Christmas is a reminder that you are loved.
"'Behold, the virgin shall be with Child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel,'" which is translated, 'God with us.'" ~Matthew 1:23
We are not alone anymore. God is here with us. Christ was born.
God, in human flesh, removed the distance between God and man.
"And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in town from top to bottom..." ~Matthew 27:50-51
His death made a way for us to come to God. There is no veil. No human mediator needed.
No need to fear!
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Can I be a Shepherd?
Of all the characters in the Christmas story, I have to say I would have wanted to be a shepherd.
They were there, doing their thing. Minding their own business. Working hard. Not expecting anybody to do for them. Pulling their own weight.
Then, out of the clear blue sky (literally), God comes and seeks them out! Perhaps they were searching for Him (raising the temple lambs), but maybe they weren't.
He was gracious and chose to tell them of His plan of redemption.
They went and searched to see how God had fulfilled His promise. They took Him at His word.
They didn't get caught up in logistics of what to do with their sheep, or how to find this Baby. They went. They believed.
When they found Jesus, they didn't resume their lives as normal. First, they made sure that EVERYONE knew about this. Everyone needed to hear how God had fulfilled His promise!
Then, they went back to work. But they didn't go back the same.
There wasn't anything special about the shepherds. They were not doing anything extraordinary. They were people living their lives. But, when they heard the message and saw His faithfulness, they were forever changed.
~Luke 2:8-20
They were there, doing their thing. Minding their own business. Working hard. Not expecting anybody to do for them. Pulling their own weight.
Then, out of the clear blue sky (literally), God comes and seeks them out! Perhaps they were searching for Him (raising the temple lambs), but maybe they weren't.
He was gracious and chose to tell them of His plan of redemption.
They went and searched to see how God had fulfilled His promise. They took Him at His word.
They didn't get caught up in logistics of what to do with their sheep, or how to find this Baby. They went. They believed.
When they found Jesus, they didn't resume their lives as normal. First, they made sure that EVERYONE knew about this. Everyone needed to hear how God had fulfilled His promise!
Then, they went back to work. But they didn't go back the same.
"Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them."
There wasn't anything special about the shepherds. They were not doing anything extraordinary. They were people living their lives. But, when they heard the message and saw His faithfulness, they were forever changed.
~Luke 2:8-20
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