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Jesus Christ-The Real Focus of Christmas Mat 1:23 (KJV)
Behold, a virgin
shall be with child,
and shall bring
forth a son,
and they
shall call his name Emmanuel,
which being
interpreted is,
God with
us. Dear Friends in Christ,
It's not the presents, it's not the shopping, it's not
the parties and the drinking, it's not the reindeer and the Santas and elves and
sleighs; Christmas is the celebration of the Incarnation of Christ, the Second
Person of the Trinity, taking on human flesh so that He could sacrifice Himself
for our sins, and thereby appease the wrath of God which could have sent us all
to Hell.
This year, as no other year in my memory, Christmas and
everything to do with it is under attack. There are school boards who are
outlawing the singing of Christmas carols or playing any kind of instrumental
music, even Handel's Messiah, on school property, (while they gleefully
celebrate Qansa and Ramadan in the name of "Diversity"). Somehow, "we" don't
want to "offend" these culturally diverse peoples and ethnic groups, while it is
perfectly alright to offend Christians by denying our right to
celebrate the most important Holy Day in our religion. Haven't we just had
enough of this hypocrisy and repression?
Isn't it time we stood up and said, "I don't care what
the consequences are, Jesus Christ is Lord and I am not afraid to say so!!!" ?
Pray that God would send a revival and a turning-back-to-God in our country
before it's too late. I think God is sending us a wake up call by all the things
that are happening around us. Have we become so lethargic and complacent that we
are willing to let Christ be taken incrementally and systematically out of our
society? Have we become the Church of Laodicea already? about which Jesus had
this to say:
Rev 3:15-17
(KJV)
I know thy works, that thou
art neither cold nor hot:
I would {rather} thou {would be}
cold or hot.
{16} So then because thou
art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,
I will spue thee out of my
mouth.
{17} Because thou sayest, I
am rich, and increased with goods,
and have need of nothing;
and knowest not that thou art
wretched, and miserable,
and poor, and blind, and
naked:
or from way back in the Old Testament:
Deu 8:10-14a
(KJV)
When thou hast eaten and art full,
then thou shalt bless the LORD thy
God
for the good land which he hath
given thee.
{11} Beware that thou
forget not the LORD thy God,
in not keeping his
commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes,
which I command thee this day:
{12} Lest when thou
hast eaten and art full,
and hast built
goodly{Heb=beautiful} houses, and dwelt therein;
{13} And when thy
herds and thy flocks multiply,
and thy silver and thy gold is
multiplied,
and all that thou hast is
multiplied;
{14} Then thine heart be
lifted up{Heb=with pride},
and thou forget the LORD thy God,
So let us remind ourselves of what Christmas is really all about:
it's about Jesus, and how He miraculously took on flesh, came to earth and
walked among us, so that He could die as an atonement for our sins. Here are a
few verses to help remind us of these truths...
1 John 4:9-10
(KJV)
In this was manifested the love of
God toward us,
because that God sent his
only begotten Son into the world,
that we might live through him.
{10} Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he
loved us,
and sent his Son to be the
propitiation{Grk=covering} for our sins.
Isa 9:6 (KJV) For unto us a child
is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government
shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall
be called
Wonderful,
Counsellor,
The mighty God, The
everlasting Father,
The Prince of
Peace.
Job 15:14-16
(KJV)
What is man, that he should
be clean?
and he which is born
of a woman, that he should be righteous?
{15} Behold, he putteth no
trust in his saints{Heb=religious leaders};
yea, the heavens are not clean in
his sight.
{16} How much more
abominable and filthy is man,
which drinketh iniquity like
water? Isa 64:6-7
(KJV)
But we are all as an unclean
thing,
and all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags;
and we all do fade as a leaf;
and our iniquities, like the wind,
have taken us away.
{7} And there is
none that calleth upon thy name,
that stirreth up himself to take
hold of thee:
for thou hast hid thy face from
us,
and hast consumed
us, because of our
iniquities.
Job 14:4 (KJV)
Who can bring
a clean thing out of an unclean?
not
one.{ie. no one}
Luke 1:26-35
(KJV)
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.
{34} Then said Mary unto
the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know
not a man?
{35} And the angel answered
and said unto her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee,
and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee:
therefore also that Holy Thing
which shall be born of thee shall be
called
The Son of
God.
Mat 1:20-23
(KJV)
But while he{Joseph} thought on
these things,
behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared unto him in a dream, saying,
Joseph, thou son of David, fear
not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:
for that which is conceived in her
is of the Holy Ghost.
{21} And she shall
bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name
JESUS:
for he shall save his people from
their sins.
{22} Now all this was done,
that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying, {23} Behold, a
virgin shall be with child,
and shall bring forth a son,
and they shall call his name
Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is,
God with us.
John 1:14
(KJV)
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.
1 John 4:9-10
(KJV)
In this was manifested the
love of God toward us,
because that God sent his only
begotten Son into the world,
that we might live through him.
{10} Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he
loved us,
and sent his Son to be the
propitiation{Grk=covering} for our sins.
John 3:16-21
(KJV)
For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
{17} For God sent not his
Son into the world to condemn the world;
but that the world through him
might be saved.
{18} He that believeth on
him is not condemned:
but he that believeth not is
condemned already,
because he hath not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God.
{19} And this is the
condemnation,
that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than
light,
because their deeds were evil.
{20} For every one that
doeth evil hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light, lest
his deeds should be reproved.
{21} But he that
doeth truth cometh to the light,
that his deeds may be made
manifest,
that they are wrought in
God.
Heb 1:1-13
(KJV)
God, who at sundry times and in
divers manners
spake in time past unto the
fathers by the prophets,
{2} Hath in these last days
spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir
of all things,
by whom also he made the
worlds;
{3} Who being the
brightness of his glory,
and the express image of his
person,
and upholding all things by the
word of his power,
when he had by himself
purged our sins,
sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty on high;
{4} Being made so much
better than the angels,
as he hath by inheritance obtained
a more excellent name than they.
{5} For unto which of the
angels said he at any time,
Thou art my Son, this day
have I begotten thee?
And again, I will be to him a
Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
{6} And again, when
he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world,
he saith, And let all the angels
of God worship him.
{7} And of the angels he
saith,
Who maketh his angels spirits, and
his ministers a flame of fire.
{8} But unto the Son he
saith,
Thy throne, O God, is for
ever and ever:
a sceptre of righteousness is
the sceptre of thy kingdom.
{9} Thou hast loved
righteousness, and hated iniquity;
therefore God, even thy
God, hath anointed thee
with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows.
{10} And, Thou, Lord, in
the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth;
and the heavens are the works of
thine hands:
{11} They shall perish; but
thou remainest;
and they all shall wax old as doth
a garment;
{12} And as a vesture shalt
thou fold them up,
and they shall be changed:
but thou art the same, and thy
years shall not fail.
{13} But to which of the
angels said he at any time,
Sit on my right hand, until I make
thine enemies thy footstool?
Heb 10:5-7
(KJV)
Wherefore when he cometh into the
world, he saith,
Sacrifice and offering thou
wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared
me:
{6} In burnt offerings and
sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
{7} Then said I, Lo, I come
(in the volume of the book it is
written of me,)
to do thy will, O God.
God Bless You and Your Family.
In Christ...brother bob...<><
IXTHEUS CHRISTIAN GROWTH DEVOTIONALS
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In Christ.....brother
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