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Christmas Ponderings #7 Bible Ballistics: BBs #771

17 Friday Dec 2021

Posted by Blanche in A Father's Love, Abundant Life In Jesus, All About Jesus!, Are You Ready, Believe God?, Believe IN Jesus, Choose you this day?, Christmas, Christmas IS Jesus, Christmas IS?, Come To Worship HIM, Trust, Trust God, Trusting Jesus?, Who are you listening too!, Worship Him!, Worship?

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A blessed meeting!, Believing God's Word, Faithful Joseph-, Faithful Women of God!, Honorable Followers, Joseph, Joseph's adventure, Luke 1:11-16, Luke 1:26-33, Luke 1:41-45, Luke 1:46-56, Mary, Matthew 1:21, The Truth or The World?, Trusting God, Who are you believing?

Bible Ballistics: BBs #771   Christmas Ponderings!!! #7

 

As we approach Christmas week, and we think of all the activities, errands, shopping, wrapping, mailing, cards, gifts, baking and cooking we may become overwhelmed, but I want us to take a few minutes today to remind ourselves of the JOY of Christmas, and WHO it’s ALL about!

“And she shall bring forth a son,

and thou shalt call his name JESUS:

for he shall save his people

from their sins.”  Matthew 1:21

This amazing message is what Joseph received from the angel of The Lord as he was trying to decide on a course of action regarding his “espoused”, Mary, who was by this time some 3 or 4 months pregnant (remember she went to Elizabeth almost immediately after receiving the message from the angel for some 3 months).  Scripture tells us that Joseph was a just man, and only wanted to do the right thing-–even for Mary.  I’ve always wondered about that conversation that Mary had to have with her parents, for while her cousin Elizabeth (the mother of John the Baptizer) knew that her pregnancy was supernatural, we’re not told that her parents had the same spiritual insight.  I don’t mean to be irreverent, but can’t you just imagine Mary telling her parents that she was pregnant, but it was a work of God!  And then she had to tell Joseph—that had to be an interesting conversation—and he simply wanted to do the right thing for Mary!  But once again God stepped in and assured Joseph that his beloved Mary was telling the truth!  I can’t even imagine the courage that it took, for surely the neighbors there in Nazareth were just as “gossipy” as neighbors today, and the rumors flew around town; and remember that Joseph would have been presumed to be the father—one who had violated Mary’s purity, and the marriage contract prematurely.

Yet in all of this, there was one other who believed—Elizabeth; and from their encounter we have two of the most beautiful of all declarations of the faith of two women in all of scripture (excepting perhaps the declaration of Hannah)—one who was past childbearing years and was gifted by God to bear a child!  The other an engaged maiden who was pregnant without benefit of the marriage being consummated!  Elizabeth got the news of her blessing from her husband Zacharias, who also received an angelic visitation and message about “John”!

“And there appeared unto him

an angel of the Lord

standing on the right side

of the altar of incense.

12 And when Zacharias saw him,

he was troubled,

and fear fell upon him.

13 But the angel said unto him,

Fear not, Zacharias:

for thy prayer is heard;

and thy wife Elisabeth

shall bear thee a son,

and thou shalt call his name John.

14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness;

and many shall rejoice at his birth.

15 For he shall be great

in the sight of the Lord,

and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink;

and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost,

even from his mother’s womb.

16 And many of the children of Israel

shall he turn to the Lord their God.”   Luke 1:11-16

This faithful servant of God received amazing news via an angelic visit!  The angel’s message came to pass, and Zacharias’ wife Elizabeth would receive a visit from another mother of a special child; and six months into her pregnancy, a divine encounter took place, often overlooked in our rush to Bethlehem.

“And in the sixth month

the angel Gabriel was sent from God

unto a city of Galilee,

named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man

whose name was Joseph,

of the house of David;

and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said,

Hail, thou that art highly favoured,

the Lord is with thee:

blessed art thou

among women.

29 And when she saw him,

she was troubled at his saying,

and cast in her mind

what manner of salutation

this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her,

Fear not, Mary:

for thou hast found favour with God

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive

in thy womb,

and bring forth a son,

and shalt call his name JESUS.

32 He shall be great,

and shall be called

the Son of the Highest:

and the Lord God

shall give unto him

the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign

over the house of Jacob

for ever;

and of his kingdom

there shall be no end.”  Luke 1:26-33

And while Mary may have struggled to accept what the angel told her, she accepted the message from God and then went to visit her cousin Elizabeth.  Maybe to confirm what she had been told, maybe to not be in Nazareth as her condition began to show; we don’t know why, except it seems to have been a God designed visit, and the encounter between these two blessed women of God gives us cause to worship and praise our God for the gift of HIS plan of salvation, which came to fruition through a simple Jewish girl of faith with an amazing devotion to her God!

Let’s simply let these two women bring us to the throne of grace today.  There is nothing I could add to what they have to say.  May we rejoice with such ardor and love!

“And it came to pass, that,

when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary,

the babe leaped in her womb;

and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said,

Blessed art thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

43 And whence is this to me,

that the mother of my Lord

should come to me?

44 For, lo, as soon as the voice

of thy salutation sounded in mine ears,

the babe leaped in my womb

for joy.

45 And blessed is she that believed:

for there shall be a performance

of those things which were told her

from the Lord.”   Luke 1:41-45

And Mary’s response:

“And Mary said,

My soul doth magnify

the Lord,

47 And my spirit hath rejoiced

in God my Saviour.

48 For he hath regarded the low estate

of his handmaiden:

for, behold, from henceforth

all generations shall call me blessed.

49 For he that is mighty

hath done to me great things;

and holy is

his name.

50 And his mercy is on them that fear him

from generation to generation.

51 He hath shewed strength

with his arm;

he hath scattered the proud

in the imagination of their hearts.

52 He hath put down the mighty

from their seats,

and exalted them

of low degree.

53 He hath filled the hungry

with good things;

and the rich

he hath sent empty away.

54 He hath holpen his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy;

55 As he spake to our fathers,

to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

56 And Mary abode with her about three months,

and returned to her own house.”  Luke 1:46-56

May you find comfort knowing the fullness of joy that is found in The Word of The Lord!

Amen and Amen!!!

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Faithful Provider, Always!!! Bible Ballistics: BBs #750

27 Friday Aug 2021

Posted by Blanche in A Father's Love, Abiding In Jesus, Abraham's Test, All About Jesus!, Faith, Faithful, Faithful is He that has Promised!, Faithfulness, God Knows, God Who Sees, God's love, God's provision, Grace, Let go...and let God, Trusting God

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Abraham', Abraham's Test, Believing God's promises, Deuteronomy 7:9, Faithful God, Faithful servant, Genesis 22:1-14, Genesis 22:10-14, Hebrews 11:17-19, James 4:10, John 10:9-11, John 1:29, Matthew 1:21, Matthew 3:11-12, Who are you believing?

Bible Ballistics: BBs #750  Faithful Provider, Always!!!

 

“Know therefore

that the LORD thy God,

he is God,

the faithful God,

which keepeth covenant

and mercy

with them that love him

and keep his commandments

to a thousand generations;”   Deuteronomy 7:9

When things start (or continue) whirling around you and your strength seems to be sapped, your mind runs rampant with doubt, confusion, and uncertainty, it is then along with every other time in our lives that we need to look UP to our faithful Lord God Almighty, and HIS Son, Jesus, The Lamb of God which “taketh away the sin of the world”!  It is imperative that we understand the import of the truth that Jesus came to save sinners, and as Paul said, “of whom I am chief”, praise God, Jesus came to save sinners like me.

How about you?  Will you run to the One who died that you might have eternal life—abundant life—a transformed, holy life?  Oh, if I could sit down with you and share with you all that HE has done for me, pointing you to HIS cross.  It is why HE came.

“And she shall bring forth a son,

and thou shalt call his name JESUS:

for he shall save his people

from their sins.”  Matthew 1:21

Jesus said of Himself:

“I am the door:

by me if any man enter in,

he shall be saved,

and shall go in and out,

and find pasture.

10 The thief cometh not,

but for to steal,

and to kill,

and to destroy:

I am come that they might have life,

and that they might have it more abundantly.

11 I am the good shepherd:

the good shepherd giveth his life

for the sheep.”  John 10:9-11

This went beyond even what John the Baptizer had said of Him!

“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith,

Behold the Lamb of God,

which taketh away

the sin of the world.” John 1:29

“I indeed baptize you

with water

unto repentance:

but he that cometh after me

is mightier than I,

whose shoes I am not worthy to bear:

he shall baptize you

with the Holy Ghost,

and with fire:

12 Whose fan is in his hand,

and he will throughly purge his floor,

and gather his wheat into the garner;

but he will burn up the chaff

with unquenchable fire.”   Matthew 3:11-12

I love the Gospel of John for its beautiful and picturesque descriptions of Jesus and His many faceted work as the Lamb of God, The Good Shepherd, The Door, The Water of Life, The Bread of Life and more (I encourage you to delve into the Gospel of John and search these out for yourself!)!  This faithful God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—is ever working on our behalf; and if we will but avail ourselves of His provision, we would find a hope, power, and strength to press on no matter the challenges that confront us.

One of my favorite examples of the faithfulness of God is found in Genesis 22, where God puts Abraham’s faith to the test, and the result gave Abraham, and us, a profound picture of the fulfillment of God’s promise to bless “all” through Abraham (See Genesis 12:3).  Let’s peruse just the highlights of this amazing truth.

“And he said,

Take now thy son,

thine only son Isaac,

whom thou lovest,

and get thee into the land of Moriah;

and offer him there for a burnt offering

upon one of the mountains

which I will tell thee of.

3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning,

and saddled his ass,

and took two of his young men with him,

and Isaac his son,

and clave the wood for the burnt offering,

and rose up, and went unto the place

of which God had told him.”   Genesis 22:2-3=

God called Abraham to yield up this “son of promise” and he willingly obeyed, as Hebrews makes so clear; for Abraham knew God would keep HIS promise.

“By faith Abraham,

when he was tried,

offered up Isaac:

and he that had received the promises

offered up his only begotten son,

18 Of whom it was said,

That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:

19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up,

even from the dead;

from whence also he received him

in a figure.”  Hebrews 11:17-19

This is the crux of the story, that God gave Abraham a picture (“in a figure”) of what HE was going to do to fulfill HIS promises to Abraham; God would give HIS own son for us, just as God provided a ‘ram’ in Isaac’s place—God would provide “Himself”—”The Lamb of God”– to take “away the sin of the world”!  Redemption for all who will come to Him in repentance and faith, yesterday, today and until HE comes for HIS own!  For there is coming a time when many will find themselves coming one day “too late”!  But let’s finish up with Abraham’s story, with just a few verses to highlight the events, and you can fill in the rest as you take some time to read the entire chapter.

“And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said,

My father:

and he said, Here am I, my son.

And he said,

Behold the fire

and the wood:

but where is the lamb

for a burnt offering?

8 And Abraham said,

My son,

God will provide himself

a lamb

for a burnt offering:

so they went both of them together.”  Genesis 22:7-8

And they went on and even as Abraham held the knife God spoke and provided! Praise God!  Praise God!  Praise God!  Jesus died for you and me!  God didn’t spare Jesus, because for you and me to be spared, “God so loved the world that HE GAVE” Jesus!!! (emphasis is mine).

“And Abraham stretched forth his hand,

and took the knife

to slay his son.

11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him

out of heaven, and said,

Abraham, Abraham:

and he said, Here am I.

12 And he said,

Lay not thine hand upon the lad,

neither do thou any thing unto him:

for now I know that thou fearest God,

seeing thou hast not withheld thy son,

thine only son from me.

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes,

and looked,

and behold behind him a ram

caught in a thicket by his horns:

and Abraham went and took the ram,

and offered him up for a burnt offering

in the stead of his son.

14 And Abraham called the name of that place

Jehovahjireh:

as it is said to this day,

In the mount of the LORD

it shall be seen.”  Genesis 22:10-14

And in closing, I encourage you to ponder the wonder of what God truly revealed to Abraham!  Have you tuned your heart, mind, and ears to hear and see what the Lord has provided on your “Mount” of sacrifice?  I find it most interesting that it is likely that the same site of this experience for Abraham could have been the very spot of the sacrifice of God’s “only begotten son”!  Food for thought!

Wont’ you let HIM have your issues today?  It is so hard sometimes to humble ourselves and simply “let God” “be God”!  May this word from James remind and encourage each of us today.

“Humble yourselves

in the sight of the Lord,

and he shall

lift you up.”  James 4:10

Amen and Amen!!!

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