HE IS BORN

 

Luk 2:7-20  And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.   But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;  for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."  

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,   "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."  

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."  So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.  

When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.   And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.  But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.  The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

"This I command you, that you love one another."

-Jesus, Joh 15:17 

Blessed and Merry Christmas to all.

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NO MORE NIGHT--NO MORE DARKNESS

After the One-Thousand-Year Reign of our Lord Jesus, then comes the last battle and final judgment. We who believe and are saved will witness the coming down of the NEW JERUSALEM, our Eternal home where there will be no more night.

In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed. {Rev 21:25}

"No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. {Isa 60:19, Rev 21:23; 22:5}

But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; - giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. {1Pe 2:9}

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,- for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light,- for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;  so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. {Col 1:12-13-Eph 5:8-1Th 5:5-6}

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.  (19)  The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble. {Pro 4:18-19}

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HE IS RISEN

HAVE YOU HEARD? OUR LORD HAS RISEN!

Joh 20:1-29  Now on the first day of the week [SUNDAY] Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.  So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him."  

So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb.   The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first;  and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in.  

And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there,  and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.   So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.   For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.  

So the disciples went away again to their own homes.    But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb;   and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.    And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him."    When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.    Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away."    Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher).    Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'"    Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and that He had said these things to her.  

So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you."    And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.    So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you."    And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.   "If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained."  

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.    So the other disciples were saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."  

After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you."    Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing."    Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"    Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed."

Luk 24:50-53  [After being seen by over 500 believers, Jesus was ready to ascend into heaven] And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.    While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.  [ Angels appeared and told them that THIS JESUS WILL RETURN IN LIKE MANNER]   And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy,   and were continually in the temple praising God.

HAVE YOU HEARD? OUR LORD HAS RISEN!

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Now you have!

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REAPING WHAT YOU SOW

 

Abram and his nephew Lot were very successful in the stewardship of the means that God had given them. The were so productive that space for the herds was a major concern. Lot and Abram elected to go opposite ways, one to the Left, the other to the right.

Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.   So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. {Gen 13:10-11}

As the Lord walked with Abram, the Lord pondered:  If He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;  and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men   (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),  then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,  and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties. {2Pe 2:6-10}

The First casualty as Lot and his family were led by the hand out of Sodom and Gomorrah was Lot's wife. She did not obey because she did not believe. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.   "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord...And I will welcome you. {Gal 6:7-8 / 2Co 6:14,17}

Therefore do not be partakers with them;  for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light  (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),  trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.  Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them. {Eph 5:7,8-9-11}

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LORD WILLING

 

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit."  Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.  Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that."  But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. {Jas 4:13-16}

"Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no good.  "They slip by like reed boats, Like an eagle that swoops on its prey. -- You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.  In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades and withers away. {Job 9:25-26--Psa 90:5-6}

"Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil.  "Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain. --The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.--"Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.  "Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. "But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.

{Job 14:1-2--1Jn 2:17--Psa 102:25-27}

LORD WILLING

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BE DIFFERENT---BE HUMBLE--SHINE ON!

 

The night-time sky offers a grand panorama of heavenly bodies. Stars of every size and purpose. The Apostle Paul writes in Corinthians 15; " There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory."-1Co 15:41

In the quiet times and especially on the Sabbath Jesus would share great wisdom with His Twelve Apostles. One lesson was repeated multiple times as He counseled the one goal for all and that being to serve the Father, all of them equal in standing before the mighty throne. Jesus would often question them to see if what He was teaching was being applied in their actions. One evening He asked them what they had been discussing as they walked earlier in the day.   But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.  Sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."-Mar 9:34-35

Those who were loyal in following Jesus were as different from each other as the stars are from the other luminaries in heaven.  "You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.  Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,  casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you."- 1Pe 5:5-7

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.-Php 2:5-9

"Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever."-Dan 12:3

Being different is a good thing. It causes us to find others who can buttress our weak areas while we may be able to strengthen their soft spots. What makes this wondrous and beautiful is when the goal is common to all and that end becomes the victory for everyone, large and small. We are all different but we shine with the same light. His light. Shine on!

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DIVINE PROTECTION OF THE DIVINE PROTECTOR

 

There are a few things that have been "dialed-back" here at home as a result of the crazy direction the world seems to have charted. Things that act like amplifiers or loud speakers blasting a constant barrage of vulgar and hate-filled messages about ....ahh....well....hmmm...EVERYTHING!

Hate this, de-platform that, ban them for life! Instead of a healthy dialogue where real information is shared and discussed, it ends up "Do as we say or be CANCELLED." (for real!)

Does God see all of this? Does He bristle over the intensity of the hatred spewed from sin infected lips? Does He see it all?   "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His'. { 2Ch 16:9} 

 Yes! Jesus sees it all!

Y'all know that what we are seeing is just the tip of the proverbial Iceberg, right?

As this final chapter in the Lord's perfect plan continues to unfold before our eyes; as each carefully and divinely crafted piece of the Creator's puzzle fits with perfection, what is expected of us as we serve our Lord in response? What are we supposed to do?

The answer rests in the basics; We are saved by GRACE, through FAITH in JESUS the Christ, according to Holy Scripture, all in Glory to GOD!   The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them.  O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!{ Psa 34:7-8}

When you were Born Again you become an entirely NEW creation. The Holy Spirit resides within you. The spirit is your on-board counselor and guide. It is the spirit of God that causes you to understand the Holy Scripture, and then shows you how to live by it.

In the Bible you will find instructions on how to  Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. { Eph 6:11}   He [God] will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.{ Psa 91:4}

Trust in HIM to fight the fight for you because you have no power on your own -- "The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent."{ Exo 14:14}

You are a child of God. Your Father, Abba, carries a pretty big stick. He has been dealing with Satan for a very long time. Trust fully in Him. Exercise your FAITH muscles every day and build up those FAITH Abs. The Grace will follow.

The Question was; "What are we to do?"

TRUST AND OBEY, THAT IS THE WAY!

Its in the BOOK!

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