Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 December 2020 Matthew 1:21.

24 Dec 2020 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Matthew 1:21.     ​And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS (Saviour): for he shall save his people from their sins.

By Jove mih bredrin, it’s Thursday; Christmas Eve! The day before Christ’s birth! Wow! Can you imagine the celebrations and otherwise that’s going on around the world right now in anticipation and preparation for that glorious morn, even though it might be somewhat muted this year because of all our unforeseen problems, especially the corona virus pandemic? 

But however yuh take it friends, Christmas is still Christmas, and unless we in real straightened circumstances, we believers in Christ will make every effort to celebrate His awesome and incarnate birth! No pandemic, or political strife, or whatever, is going to stop us from worshipping and giving much thanks to our wonderful God for initiating salvation and eternal life through His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ with His birth! 

Please let the world know it and take serious note! Christians are rising up in the name of Christ! We taking back the world for God the Father through Jesus, the Son! Mama Mia! And when Christians rise up in and through Christ, NOTHING can stop them; certainly not the defanged and ‘detoothed’ evil lion called Satan, since He has no authority or power over us, except what we allow him to have. 

That’s because he was totally defeated at Calvary’s cross by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who summarily took away the keys of hell, death and the grave from his evil highness, and now he’s just like a li’l loopy dog, going home whining with his tail between his legs after he got crushed in the biggest fight of his evil life! Glory be to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit! 

Yeh friends, the ole fella waxing philosophical this Christmas Eve morning. (smile) And why not eh, when we celebrating the faithful keeping of a promise made centuries before the actual event occurred? The prophet Isaiah told it to us quite clearly: ‘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. 

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 judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.’ (Is. 9:6-7) 

And yuh better believe the beginning of this promise was fulfilled on Christmas day some two thousand years ago, when the Christ child, the incarnate one was born of the virgin Mary. As the angel reassured her husband Joseph: ‘Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived (begotten) in her is of the Holy Ghost. 

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS (Saviour): for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet (Isaiah), saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted (translated) is, God with us.’ (Matt. 1:20-23) 

Oh mih people, what a great and faithful God we worship! That prophecy was made by Isaiah, way back when (Is. 7:14), and though it took a long time to come true, it did eventually. That’s the important thing: our God keeps all His promises, He just doesn’t tell us when He will fulfill them. That means we have to learn to wait in trusting faith, with eager expectation, and there is where we too often break down and fall apart. But as Jesus keeps on saying, ‘only believe, fear not, have faith.’ That’s all we need to do. And yes, it’s not easy, but with Him in our lives, it is certainly doable. 

And I want to elaborate a bit on some of those scriptures with the knowledgeable words of the scholars. ‘1:21-22.Call his name JESUS: The name of the child Jesus (Heb. Yehoshua) means “Jehovah Saves.” This points to the very purpose of Christ’s coming into the world – to save sinners. Placed early in the New Testament, this statement becomes the foundational concept of the gospel. Jesus, by His very name and nature, is the Saviour.’ And as Jesus Himself plainly said: ‘For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:17) 

And that’s it right there in a nutshell friends. Our God LOVED us so much that He wanted to save us from eternal damnation. And the only righteous and just way He could do that, since sins needed to be paid for, was to have His only Son come to earth in human form and pay for them on our behalf. Please note too that ONLY an unblemished, a sinless body could pay for sins, and Jesus was the only person like that. 

So just contemplate for a moment the heartache that the Father felt knowing that to save a bunch of ungrateful sinners, He had no alternative but to place our punishment on His wonderful Son. Now please let that sink into our souls and minds and remind us of how we hurt when our children suffer. Maybe then we’ll realize what a big gift the Lord made to us on that first Christmas Day. 

And as per the scholars, re “Immanuel, which being interpreted (translated) is, God with us: This is a title describing the deity of the person of the Son of God rather than a name actually used by Him. It implies God will come to dwell among His own people, which He did in the person of Christ.’ So friends, the coming of Jesus, His earthly birth, is not be taken lightly, because it marks the beginning of the era of our salvation, something for which we should be eternally grateful. 

And for those of us who are truly grateful for what our Holy Trinity has done, is doing, and will continue to do for us, let’s go home now declaring (awright!) our Thursday Blessings, which have been so magnanimously granted to us to do their earthly work. Altogether now in strong sincere voice, with a thankful Christmas Spirit. (smile) 

‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! 

I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’ 

And since it’s Christmas, a time of celebration, and a time of severe shortage of most things, especially LOVE, it’s even more important than ever that we share those blessings just as generously with others. Much LOVE!

…please remember…that CHRIST…is the ONLY reason…for the season…   

Today’s Scrip-Bit 25 December 2016 Isaiah 9:6.

25 Dec 2016 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Isaiah 9:6.   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, Counselor, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

A  MERRY  CHRISTMAS TO  ONE  AND  ALL!

Ah friends, at last it’s the big one – Christmas Day – when our wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was born! Glory to God for that act of LOVING-kindness! 

Now it’s also Sunday, and we are in God’s spectacular sanctuary, or below a coconut tree, (smile) come to praise and worship Him, so let’s open with an appropriate song for the joyous occasion nuh, the old Christmas Carol, ‘Joy to the World,’ written by Isaac Watts a couple centuries ago. Let’s raise the roof of our sanctuary and that of heaven with a most passionate and heartfelt rendition, truly believing what we sing. 

In unison now: ‘Joy to the World, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing. Joy to the World, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy. 

No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as, the curse is found. He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders, of His love’ 

Ah mih people, that was beautiful – as it should be! There could be no doubt in the Lord’s mind now that we truly appreciate and are very grateful for the birth of His Son Jesus. And all around the world the same sentiments are being sent up, or have already been sent up to heaven! 

Wow! This is one of the Red Letter days of our earthly sojourn – the start of the greatest movement that ever hit the planet – Jesus’ LOVE Revolution!  

Now it’s scripture time, beginning with our Bit, God’s wonderful promise many centuries before to send us a Son, a redeemer. ‘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, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.’ 

And our great God, also being ever-faithful, fulfilled this awesome promise some two thousand years ago. Praise His Holy Name my people! And listen to the rest of the promise: ‘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 judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.’ (Is.9:7) 

Oh my fellow believers what a magnificent Being, our Immanuel was promised to be! And was… and still is… and always will be! Now let’s turn to the actual birth of our Divine, Gift-child. We know that Joseph, Mary’s husband was of the lineage of Bruh David, so when the first emperor, Caesar Augustus declared that all his subjects were to be registered in their original birth places, Joseph and Mary had to journey to Bethlehem to do so, because that was his city. 

Now while they were there, Mary’s time drew nigh: ‘And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes (strips of cloth), and laid him in a manger (feed trough); because there was no room for them in the inn.’ (Luke 2:7) What a shame to think that this great king was born in a smelly, noisy animal barn eh, and slept in a feed trough! But the Lord, as always, had His reasons. His Son was to be born lowly, for the lowly ones were whom He was coming to save. 

Now hear the most wonderful part of the night of Christ’s birth. ‘And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in their field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon (stood before) them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore (greatly) 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.’ (Luke 2:8-11) 

Can you imagine the topsy-turvy emotions the angel’s appearance and words must have caused the poor shepherds? Then the angel continued: ‘And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes (cloths), lying in a manger (feed trough). And suddenly 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.’ (Luke 2:12-14) 

Ah mih people, the sudden appearance of the heavenly host singing and praising God, laid even more drama on the shepherds. But shepherds are a hardy stock and the Good Book tells us: ‘And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 

And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered (marvelled) at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Not the first or the last time). And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.’ (Luke 2:15-20) 

Ah friends, can you imagine the magical mystery, the glorious effervescence in the air around lowly Bethlehem that momentous and most memorable night that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was born?  

Well we should be experiencing the same sort of overwhelming emotions today, as we celebrate Christ’s birth, for His selfless LOVE and sacrifice is the only thing that keeps, or is keeping us from the ravages of hell and Lucifer. So let’s give much thanks and praise today nuh my believing brethren, because He did it all for us. Much LOVE!

…births are joyful occasions…but none’s been as joyful as the night Christ was born…