For This Week

This is one of three scheduled weeks for Reflection, Proclamation, Catch Up. So take the time to go back and reflect on what you have read and learned, share something you have learned with another person and/or simply catch up (which ... if your schedule has been anything like mine across the course of the last couple of weeks, this third option may very well be the one you have to focus on!).

Thanks for stopping by ... my "minute devotionals" will be back next week!
pj

Try to Figure this Out!

Week 5, Day 4 Reading: Luke 2:41-52

Luke 2:51-52  Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Two thoughts strike me every time I read this passage. First, that Jesus was obedient to Joseph and Mary is simply incredible. Of course, we would expect this of the one who never sinned. But think of who was submitting to whom! The Designer, Creator, Sustainer of all was placing himself under the authority of two of his sinful creatures! Wow! Add to this the thought that Jesus, like any other boy, had to "grow up" intellectually, physically, spiritually and socially! This proves without doubt that Jesus Christ was (and still is) FULLY MAN! And how this fits with His infinite Divine nature is a mystery beyond my meager intellect! 

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

Seeking Jesus!

Week 5, Day 4 Reading: Matthew 2:1-23

Matthew 2:1  After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

Who are these "wise" men who came to worship the Christ child after he was born? Matthew refers to them as "Magi."  John MacArthur sheds light on who they were and how they would have known about the coming Messiah. 

"The Magi date from the seventh century B.C., when they were a tribe within the Median nation of eastern Mesopotamia. They became skilled in astronomy and astrology (Which more closely associated disciplines in those days) and had a sacrificial system somewhat similar to the Mosaic one. . . The book of Daniel reports that the Magi, with their knowledge of science, agriculture, mathematics, history and the occult, were among the highest ranking, most influential officials in the Babylonian Empire. Because of Daniel's own high position and place of respect among them (Daniel 2:24, 48), the Magi undoubtedly learned much from him about the true God and His plans for the Jews through the coming Messiah. Because many Jews remained in Babylon after the Exile, it's likely those teachings remained strong in the region even until the New Testament times" (God in the Manger, p. 101). 

So these brilliant and well educated men ... traveled a long distance BY FAITH, believing what undoubtedly was first taught in their region by Daniel the prophet. Oh God, give us the faith of these magi ... and help us to seek Christ above all else!

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

No Vacancy!

Week 5, Day 3 Reading: Luke 2:1-40

Luke 2:7  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

"No place for them in the inn." Before we point our fingers at the people of Bethlehem for not accommodating a very pregnant young woman about to give birth to the long promised Messiah, the Savior of mankind . . . we must take a long, hard look in our mirrors. How often do we do the same? If we are honest, we would, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US, have to admit that all too often our hearts are too crowded with other stuff to give Jesus Christ his rightful place (that's way true of me!).

Let me encourage you to pause ... and take some time as we close out this year of 2012 and begin the new year of 2013 ... to examine your hearts. Ask yourself, "Is there room in my heart for Jesus? Or are there other "idols" that I have allowed to ursurp HIS rightful place?" Difficult questions, indeed. But necessary ones if we are to become all that God wants us to be!

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

Jesus Our Savior!

Week 5, Day 2 Reading: Matthew 1:18-25

Matthew 1:20-21   But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

In this passage we again see the truth that the child conceived by Mary was the result of the Holy Spirit's work within her. We also see that the choice of the baby's name was not the result of Mary and Joseph looking through scrolls of baby names (they did not have books back then!). Rather, the name was chosen by God and conveyed to Joseph through this angelic messenger. Why the name Jesus? I believe it is because God wants us to remember at every mention of his Son ... that the reason his Son came to this earth was "to seek and to save the lost" (i.e. - you and me and everyone else! - see Luke 19:10).

Wow! To think God seeks us when we wanted nothing to do with him (see Romans 3:10-19 and Romans 5:8). That's something to get excited about!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Pastor John

A Miraculous Birth of No Ordinary Baby!

Week 5, Day 1 Reading: Luke 1:26-56

Luke 1:35  And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God."

When the virgin Mary asked the angel how she would become pregnant (seeing that she was a virgin and had no intentions of being anything less until that time when she would consummate her marriage with Joseph), the angel responded with the words above. Her conception would be the work of the Holy Spirit. The end result being the baby she conceived and would give birth to would be none other than the Son of God.

Let that truth sink into your mind and your heart. This little baby born in a stinky stable in the little town of Bethlehem some 2000 years ago ... born to a peasant woman and her poor carpenter husband ... was none other than God incarnate. For at that moment ... God the Son began his earthly pilgrimage as one of us. That's what Christmas is all about!

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

Year of Favor . . . Day of Vengeance!

Week 4, Day 5 Reading: Isaiah 61:1-11

Isaiah 61:1-2a  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;

Here again we see the concept of God's Spirit "upon" his servant, the one whom God has anointed. In Luke 4:16-21, Jesus applied these verses to himself. Now what is fascinating in Jesus' reading of this passage is that he stopped his reading right after the words, "the Lord's favor" - even though the thought did not stop there. He did so because everything mentioned in the first verse through the first line of v. 2 have to do with what he would accomplish in his first advent (coming). The day of vengeance mentioned here will be ushered in at his second advent.

We are, right now, in the time of God's favor. But there is coming a day when God will seek retribution and vengeance (Romans 12:19). This is why the Bible urges us to get right with God NOW ... TODAY, while the "getting is good!" (see 2 Corinthians 6:2). How about YOU? Should you die today, tomorrow, next week, next month --- are YOU ready to meet God? If you are not (or are not sure), take a moment and check out what the Bible has to say about "Two ways to live, a choice we all face." 

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj