Christmas

I want to talk to you about "the most wonderful time of the year" for a few minutes. Now, we are going to be reading the account of Jesus' birth from the book of Matthew chapter 2.

While you are turning there i want to point out that Christmas isn't Christmas until you have blessed someone you don't even know.

Now, it says here in Matthew chapter 2 "1Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7Then Herod, when he had privily (secretly) called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

Ok let's pause for a minute, i want to say something about the wisemen. The main point is they are being led to the Christ child. I believe the whole time from the far east to Herod, and finally to the Christ child they were being led. They were led to Christ. We need to put a focus on leading someone to Christ. We do it all year round, but what greater time than ever which is now to lead some one to Christ. We have all heard someone say "I'll be glad when Christmas is over", or "I hate Christmas"; listen when we hear things like this we need to take that opportunity to lead someone to Christ. I myself have been guilty of letting it go right past me and not taking the opportunity to lead someone to Christ when i've heard those comments being made. Now let's get back to Matthew.

10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11And 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.
12And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Now,let's talk about the second topic the Lord placed on my heart to share with you. There are three total and this is the second. When the wisemen came to worship baby Jesus, they reached into their treasures and gave Him gifts. They didn't ask what He wanted, or try to drive themselves crazy trying to figure out what to get for Him. Now pay attention to what the Spirit of the Lord is saying. You have to notice that their hearts had to be right they had to have the right motive,because i truly believe that the wisemen were LED to give. That's what i want to point out to you today, they were led by and prompted by the Holy Spirit not only to give but what to give. Now i don't know if it is customary for wise men to travel with treasures, i haven't studied the culture; or maybe since they were led by way of Herod, he might have given it to them as payment i don't know, but you have to notice that they had it on the ready to give. I believe that if we will be led by the Holy Spirit, if we will yield to His promptings, He will tell us what to give and to whom to give it to. And then we will see the true joy of the gift of Christ manifested in others lives.

Now, lastly,what i'm about to say a lot of people will disagree with but that's ok i'm goin to say it anyway. I f you disagree just get before the Lord and talk to Him about it. We have in this society submitted to lying to our children, whom God placed in our lives under our care about where their gifts come from. I'm not going to be dogmatic about it but, we need to give honor where honor is due. The world has made Christmas about Santa Clause. Santa Clause was not born of a virgin, did not come to the earth to go die on the cross for my sins or the sins of this world. Jesus did all that. Every gift we receive we should thank the Lord for it not someone else because as the Word says "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." We have to stop lying to our children about these things, because when they grow up and you try and tell them something they'll think why should i trust you; and you'll say have i ever lied to you before? And they will say you lied about Santa Clause, you lied about the Easter bunny so yes you have. And that is a witness we don't want credited to our account. I know first hand about lying about something that haunts me still. We will be held accountable for every idle word, or every thing we didn't tell the truth about unless we repent which means to turn away from it and not return to it again. Thanks for taking time to read this and have yourself a Merry Christmas. :)

Why Rejection?

But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:- Jesus Matthew 5:22

Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. - Jesus Matthew 5:23-24

have you ever experienced rejection? How about rejection for no apparent reason? Or maybe you're on the other side of that coin. Have you rejected someone? Or rejected someone without cause or merit? To the one being rejected or ignored or stonewalled, it can be quite hurtful. And the one doing the ignoring could be hurting as well; but it's not doing any good to reject or ignore a person for something they've done if they don't know what they've done. As Christians we are called to be reconciled to one another; and as you can clearly see from the Scriptures above, that lack of love for each other can block your prayers from being answered. Also, it can affect your health, your total prosperity, and even your soul. We ought to be forgiving one another at an astronomical rate. 70 x 7. Holding grudges, or just plain ignoring someone with or without cause is not any good for either party.

Now you may ask the question what if I reach out to someone to try and correct the problem and they ignore every attempt, what do I do then? Good question! Pray for that person. Lift the situation to God. If they are a true brother or sister in Christ, they will pick up in their spirit that the situation should be corrected. But if they are rebellious or they don’t hear from God, keep lifting them up and God has promised that He will deal with your enemies. In the meantime, keep the situation in the Lord’s hands and He'll take away the pain, He’ll remove the hurt, He’ll give you joy, beauty for ashes, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Look at what the Word said in Matthew 11 verses 28-30

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

We need to let the Lord do a work on us so we can walk in love the way we should. Holding grudges, or ignoring one another for reasons known or unknown, or hating one another will not stand with the Father. Look at this :

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 1 John 4:20

God is Love and as His offspring we are expected to act like sons and daughters of the Most High God. Hatred is not born of God so it ought not dwell within us. For greater is He that dwells in us than he that is in the world. The Word said ”love one another as I have loved you.” He also said “freely you have received freely give.”