Summarized from Luke 2:8-20, Part III
Shepherds DID Watch Their Flocks By Night Sheep were:
God as the Message’s Origin No shepherd could have divined the truth God revealed to them. As the Wise Men needed an exterior sign to make the journey to Bethlehem, shepherds couldn’t have come to the stable without a GOD-given inspiration. Angels as Messengers Shepherds may have glanced upwards to see twinkling sequins stitched to the black shroud of the sky. As blinding light suddenly appeared, they instantly fell on their faces, terrified. A mighty being stood in the light, announcing Christ’s birth to them. The last people priests and Pharisees expected:
Content of the Angelic Message It revealed the fact of Christ’s birth, but not his conception in a virgin. Forecasting the Master’s own refusal to mention his conception. He stirred enough animosity in the leadership without revealing his earthly origin. It revealed the HOPE Christ’s birth brought to humanity:
It personalized PEACE. While available to all people, God’s peace is promised only to those “on whom his favor rests” Luke 2;14. If we wonder why peace on earth isn’t a reality, and hasn’t been since God expelled Adam and Eve from Eden, understand: God’s peace:
If we look for peace in another source:
If we wonder why even Christians often precipitate church fights:
Note: Thanks for reading these blogs. Hope they increase your appreciation of the Lord Jesus. The blogs will resume the first full week of January, 2024. V
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Summarized from Matthew 1:18-25, 2:9-11, Part II
Jesus Conceived In and Born of a Virgin Those who deny Christ’s virgin birth, Thomas Jefferson among them, being conceived in a virgin girl, by the Holy Spirit, remains a sine qua non doctrine of Christianity. God could have freed Christ’s birth from controversy by enlisting a married couple as parents. Unconcerned with appearances, God daringly used a virgin to give Israel 7:14 its deepest possible meaning. Mary’s Virginity Had a Definite End Matthew’s insistence of her virgin state in 1:18c, and the couple’s sexual union in 1:25, complement each other. A virgin UNTIL giving birth to Jesus, Mary and Joseph began marital relations after the child’s dedication to God 40 days later Luke 2:22-34—the time-line parental sexual relations can re-start today after a 24622birth. Given that clear timeline, we can as clearly understand Christ’s siblings in Mark 6:1-3 as his biological half-brothers and sisters. Mary Had No Role in Christ’s Ministry Matthew explicitly proved the Master’s Singularity even as an 18-24 month-old child. He didn’t seize the Wise Men’s entrance into Joseph’s house to show Mary’s importance. Instead, in two acts, the foreigners proved that Jesus alone, all by himself, even as a toddler, would be the ENTIRE kingdom of God in human form. First, when they entered, off came their turbans, down came their knees AS they worshipped HIM, not him and Mary. Second, out came the gifts their servants carried, presented to Jesus alone. Every scripture text in the Four Gospels agrees with this text: the Kingdom of God on earth found its embodiment in the life of Jesus Christ Alone! End Part II Summarized from Luke 1:5-17, Part I
John the Baptist Promised in the Temple God raised the curtain on redemption by sending Gabriel to the:
Because the temple embodied God’s:
Zechariah’s Response Authentic The ceremonies in which Zechariah majored created:
Given that nature, his doubt when promised a son:
Zechariah’s career-strengths carried:
Leading him to be a believer:
Gabriel’s Response to Zechariah Authentic Since he:
To reveal:
Second, to achieve success where even Mosaic Judaism failed, Jesus:
A spectacular difference existed between the two. Where human failure to live and defend truth in Law led
The personalization of faith in Christ began with:
Of that disparate group, none had spiritual qualifications to be disciples, let alone apostles:
The Twelve:
Thus…whatever church-growth gurus say, Jesus appealed:
All of them united by faith in HIM, disregarding their differences. Shaming many Christians and churches who have often fractured their unity by stressing their differences with each other while forgetting their common faith in our Lord. Fini To assure success in his Spiritual Crusade, Jesus made two necessary changes in the religious life.
First, he re-defined the conquest of Satan in spiritual terms:
For humanity has always considered:
It considers technology, psychology, philosophy, government and politics as the answers to these problems. BUT NEVER EVANGELISM OF THE UNSAVED! The disciples, POST-RESURRECTION, up to the very Ascension of Jesus into Heaven, continued to think in terms of Davidic solution to Israel’s future: a great king ruling in righteousness over the nations. Which Jesus ignored since he knew that would be one more mistake in trying to resolve all the problems SIN caused. To emphasize the change coming to them and, through them, to all who heard their message, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit’s Presence and Power to direct their eye-witness account of him throughout history. And of what would they be witnesses?
All of these references being true, why don’t God’s preachers have the:
When God prepared the world for Christ’s Advent, he intentionally left:
In Corinth, which gave birth to the verb:
In Crete, which gave birth to:
In Ephesus, where might Diana ruled:
All of the former to prove that:
Then, having personally manacled Satan, Jesus ordered his apostles into the same incorrigibly aggressive pagan world:
To achieve success in his Spiritual Crusade, Jesus made two seminal changes. End Part II R.S. Bray’s book Armies of Pestilence records the displacement effect of disease on world populations. See I Samuel 31:7 and I Chronicles 4:41-43 for examples of war as the Great Population Displacement, repeated throughout history.
The Bubonic/Black Plague being the worst of all examples of that Displacement. In less than 20 years in the 14th century it carried off three-quarters of the population in Europe and Asia. In WWI one million soldiers died in four years. In 1918, alone, the Swine Flu killed 20 million in Europe and America. And a contemporary COVID-19 has killed nearly seven million world-wide. And its still hanging around! Bray noted that the first evidence of a European epidemic in America occurred between 1616-1619; perhaps the Plague or Smallpox—the latter killer of multiplied tribes of Indians. The effect in what is now Massachusetts Bay left the region depopulated. Which made Puritan colonization easier. God, however, had another destiny for Christianity in the Roman world. End Part I While we can expect negative REPLIES to prayer, we can expect a positive PROMISE when we pray:
God promises…
He will always, without fail, every time we pray:
That instructs the mind to trust God -- which is easy
For what we mentally decide is always more rational and lasting than what our emotions conjure. In summary, we can always trust God through whatever despair, loss or failure we experience, FOR:
Finally, read John 14:1. Appreciate the depth of those few words: “Trust in God; trust also in me”. No prophet or apostle ever put himself equal to God. Only Jesus, and not only here, but repeatedly, throughout his ministry. The cults may not know who Jesus is, but he KNEW. Christians may not realize what Jesus meant, but he KNEW: he and God were ONE. That’s what Jesus:
In the 19th century commercial American Navy, when a crewman sought shore leave, he approached the Captain in his work clothes. For, to go dressed, expecting it, would guarantee his refusal.
Though no one should pray:
God wants us to pray, believing we’ll receive, even if we haven’t:
Neither will God urge us to pray:
Neither can we say that:
What then, shall we do when:
First, be sure that our religious slogans aren’t at fault, such as:
Such as:
Such as:
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