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God Speaks...Christmas

God speaks: about Christmas? Yes, yes - long ago.

Listen to this podcast here: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/464418f9/god-speaks-abo...

December has dawned and my favorite time of the year is here! Indeed, I love to be the first to wish someone a smiling “Merry Christmas”, and I enjoy the trappings of the festive season so much. But for many folks, it seems like Christmas just lands . . . maybe even the first Christmas—that night so long ago when a young girl gave birth to the Savior. Like Christmas just sort of happened. Well, nothing could be further from the truth.

You see, Scripture is clear that Jesus came in “the fullness of time”.** You see, God had been speaking about the Messiah who he was sending for hundreds of years before that Bethlehem night. Long before the people of God had the written scriptures they could hold in their hands. . . long before they could hold the completed Bible of Old and New Testaments in their hands, God had spoken through prophets.

Hold that important thought. Yesterday I was conversing with a military man thousands of miles away about whether he has a faith in Jesus Christ, whether he knew upon drawing his last breath on earth where he would find himself in the next life. You see, most people say they believe in God, most want to go to heaven, ‘if there is such a place’ they qualify, but most are very unsure. It need not be so. I dare say that we would live each day a whole lot freer if we knew that this life we now know is but temporary—whereas eternity is just that. Our souls will live on forever and a faith in Jesus Christ alone is what guarantees our place in Heaven. A place of which we can be assured!

The big answers for ‘Why Jesus? Is there a Heaven? If so, how do I get there? And you speak of the Bible, why should I trust it?’ can be gotten in the Scriptures themselves.

One such proof for the truth of Scripture is the prophecies we find in the Old Testament that have been fulfilled. Hear me now: what God spoke through ordinary men hundreds of years earlier actually happened just as he said.

Consider with me several of the prophecies about the birth of Jesus:

1. The Messiah would be born to a virgin. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7.14 - Spoken to Isaiah 700 years before Jesus was born to Mary, a virgin. Matthew 1.21-23

2. Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” Micah 5.2 - Spoken to Micah 500-plus years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, long before anyone had heard of the Herod who would order all to travel to the regions of their birth to register, ostensibly the only reason Jesus was born in that tiny town. Matthew 2.4-6

3. There would be a star above the Messiah. “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel, and shall crush through the forehead of Moab, and tear down all the sons of Sheth.” Numbers 24.17. God positioned a star so that the Magi could worship him. Matthew 2.1-2.

4. Gifts would be presented to Jesus. “May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts. May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him” Psalm 72.10-11. “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh”. Matthew 2.11

Just a few of the prophecies of Jesus, who did not just bounce onto the scene unannounced. At the time appointed by the Father, he was born, the fulfillment of prophecies uttered hundreds of years beforehand.

“So you see, kind General, these prophecies are just one way to see both the truth of Scripture and also the truth of One born in an actual place at an appointed time for a very specific purpose—that you would know him, that He would know you.”

Hope springs eternal . . . Jesus, Son of God, came to us and now we await his return. The question is ‘What will you do with Jesus?’ Look for him today.

Praying you encounter Jesus as never before,

Christine

PastorWoman.net

"When I Think of Christmas", the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub8juDECO1U

God Speaks...Christmas

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