The Light Of The World

John 9:5

. . . I am the Light of the World.

Jesus is the one constant in our chaotic world. His Word never changes, He will never change His mind about the good future He has planned for us.

No matter how far the evil-doers of the world go in doing their evil, no matter how heinous and horrifying their evil deeds, God is still God and Jesus will still be instant and present in us by His Spirit. We never need to give up, it will never be "too late" for Him to make things right. No matter what harassment, persecution, or even martyrdom comes to us through evil men, Your wrath will be upon them, but will not come near or touch us. We can count on Your light, Lord.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Christmas Gifts

Matthew 2:11

On coming to the house, [The Magi] saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

These wise scholar-kings who had been looking for a sign that this momentous occasion had arrived, spent their time and efforts to travel probably for months to find this Child. The gifts they presented Him are very significant: Gold is given to kings, as He is the King over all kings; Incense (or Frankincense) signifies that He is our High Priest, to offer the fragrant perfume of our prayers before the Eternal Throne of God in Heaven; and Myrrh, a burial spice, indicating that He would submit to going through Death itself in order to conquer it, and He will destroy it at the end of this Earth's time as the last enemy to be destroyed.

Because these wise men presented gifts to Jesus, we give gifts to one another at Christmas. But the greatest Christmas gift is Jesus, Himself: That God loves us so much that He gave, He gave us His only Son, He emptied Heaven of His Son for a time, so that whoever would put their trust in Him would never die eternally, but live with Him forever. That is the great wonder and Truth of Christmas.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

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!