Holiday Harmony

 

                                                        Holiday Harmony 

"Live in harmony with one another...as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." (Romans 12:16, 18)

Sometimes the stress and busyness of the holidays bring out conflict, instead of the peace the season promises. We can feel discouraged and disappointed, feeling hurt and maybe even exaggerating the ways people hurt us or let us down.

Even family conflicts sometimes seem to accelerate. I know a family who has to have an exact seating chart to separate those who have difficulty getting along!

But on Christmas Day we can remember that we have peace with God.

Family peace, as well as international peace, always begins with God. When we are confident that we have eternal peace with the all-powerful Creator and Ruler of the Universe, it's easier to bear the heartache, insults, and criticism that others might display toward us.

Our natural state is frightened self-preservation, fueled by self-centered concerns. But when we know we are in the right relationship with God Himself, it's easier to handle our disappointments and discouragement.

Jesus paid the ultimate cost to give us the most valuable Christmas gift ever! If we have peace with God through faith in Christ, even when at odds with people around us, we can demonstrate to them the peace of God. Let's live in harmony with those around us today! This probably is a really good day to start spreading peace!

How We Come to the Manger

 

                                              How We Come to the Manger

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the  Lord shone around them and they were terrified...'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'" (Luke 2)

Sometimes we forget that those words of good news of great joy that came for all mankind were delivered to individuals. The word "you" appears four times  in these few verses.

God loves all mankind because He loves each! Don't ever think you are unimportant individually in God's great rescue plan.

Don't let yourself get lost in the crowd.

Remember Jesus tells us that He call us individually by name.

We come to the manger as we come to the cross......one by one!

Let's Celebrate Both!

                                                   

                                                                Let's Celebrate Both!

One of those Christmas carols that celebrate both the first and the second comings of Jesus and still popular today is titled, "There is Room in My Heart for Thee."

The first verse summarizes beautifully the scene where Mary and Joseph were shown to a stable, because there was no room for them in the inn, or guest house. No room for Jesus (or His family!)

But we can all today make room in our hearts to receive Him as Savior and Lord.

That's one of the great lessons of the Christmas story.

Here's the last verse: "When the heavens shall ring and her angels sing at Thy coming to victory, let Thy voice call me home saying, 'Yes, there is room! There is room at My side for thee!'" That's His Second Coming we are all so anxious to see!

There was always room at His side for us - for each of us, just as there was always room at the cross for us!

Our spot was reserved before creation and someday we will arrive to take that special place at His side! When He comes back to reign in glory we will be with Him!

What a wonderful hymn to sing at Christmas: to celebrate His birthday in that stable in Bethlehem and also His coronation and reign as King of Kings when He comes next time -- not to a stable but to a great Throne!

(By the way, that hymn/carol was written about 1850 by Emily Elliott, whose aunt, Charlotte Elliott, wrote "Just as I Am," a few years earlier.)

 Christmas is the best time to remember that the Baby Messiah who had no room to receive Him, made certain that we have a pace with Him secured forever! "I go to prepare a place for you," He tells us. What a great God we have!

When will we sing 'Joy to the World'?

                                       

                                              When Will We Sing 'Joy to the World'?

Enjoying thinking about other generations' thoughts about Christmas.

I am finding out how their celebration of God's Incarnation at Bethlehem was joined with celebration and anticipation of His Second Coming. And how many carols reflect that -- the first verse or two is about Bethlehem and the last verses celebrate His victorious future return.

Think about "It Came upon A Midnight Clear."  The first verse describes the angles' visit proclaiming the birth of the baby Jesus. The the last verse moves us forward to the future: "For lo! The days are hastening on, by prophets bards foretold, when with the ever circling years comes round the age of gold. When peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendors fling, and the whole world give back the song which now the angels sing."

From Bethlehem to the Millenium! Other carols paint the same picture.

And then there is "Joy to the World" which is completely about His Second coming! I remember hearing someone say once that that carol shouldn't be sung at Christmas  because it isn't about Bethlehem and Mary and Joseph at all - it's all about the future.

But that's the point -- our ancestors in their Christmas services intentionally celebrated both comings. What better way to celebrate Christmas than by joyously singing about His victorious return!

The first time He came in disguise, secretly, with no fanfare. But the next time He will come with His angelic army, publicly, seen by all, and all will bow down before Him in worship, either joyfully and eagerly, or with terror and fear.

I love the idea that our ancestors  celebrated both events at Christmas, and I want to experience Christmas that way also! So let's sing "Silent Night" and then "Joy to the World" -- so we can see the whole picture!

The first time He came in disgise

When God Speaks

 

When God Speaks

"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of His being." (Hebrews 1:1-2)

Back in Genesis, before we even thought to speak to Him, He turned His Face toward us and spoke to us.

(Remember Adam and Eve, after they sinned, did it even occur to them to approach God and ask forgiveness? No, they hid and He sought them out!)

And then He continued to speak to us, through His prophets, and then through His Son, and now through His Word.

Yes, He spoke to us before we ever even thought to speak to Him.

If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father," Jesus told His disciples.

And from 1 John 4:19, "We love Him because He first loved us."

God's rescue plan to bring us back to Him always starts with God Himself.

And aren't you glad He didn't wait for us to begin the conversation?

The Christmas Present - Past and Future

                    The Christmas Present - Past and Future

       

       1 Peter 1:10-12 

This salvation was something the prophets wanted to know more about. They prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you, even though they had many questions as to what it could all mean.

They wondered what the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when He told them in advance about Christ's suffering and His great glory afterward. They wondered when and to whom all this would happen.

They were told that these things would not happen during their lifetime, but many years later, during yours. And now this good news has been announced by those who preached to you in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.

It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.

      Revelation 5

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders....the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song:

You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,

because you were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth.

Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!

Christmas Day - What Jesus Did For Us - C S Lewis

 

                          What Jesus Did For Us

Taken from Mere Christianity by C S Lewis

What God did about us was this. The Second Person in God, the Son, became human Himself:  was born into the world as as an  actual man -- a real man of a particular height, with hair of a particular color, speaking a particular language. The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became  not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a fetus inside a Woman's body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab.

 A poem by George Herbert, written about 1600:

 The God of power, as He did ride

In His majestic glory

Resolved to light, and so one day,

He did descend, undressing all the way.

The Man and the Birds - Paul Harvey's Christmas Story

Maybe you remember this........


This is a transcription of Paul Harvey's classic original verbal presentation of this commentary just as he spoke it on the radio.

                                                                             * * * * *

Unable to trace its proper parentage, I have designated this as My Christmas Story  - "The Man and the Birds."

You know, "The" Christmas story, "God born in a manger," and all that, escapes some moderns. Mostly, I think because they seek complex answers to their questions, and this one is so utterly simple. So for the cynics and skeptics and the unconvinced, I submit a modern parable.

Now the man to whom I'm going to introduce you was not a scrooge. He was kind, decent, mostly a good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men, but he just didn't believe all that incarnation stuff which churches proclaim at Christmas time.

It just didn't make sense, and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn't swallow the Jesus story about God coming to earth as a man.

"I'm truly sorry to distress you," he told his wife, "But I'm not going with you to church this Christmas eve." He said he'd feel like a hypocrite, that he'd much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. So he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall.

He went to the windows to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper.

Minutes later, he was startled by a thudding sound. Then another. And then another - sort of a thump or a thud.

At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They had been caught in the storm and in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window.


Well, he couldn't let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter if he could direct the birds to it. 

Quickly, he put on a coat and galoshes and tramped through the deepening snow to the barn.

He opened the doors wide and turned on a light. But the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted, wide open door to the stable.

But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs and continued to flop around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them. He tried "shooing" them into the barn by walking among them waving his arms. Instead, they scattered in every direction - except the warm-lighted barn.

Then he realized that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, "I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could let them know that they can trust me." But how? Because any move he made tended to frighten them...confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led, or "shooed" because they feared him.

"If only I could be a bird," he thought to himself, "and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to the safe, warm .....

....to the safe, warm barn......but I would have to be one of them so they could see and hear and understand."

Suddenly he realized exactly what he was thinking. And at that moment the church bells began to ring. He stood there listening to the bells ringing  "O Come All Ye Faithful." Listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas....

And he sank to his knees in the snow.

                                              ``````

Who Wants to be a Slug? - Thoughts from C S Lewis

 

Thoughts on the Incarnation from C S Lewis

"The Second Person in God, the Son, became human Himself: was born into the world as an actual man -- a real man of a particular height, with hair of a particular color, speaking a particular language.

The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who has created the whole universe, became not only a man, but (before that) a baby, and before that a fetus inside a woman's body.

If you want to get the hand  of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab."

How God Speaks To Us!

 

How God Speaks To Us!

"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us  by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.

The Son is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of His being." (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Back in Genesis, before we even thought to speak to Him, He turned His Face toward us and spoke to us.

And then He continued to speak to us through His prophets and then through His Son, and now through His Word.

Yes, He spoke to us before we even thought to speak to Him!

"If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father," Jesus said. He is "the exact representation" of God.

And in 1 John 4:19, "We love Him because He first loved us."

And that's what Christmas is all about!

Wise Men Still Seek Him!

After the shepherds and the wise men received their summons to meet the Christ Child, they obeyed.

They journeyed to Bethlehem. They found the Savior.


They discovered that the words of the angel and the message of the star were not misleading. It was not a hoax!

God's Son had been born. Immanuel had arrived!

He was there for all who would leave what they were doing and come to Him.

That is also true today.

In our day people talk as if it were hard to find Christ, or act as if it were hard to find their way through the superstitions of religion to the truth about God.

What a terrible misunderstanding!

To talk like that is to suggest that God is lost and that it is up to us to find Him.

He is not lost nor is the truth lost.

We are the ones who are lost, and the difficulties are in us and not in either God or His gospel.

Do not say the truth cannot be found.

Jesus said, "I am the....truth" (John 14:6).

Jesus is presented in Scripture.

If you want to find Him, you must search the Scriptures.

As you do, pray:"God, I am not certain what the truth is concerning religious things. But I believe that if You exist and if Jesus Christ is truly Your Son and the Savior You have sent into the world, then You should be able to show this to me as I study the Bible.

If Jesus is the Savior, I want to find Him. If I do find Him, I promise to be His disciple and serve Him all my days."

When Does Christmas End?

 

                                                       When Does Christmas End?

Reminding myself of an old Christmas carol/hymn (almost 200 years old) --

"As with gladness men of old, did the guiding star behold; as with joy they hailed its light; leading onward beaming bright. So, most gracious Lord, may we evermore be led to Thee."

That's the first verse.

Reminding me that the Christmas story did not end 2000 years ago -- it continues today as we follow His light that leads us right to Him.

As we say, 'Wise men still seek Him.'

And the last verse is wonderful, too. "Holy Jesus, every day, keep  us in the narrow way. And when earthly things are past, bring our ransomed souls at last, where they need no star to guide, where no clouds Thy glory hides."

Don't you just love this idea? We no longer need a star to guide us now and we won't when our earthly life is over --  We have His Holy Spirit to bring us home to be with Him forever!

We'll see Him in all His glory and bow in worship just as the wise men did.

And we'll thank Him throughout eternity  for Christmas!

Christmas - What about that curse?

Joy to the world!

A favorite carol of almost everybody - written by Isaac Watts, in 1719, the same year Robinson Crusoe was published and 13 years before George Washington was born. The melody we use was arranged from a composition  by George Frederick Handel.


Words we usually miss are:

No more let sin and sorrow grow

Nor thorns infest the ground

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found!

    What curse? And His blessing are to flow...as far as that curse is found...how far is the curse found?

Back to Genesis. Chapter 3

Cursed is the ground for your sake...through suffering shall you eat of it all the days of your life...  thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you...in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread...

     So the ground was cursed and would bring forth weeds among the food (and remember, those were days of vegetarian diets) and so producing crops would be harder and apparently there would be some physical change in man--he would perspire when he worked because it would be much more laborious to harvest food now. Maybe he wouldn't be as strong, either.


    We don't know all the details. God has just left us the outline of what happened when sin entered our glorious garden world.

     Looks like wherever man goes on this earth,  the curse is there. As civilizations spread out to seek new land they encountered (and brought with them) the curse.

     Does the curse go with man into space? Man, who is fed with food from a cursed earth and machinery that is built with items from the cursed earth -- even man himself..."For dust you are and to dust you will return...."

      I can remember when the two Voyagers left on their missions in 1977.

     For over 30 years they have plummeted into space, still going, still sending out messages and reports back to us....still searching for other life.


The Golden Records

     Remember the "Golden Record" that was placed on each Voyager?

     These records contained information from our planet, in case the rockets were intercepted by another civilization or perhaps landed on an alien place where life forms might find them.

      On the Records were things like sounds from earth (a wave crashing on a beach, a sound of wind, a waterfall, birds, whales, etc.) and sounds of human beings (baby's cry, a kiss) and music from around the world.

      The one thing it did not include, and certainly should have, was a "Warning" sign, with the words from Genesis 3. After all, shouldn't life forms through out the  universe know who they were dealing with? We are containers and generators of a curse - we are violent, selfish people who seek control and set out to hurt each other. The whole universe should be warned! Stay away from planet earth.

   "Open these doors at your own risk" it should say.

   But in the future Kingdom to come, what happens to that curse?


      And there shall be no more curse  (Revelation 22:3)

His blessing will flow...as far as the curse is found! Throughout the earth - throughout the universe!

Voyager 1 is now the farthest from the earth made-made object!

Christ's rule will dwarf that distance!

When the curse is removed,

all things will be made new for Christ's new kingdom.

P.S. I have seen copies of the material on these Golden Records. Carl Sagan selected the earth's sights and sounds that he felt should be included -- it is a total distortion of what life is really like here! (We were strange people in the 70's....we had great difficulty seeing reality...)There were pictures of interracial and trans cultural  families eating bountiful meals around the world... plates heaped with food...everyone happy and joyous....lots of crops and content, satisfied people. No scenes of war...none of hunger...none of prisons...no crime, no abortions...just happy people eating and playing with each other without a care in the world! What idiotic propaganda!

     You can go online and see what was on the record. Chuck Berry, but no Silent Night... no Amazing Grace....nothing spiritual.

     Perhaps one day in the far future, some unsuspecting life form will arrive here in their space ships, with one of those "Golden Records" in their "hands" and find out what we are really like - then sue us for false advertising!

    (It would be like booking a vacation trip to a leper colony!)

    

P.P.S. Isaac Watts based this wonderful song on Psalm 98, which is primarily about the 2nd coming of Christ, and which is also the main topic of his famous carol. So it will be more appropriately sung at Christ's return as King, not to celebrate His first coming as a suffering servant. Read Psalm 98 and check it out.


Joy to the World is not about the Nativity -- it's about the 2nd coming of Christ as King!

Even so come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Christmas - It All Comes With Jesus - Immanuel!

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

(Hebrews 4:16)

Where else could we go in time of need? His Throne is the only place we can receive mercy because He is the only One who can extend it to us. With open, empty hands we approach Him and He fills them to overflowing with His mercy and His grace.

Mercy is when we don't get what we deserve. We deserve judgment, but we get mercy. It's a full pardon for all we have done that shows our disobedience and rejection of God.

Grace is when we get even more than mercy -- we get the added bonus of Christ's righteousness being credited to us.

So mercy is when we don't get what we deserve. And grace is when we do get what we don't deserve.

It's the ultimate exchange. We get rid of our dirty, sinful clothing and replace it with the perfect spotless new garments of Christ's righteousness.

There is no better deal in the universe. It's the most drastic, and certainly most important, makeover ever!

Everything in our life is reversed. Everything is turned upside down.

We approach the Throne, which should be the Throne of Judgment for us, where we should receive His just punishment for our sins and failures. But because we come dressed in the righteousness of His Son, our Redeemer, God is able to be kind and gracious to us, without in any way trivializing His requirement for perfect holiness.
He welcomes us as we approach Him.

The Cross took care of all of it!

So this is the picture we have as we approach the Throne. He is there waiting for us -- eagerly desiring to bless us. A throne is the symbol of authority. And God's Throne is where He commands His goodness to fall upon us.

We so approach with grateful hearts, in confidence, knowing He has already extended the scepter -- not like an early king's scepter -- His scepter is shaped like a cross -- and we approach as children to their loving Father.
 Remember what it was like to fun full speed, laughing joyfully, into your father's arms?

Is there a more joyous place in the universe? I don't know of one.

Neither did the Psalmist.

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

(Psalm 16:11)

There's a sign over the gate to Disneyland reminding us that we are entering "The Happiest Place on Earth." And it is a very happy place!

But that happiness pales when compared to the joy we find at the eternal Throne of God.

Sometimes we get carried away with comparing the various words associated with joy.
We define "happiness" one way, and "joy" another way.

The Psalmist approached it differently:

But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.

(Psalm 68:3)

Look at those words: be glad, rejoice, be happy, joyful -- four different words, and they all result from being in God's presence.

The Psalmist who write those words was King David, the one who sang and danced in the procession that brought the Ark of God's Presence into Jerusalem.

He was joyfully celebrating and dancing before God. It wasn't planned. It was a spontaneous reaction to just being close to God. And that's the kind of joy available to us! Today! Right now! At this precise moment! Just grab it!

He Makes and Will Make Room for US!

 

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2)

A popular and poignant verse.  ...because there was no room for them in the inn....no room for them....not just no room for the baby, but we usually only  think of that tiny, fragile life being laid in a manger, of all places!..because there was nothing else available.

But there was also no room for them...Christ's family. I am aware of it more this year than ever before. There is no room for Christ in our society, but also, there is no room for His family...for us....we are being crowded out, ignored, counted inconsequential, branded as unsophisticated and unlearned....counted inconsequential is perhaps the worse...not important enough to be considered...

That would really hurt if I didn't understand humankind and human history!

Heaven's arches rang when the angels sang,

Proclaiming Thy royal decree

But of lowly birth didst Thou come to earth

And in great humility....

The foxes found rest, and the birds their nest

In the shade of the forest tree;

But Thy couch was the sod, O Thou Son of  God...

In the deserts of Galilee...

When the heav'ns shall ring, and her choirs shall sing

At  Thy coming to victory,

Let Thy voice call me home, saying "Yes, there is room,

There is room at My side for thee."

WOW! Unbelievable! Incredible! Isn't that the best news you've ever heard?

heaven's arches rang when the angels sang...on that first Christmas morning... I wonder...how did the voices in the arches of heaven sound? Joyful? Confused? Amazed? Surprised?  Curious? Awe-full?

When did  the angels begin to grasp  the Father's intent...at the beginning? of everything? or not yet -- not until the end......?

Let Thy voice call me home, saying, "Yes there is room, there is room at My side for thee!"

My heart shall rejoice Lord Jesus, when You come and You call for me!

DOXOLOGY.....

Christmas - The Summons - James M Boice

The Summons...

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked,

"Where is he that has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him" (Matthew 2:2).



And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them,

"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." (Luke 2:8-11).

Thoughts from James Montgomery Boice 

The wise men and shepherds each obeyed God's summons.

In the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a number of people received invitations by an extraterrestrial people to a visit they were soon going to make to earth.

The plot of the movie was in the heroic efforts of these people to get to the meeting pace and be there when the spaceship came down.

That was the kind of invitation the shepherds and the wise men received.  Only theirs was to a far more significant encounter. This visit to earth was not merely a visit of an alien people, but of the very God of the universe Himself. It was an invitation to the birth of Jesus. God's unique Son.

Can we imagine the shepherds or wise men refusing that unprecedented invitation?

Perhaps.

The magi lived at a great distance from Jerusalem and were alerted to the child's birth only the appearance of His star.

They might have reasoned: "This star probably announces the birth of a  Savior-King in Judea, but of course we could be mistaken. The way to Jerusalem is long. Others will probably be paying their respects. We don't need to go. It would be a lot more convenient if we could stay here."

The shepherds, too, might have refused the invitation.

 They might have said: "We are not dressed for the occasion, We have nothing to bring. We are not fit company for Him who is announced by angels."

They might even have asked, "But who will care for our sheep? Who will tend to the things for which we are responsible?"

Neither the wise men nor the shepherds did that.

Instead of making excuses the  shepherds said, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened that the Lord has told us about (Luke 2:15).

I wonder if you have been as obedient to God as those shepherds, who were so low on the social scale of their day, or the wise men, who were so removed from the happenings in Judea.

You know the story of Christmas. You even know the gospel of Jesus' death for sinners, for which Christmas is but a preparation.

You know the invitation of Christ: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

Have you responded to that invitation?

Have you obeyed God's summons?

You have not found Christmas, nor will you ever find it, until you do.

   -- From The Christ of Christmas,
            by James Montgomery Boice

Christmas - Someone we usually overlook - Anna

Someone We Usually Overlook - Anna

In Luke's narrative of Christ's birth, he gives only 3 verses to a little (I imagine her as little - Luke does not say) old (he does tell us she was old - maybe 84, but possibly the text could mean she was 104 or so) woman named Anna.

Anna was a prophetess and had been a widow many years. She spent her time in the Temple, praying and fasting.

She was an insignificant figure. She could have been left out of the story, as Matthew and Mark left her out, and none of the essential facts would have changed.

But when we read about her we see that she was truly an extraordinary person, and probably more than anyone else in the story, she understood what was happening. She recognized the full significance of the amazing birth of that special Child.

She was in the temple when Mary and Joseph brought their first-born Son to be dedicated to God, as directed by the Law.

Look at Luke's words about her:

"...she never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem" (Luke 2:36-38).

What did she understand that others might have missed?

 She knew that that little baby was the promised redeemer of Israel, and she announced His birth to all in Jerusalem, who, like herself, looked for that redemption.

This is all so remarkable. She understood that Jesus came to enter the marketplace (this world) to buy back, redeem, from the bondage of sin, His people. He was the long awaited Messiah.

He was not a zealot or a political leader. He was not going to lead a revolt against the Romans.

He was going to redeem His people from their slavery to sin.

Anna was waiting for this moment to come. Waiting for the One who one day would pay the price of our redemption.

 "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" was likely her daily morning prayer.

And this is the heart of Christmas -- not the lowly stable, beautiful as it is. Not the shepherds, as inspiring as they are. But the fact of the Incarnation-- Christ entering human history to be the Redeemer.

It's all about John 3:16.

She was not the only one. Luke says there were others "looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem."

And she knew who they were. She knew who to give the good news to.

She apparently got to know people as they came into the temple.She knew their deep spiritual longings. And so she knew who to share her news with.


I picture her: old and tiny, eagerly rushing up to people, perhaps grabbing their hands, whispering in awe-full words, "He has come! He is here - now! Emmanuel."

Did the these faithful Jews discuss the coming of the Messiah often when they came to the temple?  

Did they get discouraged sometimes and think He never would come? Where was the promise of His coming? Did the degrading daily affairs of life in that culture depress them? Did they often pray, as we do, "Even so come quickly!"

In James Montgomery Boice's comments on Anna, he reminds us that the life of Jesus begins and ends with the Great Commission-- Anna, like the shepherds,  goes out and tells people who Christ is -- and at the end of Christ's earthly journey, He tells His disciples to "go into all the world and preach the gospel."

It's all about John 3:16-17.

I want to be like Anna. I want to know people around me who look for His coming! I want to be surrounded by them. I want to share my longing and my impatience with them. Where is the promise of His coming?

And then I want to work with them and spread the message to everyone else...

Yes, I want to be like Anna - open eyes and heart to see God's presence and open mouth to proclaim His glorious message!

Like Anna.


P.S. Wouldn't it be great if we had some sort of special sign or greeting? Like in the Tribulation when the ones who belong to Christ have a special mark?

The Jews had one--sort of a code.  It  was "next year in Jerusalem." That greeting reminded them who they were as a people and what they had to look forward to, no matter how bad the current conditions were, they would greet each other with that. Even in the concentration camps, they often spoke softly to one another, "Next year in Jerusalem." That hope bonded them into one family.

And the Scots had one -- it was a special sign they gave when drinking (and they drink a lot it appears!)...it was passing their hand beneath and over the glass or mug - and it signified that their Bonnie Prince Charlie was hiding in France until he came back to take the throne - he was presently "over the water" (across the English channel) but would return and until then they saluted each other with the words and sign, "over the water."

I think we need a special sign or greeting. Come to think of it, we do. It's "Maranatha!" (The word means "O come, Lord.") It appears the early Christians used that word (as well as a symbol for a fish) to mark themselves as belonging to Christ.

In fact, as I think about it now, we used to do that when I was a teenager...call out "Maranatha!" to our friends - even in Hawaii -- not "aloha" but "Maranatha!"

So, Maranatha!

P.P.S. John 3:16 -- For God so loved the world He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him might have everlasting life.

Are you one of the "whosoevers"? This is a great time of the year
to make that happen.....if you want to, feel free to email me at
gloart2@yahoo.com....

Christmas - Zechariah Prays and God Works!

Zechariah Prays...


When Zechariah went into the temple to perform his term of service, "the whole multitude of the people were praying outside" (Luke 1).

What were they praying? What the Jews always prayed for....salvation from our enemies...and from the hand of all who hate us.....that God would remember to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.....

Did they realize God was at work? Maybe veiled from their eyes, but that for the last 500 years He had been preparing the world for the coming Messiah.

But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, that we might receive the full rights as sons (Galatians 4:4-5).

Or as in the King James Version..."in the fullness of time..."

God sent His Son, that we might be called the children of God (I John 3:1).

At the exact right moment, God intervened in history and sent to us His Son so that we, too, could become children of God!


God is at work.....


From the destruction of the temple in 586 BC, through the Babylonian captivity, through the return from exile, through the oppressions of the Persians, Greeks and Romans, God was busy at work, preparing His people and the world for His great rescue mission.

Look at some of the things that God did during those 500 years, preparing the world for His Visitation:

   1. The Greek culture had saturated the known civilized  world and its language was spoken throughout all the kingdoms. A common language makes communication so much easier!

   2. The Old Testament canon was organized and, in its entirety, translated from Hebrew into Greek, making its message accessible to all. (Translation was known as the Septuagint, completed around 270 BC, commonly called the LXX. It was written particularly to accommodate the dispersed Jews who were by then speaking Greek as their usual language.)

   3. God used the destruction of the temple in 586 BC and the exile of the Jews to Babylon to create a synagogue structure, a model for local congregations of the coming Church. People learned to worship God without the temple. 

   4. God purified Israel from idolatry and mixing with other religions. After the destruction and fall of Jerusalem, Jews never again embraced other "gods." They were cleansed.

Not only that, as monotheism became permanently central to Israel it became the foundation of Christian thought and all of western civilization.

   5. The dispersion of the Jewish people throughout the Greek/Roman empire provided a mission base by which Paul could carry the gospel to small Jewish communities throughout the world.  Because of the synagogues and scattered groups of Jews, Paul could organize his vast mission trips and begin the spread of the gospel.

   6. Because of their strict belief in monotheism, Christ's claims to be God led to the priests delivering Him up to be crucified, which, of course, was the central issue of God's rescue plan!

   7. The Greek culture unified the world, and the Roman Empire with its vast system of roads (used initially for military conquest and control) united the world in a way never before in world history. It was convenient for the gospel to flow from nation to nation, and there was easy access to all areas of the empire.  That made the spread of the gospel possible.


God worked His plan through the suffering of His people....

God was busy at work, weaving a extraordinary historical tapestry. But it all worked through the suffering of Israel. Without the Babylonian captivity, there would have no coming of the Messiah, no cross, no Christianity, and no civilization today as we know it.




In Psalm 137 we read about the sorrow of the Jewish people in captivity in Babylon:

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept

when we remembered Zion.

There on the poplars we hung our harps,

for there our captors demanded songs of joy;

They said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

How can we sing the songs of the LORD

while in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, 

may my right hand forget its skill

May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.

Five hundred years before Christ as born, the Jews were praying that they be saved from their enemies and that Jerusalem be restored to them.

Now, here, in Luke's account, while Zechariah was in the temple praising God for His revealed redemption, his family and friends were outside having a prayer meeting.

And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshippers are praying outside...

(Luke 1:10).

They prayed. God worked. The Messiah arrived...

"in the fullness of time."

Our God is always at work. 

Herod the Horrid - (Part 2)

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi (Matthew 2:16).


If Joseph is the model of goodness and mercy in the Christmas story, Herod is certainly the model of evil and cruelty.

It was a brutal world into which the little baby Jesus was born.


Some challenging thoughts from Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth Bailey:


"Those who lived in the Middle East across the second half of the twentieth century (including this author) experienced frequent warfare.

"In Lebanon, particularly, there were seven wars in a thirty-five year period. One lasted for seventeen years. Others were quick yet brutal. People saw friends and family killed by bullets and explosives and all the other horrors of modern war.

"How do people retain their faith under such conditions? One answer is that they remember both the Christmas story and the cross.

"A mindless, bloody atrocity took place at the birth of Jesus. After reading that story, the reader is not caught unawares by the human potential for terror that shows its ugly face again, on the cross.

"At the beginning of the Gospel and at its conclusion, Matthew presents pictures of the depth of evil that Jesus came to redeem.

"This story heightened the reader's awareness of the willingness on the part of God to expose Himself to the total vulnerability which is at the heart of the Incarnation.

"If the Gospel can flourish in a world that produces the slaughter of the innocents and the cross, the Gospel can flourish anywhere.

"From this awareness the readers of the Gospel in any age can take heart."

Herod the Horrid - (Part 1)

One of the stories recorded in the Christmas narrative involves Herod's rage when he realizes he has been tricked by the wise men and so orders the murder of all boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity, two years and under.


When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious and gave orders to kill all boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi  (Matthew 2:16).


The story is only recorded in Matthew, and it is sometimes purposely overlooked in all the peace and good will messages of the season. It is not a story that fits into pageants and nativity scenes very well.
Its brutal tones disturb us when we ponder "Joy to the World."

In church history the event is known as the "Slaughter of the Innocents."

Why was the story even included in Matthew's account?

Maybe to tie the remarkable historical connection between the birth of Moses and the birth of Jesus.  Two leaders were arriving on the world stage to lead their people from slavery into freedom.

Not a welcome thought for Pharaoh or Herod.

Or maybe to remind us that Jesus was born and lived in a cold, cruel, harsh world, and yet, in spite of that, a world that could and did receive and spread the gospel message of peace and joy.

A world not unlike the world of the 20th century and our own world today.

So what kind of a man who make such an order to murder infants and small children?

More About Herod....

Our information on Herod is brief, but the picture that emerges through the centuries is of a cruel, self-serving, arrogant leader.

His background was complex. He was an Arab, whose father was from a tribe in the southern part of the Holy Land called Idumea (Edom - where descendants of Esau settled and whose people refused to allow the Israelites to pass through their land after the Exodus many centuries before).

His mother was from Petra, which was the capital of an Arab kingdom in northern Arabia.

But Herod's religion was Jewish. A century earlier a Jewish ruler had conquered the Edomites and on threat of death forced them to become Jews. His grandfather, Antipater the Elder, was a provincial governor.

Culturally Herod was a Greek and Greek was his first language. His name was Greek and he was known for various attempts to turn Jerusalem into a Greek city.

Politically, Herod was a Roman. He always sided with Rome in any conflict.



He was a well-known military figure. He personally led his armies in ten major wars. One of the most famous was the war between Cleopatra and Antony against Octavian.

Herod chose to side with Antony against Octavian for control of the Roman Empire.

When Octavian won decisively, Herod showed his clever ingenuity by traveling to meet Octavian and gaining his attention.

It was a brilliant move. Octavian (who called himself Caesar Augustus) granted Herod an audience.

Herod boldly appeared without a crown and freely admitted he had helped Caesar's enemies. He even admitted his high regard for Antony and his loyalty to him.

Then he climaxed his audience  by saying, "What I ask you to consider is not whose friend, but what a good friend, I was."

Caesar did consider the words and told Herod to put his crown back on and to return to Palestine to rule!

It was down hill for Herod from there. He had ten marriages. He considered his sons to be political rivals and had two of his 'favorites' strangled in Samaria. He began to suspect his favorite wife, Mariamne, of disloyalty, and had her killed. Later he wandered helplessly through the palace halls calling her name and sending servants to find her. When they failed, he had them beaten.

He attempted suicide and the crown prince, who Herod had imprisoned, was released to assume leadership. Herod survived and killed that son also, and then died a few days later.

His last order was to command his troops to arrest thousands of notables from across the country and place them in a stadium in Jericho. Upon Herod's death, the notables were to be executed so that there  would be mourning in the land when the king died.

Herod knew only too well that no one would weep for him.

That order was not carried out.

But it does show us that as an old man Herod certainly had the capability of ordering the killing of the babies in Bethlehem, the act we have called "The Slaughter of the Innocents" in the Christmas story.


It was truly a brutal world into which Jesus was born, and Herod was a man of his times.

A fact we should not ignore. Because it looks more and more like our world today.