God the Son. ( John 5 v 16-18)

The promise had been given ,and the promise had now been fulfilled,the Messiah had come,for the next 33 yrs the Messiah would make his journey to His destiny.Most of his life was hidden from us ,we have a brief glimpes of his childhood when at the age of 12 he went to Jerusalem  with his parents for the festival of Passover.(Luke 2 v 41ff) We read how He was left behind ,his parents assumed that He was with his other relatives and friends.When they discovered he wasn't, they went back  to Jerusalem to find him,they did eventually find Him in the temple courts sitting among the teachers listening to them,and asking them questions.They were amazed at His understanding and his answers, his parents were upset and his mother said to him,'your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.All Jesus would say to them was this,' why were you searching  for me?' 'Didn't you know that I had to be in my Fathers house?,but his parents did not understand what He was saying'.Let us remember Joseph was not Jesus father,He was reminding them that he was the Son of God and so it was natural to Him that he would be in His Fathers house.There was a sense that Israel would have considered God as their Father in a general sense, but when Jesus spoke of God being His Father,He was claiming to be divine John 5 v17,He was not just a child prodigy or a child of Joseph , He was the Son of God, God manifest in the flesh.

                                                                                 

                                               'Who is He in yonder stall,

                                               At whose feet the shepherds fall?

                                                 

                                               'Tis the Lord !O ,wondrous story!

                                                'Tis the Lord,the King of Glory!

                                                 At  His feet we humbly fall-

                                                 Crown Him!Crown Him,Lord of all!

                                                          Words B R. Hanby

                                               

0

What we owe to God ( John 3 v16)

So it has come,Christmas day,and we rejoice in all it means,love manifest to humanity,a love that's beyond our comprehension. This world has so much pain in it, so much suffering,and into this world a child is born,a child called Jesus,it is God showing us that He loves this fallen sinful world,a world that is broken and full of so much pain. The hymn writer wrote,'There is no place where earth's sorrows are more felt,than up in heaven',and God's answer is love, a love of that's beyond words in it's fullness. Again as the poet wrote,'The love of God is greater far,than tongue or pen can ever tell.It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell'. It is a love offered to all,to the best of men and the worst of men,a love that will show mercy to those who come  in all their need,and if they do,mercy they will receive .That mercy involves the forgiveness of our sins,let us never underestimate the awfulness of our sinful condition,and its consequences.That babe in the manger came for a purpose,and it would involve so much pain,beyond words.That little babe would have the shadow of the cross hanging over Him all his life,he marched to it despising it's shame ,and terrible pain ,and paid the price for our salvation.

                                                     'Tis not all we owe to Jesus

                                                      It is something more than all;

                                                      Greater good because of evil,

                                                      Larger mercy through the fall.

                                                                  F W. Faber

Jesus, God's gift. ( Romans 6 v 23)

 A friend of mine was attending a carol service in London,and there was a very young boy in front of her,and she asked him,what is Santa going to bring you?.The little boy spoke to his mother and then said to my friend,'It is not about Santa ,it is all about Jesus'.  If only more people would realise that,how better and more meaningful Christmas would be,and indeed life would be if Christ became the center of their lives. One of my sons held a carol service in a pub,he did it last year and the owner of the pub, invited him to do it again,and so he did,and he told me the place was  full to overflowing. A great deal of those people were not Christians and so he was able to tell them ,what that young child said to my friend,that Christmas is all about Jesus. Yes He is the reason for the season, and taking it further,without Him there is no reason, no meaning to life itself,when Christ finds  you and you find Him,all things our changed for the better. When you find Him your sins are forgiven, and you loose the burden of guillt,you also loose the power of sin over your life,for when  the Son sets free you are free indeed.You also receive hope,so many  have no hope,but with Jesus you have hope to face the here and now,and the hereafter.We live in a world  with so much conflict in it,so much to make us afraid,here is what Jesus said ,'Peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth'( John 14 v27)

                                           ' Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift'

                                                             2 Corinthians 9 v 15

So send I you. ( Acts 1 v 8)

 There they were doing what shepherds do, looking after sheep,most commentators tell us that they were a despised class,it was just like any other night, but that would soon change,for it would turn into a night that they would never forget.It reminds us that God can break into lives,when one least expects it,sixty years God broke into my life when I least expected it.A great example of that is the apostle Paul who was filled with hatred towards those followers of this false messiah. In Acts 9 we read of Paul travelling to Damascus to root out any who belonged to the way,( A term used for early Christians) and take them back as prisoners to Jerusalem ,yes he had his plans,but the Lord had other plans for him. In a moment everything changed,he changed,because he met with that so called false Messiah Jesus.When a person meets Jesus and embraces Him as their Saviour, let me repeat it again,they will be changed, be they despised shepherds,or religous fanatics like Paul,or a thief hanging on a cross.God is sovereign he can use any means to bring people to Himself,but most of all He uses the likes of you and me ,yes, you and me, to witness to them ,so that's the challenge,that we must all take up,we are meant to be the finger of God pointing sinners to a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.

Darkness and Light .( John 3 v 35-36)

 December is a very dull month,not a lot of sunshine,but as it is December it is time  when many homes have string  of lights displayed outside their homes,I think they are great, also in most homes there are Christmas trees with lights on them. All these light displays help to chase away the gloom of this gloomy months. But of course this is the month in which we celebate the birth of Jesus, why did He have to come?,well our Saviour gives us the answer,'people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil .Everyone  who does evil hates the light , and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. (John 3 v19-20) They displayed that evil in all its fulness when they took Him who is the light of the world and nailed Him to a cross,hoping to extinguish the light,so they could remain in their darkness,but they didn't succeed.We thank God for that, for it obvious that humanity needs Him who is light of the world more than ever.There are so many false religions,and false prophets who are giving birth to 'Satan's spawn'', committing the most awful evil.We may not commit awful evil,but we are still sinners,failing to embrace Him who is the light of the world our Saviour , who said the following,

                                                      ' I am the light of the world.

                                                       Whoever follows me will

                                                        never walk in darkness,but

                                                         will have the light of life'

                                                                John 8 v 12

Be prepared. ( Matthew 24 v36-51)

 A  Christian minister has published a booklet called,'How to Prepare for Christ's return', I have not read the booklet,I wonder what your  advice would be as regards being ready for Christ's return?.There are two things I would say in answer to being prepared for Christ's return,the first one is,you need to trust Him as your Saviour,because it will usher in for the unsaved judgement , 2 Thessalonians 1 v 8.-9 we read,'He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out  from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might'. That does not mean they will not exsist ,no, the soul will exsist eternally,some describe it as eternal ruin,another  calls it eternal exile.( CP Luke 16 v 19-31).If you are not a Christian take it serious ,please ,I urge you trust Jesus as your Saviour,before it is to late.Next we look at the position of Christians,how do we prepare for Christ's return?.live in the light of His coming,some foolish people make rash statements as to when Christ is coming again,in spite of not taking it to heart that no one whoever they are, knows when Christ is coming back again, Matthew 24 v36 reads,'But about that day or hour no one knows,not even the angels  in heaven,nor the Son,but only the Father'. Spurgeon writes,' Even Christ, in his human nature,so voluntarily limited His own  capacities that He  knew not the time of His second advent'.Yes He is coming again ,what is important is that we live in the light of that,live each day each moment in the light of our dear Saviours coming. Peter writes ,'You ought to live holy and godly lives'.

                                      'At His call the dead awaken,rise to life from earth and sea

                                      All the powers of nature,shaken,by His looks prepare to flee;

                                      Careless sinner, what then become of thee?

                                       But to those who have confessed,loved and served the Lord below,

                                        Hw will say ;come near,ye blessed,see the kingdom I bestow;

                                        You forever shall MyLove and glory know'   (Words John Newton)

True Hope.( 2 Timothy 1 v 12)

 It is said that there are three types of hope in the NT, 'No hope','False Hope',and 'True Hope'. In  Ephesians 1 v12  the apostle reminds the Gentile Christians of their former state ,that they were ,'without hope and without God',this applies to all who have not trusted Christ as their  Saviour,it's as serious as that. Next you have ,'false hope',in Matthew 7 v 21-27 we read of those who will say on judgement day ,''Lord,Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out deamons and in your name perform many miracles?Then Jesus said I will tell them plainly,''I never knew you. Away from me,you evil - doers!'' Next we consider 'true hope',  every true believer in Christ has true hope.it is described as an 'anchor,firm and secure' (Hebrews 6 v19)John Bunyan was arrested  for refusing to abstain from preaching ,he was filled with thoughts of uncertainty,he said this''Everyone doth think his own religion rightest, both Jews Moors and Pagans; and how if all our faith and Christ and Scriptures should be but a 'Think so'too?'' But when the light broke he ran out, ''Now I know! I know'', the Christian hope is different from wishful thinking,it is based on the word of God,and the Christ of the word of God.

                                                  'Min e!Mine!Mine! I know Thou art mine;

                                                  Saviour,dear Saviour,I know Thou art mine'

                                                                     Anna Hudson