For Unto Us A Child Is Born, Unto Us A Son Is Given

The prophecy...

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 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. Isaiah 9:6

Fulfilled...

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

A very merry Christmas to you. May all the joys and blessings of the season and the peace of our Lord and Savior be with you now and throughout the new year.

Are You Smarter Than a Bumblebee?

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever. Psalms 136:1 ESV

You wouldn't think it would be much of a contest, would you?

No one likes bumblebees more than I do. Seriously. It's my not-so-secret fantasy to have a hamster-sized bumblebee as a pet, but that doesn't mean that I have any expectation that I could teach it to sit on command.

Once, For All

⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

⁹ Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.

¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

¹¹ Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

James 4:4

I'm getting back into the Word after an absence of "some time" with a planned study on the book of James. This is one of my favorite books and I'm quite familiar with it. Even so, I'm struck - as I always am - by the freshness of the content. The Bible never gets old.

So it should never come as a surprise when I read a familiar verse and it speaks to me with a new voice.

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Adulterers and adulteresses; that is pretty plain language. Friendship with the world (6) is faithlessness to God.

In practical terms, what does it mean to be a friend to the world? I suppose Christians will decide for themselves, but I think a few areas that deserve consideration are entertainment (movies, music), books, language and dress.

He'll Take Me Back

And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. ~Luke 15:20-24

It's good to know that no matter how often or how studiously we neglect our Heavenly Father, we can be confident that He's patiently waiting for us to remember how much we need Him.

My memory has been jogged.

While I haven't really turned my back on God, I haven't been giving him the attention He deserves. I've been without a church home for over five years now and the time I've been spending in His Word is, to put it kindly, sketchy.

So I'm running home, again, it seems, confident of His response.