The people who WALKED in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy; they rejoice before You according to the joy of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. 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, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:2-4,6)
I love our Heavenly Father! I love what He has done for all those throughout time who have heeded Him, followed after Him, learned from Him through His Word. And of course this means I love the Lord, Jesus Christ, who was and is and thankfully is still to come again.
Lord God, we are about to celebrate Your birth. I thank You for bringing light into this world. I thank You for taking me out of the darkness of my old life. I thank You that I saw that light. I stand with all the others who are now in a life of joy and peace because of Who You are and what You have done. Little by little You increase Your kingdom people. It is said that whenever one more person receives You into their life a celebration takes place in heaven. Oh, the sweet sound that must be!
I am thankful that I am now counted as one whose burdens of sin and oppression have been replaced with freedom and joy. I am able to fully understand the real reason for celebrating Your birth. Happy birthday, Jesus!
The Word became flesh in that tiny baby. A song states that when Mary kissed her little baby, she kissed the face of God. How amazing is that?
I was wrapping Christmas presents and listening to Christmas music the other day. I listened intently to the words. Although we all know the words to many of the songs, are they just melodies we sing and get goosebumps over? Listen to this: Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let men receive their King. He is calling us to receive Him into our lives. Let every heart prepare Him room...He desires we open our hearts to receive Him. Let Him in.
He reigns in the hearts of His people. While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains repeat the sounding joy... I am reminded of a scripture that says if we do not worship Him, the very rocks will... I tell you that if these (disciples) should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out. (Luke 19:40)
The Bible is considered alive. Hebrews 4:12 states: For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Jesus, the Word of God, the Son of God. And the very Word that created the heavens, the earth and all things in this world can amazingly also live in each one of us. We only need believe and act on it.
We are all in the darkness described in scripture. We are blind to the truth. We are clueless of the things of God...even not being able to understand the things that go on around us in our own lives, in those of our community, state or nation. We carry on believing in our own misguided way that everything will work itself out because it always has because we've always been able to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Sometimes that just doesn't happen. Self needs to be replaced with God.
We who know the grace and mercy of an all loving--and disciplining--God, have that hope that all things will be eternally good. God promises...and He does not waiver...are for those whose trust is in Him. No one without God has this hope.
Jesus can be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace if we so choose. Choose is the key word. No man can claim these absolute titles. We must humble ourselves, shake off the pride and submit to One who knows best who we are and what we can be, in Christ, given His Holy Spirit to dwell in us and guide us into all truth.
Give some real thought to what happened at Christ's birth. He was on a throne in heaven yet He chose to come to earth to live as we do. He lowered Himself, He humbled Himself for us. That is not a picture of self or self-centerdness. its a picture of selflessness. Picture it. Jesus born in a stable sleeping in a feeding trough. Pure humility. He did not live in a mansion on earth; He had no home on earth because His home was heavenly and heavenward. He was rejected and despised by more people than those who followed Him. He preached hard words of truth. Life would not have been easy had it not been for the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit of God that can dwell in us.
Today He is still rejected, even by those who attend church, those who think by taking their seat in a pew most Sundays makes them a Christian. A true Christian has Jesus with them every moment of their day because He lives in them. Oh yes, this can be. But it must be sought after, humbly. It must be heartfelt.
This Christmas let the true light of Christ lead you into truth. Forget Santa and his reindeer. Forget all the presents and materiality of Christmas. Focus on the greatest Gift anyone could ever receive. He is yours for the asking. He will join you on the rest of your life's journey and be all He is to you because He can live in you. Imagine. Like Mary kissed the very face of God, His Spirit in us. Seem impossible? Who can imagine? We may not be able to get our head around this, but it can be.
Just ask Him. Ask Him with all your heart to come into your life and fill you with His truth, wisdom, power, strength, hope, love, comfort. He's waiting. You may not know it, because you are still in darkness, but you are a sinner. We are all sinners. But it is Jesus, whose life we celebrate again this Christmas, who takes that darkness away and brings His glorious light to you.
The transformation is amazing. You can feel it. A burden will be lifted and the underlying sense of joy will just be. When all else goes wrong in life He will be there for you. But you must ask Him first. Let Him be the best Christmas Gift ever.
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