Luke 1.18 How can I be sure of this......well thats always the question...isnt it. How can we really be sure...that we are going to make our bills..that we are going to get better..that our deepest fears wont come true....well...we cant. Zach was living a personal nightmare himself when that angel came....even though this was the greatest moment in his lifetime as a Preist...choosen by lot...to burn incense before The Lord! He was still childless, no one to carry on the family name,shunned by those in his common circles...there must be something wrong...in your life ..see no kids = Gods not happy with you..its just the mentality of the culture.After a while you would begin to believe it too...maybe you do now. I wonder where his heart was at that moment...when he decide to argue with an Angel...not just any old Angel..Gabriel! He must have been pretty discouraged...pretty much tired of his rituals...pretty tired of his prayer life...and GOD is saying...hey your prayer has been heard...i have always intended to answer..I just wanted to wait so you could recieve my full blessing..and show everybody on the greatest day of your career...I AM NOT UNHAPPY WITH YOU...remember when I told you through Isaiah....you are precious and honored in my sight...and because I love you...do not be afraid for I am with you...43; 1-10. But he lost the opportunity of giving the announcment of the one of Greatest joys in his life because he thought it depended on him and his performance..Like wow you burn that incense so awesome like....it is true he and his wife were pretty outstanding in honoring God! And you...you are Gods workmanship...created in CHRIST JESUS to do good works..which he prepared in advance for us to do.Think of your greatest prayer God has not answered yet....if he sent an angel to tell you its coming...would you put up a fight because you have held onto your lack of Faith so long...so we go on living... unsure.......!! Is God ALMIGHTY in your mind? And without Faith it is impossible to please God...Hebrews 11.6 Do we want to please him ..thats the real question....you say of course we do what does a child want to do but please his father.....but a child that lacks faith in their..daddy?? Very dishonoring....why ???? Because a real father would die for his child, Because the child is ...the DADDIES DELIGHT. Really. Sometimes...sometimes i have to remind myself, i am living for Jesus...not my children..not my wife ..because Im so deeply in love with them....who put that there?REALLY?????????????? EPH 5;1-2
I wonder if Mary and Joseph knew just how much trouble they were in? I mean here is this out of the ordinary pregnancy...worthy of a stoning! This Paranoid King...who wants to go on a baby killing spree and to top it all off they are homeless, with no belongings. Does that sound like everything is under control. Thats really it, isn't? We want everything to be under our control,comfortable.. NO CONFLICT. So we look at the quiet little manger scene and wonder why our lives have conflict, especially at Christmas time. The gospel of Christ was never a gospel of comfort, but of CONFLICT. The sooner we understand that conflict is OK, the quicker we will resolve.. to TRUST GOD. Mary and Joseph were led into the center of God's will, yet many times they had to trust God, FOR EVERYTHING! You can even be in the center of God's will and be going through conflict. This life, according to Jesus, will bring us much trouble. SO if you are a Christian looking for your life to fit perfectly in all the little categories that the culture says it should,stop.. cause that is right where the Jewish people were. In hopes of a Messiah and a kingdom to come and crush the Government and change all the circumstances and remove the CONFLICT...conflict that forced them to pray..read the scriptures and challenge their faith and hope in The LORD.I have thought about the kingdom recently..and we are suppose to pray for it to come.. but where?? Jesus said the Kingdom of God is within you!!!! That is so true..because i have witnessed it ,God working through your life as you serve him and encourage the saints..as you pray and not given up..as you work even though your weary.....as you keep the faith no matter how small. So The King of Kings was born that night in a filthy stable...yet he is birthed a new in the heart.. by faith...quite possibly the dirtiest most vile place on the earth!!! And the kingdom of God advances,one silent night...Holy Night....and all is calm. Peace.
it is so awesome when we get recognized...like when my child gets her name in the paper for a sports event...we cut it out and hang it up ..hand out copies to our friends and save one with our photo albums. Ever had your name inscribed on something special like a plaque or trophy? Awards given away..so great..so temporary..so fleeting..so....Jesus never got one of those moments... like the guy who healed the most lepers or the guy who slept in the worse conditions as a baby...now everything is sterile..the enviroment completly stablized and sanitized for this bundle of joy coming into this uncertain world! Thin of it, pure and completely holy Jesus comes into a dirty stable or cave. This could represent our heart....the dirtiest most vile place on earth...if you dont beleive that read the news and when you ask yourself how can they do that to another person..well its the heart. So we take moment to think...he had to come down to us...live in perfection..love in completion...die in rejection...and then rise! Send his spirit to you ..convict you of sin ..woo you with love...call you with grace..open your eyes to faith ...open your ears to truth...open your heart to true love..grant your mind understanding and give you the gift of repentance! What a miracle..not only that now...your name is not only written in heaven forever...lk 10;20 but its also engraved on the palms of his hands...rejoice! The in the CHRISTmas miracle.
The kingdom of God is opposite to mans. We think of greatness in terms of success..God sees success in terms of failure. Look at the times you failed to provide for yourself and others and you had to rely on him. Look at times you failed to be good! And you must rely on his rightousness and attonement. Look at the cross..a pitiful,pathetic failure in the eyes of Great and powerful men! What a wretched tragedy! Yet..........the Greatest moment in history...your history! So great..that people wrote about its affect on you...hundreds of years before it ever happened.. God is so in to the small details of your life..they a Great to him...even the failures...so great that he says...You are Great in his kingdom...you are Great in his heart...you are Great in his eyes. So great....it pleased him to crush his own son...for you. The next time you think your life is small and insignificant and you need to do great thnings........remember the great cost. The cost OF GOD himself.......for you! Your value is unsearchable..only to be displayed in the heavens for an eterntity. Peace.....Isaiah 54.10
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