We, as authors have been gifted by the Lord Almighty, artistically, in the art of storytelling as Jesus Christ did in ancient days:
‘All who are gifted artisans among you shall come and make all that the LORD has commanded’. (Exodus 35:10)
He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works. (Exodus 35:35)
With that in mind we bring Christmas Carousel 2011 as a gift unto the Lord during this holy season which also fulfills the Lord’s mandate to preach the gospel to the ends of the world:
Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year. (2 Chronicles 9:24)
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)
Seven (7) articles have been provided for your enjoyment ending with a bonus free ebook. The ebook download expires December 30, 2011. We hope you enjoy this carousel:
Isaiah 9:6-7: For unto to 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, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.
There are many who hunger for peace! Peace of heart and mind, emotional peace in relationships, peace in everyday living and peace instead of war. “World Peace” as was stated in a movie by a beauty contestant. I believe that there will be no world peace as we hope for it, but there is that peace that comes from the Prince of Peace!
Jesus is that Prince of Peace, mine and yours, and can be for anyone who chooses Him as their Savior! He was born long ago and in a distant land, however He is always with us. He is the kind of peace we are looking for in this world of hurts and pains. Jesus brings with him the peace we need to journey through this world and He prepares us with peace so we can battle evil.
Acts 5:31: Him (Jesus) hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
I cannot speak for anyone but myself, what Jesus has done for me in the way of peace. I know how He has blessed my life beyond measure, especially in hard times, He gave me His peace. Jesus gives me peace in times of good as well, and oh how my heart rejoices in Him.
This is the particular time of year He is given a lot of attention and He richly deserves it! My humble prayer is that we will all keep Him in our daily living once Christmas has come and gone.
The passage of scripture found in Luke 1:39-45 NAS tells us that after the birth of Jesus is foretold to Mary, she visits Elizabeth’s home for three months. Both women were “with child.” What do you think they talked about? They probably visited about the same things as any two ladies that are pregnant at the same time.
Mary did not have great status in life; just a young humble virgin girl engaged to Joseph, a carpenter. I am sure Mary was experiencing a lot of excitement and joy after finding out from the angel Gabriel that she was to give birth to the Son of God by the Holy Spirit. It was during this inner reflective time that the scripture records one of the greatest songs of all time – “Mary’s Song”, also referred to as the “Magnificat”. As you can see from the scriptures, this song is full of praises to God.
Mary’s Song can be in the following passage from Luke 1:46-55 NAS.
48For he hath looked upon thelow estate of his handmaid: For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
49For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; And holy is his name.
50And his mercy is unto generations and generations On them that fear him.
51He hath showed strength with his arm; He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart.
52He hath put down princes from their thrones, And hath exalted them of low degree.
53The hungry he hath filled with good things; And therich he hath sent empty away.
54He hath given help toIsrael his servant, That he might remember mercy
55(As he spake unto our fathers) Toward Abraham and his seed for ever.
In Verses 46-49 she tells of God’s concern for her and in verses 50-55, God’s concern and care for all generations to follow. Verse 45 gives us part of Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary, “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” As noted by Mary’s use of the past tense in the Magnificat, she believed it had indeed happened. This exemplifies her great faith.
We, too, can be used of God by exhibiting great faith and a willingness to put our faith into action. As you continue on in your walk with God, let faith lead the way. . . . for unto us is born a child!
And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11)
So here it is Christmas, the day that the Christians celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. We Christians pretty well understand that this day December 25, isn’t the exact date of birth, but it’s been designated as an official day of celebration.
Father Godgifted the world with his son Jesus Christ when He chose the Virgin Mary to give birth to His chosen one, the Savior of the Word, to redeem mankind from their sins:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
The first official offering of a human to God is by the patriarch, Abraham, when he was instructed by God to do so:
Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:2)
Father God was teaching Abraham to give so that His principle of reciprocity could be enacted (to give to receive back from God–with God multiplying the return).
By Father God giving Jesus Christ to save mankind, He automatically generated His own principle–to receive man back to himself, multiplied!
Father God was planting (to put or set in the ground for growth, as a seed), to receive a harvest–man.
This giving principle is also known as sowing and reaping as seen below:
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. (Genesis 26:12);
That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. (Lev 25:11);
‘This shall be a sign to you: You shall eat this year such as grows of itself, And in the second year what springs from the same; Also in the third year sow and reap, Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. (2 Kings 19:29;
Even as I have seen, Those who plow iniquity And sow trouble reap the same. (Job 4:8);
Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy. (Psalm 126:5)
He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow, And the rod of his anger will fail. (Proverbs 22:8);
He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap. (Ecc 11:4);
Because of sin, God is the only person who will block the harvest as seen here:
They have sown wheat but reaped thorns; They have put themselves to pain but do not profit. But be ashamed of your harvest Because of the fierce anger of the LORD.” (Jere 12:13)
Restore yourself, turn from your sins, and God will reactivate your harvest:
Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you. (Hosea 10:12)
Jesus said regarding giving and receiving (sowing and reaping):
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. (2 Cor 9:6);
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. (Gal 6:7);
For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. (Gal 6:8)
By Jesus Christ giving up His life, we received salvation and He receives all those who want Him voluntarily.
Gift Him your heartbeats, give Him you. Give Him and Honor Him of your worth, your family, your health, your finances. Gift Him your skills, your talents, live to give to serve the Lord, so that you can receive back in a multiplied manner.
Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. (1 Samuel 12:24)
My heart rejoices in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. (1 Samuel 2:1)
A man’s gift makes room for Him, And brings Him before great men. (Proverbs 18:16)
In all four of his biographies Jesus declared that his blood was capable of forgiving human sin. “This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”(1) In addition to this bold declaration, Jesus promised, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (2) Jesus’ announcements about the qualities of his blood thoroughly shocked many of his disciples.(3) So what was different about Jesus’ blood? What made it unique?
God didn’t create sinners. The first two humans shared their Creator’s purity of character and loving nature. Furthermore, he did not create them robots incapable of making choices and decisions. Regrettably, Adam and Eve willfully and deliberately turned against the loving God who gave them existence. “Sin entered the world through one man”(4) and infected all humans with proneness to rebel against God and his ways. None of us are accountable for Adam’s sin or the sin of any of our ancestors. However, we inherit their tendency to disdain the Lord and follow our evil ways. “For all have sinned.”(5) Things seemed so hopeless for the human race.
The God of hope came through for humanity by the virgin birth of Jesus. Without sexual union, God, the Holy Spirit, conceived Jesus in Mary.(6) So both Jesus and Adam are sons of God—one by creation and one by conception. The beauty of Jesus’ conception is this: he did not inherit blood contaminated by Adam’s sinful human nature.
Jesus was truly human like Adam before Adam rebelled against the Lord. Jesus was a fresh beginning, a new hope for mankind. Through Jesus we can be set free from our inclination to reject God and return to loving him with all our hearts!
Jesus’ Blood Remained Untainted by Sin
Jesus began life with blood unfouled by Adam’s propensity to act sinfully. From the moment of conception Jesus experienced heavenly Father’s sinlessness. On the other hand, Jesus was truly human and had to face numerous choices to either reject or respect his heavenly Father’s wishes and ways.
Remarkably, the Adam of Genesis chapters one, two and three had everything going for him. He was God’s creation and thereby shared God’s unpolluted nature. Idealic circumstances surrounded him. Peace and harmony made it easy to fellowship with God in private communion. God and Adam walked together as familiar friends.
Unlike Adam’s environment, Jesus came into a world filled with innumerable dangers, struggles and enticements. Nothing was easy for Jesus. Satan lurked on every hand. He desperately wanted to draw Jesus into his control. After all, had not the first man easily succumbed to a tiny temptation? Satan confidently expected the same from Jesus.
But we must remember that Satan isn’t the only source of temptation. Scripture refers to the human social system as “the world.” “World” doesn’t refer to planet earth, to terra firma. By “world” Scripture means the collective sinfulness of society, nations and cultures. So life on earth plunged Jesus into a sea of sinful people whose example he could have followed. But he didn’t!
Another source of our sinfulness lies within us. Even if there were no devil or sinful society, we face the task of defeating our internal inclination to think and act in ways that displease the Lord. Jesus did not inherit this weakness from Adam, but he could have yielded his nature to the thoughts planted in his mind by Satan. “Worship me,” Satan commanded Jesus.(7) This awful thought wasn’t sin. Jesus rejected it and therefore did not become guilty of sinfulness. Who knows how many times evil thoughts entered Jesus’ mind? What we know is this—he disarmed, defeated and destroyed every one of them!
The apostle Peter encouraged the followers of Christ with these words: “You were redeemed…with the precious blood of Christ…without blemish or defect.” (8) Yes, Jesus was the first and the last human to inherit blood totally uncorrupted by sin. Also, he is the one and only human who died with blood uncorrupted by the slightest evilness.
Jesus’ Blood Restored Power Over Sin to Us
When we place our faith in Jesus, his “blood…purifies us from all sin.”(9) Immediately a sense of guiltlessness lays hold of us, and confidence in God’s approval floods us. However, we need more than forgiveness of sins—we need power to quit sinning!
Jesus’ presence infuses us with divine energy to reject temptation to sin. Through his power we refuse enticement to walk away from God’s pleasure. The blood of Jesus delivers us from powerlessness and permeates us with powerfulness. We are no longer slaves to sin, but victors over it! Leviticus 17:11 states that “life…is in the blood.” Therefore, Jesus’ blood transmits to us his power to conquer sin and live righteously. We are winners!
Let us take courage in the blood of the one and only sacrifice sufficient to cleanse sin from every human. Praise God! Although sinners and sinfulness surround us, through Jesus’ powerful blood we “keep [ourselves] from being polluted by the world.” (10)
In Jesus’ love, JamesFields
Comfort & Encouragement Ministries Footnotes:
1. Matthew 26:28
2. John 6:54
3. John 6:66
4. Romans 5:12
5. Romans 3:23
6. Luke 1:35
7. Matthew 4:9
8. 1 Peter 1:18-19
9. 1 John 1:7
10. James 1:27
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