Luke 1:29-35 New International Version
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
There was a long time in my life where I severely doubted God’s existence.
I refused to understand or try to 1% understand how people would accept the existence of an all powerful divine being controlling everything in existence.
For thirty years – Sheer nonsense!
For thirty years – Utterly impossible!
Then one day I found myself in a place where I could not mouth one thing to one person, including myself, what exactly I believed about anything at all.
I was a completely blank slate – my soul was empty, my heart was emptier yet.
One day, I went to a church – not to a bar, not to a restaurant, not to a movie.
I ended up entering that church – sitting down in its rear most pew so I would not be noticed and could make a quick escape in case someone called out to me.
Over the next several months, I found myself moving closer and closer to the front of the church – to the front most pews – closer to their tall wooden cross.
I joined that church and enjoined myself to a “Friendly Men’s Bible Class” and began a time in my life when serious Bible Study, prayer became my #1 passion.
Now, twenty plus years later, all those negative thoughts of God > I could never understand how people could doubt the existence of God and of Jesus Himself.
2 Timothy 2:14-15 English Standard Version
A Worker Approved by God
14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God[a] not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,[b] a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
Over those years it was many many hours of personal study of the Word of God.
I did not go to seminary or to any bible school or college - much too expensive.
Instead I devoted myself to study bibles, concordances, dictionaries, and long hours sitting in a Friendly Men’s Bible Class listening to experienced teachers.
Then all of that expanded when I became attached to online sites like blue letter bible https://www.blueletterbible.org/ – I could dig deeper into the languages.
Then the greater wonder of the Word of God was revealed and I looked into the deeper meanings gaining deeper understandings of what the original authors intended for all those generations of ancient and early readers and listeners.
Then the great bewilderment of asking how could God possible exist became even greater wonderment at how people could not possible believe in Jesus!
The Word of God reveals very clearly that thousands of years before the birth of the Messiah, the prophets wrote about this event – this first birthday of Jesus.
Isaiah 7:14: “Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him ‘Immanuel’.” GNB [Immanuel means ‘God with us’]
Jeremiah 23:5-6: “The LORD says, “The time is coming when I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the land. When he is king, the people of Judah will be safe, and the people of Israel will live in peace. He will be called ‘The LORD Our Salvation’.” GNB
Micah 5:2: “The LORD says, “Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times.” GNB
The words of the prophets, the prophecy was clear about the virgin birth, the place it would happen and about Jesus being special, someone who will change quite literally everything for Israel and for all of those who hear his teachings.
Even today, more than two thousand years after He walked the earth, people still adhere to diligently fellowshipping, to reading and to studying His Word.
It must all come together somewhere, for some much greater reason, to mean something more, don’t you agree, that His legacy survived for such a long time?
Why is it then that we still doubt? Have we become so consumed by greed and ego that we stopped looking to the One who created us and gave us a Savior?
John 5:44: “You like to receive praise from one another, but you do not try to win praise from the one who alone is God; how, then, can you believe me?” GNB
During this festive season, why don’t we try to remember the truth, the reason why we celebrate?
I know the actual birth date may be all wrong, but that is not the point here.
The point is finding wonderment in one day in the year when we can become still in front of God and thank Him for the wonderment of this one great gift.
This is the time to NOT DOUBT, but to wonder, believe in this Child’s greatness.
Forget about looking for that one perfect gift for that one single perfect person.
Forget about buying expensive presents.
Forget about impressing others with your grand trees and extravagant feasts.
Remember Christmas begins with CHRIST, and is indeed about a wonderful gift.
The ONE GIFT that has the wonder, power, to save us from eternal damnation.
Read the ancient passages of the Word of God to your family, to your friends on Christmas day – before you sit down to Christmas dinner and opening the gifts.
Read the ancient prophecies, study the ancient prophecies, pray the prophecies.
Read the Gospel Narratives of His birth being the fulfillment of God’s promises!
Study those Narratives of His birth being 100% fulfillment of God’s prophecies!
Pray to the Holy Spirit to make the wonderment of them all become 100% alive!
Accept them today, do not wait, do not doubt their truth, cease to wonder, just 100% enter into the light He provides and you will never be in darkness again.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 16 Revised Standard Version
Song of Trust and Security in God
A Miktam of David.
16 Preserve me, O God, for in thee I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “Thou art my Lord;
I have no good apart from thee.”[a]
3 As for the saints in the land, they are the noble,
in whom is all my delight.
4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;[b]
their libations of blood I will not pour out
or take their names upon my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
thou holdest my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
yea, I have a goodly heritage.
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I keep the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also dwells secure.
10 For thou dost not give me up to Sheol,
or let thy godly one see the Pit.
11 Thou dost show me the path of life;
in thy presence there is fulness of joy,
in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 