Christmas Enouragement

II Thessalonians 2:15-17

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.--

Paul only had 3 weeks in Thessalonika to plant a thriving church there, as the Jewish leaders were very contentious. The city is in Macedonia, where God led Paul instead of into Asia. Paul went from there to Berea, where the Jews followed him, and he had to leave there, too.

May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself--

Jesus is God's Christ for us and our Lord, who himself loves us and gave himself for us. That is why we are remembering His birth this Christmas: He was born so that He could die for us.

and God our Father--

God is our Father by the New Birth.

who loved us--

He loves us so much that He sacrificed His only Son to redeem us.

and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement--

His grace, the good He gives us that we don't deserve, is very encouraging, lasting forever.

and good hope--

This encouraging Grace gives us hope, the certain knowing of the good future God has planned and prepared for us.

encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.--

Knowing this will give us great encouragement, to make us strong in the good deeds God planned for us to do and say for our benefit and prosperity and God's glory; He gets all the credit for having planned it all out and accomplished it according to His will, in His time and in His ways.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Fear Or Obedience?

Matthew 1:16; 2:22

But after he considered this (divorcing Mary), 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."

Joseph was a good man, who wanted to do the right thing. But when he found out about Mary's pregnancy, he knew it wasn't his, and he was afraid. It took the angel to convince him to go ahead and marry Mary anyway. Joseph didn't give in to his fear, he obeyed.

But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee.

Here Joseph was afraid again, but he didn't need to go against his fear this time. He obeyed the angel again and went back home to were he and Mary first met and got engaged.

Fear is not a good thing. Fear can make us do things that we would never consider otherwise, things we will regret later. Whenever we feel fear about something, we could ask ourselves, "Why am I afraid? What am I afraid of?" That will bring us to realize that either our fear is unreasonable, and we need not fear; or that it is legitimate, and what we are to do about the situation. So we need never give in to our fear, we can use our intelligence God gave us to reason out the best, most righteous course to take. Like Joseph did, in obeying instead of giving in to fear. He was a righteous man, the Dad God picked out to raise His Son.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Sin And Transgression

Isaiah 53:12

For He bore the sin of many,--

Often Scripture uses "many" for "all." Jesus bore our sin-nature on the cross for every one of us; the infinite payment, enough for every person who ever lived, or will live.

And made intercession for the transgressors.--

Transgressors are those who have transgressed God's law, who have committed overt sins. So the death He died paid for every sin that could ever be committed by anybody. He had to be God to be the eternal Person to pay our eternal debt in time. And He had to be a true human being, to qualify to die our human death. We remember His human birth at Christmas, as He broke into humanity.

May this Christmas bring to mind how God, in His love for us, emptied Heaven of His Son for a time, to bring us to Himself to spend eternity with Him! O how can so many refuse to come to You O Lord, Who loves us so?

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Spirit Of Truth

John 16:3

But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all Truth. . . . He will tell you what is to come.

God's Holy Spirit is His life inside us, in our spirits, giving us spiritual life, when we were spiritually dead. When we learn to hear His voice, that still, quiet knowing deep in our souls, then He teaches us to discern what is True and Righteous, and the wise path to take. We need never again be deceived by the world.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Unexpected Realms

John 6:27

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. . . .

I am not to put all my focus and energies into this world's provisions. I am to be satisfied with my physical needs, of food and clothing, and focus my energies and time on that Spiritual Food, the body and blood of Jesus Christ, which is His Word. My priority is to rest on Bible study and application to my daily life, and sharing the Truth God teaches  me; sharing also the Goodness of God in answered prayer, and how His leading brings us into unexpected realms. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Love Abounding

Philippians 1:9-10  

And this is my prayer: That your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the Day of Christ.

Love abounding in knowledge and depth of insight would not be critical of all the imperfections that knowledge and insight would reveal, but would discern the best, righteous and holy path to take (words to say), in order to not sully what purity we've attained or be open to blame for the wrong or criticism we did not succumb to. That would be real love. Find the positive to agree with to encourage the other. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Christmas Meditation

It is so incredible that the God Almighty, the Lord of Creation, would come to this Earth to live among us as a Man! To enter our realm as a tiny, helpless baby, and grow up as every one of us does. To not come to a household of means, or prestige, but to a poor, working family. For the Creator of the Universe to learn the trade of a carpenter. All this amazes me. 

Jesus experienced family life the same as every other human; with a mother who didn't always understand, a father who died before Jesus reached adulthood, brothers and sisters who probably got very exasperated with a big brother who never did anything wrong! 

While He was dying, He didn't leave His mother in the care of any of His own brothers, He knew that John the Beloved would have the compassion and gentleness to give her appropriate care; and Mary moved into John's house the same day Jesus died (John 9:27). This John, who with his brother James, had been known as the "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17). Astounding are the changes the Lord makes in lives when people just believe and trust in Him to be and do exactly what He says and claims. 

This Christmas, let us kneel before the Manger and worship this Child who is the Lord and our King and God's Sacrificial Lamb who purchased us all with His precious Blood. We are all born to live: He was born to die.

But He did not stay dead, He conquered that enemy, and will return soon to claim His kingdom.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!