaken by His disciples. He would be rendered up as a guilt offering. He was to give His body as a ransom for others. The details of His death by crucifixion were described hundreds of years before this form of death was ever devised. His hands and feet would be pierced. Not one of His bone would be broken. Men would gamble for His clothing as He died . He would be raised from the dead. He would be ascended into heaven. More than 300 prophecies were recorded by men about Him before He was born. The details are in Psalms, book of Isaiah, Zachariah, Daniel, Ezekiel. Today the majority of prophecies concerning the Messiah have been fulfilled as foretold. Others have yet to be fulfilled. It is mathematically impossible for one-tenth of these specific prophecies concerning a single individual to be fulfilled apart from a miracle. Irrefutable evidence beyond human explanation. Only God would bring it to pass.
The entire Old Testament was written to let man know that help was on the way.In one sentence God is saying to us;
” You and I are separated, but I am going to do something about it.”
The books of New Testament were written to let us know that help has arrived;and it is a proclamation of His good news to us;
” It is finished! I opened the way through my Son Jesus Christ .You and I don’t have to be separated any more.”
Inspired by the One who operates outside of our time domain, the Bible books reveals history before it takes place. Almost one-fourth scripture is prophetic.
Accurate predictive prophecy sets this book apart from all others in the world. Although most people are aware of the Bible and may own many copies, majority have no idea what its pages contain. Not too many notice the scarlet thread which runs from one end of Scripture to the other, leading one to God’s gift. This book is designed to reveal this scarlet thread , woven throughout the Scripture, that seeking hearts might grasp what God desires to bestow.”
“the free gift of God is eternal life(…) Romans 6;23
To understand what this gift is about is in the words of Christ as He prayed for those who would receive this gift.
” And this is eternal life , that they might know Thee, the only true God, and your Son Jesus Christ.” John 17;3
Reading that verse carefully it says that eternal life will bring an individual to the place wherein he or she will know
“the only true God.” Eternal life- is to know and experience personally the Creator of the universe. God’s gift of eternal life is is to accept in this life. It is received this side of grave or not at all.
God says that knowing Him is the only thing we can boast about in this life;
“Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts , boast of this, that he understands and knows Me.” Jeremiah 9;23-24a
God would not make that declaration if it was not possible for us to experience Him. The innermost self, by design, finds rest and true fulfillment only in relationship with Him.
God’s plan -scarlet thread-leading to His Son.
In the prophetic book of Isaiah we read that His Son would be;
v.5 “wounded for our transgressions, crushed because of our sins,
the punishment that brought us peace was upon HIM and by HIS wound we are healed“
v.11. ” My righteous Servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities“
As the verse 10 says; He made HIS soul offering for sin .He made HIS life a quilt offering,
Left on our own everybody of us is destined to receive God’s wrath, which is the just response of a Holy God toward sin but God has devised the way to spare us that wrath. In His mercy and love for man there can be forgiveness for every one of our failures because HIS SON DIED IN OUR PLACE.
He took the wrath- we would have incurred -upon Himself.
Would people throughout the centuries die for a lie or for hope they put in God’s promise of forgiveness and everlasting life?
The Vail of the temple torn.
As`Jesus died, the 20 foot high and 60 foot long curtain covering the Holy of Holies in the temple was split supernaturally from top to bottom .
Woven of dense linen fiber as thick as a man’s palm, this massive curtain has served as a barrier, separating man from God’s presence for centuries. It was now taken down by God Himself, revealing to all the world that His presence was open to those who would come to Him through faith in the finished work of His Son. The book of Hebrews10;19 tells us;
“Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is His flesh..”
“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, set down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Hebrew 10;12-14
Reconciliation between God and all mankind became possible that day on the cross.The door is open into God’s presence for any individual who will enter.
A decision set before every man.
Foretold hundreds of years before His birth, was the fact that His mother would be a Jewish young woman, and He would be born in the city of Bethlehem. He would be one of the tribe of Judah and of the seed of Abraham. King David would be His ancestor . He would be called out of Egypt and known as a Nazarene. The miracles ; the lame, blind, deaf and dumb would be healed by His touch. He would be light to the Gentiles . He would raise the dead. He would be revealed as the Messiah 483 years after a decree was issued to rebuild Jerusalem following the Babylonian captivity. He would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey . He would be betrayed by a friend for thirty pieces of silver, and that money would be used to purchase a potter’s field. He would be beaten, spat upon, and disfigured through cruelty. Tormenters would pluck out His beard. He would be forsaken by His disciples. He would be rendered up as a guilt offering. He was to give His body as a ransom for others. The details of His death by crucifixion were described hundreds of years before this form of death was ever devised. His hands and feet would be pierced. Not one of His bone would be broken. Men would gamble for His clothing as He died . He would be raised from the dead. He would be ascended into heaven. More than 300 prophecies were recorded by men about Him before He was born. The details are in Psalms, book of Isaiah, Zachariah, Daniel, Ezekiel. Today the majority of prophecies concerning the Messiah have been fulfilled as foretold. Others have yet to be fulfilled. It is mathematically impossible for one-tenth of these specific prophecies concerning a single individual to be fulfilled apart from a miracle. Irrefutable evidence beyond human explanation. Only God would bring it to pass.
The entire Old Testament was written to let man know that help was on the way.In one sentence God is saying to us;
” You and I are separated, but I am going to do something about it.”
The books of New Testament were written to let us know that help has arrived;and it is a proclamation of His good news to us;
” It is finished! I opened the way through my Son Jesus Christ .You and I don’t have to be separated any more.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)