Christmas Joy

To find joy at Christmas, look to Jesus Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; (Titus 2:13 KJV)

Watch your expectations this Christmas season! The holidays can seldom deliver all the happiness and love we've come to expect from them. The advertising images of romantic couples and laughing families may sell a lot of merchandise, but they often mock the heartache felt by so many people at this time of year. What should we do? Shove our expectations deep down like cold hands in a winter coat? Put our hopes on long-term layaway? Pretend we don't really care? Instead of trying to temper our expectations, why not let them soar toward the highest desires kindled by this season? That hope is echoed in Charles Wesley's great hymn:

Come, Thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel's Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art,
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

No holiday or human can deliver what we long for, but we can find it in Christ Himself. When Simeon saw Jesus, he prayed, "My eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples" (Lk. 2:30-31). This Christmas, watch your expectations, and see them wonderfully fulfilled in Jesus! -D C McCasland

Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. (Isaiah 45:21 RSV)

I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me. (Isaiah 43:11 NASB)

My eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples. -Luke 2:30-31 Before the glimmering dawn of creation, And with thoughts too wondrous for me, The Lord designed the plan of salvation To send the Savior to set sinners free. D C Egner

Mark

Isaiah 9:6 Part 4

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

When we look at the world around is we see little peace. There are countries against countries all the way down to family members versus family members. We live in an unstable world, where can we go to find peace? Ephesians 2:13-14 says “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace…” As the verse says Jesus is our peace. During his ministry Jesus was followed constantly by crowds of needy people. They desired his attention, his miraculous touch and his amazing teaching. He in human flesh at times grew tired. There are several times in the Bible it talks about Jesus withdrawing to a quiet place to pray. We can find peace in prayer and spending time in God’s word. I love the Psalms. David expresses his inner most feelings and pain. I like to read the Psalms when I am feeling overwhelmed and feel as if I am lacking peace. I take comfort in the words of David as he expresses the good and the bad of his life. I believe prayer is one of the best ways of regaining the feeling of peace. Sometimes when things are bothering us we just need to talk things through and that’s part of prayer just discussing what is on our heart with God. In John 6:1-15 we read the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. He used five barley loaves and two fish and was able to meet everyone’s needs. I love how Beth Moore in her study “Living Beyond Yourself” related this story to God’s peace. She made these points that we should consider. The first thing is Jesus made them aware of their need. Sometimes God has to make us aware of our need. We live in such a fast paced and hectic world it takes coming to a point that things are piling up around us and we are overwhelmed before it is clear what we need. The second thing is Christ took what they had. I love that we can come to Him when we are running on empty and He meets us where we are. No scolding, no guilt. Christ also placed the people in a posture to receive. He had them sit down. Sometimes we need to get in a place where we can receive from God. If we ask I believe He can grant us peace in a moment’s notice, yet for a consistent life of peace we need to be in a place where we can receive from Him. Then finally Jesus gave them more than they could ask or imagine. Ephesians 3:20 tells us that is what He wants to do for us in our life. Peace in this world is attainable. It’s keeping our mind focused on Him. Isaiah 26:3 says “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” Our mind focused and stayed on Him, for He himself is our peace. The Prince of Peace.

Lori

Isaiah 9:6 Part 3

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

Today we will continue to look at the names Isaiah used for the upcoming Messiah. Everlasting Father is the name we will examine today. The Hebrew word for everlasting used in this verse is ad, which means duration, eternity, without end. He is timeless. Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” I have heard that the second greatest fear after public speaking is death. People are afraid to die. I love that Christ has taken that fear from us, with His resurrection. The Bible tells us that when Christ returns He will reign forever and we will be with Him. He is everlasting. God’ word is everlasting. The Bible is as timely now as it was when it was written. Isaiah 26:4 says “Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.” (KJV) You can trust in the Lord forever, you can trust in the Bible forever. John 3:16 is a Bible verse that most people know and could quote to you. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That promise is everlasting. It is true today and it will be true tomorrow. Think how much the Father loved us that He gave us Christ the Lord, who would suffer and die for our lives. We have the gift of eternal life. Everlasting life, life without end, in Christ. Today rejoice because your name is written in heaven, it is in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Lori

Isaiah 9:6 Part 2

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

Today I would like for us to continue to look at the names the prophet used to describe the Messiah. Today we will look at the name Mighty God. The Hebrew word for mighty is gibbor which means powerful, champion, chief, giant. Christ Jesus was a powerful man. A leader, a champion of the people. How can we tap in to some of the power that Christ has? Prayer. Prayerless lives are powerless lives. Having a prayer time and a time of study in God’s word is essential. There is so much might and power in the word of God for our lives. I know for myself if I miss my quiet time with God, it shows. I don’t have His power working in me and I try and do things on my own might, which many times leads to trouble. There are two Greek words used in the New Testament for the power of Christ ischus and dunamis. The word ischus means power strength or might. The Word dunamis means power, especially achieving power. To sum up those two words ischus means to posses power and dunamis is power that is in action or achieved, it is acted upon. When Christ healed the sick He showed both types of power, the possession of and achieving power. The word might and power also indicates that there is strength. We sing a song that says there is strength in the name of the Lord, there is power in the name of the Lord, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We need to be strengthened in our life. We need to rely on the power of God for our lives. Without Him what can we accomplish by our own strength? He comes in power when we call on His name. There is so much going on in our world today. Now more than ever we need God and His incomparably great power for us who believe. If you are hurting today, call on Him, if you are depressed, financially broken, confused, weak ask the most Mighty One to help you. God is a gentleman. He won’t force Himself on you. He is waiting to come in power when you call on His name. “My power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” Ephesians 6:10

Lori

Isaiah 9:6

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

This week I would like for us to examine the names of Christ that the prophet Isaiah used in his description of the upcoming Messiah. The first name I would like to examine today is Wonderful Counselor. The original Hebrew word for wonderful in the Old Testament is pele, which is a variation of the word pala, which means great, wondrous, marvelous. Webster's dictionary defines wonderful as excellent, fine. Do you ever think about how wonderful Christ is? How marvelous, great, and excellent He is. The word for counselor in the original Hebrew is yaats which means advise, determine, guide, purpose. Put those words together and you will find that Christ gives marvelous advise, He is an excellent guide and He gives us purpose. Christmas can be an extremely stressful time of year for so many. We are short on funds, time and joy. Maybe today we could seek the Wonderful Counselor and ask Him to guide us through this Christmas. Lord, help me to make smart financial decisions. Lord, help me to somehow mend these family relationships that seem to intensify around the holidays. Lord, help me to focus on what the season means. The birth of my Savior. There is no way to even put a value on how much that gift is worth. The Lord’s Christ born to woman, on a silent, holy night among the animals sent by a loving heavenly Father so I would not perish, but have everlasting life. Wow, isn’t that wonderful? Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life.” John 14:6 Seek the Wonderful Counselor to show you the way and ask Him to reveal His truth to you. He is waiting to hear from you today. He sets at the right hand of the throne of God and intercedes for us. Praise His excellent, marvelous name!

“Yet I am always with you; you hold me by the right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” Psalm 73:23-26

Lori