Whenever You
read this, my dear family, I pray that you will always keep Jesus
Christ as the Focal Point of your Christmas. Christmas is not about
trees, lights, decorations, great food, and lots of monetary gifts,
although these things are fun to do as a family. It isn't even about
church, singing carols, or special Christmas programs...especially the
sappy Hallmark ones.
Christmas is about celebrating the very reason we live and breathe and have our freedom from sin, hell, death
and the grave! It is celebrating the fact that we have a God that
loves us So very much that he volunteered to strip away his glory and leave His Heavenly home and crown behind to become one of us! He is the reason we have the Christmas Holiday!
We may not always have the freedom to celebrate His birth in this country. But there is nothing and no one who can separate us from Him or to take Him away from us! He has promised never to leave us or forsake us even unto the end of the age.
If you are reading this and have never trusted Him for salvation and have not made Him Lord of your life, please do so before it is too late!
Hell is very real and eternity is too. You will spend the rest of if in one place or another. I would love to be able to spend eternity in Heaven with you! I will be there because of Jesus and a decision I made to trust Him in 1974 to confess that I was indeed a sinner and I could not save myself with any amount of good works, and I turned from the world and to Him as Lord and ruler of my life.
These reflections were written in December on 2013 and hopefully will be preserved here and in print for you to pass on to your children and to your children's children.
The Counterfeits of Christmas
Sweet Lord,
I was not going to write this one, but You keep asking me to, so I will.
Your enemy, Satan, does not care what folks believe as long as it is not the truth. He is the Father of Lies, Your word says, and We see it in our "Religious" holidays...especially Christmas. Christmas is supposed to be a day set aside to reflect on, celebrate, and be thankful for Your incredible gift of Yourself to all mankind. However; it has become anything but that in our culture. To distract from You, there is Santa Claus. The concept is not really evil on the surface...but is a counterfeit just the same.
His goodness to anyone is based on their performance, not on unconditional love.
The idea is, the better you act (whether it is actually from the heart or not) the more presents you get.
The "Celebration " is more important than the reason for the celebration.
Traditions, snow, the right tree, a warm fire, and family all around is what makes the "Season Bright."
While watching the 75 year Spectacular from Rockefeller Center in NYC just before Christmas, I was aghast at what I saw and heard. The audience was filled with children to watch the Rockette's show. Some of it was very talent filled...and then:
Two young boys, one about 5 and the other around 8 or nine, came up to Santa on the sidewalk. Santa was ringing a bell. The first little one asked Santa for help. The older more street smart boy chided the younger saying that "Santa" could not help. He reminded the little one that they had seen several Santas on the street corners and they were in every department store.
Santa called the youngest one by his name, "Ben" The older one asked how he knew Ben's name to which Santa replied, "Well, Patrick, I know ever child's name."
So Santa is omniscient?
Then Patrick asked how he could be real when there were so many of him all over town. Santa replied, "Well, each year my job gets bigger so I have had to find a way to be everywhere at once." The dancers all came out one at a time dressed exactly the same...like cloning!
So Santa is also omnipresent?
Lord, I must admit that I got very angry and turned the show off. More than that, I was angry at the enemy for deluding so many innocent children who would take that home as gospel!
It is bad enough that Your birthday has become the financial barometer of the economy, and has promoted greed, envy, and wholesale materialism.
If I myself am not careful, the traditions, decorations, and goodie making that we do at this time of year can get in the way of what Christmas is all about. The enemy uses it to make folks feel inadequate if they cannot give the big things they are told will make folks happy, and feel cheated if they do not get what they were expecting too. Those who cannot get together for Christmas with family and friends feel lonely and like there is nothing right with the season. Others who cannot get home like soldiers, or those who have to work on that day like doctors,nurses, policemen, and fireman , and the road crews if the weather is bad, feel they are letting their families down and the day becomes a day of sadness instead of joy.
Lord, how we need another Great Awakening in our Land of America! We need to turn back to YOU and to what Christmas really means. Unveil our eyes so that we may see the lies for what they are...even in Your church, precious Lord...and start with me!
Help us all to remember that our expectations HAVE to be in You and YOU ALONE . They cannot be in people, events, occasions, gifts, or Santa!
Joseph- The Forgotten Man of Christmas
Back in 2000 Pastor Carl preached this sermon. I found it in my Bible this morning and wanted to share it again.
Joseph- The Forgotten Man of Christmas
At
Christmas, we talk a lot about Mary, the angels, the shepherds, and the
wise men from the east, but not much is said about Joseph. Mary was
told she was highly favored. If we believe that God does not make
mistakes, then we have to believe that Joseph was just as much chosen to
be Jesus' earthly father as Mary His mother.Joseph was not really exceptional except in his obedience to God. He teaches us:
A. About obedience to God regardless of the circumstances. When the angel Gabriel came to:
- Zachariah- he denied the truth and lost his speech
- Mary- at first she doubted, "How can this be as I have never known a man?"
- Joseph -simply obeyed without question because he believed God.
- Joseph had built his carpentry business upon his reputation. In their culture, by taking Mary as his wife, no one would have anything to do with him anymore because of "his sin", and his family would disown him. We do not read that in scripture, but when we read about the culture of the time and the laws they lived under, we find this would have been true.
- He never toughed Mary until AFTER Jesus' birth
- There was a lifetime of personal consequences
- He had to take a very pregnant wife on a very long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem to pay his taxes.
- He could not go back home, but had to flee to Egypt (Another very long journey with a small child) to save the boy's life.
- Joseph had to have been a great father to Jesus as it would have fallen to him to teach Jesus about God...now that was something huge in itself! It is apparent that Joseph loved Jesus very much, even if he would never be his biological father.
Help me to remember this young man and to learn from his obedience.
The
Do Not Be Afraids of Christmas
There are 4 times when Gabriel says, “Do not be afraid” in the Christmas
Story. Lord, I have wondered over the
years why he had to continually tell people not to be afraid when he
appeared. Now after reading Malachi again,
I understand a few reasons why:
First, no one had heard from You in a little over 400 years. That’s longer than the United States has been
a country! Knowing this put things into
perspective for me.
Second, when You did speak with Israel the last time, You cursed and
rebuked them and their descendents because the priests were offering unsatisfactory
sacrifices to You. They were going
through the motions, but their hearts were far from You.
Third, because of artist’s interpretations, movies and shows on TV,
folks see angels as being beautiful ladies of slender build with gentle smiles
and long flowing hair and robes. We
would likely look at Gabriel more as Gabriella, so why would we be afraid? In fact, no angel in the Bible has a feminine
name and the acts they performed were not feminine type acts.
Daniel 10 tells of a vision he had when the angel of the Lord appeared
to him after he had been praying and fasting for 21days. He told Daniel that he had been detained by
the demon called the Prince of Persia for 21 days and the Archangel Michael had
to come help get the message through to Daniel; that certainly does not sound
like some wimpy ladies to me!
Zechariah, a priest for Israel, was the first to hear, “Do not be
afraid.” from Gabriel. Having been well
versed in the prophets, he would have very aware of Malachi’s pronouncement to
the priests of Israel. He had been
chosen to go into the Holy of Holies for the once a year offering of incense to
God. He would have had a rope tied around one ankle in case he was found
unworthy and God struck him dead. If
that was the case, his fellow priests would have to drag him out as they were
no allowed to enter. He need not have
feared that because in speaking about him and Elizabeth his wife scripture
says: “Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's
commandments and regulations blamelessly.” Luke 1: 6
However; I can understand why Zechariah, being alone in the Holy of
Holies about to burn incense would be
terrified when Gabriel appeared at the right of the altar! He to be told, “Do not be afraid!” Gabriel had great news for him and his
wife! “Zechariah; your prayer has been
heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the
name John. He will be a joy and delight
to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the
sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he
will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring
back to the Lord their God. And he will
go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of
the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the
righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Luke 1:13-17
The second, “Do not be afraid.” was said to Mary. When Gabriel appeared to her he said,
"Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and
wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a
son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord
God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the
house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." Luke 1:28-33
Only when Gabriel said she was highly favored and the Lord is with you,
did Mary wonder about this greeting and had to be told not to be afraid. To understand her fear, we have to go back
again to the culture of the day and to the Old Testament. Women were treated as second class citizens
at best, and property at worst. They had
no rights and were not allowed to go to school in the synagogue like the boys
were. But because her father had
evidently taken the command to teach his children as commanded in Deuteronomy,
Mary knew enough about the commandments to be living her life as pleasing to
the Lord. Also, I am sure she remembered
the phrase, “No one can look upon God and live.”
Gabriel had to tell her not to be afraid also because of what he was
going to tell her! She was a young teen,
probably 12-13 years old. The custom was
that when a young girl “came of age” her family would find a suitable husband
for her and a contract would be made between the families…a betrothal. In her case, she had been betrothed to Joseph
the carpenter. I find it interesting
that nowhere in scripture does it say that she and Joseph loved each
other. The betrothal would last a year
so the husband could make a dwelling place within his father’s house for them
to live in, and also to prove without doubt that the young lady was truly a
virgin and pure. Gabriel was telling her
that she would become pregnant during the betrothal period! What would her family, Joseph, and the
village think of her? Would Joseph still
marry her? Would she be stoned as a
fornicator, disowned by her family? Yes,
I can understand the need for Gabriel to tell her not to be afraid!
The third “do not be afraid, was spoken to Joseph in a dream:
“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. 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. 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. 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
I am sure that Joseph was torn, and here is the only place where we see
that he may have had a love for Mary.
Being a righteous man, he had every right to publically disgrace her for
her infidelity during their betrothal period, but scripture tells us that he
did not want to do that. However; he was
willing to divorce her quietly leaving her alone and pregnant. What had gone through his mind when Mary told
him that she was pregnant with the Messiah by Immaculate Conception? Each time a Jewish girl had a son; all
wondered if this could be the Messiah!
Now Mary was telling him that the child she was carrying was conceived
by…the Holy Spirit of God????? Could
this really be true? How
ridiculous! But he had to know enough about Mary to think she would not lie
to him…but how in the world could what she was telling him be true? Had she really betrayed him? His “do not be afraid” was telling him, “Do
not be afraid to believe Mary! What she
is telling you is true!” Implied was
that there would be circumstances that might cause him to be afraid in the
future, but because God was in the circumstances, he need not fear.
Fear: fear of being responsible for the woman who would give birth to
the Son of the living Holy God of Israel!
Fear of being a worthy earthly father, of knowing enough about the
scriptures to be able to teach the very Son of God about His real Father! Fear of being able to physically provide for
his little family now that no one would have anything to do with him and his
business because they would assume he had been the one to impregnate Mary
before their wedding took place. Fear of
being disowned by his family and ridiculed by everyone.
The fourth, “Do not be afraid”, was said to the shepherds. To understand this, we have to go back to
history as well. Shepherds were not socially acceptable folks highly revered by
anyone. They were usually hired hands
and were paid very little, if anything at all.
They lived 24-7 with the sheep they cared for outside on the hillsides
away from town. Sheep stink, and so do
the shepherds! Bathing was not a regular
activity. At night, they might light
small campfires to stay warm and to cook what little food they might find, but
because the towns had no street lights etc. it was REALLY dark, especially on a
night when there was no moon!
“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch
over their flocks at night. An angel of
the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and
they were terrified. But the angel said
to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will
be for all the people. Today in the town
of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a
baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Luke 2:8-12
An angel of the Lord appeared to
them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
terrified. Well I guess I would be
too! No one came to see shepherds number
one, and number two, the sky went from being the dark of night to blazing like
the noonday! They also had to be told
not to be afraid because of what would happen next!
“Suddenly a great company of the
heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Luke 13. Whoa, it is amazing that they
did not all fall dead from fright!
However; they had to know enough about prophecy to understand the
ramifications of what they were being told because, “When the angels had left
them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to
Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us
about." Luke 2:15
In each case, Gabriel had to tell the recipients of his appearance not
to be afraid because he was not bringing a proclamation of judgment, but good
news from the God of all time! At that
time, as now in history, they really needed to hear good news, and so do
we! This earth is a cesspool of sin and
rebellion against God Almighty. There
was, and still is, violence, greed, hypocrisy, and evil of every kind. They needed the Savior to come and provide
rescue from it all, and so do we. In
reading the paper even today, there is enough bad news, war, and looming
economic disaster to scare anyone half to death. There is fear of failure, terminal illness,
poverty, crime, health issues, and even the breakup of the family.
But God! God has provided the
remedy for our fears too! Jesus, the Messiah HAS COME! If we believe in our
hearts that He truly is the Son of God, He rescues us from the wages of our
sins, gives us the peace that passes ALL earthly understanding even in the
midst of chaos, everlasting live and eternity with Him in a perfect Heaven. We
need not fear physical death as it is the final act of rescue from this earth
and its sin. He promises to provide for us while we are here, give us strength,
wisdom, and courage to do unimaginable things!
No wonder the angels heralded to the shepherds, "Glory to God in
the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." “For to us a child is born, to us a son is
given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of is
government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and
over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish
this” Isaiah 6: 6-7
With the angels, I say, Hallelujah!
Praise to the Almighty One who saves and keeps us! He is the Son of God, Emmanuel, God with US, and
perfect love casts out fear. We
have not
been given a spirit of fear. Romans 8:15 says, “For you did not receive a
spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the
Spirit of
sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." We can have a healthy fear of the Lord or be
afraid of everything else! I choose the
Lord!
The Star,Wise Men and Evil Men of Christmas
Matthew 2:1-18
Lord, it is not recorded for us how long You had to remain in the stable or when and where Joseph found lodging for you and Mary in Bethlehem or exactly how long you stayed there.
Most nativity scenes show the wise men at the stable, but again, that is artist's interpretation. In Matthew 9:b-11 states: "And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh."
It is not recorded clearly when the star appeared. I assume it appeared the moment You were born, but it is not recorded that the shepherds saw it. The Maji, who were astronomers, saw the star, had to study all about it, prepare to travel, and then travel from wherever they were from in the "East" to get to Bethlehem. Without all of the modern means of travel, that would have taken a long time.
Another thing that puzzles me about the star is that obviously Herod, nor any of the "learned ones" in Jerusalem saw it; or if they did, they gave it no study. Not until the Maji told Herod about the new king born and following the star did he become troubled. I am also puzzled by what Matthew says about all Jerusalem was troubled with him. Why, Lord? It's obvious that Herod was not the best king in the world and there seemed to be no love lost between him and the Jews of the time. One might think they would rejoice, not be troubled!
Herod, who was so very jealous of his appointed throne over Israel, when he heard the story from the Maji, hoping to destroy this new ruler; decreed that all of the male children two years and under were to be slaughtered! If the star led the wise men to the very house where You were, it did not lead the soldiers who had to carry out such a heinous order from the demented king to that very house first. If it had, they would not have had to kill all of the babies in Bethlehem and all of the surrounding area, because they would have realized that You and your parents were no longer there. Did it disappear after the visit? Was it only for the Maji so they could deliver the gifts to You?
Lord Acton said, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." That certainly was true of Herod! I do not know how many babies were killed and ushered into Heaven under that edict or how long it took. It is also not recorded what it did to the soldiers who had to carry out that edict. Were they so evil and so ignorant of the value of human life themselves that it was no different for them than killing senseless animals? They knew their lives would be taken if they failed to carry out the order of the king. If a male baby was born right after the soldiers passed by a house, did they have to go back and kill him too? Did the screaming of the children and their parents haunt their memories for the rest of their lives?
I also am amazed that Herod was so mad that he did not think far enough ahead to see that there would be two years when new male workers and tax payers would not enter the workforce. There would be no males for young ladies to marry for that later two year period.
Lord, as a mother and grandmother, I cannot fathom the grief and bitterness that arose during that time. Jeremiah said that the heart of man is sick and desperately wicked, who can know it?
BUT GOD! But You, Lord, when asked in true belief, come into the human heart and soul and do a work of transformation that is miraculous! You turn selfish, vile, evil sinners like myself into saints who love, give, and are tenderhearted and forgiving grace givers. We yield to Your benevolent kingship in our lives and are transformed for all eternity! Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Joseph's Four Angel Visits of Christmas
Matthew 1:20; 2:13,19,22b
Lord, You are revealing more things to me about the Christmas Story than I have thought about before. Joseph is the only one in the story of Your birth that received more than one visit from an angel! Zechariah, Mary, the shepherds, and the Magi each received only one. The first three actually saw Gabriel when they were awake. The Magi and Joseph were visited by the Angel of the Lord in dreams. Joseph received four messages from him in dreams!
The first came with good news when he was deliberating whether to divorce Mary or not. Then the warnings started. The second came after Your birth when he warned Joseph in the middle of the night to take You and Mary and flee from Herod to Egypt. The third came when Herod had died and Joseph was told to return You and Mary to Israel. The fourth came to warn him not to stay in Judea because of Herod's son, so he took Your little family back to Nazareth. The flight to Egypt and the return to Nazareth were warnings, but also were given to fulfill prophesy!
As Joseph was Your chosen earthly father, it fell to him to provide for and protect You. Obedience was not an option, and Joseph was the right man for that! Each time he was told what to do, he did not contemplate, deliberate, or procrastinate. He immediately obeyed. The Angel of the Lord had to come to him more than anyone else because Joseph had to be given the Father's eyes into the future. You had relinquished your omniscience when you became a baby unable to even speak yet so You could experience life as we do.
Because of Your Father's charge to Joseph I can well understand the panic he and Mary felt when You were twelve and they thought they had lost You on the way home from Jerusalem! (Luke 2:41-48)
So many visits! So many responsibilities! So much unquestioned obedience!
Lord, thank You for the example Joseph was and is to us today. May I always be so readily obedient when You speak to me!
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