Tag Archives: Christmas

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A Broken, Fallen World…Blessed.

Angel Adahlyn

I talked on the phone to my daughter, Hannah, while I was working on this blog post. She shared with me something her pastor had shared in his sermon about the number of angels that appeared to the shepherds. 

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
    and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”   Luke 2:8-14


So just how many angels make up a “heavenly host”? I certainly don’t know. In Daniel 7:10, Daniel is revealing the prophetic vision he sees where God is enthroned and His power is demonstrated by the “ten thousand by ten thousand (who) rose up and stood before Him”, God’s heavenly host.

So, 10,000 times 10,000 is 100 million! (thank you, Phil)

In Daniel, God is demonstrating His strength as He defeats the beast.

I believe God was demonstrating His power to those shepherds, obviously, but one heavenly being was enough to “wow” the shepherds.

Who, then was this display of force and power for?

That multitude of the heavenly host – MILLIONS of the army of angelic beings – showed the powers of darkness that they were DEFEATED!

The appearance of the heavenly hosts, announcing Jesus birth, was a magnificent display of the awesome POWER of God. I don’t think they looked like the flying babies, or even innocuous pale, winged creatures that are portrayed in so many paintings of angels.

These angels were part of God’s army, dressed for battle, dressed in the full armor of God. It is also obvious that they were not armed for battle with the shepherds who they appeared before. They demonstrated God’s power to the powers of darkness by their overwhelming number and by their rejoicing at the birth of God’s Son. Their mighty presence was evidence of the divine nature and protection for the “helpless” baby – Jesus.

They were praising God because the day Jesus was born – the victory was won!

We recently completed a study at our Community Woman’s Bible Study in Ephesians on the Armor of God by Priscilla Shirer. When I read these verses from Luke today, which I have read so many. many times before, a new appreciation of the angels as part of the “heavenly host”, the angelic army of God, stirred in my heart.

I always appreciated the wonder of the angels announcement of Jesus birth, but now I realize those angels also announced the VICTORY that God has provided through the precious gift of His Son.

May we each rejoice in this victory as we celebrate Jesus birth.

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“The Savior’s Come”

 

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Abigail, with the help of her boys, made this Lego video last year. It illustrates a song written by one of their pastors, Paul Cummings. They did an amazing job!

I LOVE how it proclaims the TRUTH of the greatest gift we celebrate on Christmas.

Watch it with children and grandchildren – you will all be blessed!

Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

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He’s Coming, Again!

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The last of our children and grandchildren left yesterday.

We had a wonderful time with family – coming and going at various times with a brief overlap of everyone. It can be wild and crazy at times, yet the joy of having our children and grandchildren in our home supersedes all other factors. We know we are truly blessed.

As I mentioned in my post on December 13th, I spent a lot of time preparing rooms – making beds, putting pictures of the anticipated occupants in the rooms, (learned from a dear friend Donna), a small dish of special candy in the adult rooms, and fresh towels. As much as possible, I wanted each family member to feel welcome and loved.

I also put away any breakable or valuable non-essentials so that we did not have to say “no” any more than necessary.

The preparation paid off – I enjoyed the seven days we had family here and we only broke two dishes, but I wouldn’t change a thing!

So, yesterday we started cleaning up. Phil vacuumed, I put things away. One load of sheets is in the dryer and the second load is in the washer as I type this.

Yet, something my older brother texted me with his holiday greeting keeps resonating in my mind.

“Jesus is coming again!”

We made so many preparations to celebrate the first appearing of Jesus. All were special and held meaning for us and our family as we celebrated Jesus’s birth.

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But what preparations am I making to prepare for His second coming?

In I Thessalonians 5: 19-24 (MSG) Paul addresses this very issue –

19-22 Don’t suppress the Spirit, and don’t stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.

23-24 May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!

The preparations are quite clear –

  • allow the Holy Spirit to empower us
  • listen to those who speak God’s truth
  • don’t be deceived – test everything by the standard of God’s Word
  • throw away the bad, avoid everything that is evil
  • God will make us holy and whole
  • God is completely dependable – HE WILL DO IT!

God will make us prepared for the second coming of Jesus. We can begin the process by following the first four steps – but ONLY God can complete it.

The joy of preparing for our family’s arrival was the anticipation of them actually coming. Our granddaughter Adella said to me, “Nana, you are so happy when I come to your house.” Yes, I am, and I am so pleased she knows it.

If we had not prepared, I dread thinking of the consequences. No food, no beds ready, no clean bathrooms….There would be no joy on Macktown Gap!

No one knows when Jesus will come again. We DO know He is returning.

I want to commit to intentionally preparing myself – spirit, soul, and body – for the return of Jesus, my Saviour and Lord.

Jesus is coming, again!