"THE SPREADING OF GOOD TIDINGS"

Good Evening to All!

CHRIST IS BORN

(8) Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. (9) And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were greatly afraid. (10) Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold,l I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. (11) For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (12) And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manager." (13) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: (14) "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

THE SHEPHERDS VISIT JESUS

(15) So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us." (16) and they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. (17) Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. (18) And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. (19) But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. (20) Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

I NEVER get tired of hearing or reading these passages from the Bible. I remember hearing them read when I was a very small child in Sunday school, loving this story then and I still love hearing it. Before I was in "awe" because of the baby, and the animals and that sort of thing, I'm sure, because I was too young to completely understand, but the older I grew and the more I understood the more "in awe" I became with the different aspects, such as the "star of Bethlehem", the fact that angels came to earth and talked to humans just like me, and the hardships that Mary, Joseph and Jesus had to endure for His birth and even after His birth to keep Him safe from Herod. This is just from the "human aspect".

Don't you know that they had to be leery of who to talk to and who to trust for fear that
Herod had spies out looking for Jesus? After all, he had deceived the Wise Men from the East making it sound like he wanted to worship Him, when in reality that was not the case. I can't help but wonder if Herod had those three convinced, he could have had more people looking for Jesus and His family as well.

When I think of the BIGGER PICTURE of Him being God and coming to earth to sacrifice Himself by shedding His human flesh and blood for my sins, that even places me More in awe, because in my human mind, I cannot understand someone loving me that much. I mean if it was "back then and we knew each other like Jesus knew His disciples, or Lazarus then I could get my mind around it, but to die for someone a thousand or two years before I'm born just leaves me awestruck.

I am so thankful that He cared enough for us to come to earth and walk among our descendants, and I'm even more thankful that He is still with us today in Spirit and in Truth.

I'm not very good at expressing myself. I always think of things I should have said, or a better way I could have expressed myself after I have already published, but the Whole Idea of God and what He has done for me just baffles my mind.

Of course I know that God protected them all the while. It makes me realize that not only did God protect Jesus, Mary and Joseph, back then but He protects me as well today.

I wonder if they had the same "background noises" when they were hearing God speak to them. Did they hear God say, "Flee to Egypt and I will tell you when it's safe to come back", and have to discuss it among themselves, or did they automatically get up, pack and head out? I'm sure today, a lot of us (me included) would sit there and try to decide if it is God we are hearing in our spirit, or it is just us trying to make up our minds what we should do?

I can't help but wonder how many opportunities I've missed to help someone, to do God's will, or even blessings missed offered by God because I was "busy" trying to decide if it is God wanting me to do this or that or my own ideas.

I am surely glad that Mary and Joseph listened to God, and I hope that I will become more in tuned to God's "still, small voice, so that I don't have to wonder. I think what it comes down to is increasing my faith.

The Answers to last night's Bible Challenge " Go Where I Send Thee" are as follows:

1. c) 400 (Genesis 15:13, Exodus 12:40, Acts 7:6)
2. forty (Numbers 32:13)
3. b) Moab ( Numbers22-24)
4. b) Nineveh (Jonah 2:1-2)
5. a) Jonah's (Jonah 1:12)
7. c) prayed (Jonah 2)
8. d) because it was in Judea that a mob had tried to stone Jesus (John 11:8)
9. b) Gentiles (Acts 26:16-18)
10. d) he appealed to Caesar, as was his right as a roman citizen (Acts 25:10-12)

Good Night to All, May God Bless!

"THE FORETELLING OF JESUS' BIRTH"

Good Evening to All!

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, (27) to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. (28) And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"

(29) But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was. (30) Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (31) And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. (32) He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. (33) And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

(34) Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" (35) And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:26-35 NKJV)

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Christ Is Born

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. (2) This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. (3) So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. (4) Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, (5) to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. (6) so it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. (7) And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

I feel so small every time I read the account of Jesus' birth. I think about how many times I have felt the Lord nudging me to do something, and yet I dismiss it for one reason (excuse) or another. Whether it's God telling my spirit I need to go up and talk to a complete stranger about something, or to praise Him in a different way than what I am accustom to doing and me not wanting to look silly in front of other people and so on.

I can't help but feel small because I think to myself "how Mary must have felt when the angel talked to her and told her about Jesus. First of all I would have been scared to death to see an angel standing in front of me, and secondly, to have the stigma of getting pregnant before I was married not to mention by whom! I'm sure they had to conjure up some excuse as to why Mary was leaving town for a while and it must have been hard on Joseph as well.

That took a lot of faith and strength on both Mary's and Joseph's part. I would love to think that I have that kind of faith, yet I have trouble stepping out of my comfort zone on small things let alone something as big and important as bearing God's Child. As humans we are too consumed with thoughts of "what will my friends and family think of me. How will this look? We forget that God is not "out to embarrass us, or cause us pain in any way, so why not listen to Him in the first place, do what He says, and stay in obedience to His will?

I can tell you why. We are of a sinful nature. Sin comes easy to us. This is why we need the Holy Ghost to guide us. It teaches us How to live For God. This is why it seems that it is easier to "pick up" bad habits than good ones. It usually takes a conscious effort to learn good habits.

These are just a few of my thoughts about Mary and Joseph's experience. I definitely could not put myself in her shoes no matter how hard I try. I thought about that a lot tonight. As much as I love God, I don't know if I could step up to that level of faith. Especially in today's climate. I do hope I could, but I just don't know.

Could you women do that? How about you men? Could you go through what Joseph did? Give it some thought and leave me a comment, OK?

Good Night to All and May God Bless!