Verse 3: “He that keeps his mouth keeps his life: but he that opens wide his lips shall have destruction.”
Verse 7: “There is (a person) that makes himself rich, yet has nothing: there is (a person) that makes himself poor, yet has great riches.” (I added the parentheses.) Verse 10: “Only by pride comes destruction: but with the well advised is wisdom.” Proverbs is one of the “books of wisdom” in the Bible. For this article I want to use three verses from Proverbs 13 that I think give good advice for the New Year. The beginning of the New Year Is like having a blank sheet of paper before us that we will write upon as the months progress. If we will heed the wisdom of these three verses, the coming year will be better than last year. This is wisdom for the New Year: Verse 3 reminds us that if we keep our mouths shut, we will be better off. In fact, if we “open wide” our mouths we will have “destruction.” Where does one start with this idea? We need to be careful how we speak to people. We need to remember that kind words are always better than unkind words. This doesn’t mean that we should never speak negatively to another person. Sometimes a word of warning is kind. I know that this has been true in my life. At any rate use kind words in your dealings with people. We need to remember that gossip leads to what Solomon called “destruction.” We have all seen the effect of gossip, so we need to be careful that we are not guilty of it ourselves. We need to remember that the world is not waiting with bated breath for our opinions. There are times when we need to speak up and times when we need to shut up, and we need to be wise enough to know when to do either. Keep this verse in mind in the coming months of this year. Verse 7 reminds us that our money and possessions are not the most important things in our lives. I do not mean that we should not earn and save money. What I do mean is that we do not need to let our money and possessions own us. How does a person “make himself poor, yet have great riches”? He or she does this by being a giving person. Being a giver is true with money and possessions, and it is true with ourselves, and our time. Jesus gave a parable about a Samaritan who stopped to help a man who had been beaten, robbed and left half dead on the side of the Jericho Road. A priest and Levite saw the man and “went by on the other side.” In the eyes of God, they “made themselves poor,” because they did not give of their time or money. The “Good Samaritan” gave the man his time and also spent money on him to help him get well. (If you are not familiar with this parable, you can read about it in Luke 10:25-37.) In the eyes of God the compassionate Samaritan made himself rich because he shared his time and money to help someone else. One is not really rich in the eyes of God if he or she is selfish. In the final analysis, it is better to please God by being a giver than it is to please ourselves by withholding our time and money. Verse 10 reminds us that being prideful brings contention in our lives, and that a “well advised” person is wise. The Bible never speaks kindly of false pride, nor of those who have false pride. In Luke 18:9-14, we read about two men who went to the temple to pray. One was a self-righteous Pharisee, the other was a hated tax collector (publican). The Pharisee informed God of his great righteousness, and made light of the righteousness of other people. The tax collector only prayed: “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus commended the tax collector for his humility and denied the Pharisee for his great pride. Remind yourself of this parable in the coming year. There you have it, wisdom for the coming year from Proverbs 13. Heed it! Bro. Joe
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“And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He said unto him, Before the cock crow, you will deny me three times. 62. And Peter went out and wept bitterly." Luke 22:61-62
“Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. 4. Saying , I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? You see to it. 5. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and went and hanged himself.” Matthew 27:3-5 (The reactions of these two men give us some good advice for the coming year. When we encounter the pitfalls that are bound to come, will we give up or keep going?) In these two brief passages we get a glimpse into the lives of two men and how they reacted to their treatment of Jesus. Immediately after Peter’s last denial of Jesus, Luke tells us that Jesus looked at him, and he remembered what Jesus said about his denying him three times. Peter “went out and wept bitterly.” This means that Peter saw the error of his way and wept in deep sorrow. On the other hand, Judas saw the error of his way and went out and hanged himself. These are two basic ways that people handle their disappointments in themselves. Let’s look at these two reactions. From all that we know about Peter, he did not just go out and cry about what he had done. Evidently, he repented, picked up the pieces and went on about the ministry to which Jesus called him. The best illustration of this took place a few days after the ascension of Jesus. This man who denied knowing Jesus, bravely stood and preached Jesus to the masses that were in Jerusalem for the celebration of Pentecost. Remember, the incident was still fresh in the minds of the people who were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. Peter could have been in trouble with them for his brave sermon. A few days after that, because of the healing of the crippled man at the “beautiful gate” of the temple, Peter and other apostles were arrested and were told not to preach Jesus anymore. Here was Peter’s reaction to that demand in Acts 4:19-20: “But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. 20. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” There are many more evidences of Peter’s recovery from that bad moment in his life, but what I have shared illustrates the point that Peter was not defeated by his moment of weakness. We need to learn this lesson from Peter that when we fall, the best thing that we can do is to get up and go again. It is Satan, our accuser, who will keep us in the doldrums, and keep us from serving the Lord. Whatever has happened in your life, if you repented and asked for forgiveness, you can still make yourself available to serve the Lord in your family, your church and your community. There is no doubt about what we learn from Judas. He could not do good or ill, because he took his own life. Not everyone who reacts to their sins like Judas go out and kill themselves, but because they give up they become useless to God, to themselves and to others. We need to remember that our God is a forgiving God. Before you give up, you need to remember that our God is a forgiving God. It might not be sin that has stalled your growth, but difficulties and bad circumstances that have happened, and are happening, in your life. If you give up, these bad things will have won, and Satan will gave gained a foothold and a victory in your life. Whatever it is that you are dealing with at this time, do not give up and become useless. Like peter, you need to turn from dismay and discouragement and turn to the Lord for His forgiveness and encouragement and you will surely find it. This is the kind of God we serve and we need to remember this about the God that we know through Jesus Christ. Bro. Joe “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.”
(This is good advice to remember during the New Year. A good New Year's resolution would be to watch and pray.) The context of this verse is in Gethsemane where Jesus prayed His agonizing prayer of commitment. Jesus left Peter, James and John to watch while He went alone to pray. When Jesus returned to them, they were asleep. Jesus said to Peter, who had vowed to protect Him, “What, could you not watch with me one hour?” Then Jesus said, “Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Just as Jesus knew Peter’s weakness of the flesh, He knows ours as well. We would do well to heed the warning of Jesus to watch and pray. Due to the fact that the flesh is weak and that the devil is smart, it pays to be vigilant. In 1Peter 5:8 Peter warned: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.” Jesus did not mention the devil in this verse, but it is understood that our number one enemy is the devil, who would like nothing better than to bring us down. The devil makes sure that we encounter perils and pitfalls along the way. He tempts us to have moral lapses. He tempts us with greed. He tempts us with fear. There are no limits to the ways that the devil will trick us. Peter found out about this soon after Jesus gave this warning, for he denied Jesus three times. He did make a vain attempt with a sword by cutting off Malchus’ ear when the people came to arrest Jesus. Seeing the fruitlessness of that, he gave up. It is a message that we all must learn sooner or later. Understand this: THE DEVIL NEVER GIVES UP. He will keep up with his “devilishness” until the day that we die. We need to pay attention to Jesus when He tells us to watch and pray, for it is still true that “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Prayer should be our first and last line of defense. There is nothing that can keep us from praying. If we are put into a situation in which we can do absolutely nothing, we can still pray. If we can think, we can pray. God listens to our hearts, so He will hear the silent pleas of our hearts. We are without excuse when we do not pray. Jesus is available to us 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We can call on Jesus any time, and He will be available to hear our prayers. The hymn is correct: “Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.” We have sure promises in the Bible that if we pray, God will listen and He will answer. The Bible does not lie to us. We need to remember the admonition to pray. Nothing should be beyond our need to watch and pray. Jesus told Peter, James and John to pray “that ye enter not into temptation.” If we prayed as we should, we would be pre-conditioned to avoid the devil’s wiles. The reason that Peter, James and John went to sleep in the first place was because they did not watch and pray as Jesus told them to do. This serves as a warning to us to pray in order to avoid temptation. But there will be times when we will have to pray in the midst of temptation. For example, after this warning, Peter still denied Jesus. Though Peter did not heed the warning that he enter not into temptation, he could have, and should have prayed in the midst of the temptation. Let’s not be too critical of Peter, for we often find ourselves in similar situations. We need to learn to “take it to the Lord in prayer.” “Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.” But if you do enter into temptation pray anyway. Bro. Joe "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Our text is taken from the latter part of verse 13: "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before." The proposition is that we put what happened last year behind us, and reach forth for greater victory in the coming year. In order for us to really forget and get over the past, we need to review the good and bad of the year and make the changes that need to be made. We need to review the things that we regret. We probably won't move forward until we resolve some of these things. We could review the words that we spoke and regret that we spoke. Words cannot be called back once they are spoken. Resolve to be more careful about what you say in the coming year. We could review the things that we did that we should not have done. I'm sure that all of us can identify with this fact. We need to learn from the past how badly we felt when we did those things and resolve not to do them again. We could also review those things that we did not do that we should have done. Perhaps we passed up opportunities to minister for Christ because we were too busy with our own things. Resolve to listen closely to what the Lord is calling you to do in the coming year and do it. It will not be too late in the coming year to make up for those things by doing them. We cannot undo the past, but we can learn from it. That is why we need to review those things that we regret, so that we will not make the same mistakes again in the coming year. We need to review the things about which we can rejoice. After all, we did do some good things this year that we can rejoice about. We can rejoice about the fellowship that we have with each other. It is great to be in good fellowship with fellow Christians, especially those with whom we worship each Sunday. Pause as you review and thank God for your fellow Christians. We can rejoice about the fact that we have been forgiven. It is a fact that all of us sinned this year. Hopefully, we took those things to the Lord seeking His forgiveness - which He will surely give if we come to Him in the right spirit. We can rejoice in the fact that, in Christ, heaven is our home. If heaven is not your home at the present time it surely can be if you will accept Christ into your life by faith. We just need to look back and rejoice about all of the blessings that the Lord brought our way during this year. When we do this, we need to really thank Him and resolve to improve on even the things that we rejoice about. We need to review things that we should always remember. As we "reach forth" to the coming year, we need to remember that we are witnesses for Jesus Christ. We witness, first, with our lives then with words. As the old saying goes: "We can't talk the talk if we don't walk the walk." We can grow in our faith in the coming year and be more effective witnesses for Him. We need to remember that we might be the only "Bible," or the only "Jesus" some people will see until they know Jesus for themselves and read the Bible from the viewpoint of a saved person. This is one reason it will be important for us to review our conduct this year. We can also remember that we are never alone when we have Christ as our Savior. As the old hymn reminded us: "No, never alone, no never alone, He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone." You can probably add to this list of things to review, but I think that these things that I have listed can give you a good start. I hope that you have a great year in 2016. Bro. Joe “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18. That they may do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19. Laying up store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
I know that Paul addressed this passage specifically to the wealthy in Timothy’s church, but when I read it this evening, I saw good advice, not just for rich people, but for all people – especially Christians. I think that you will agree when you read this article. Paul reminded them about the source of all blessings, including physical blessings. Those of us who live in affluent America certainly need to be reminded of this. We are not to be haughty (highminded) about what we have or about our position in this world, for we have it all by the blessing of God. Having “things” does not make us superior to anyone else. We are not to trust in “uncertain riches” but we are to trust in “the living God.” There is nothing that we possess that can guarantee our happiness, or, for that matter, ultimate security. We just need to remember that God has given all that we have for us to enjoy. We are not to grasp “things” as though they were the ultimate in success or security. Our real success and security come from trusting in the “living God,” in the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His life in order for us to be saved. He alone is worthy of our ultimate glory. Paul reminded them about the way that they should live. Instead of being haughty and self-righteous, they should “do good.” If we want to be like Jesus, we will seek to do good instead of bad. When we take our focus off of Jesus, we are more likely to do things that are wrong in God’s sight. We should be “rich in good works.” I think that Paul meant by this that the good that we do for others should be abundant. Doing good does not just mean to be personally good, but to do good for others. For example, Paul wrote that we are to be “ready to distribute.” In today’s vernacular, this means that we are to be generous towards other people. We are not to hoard the physical gifts that God has given us for our own selfish good, but we are to share them with others. We are not to withhold ourselves from being involved in the lives of other people. Jesus certainly demonstrated this in His earthly life. We are to also be “willing to communicate.” This means that we are to be willing to share. This does not mean that we can have nothing for ourselves, but it does mean that we are to share God’s blessings with others as well. This is not reflected in physical things alone, for it also includes sharing with others the blessings that God has brought into our lives. Paul reminded them about the same thing that Jesus reminded His disciples of when He told them not to lay up treasure on this earth but “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal…” They were to “lay hold on eternal life.” This does not mean that our doing good earns us a place in heaven; rather, it means that when we live this way, we are living in true riches not in the false riches of the world. It means that our lives are based on eternal things not just on temporal things. We are given eternal life when we are saved by faith in Jesus. Our lives should reflect what is eternal to the world, not just what is worldly. This is good advice for living the Christian life, no matter what your earthly riches might be. Bro. Joe “When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him; and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”
The Magi evidently knew something about Hebrew prophecy, for they were looking for the Messiah. They went to Jerusalem to see Herod to see where the Messiah was to be born. They told Herod, “We have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” (You can read about Herod’s reaction in Matthew 2:13-18.) They discovered from Jewish scribes that He was to be born in Bethlehem. With this information, they continued to follow the star until they came and saw the young child with Mary His mother. Following are some of the truths we can garner from this journey of the Magi: They followed the right star. There were many other stars in the sky, as there are on any given night, but this one star stood out to them, because they recognized it as the star of the Messiah. I do not know how they knew that, but I know that they had it right. We follow many “stars” in our lives, and many of those that we follow do not lead us to the right Person or the right place. The world places all kinds of temptations in front of us to keep us from following the right “star” to the Savior of the world. Satan is a master at side-tracking people away from Jesus. We can learn from these magi, or “wise men,” that there is a right star that leads to the Savior of the world. If you need a definition of the “star” that you can follow, try Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and the rest of the New Testament, plus the prophecies of the Old Testament. They had the right idea about what they would do when they found the One whose star they were following: They told Herod, “We have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” They were not seeking the Messiah out of mere curiosity; rather they knew that when found Him they would worship Him. This is what they did according to Matthew 2:11: “And then they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him.” With what slight knowledge they had of this “young child’s” mission on earth, the wise men recognized that He was worthy of worship. We know the whole story about why Jesus came, what He did and what He will do in the future. We can learn from these men that our Savior is worthy of our worship, and that we should make worship of Him a daily affair. They did the right thing after they had offered their worship to Jesus, i.e., “When they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” They chose these prophetic gifts out of their treasure: gold for a king, frankincense for His sacrifice and myrrh for His burial. I’m not sure whether the magi realized the real significance of their gifts, but the God who showed them the star knew their significance. It is interesting that they chose these things out of “their treasures.” What we need to learn from the magi is that part of the worship of our Savior is a stewardship offering from our “treasures.” There is a lesson about financial stewardship here, but the greatest lesson is about the stewardship of our lives. Let Paul give you the deeper meaning of this stewardship from Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, hold, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” We need to offer all that we are and all that we possess to this “King of kings and Lord of lords.” Whose “star” are you following? Make sure you are following the “star” that leads to Jesus. Bro. Joe "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given..."
Here we are in the midst of another Christmas season. I remember that when I was a youngster it seemed like it took forever for Christmas to get arrive, but now it comes so quickly that I hardly have time to celebrate it before it is gone. But that is enough of my complaining. The purpose of this article is to share with you the meaning of Christmas from my perspective. First, it means that the time was right on God’s timetable for the Messiah to come into the world. Galatians 4:4-5 reveals to us that “When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5. To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Those two verses are loaded with meaning and to fully explain them would take more space than I will take just now. Suffice it to say that Jesus was born into this world at just the right time. Why? Because God said that the time was right. At that time all of the Old Testament prophecies and types were fulfilled. Our text from Isaiah 9 is a good example of what I mean. Revelation 13:8 refers to Jesus as “the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” This means that it had been God’s plan since before time began that the “Lamb” would be slain for us. As always, I will confess that I cannot explain why it had to be this way. If that is the way God wanted to save our souls, we need to just thank Him. Second it means what I have alluded to above, that Christmas means that because Jesus came into the world, we can be saved from our sins. Romans 3:23 declares, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Sin is pervasive in this world, and we are defenseless against it except for Jesus. Romans 3:24 completes the thought that was begun in Romans 3:23: “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” “Redemption” is a word from the ancient law courts that means that a slave had been bought out of slavery. Because of Jesus, we no longer have to be slaves to sin. We can be forgiven because Jesus came into this world, lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, was resurrected and lives forever to intercede for us and to save us. Because of this we can come to Jesus for forgiveness of our sins and we will receive His forgiveness. At least that’s what 1 John 1:9 tells us: “If we confess our sins (Jesus) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Jesus is “faithful and just” to forgive us for our sins. “Faithful” means that He will always forgive us, and “just” means that He is qualified to forgive us for our sins. Third, Christmas means that we can live better lives. We do not have to live in sin. Look around you at the devastation that sin has caused in this world and be grateful that God provided the means for us to not be ruled by it. We will always have to deal with sin as long as we are on this earth, but we do not have to be ruled by it. Sin promises all kinds of pleasure, but it only ends up bringing destruction into people’s lives. Thank God that in His infinite wisdom, He has provided a way for us to escape the prison that sins creates. Because of Jesus, we can cease to do those things which are detrimental to our spiritual, mental and physical well-being. Because of Jesus, we can begin to do those things that will bring real satisfaction in life. I have tried it both ways in my life, and I have found that the Jesus way is better. Christmas means more than this, but what I have written should be sufficient to help you have a merry Christmas. Celebrate that: “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given….” Bro. Joe “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
My favorite Christmas narrative is in Luke 2, where angels appear to shepherds and announce the birth of the Savior. You probably know the story as well as I. What I want to concentrate on in this post is the message that the angel gave to the shepherds. It is rich in meaning and was probably a great comfort to the shepherds, and should be for us as well. What was his message? It was a message about fear. I know that the angel was telling the shepherds not to be afraid of him, because he was bringing them good news. But the message “fear not” has a wider meaning for us as well. All of us have to deal with fear of some kind at some time or other. For example, I fear for the future for the sake of my children and grandchildren. I’m sure that my parents and grandparents experienced the same thing when I was growing up. But when I read “fear not” it says to me that I do not have to fear the future, because the God, who is at work now in Christ, will be at work in the future. Okay, I’ll use the old cliché: “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.” There, I wrote it, and I’m glad because it is eternally true. It was a message about good news. Specifically, the angel said: “Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings…” A more modern translation of that is: “I bring you good news.” In other words, the angel was announcing the gospel to the shepherds, for the word “gospel” means “good news.” A lot of the news that we hear today is bad news. As Jesus predicted, there are “wars and rumors of wars” all over the world. What was the good news that the angel had for the shepherds, and us? Here it is: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Can you imagine what it meant for these Jewish shepherds to hear this message? For centuries, prophets had predicted that God would send a Messiah to deliver His people, and these simple shepherds were hearing about it before anyone else. The message of the angel is still good news today, because “Christ the Lord” is still alive and still saves those who come to Him by faith. The message of the angel is our message too. It is a message about Jesus. Like the angel, we are supposed to share that gospel good news with the world. It was a message about joy and hope: “Fear not, for behold, I brings you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.” It was an announcement about eternal joy coming into the world. I return again and again to John 15:11 for my own comfort and in talking and writing to others. In this verse Jesus said: “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” If you read my posts frequently, you will already be familiar with this verse – and you will see it again. The “good tidings of great joy” were for “all people.” The message of the angel made it clear to these Jewish shepherds that the good news was not just for them but for all people. Do you remember the little tune: “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.” The only difference I would make here is that Jesus also loves all of the adults in the world too. This is a message that still resonates around the world. I know that it seems like the world is ignoring that message today, but that doesn’t make it any less true! The joy of the gospel does not depend on opinion polls. If it did, Jesus’ disciples would have never gotten the good news out of Jerusalem. It is a message of joy and hope for you as well. This is the message of the angel. I hope and pray that you will read it and believe it. Bro. Joe The angel said to Joseph: "And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins."
People celebrate Christmas in many different ways. It is viewed by many as a time for family and friends to get together. It is celebrated by the giving and receiving of gifts. It is celebrated, if that is the right word, by joining the crowds at the shopping malls across the country. I am not being critical here, because I enjoy some of these secular activities surrounding Christmas as well. But, according to Matthew 1:21, the coming of Christ into the world is not a secular event that is to be celebrated during one season of the year. If you know Christ as your Savior, it is a daily celebration of what He has done for you. I don’t mean to imply that I am the only “expert” on knowing how to really celebrate the Christ event, but I hope that you will find my thoughts enlightening, and that they will make you have a merrier Christmas. We should celebrate Christmas in a spirit of thanksgiving for what God has done for us in Jesus. The angel announced to Joseph concerning the birth of Jesus: “And she shall bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.” Saving us from sin is the stated purpose of Jesus’ coming into the world. Jesus did many mighty works that inform us about His deity, but these mighty works were not the main purpose of His coming. He came to “save His people from their sins.” Since people today don’t seem to take sin very seriously, the joy and excitement of this might escape them, but it should not escape us. Jesus’ saving us from our sins has to do, not just for this life, but for all eternity. Since the Garden of Eden, sin has been what has been wrong with the world, and the Bible plainly tells us the story of the devastation of sin. All we have to do is look around us to see the devastation of sin. We can point to our own battles in life that have to do with sin. When we realize the seriousness of sin in our own lives, we should celebrate all the more because Jesus saved us from it, and we should be thankful for it. We should celebrate Christmas in a true spirit of giving. Christmas is all about giving. John 3:16 tells us that, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” When the Magi visited the family of Jesus, we are told: “And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” My guess is that this is where the idea of exchanging gifts at Christmas came from. You will notice that I wrote that we should celebrate Christmas in a “true spirit” of giving. What is a true spirit of giving? Well, it is not a spirit of “getting” – if you get my drift. We are reminded in Acts 10:35 about what a “true spirit” of giving is: “I (Paul) have shown unto you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.” I think that a “true spirit” of giving is a spirit of excitement over the opportunity to give rather than to receive. We should celebrate Christmas in a genuine spirit of worship, adoration and praise to our Lord Jesus Christ for what His coming has meant to the world, and what His coming has meant to us. Again, we should emulate the Magi, who when they went into the house and saw the child Jesus with His mother Mary, “they fell down and worshipped Him.” All they knew about Jesus was what they had read. We know much more about Jesus, which is why we should certainly follow the Magi’s example and worship Him. Hopefully, you know what it means to know Jesus as your Savior. Hopefully, you know what it means to have a hope in this life that transcends anything that the world can give. Hopefully, you know what it means to experience His love on a daily basis. There are countless reasons to worship Him. As you celebrate Christmas this year, thank Jesus for His coming to save us from sin, give in true spirit of giving that it is “more blessed to give than to receive," and worship Him for who and what He is in your life. Bro. Joe “And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
My first post on Christmas this year is not from Matthew or Luke, but from John. John does not record the pageantry of Christmas like Matthew and Luke, but he does give us the Christmas narrative in just one verse. What John does is give us the theological significance of the coming of Christ into the world. I will illustrate what I mean in the post. John points out that the “word was made flesh.” This, of course, is about the incarnation, or the infleshment, of the Son of God. The Good News Bible, which had some success in the late sixties and early seventies, translated this as “the word was made a human being.” While I was not exactly carried away with that particular translation of the Bible, I thought that this translation made a vivid point about the word becoming flesh. He was made flesh through the virgin birth, as predicted in Isaiah 7:14. It also stands out that when the word was made flesh, His crib was a manger – a feed trough. The miracle was that God came down to man – period. John points out that He “dwelt among us.” This is a reference to the fact that Jesus lived a normal human existence in a family. The family that Jesus came to was a common family, a carpenter’s family. He lived a common life among common people. This is good news for all of us common people, for Jesus identified with us in His coming. Jesus experienced life in every way, except for sin. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are , yet without sin.” It has to be comfort to us that our Savior understands our struggles. In a parenthetical statement, John informs us that “we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.” Of course, we can refer to the great miracles that Jesus did, such as, walking on water, turning water into wine, healing the infirm, stilling a storm, etc. John, however, along with Peter and James, beheld His glory at the transfiguration. This had to be a life-changing experience for these three disciples of Jesus. Thank God that it was recorded in the Gospels for us. What happened there was indescribable, but it did show forth the great glory of Jesus. It is my opinion that they got a glimpse of a heavenly vision of the Son of God. No one else has seen Jesus like this, but one day all believers will. John shared that Jesus was “full of grace and truth.” In John 14:6, Jesus referred to Himself as “the way, the truth, and the life.” He revealed the truth about God in His teachings that are recorded in the New Testament for us. He revealed the grace of God by His treatment of people, which is also recorded in the New Testament for us. The New Testament makes it plain that Jesus treated all people the same, the rich and the poor. Jesus healed poor people, like Bartimaeus; He healed rich people like Jairus’ daughter, who He actually raised from death. He walked among the poor and the rich. One of His most famous conversions was Zacchaeus, who was a wealthy tax collector. Indeed, Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, was “full of grace and truth.” I understand that we usually think of the Christmas story in terms of shepherds and Wise Men, which Matthew and Luke wrote about, but John, in his usual fashion, got right to the point of who and what the incarnate Son of God was and is. Bro. Joe |
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