Tag: Christian

Eleventh Day of Christmas The Gift of Myrrh
12 Days of Christmas · Christian. · Christmas

Eleventh Day of Christmas The Gift of Myrrh

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Luke 23:52 This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.

53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.

54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.

55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.

56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

Strange verses to list in regard to the Christmas gifts. Probably so, but Myrrh was a common spice used in preparing for a body for burial.  The last gift symbolized Jesus purpose in being born.  He would be the Lamb of God sacrificed for the Sins of Man.  Jesus was born to die.

The Myrrh cost a significant amount and was a present due a king just as gold and frankincense were.  These three gifts represented expensive items worthy of royalty, but they also symbolized who the baby would be.  Our king, our high priest and our sacrifice for sin.

Journal Exercise

My heart breaks for those women in the verses.  They followed Jesus their rabbi.  They gave their lives to his teachings.  He meant everything to them.  Then the religious leaders accused him and the government killed him.  They stayed at the foot of the cross as he cried out.  They saw the life drained from him.  And they followed behind to see where the body was placed.  It was too late to prepare the body properly before they were required to stop work for the Sabbath.

Write what you think it must have been like waiting together until you can go and properly prepare Jesus body.

As soon as it was permissable, the women rushed to where Jesus was laid.  But he was gone.

Luke 24 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.

3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:

5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

Now write how you would have felt as these men tell you Jesus is risen.

Nine Days of Christmas The Gifts for the Baby
12 Days of Christmas · Christian. · Christmas

Nine Days of Christmas The Gifts for the Baby

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matthew 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

Gold symbolizes power.  Gold represents the perfect gift for a king.  And the sages made clear the star was the star of a mighty king.  Jesus, a descendent of King David, will one day take His earthly throne in Israel.  We read the end of the book and we know Jesus is the King of Kings.

Revelation 19:

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.

Journal Exercise

A king holds power and authority.  They expect and are due respect.  Those who live under their power seek to obey their commands.

Do you treat Jesus as an equal or do you treat Him as your king?

Our relationship with Christ is complicated. He is our King and our friend.  We owe him our alliegence, but He is willing to listen to our problems.  He rules the universe and cares about your personal needs.

What is your relationship with Jesus like?

What gift would you bring your King?  Gold? Obedience? Respect?

Do you treat Him with the respect due a king?

Eight Day of Christmas: Circumcision
12 Days of Christmas · Christian. · Christmas

Eight Day of Christmas: Circumcision

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Luke 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

The circumcision of male children on the eighth day went back to Abraham.  The ceremonial procedure acts as a symbol of the convenient between God and the descendants of Abraham.

Today is the eighth day of Christmas and the anniversary of when Jesus was circumcised. In this ceremony, He received his name.  On this day, the baby was given His name Jehovah’s Salvation or as we know it–Jesus.

There are Christians today who circumcise their sons and there is nothing wrong with that.  But from the time of Christ’s death and the start of the new covenant, we are no longer required to circumcise the flesh.  We are called to circumcise the heart.  This concept is actually an old testament concept as well.

Jeremiah 4 mentions the need to circumcise the heart.

4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

Roman 2, Paul tells us our circumcision is to be of the heart and not the flesh.

29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Circumcision removes the protective cover making what lies beneath more sensitive. When we circumcise our heart, we remove the protective cover from our spirit to make it sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  We remove those things in our nature which cause us to ignore the Desires of God in our life.  We cut away the fear, the anger, the selfishness and seek to obey the Lord.

Journal exercise:

Does fear prevent you from doing something you know God desires you to do?

Does worldly business?

Does desire for things, money, position, fame prevent you from obeying God?

Write those things you believe God desires you to do in your life.  Maybe pray more, or tell others about Him or help someone in need.  God does not intend for his children to live lives of doing nothing.  If you do not know God’s will in your life write a prayer asking Him to tell you.

Why do you not move to do what God is calling you to do?

Write a prayer asking God to cut away the foreskin of your heart so you will be sensitive to his desires.

Seek His purpose in your life and ask Him to cut away all that prevents you from serving Him.

Watch Night
12 Days of Christmas · Christian. · Christmas

Watch Night

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Moravians (a group of devout Christians) started Watch Night services around 1733 on the estates of Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf in Hernhut, Germany.  This count from childhood longed to serve God.  He established the earliest Protestant missions and had a strong influence on John Wesley the founder of the Methodist movement.

Over the years, the Methodist continued the tradition of Watch Night services.  These include New Year’s eve watch night services, but they were also done on other evenings. The most famous watch night was when slaves waited on December 31, 1862 for the dawn of freedom.  The Emancipation Proclamation came into effect on the first.

The purpose of the Watch Night centered on evaluating your relationship with Christ.  The evening should be spent in contemplation of where you would stand if tomorrow you were called to face God.  We have no idea when Christ will return or when we will be called to face Him personally.  We know a day will come.  If we take our faith seriously, we should evaluate our lives periodically to determine if we are living as He desires.

Journal Exercise

Do you know Jesus as your personal savior?  Do you trust that his sacrifice on the Cross covers your sins?

John 3:16 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.

Do you love God?

Luke 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind;

One of the tests to determine if you love God more than anything else is to ask if God asked you to give it up or if God took it from you would you still trust God.  An example of this is the Rich Young Ruler who asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life.  They go through most of the ten commandments and the young man confirms he has done these things.  Then Jesus says

Luke 18:22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

 Would you sell all you have if Jesus asked you to do so?
What if Jesus asked you to give to the poor, to help a single mother by baby sitting, or to send a care package to a prisoner or to go regularly to a nursing home to sit with the elderly.   What if He asks you to take a job you did not want to take so you can help someone who is sick?
We show our love for God by loving others.
John 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

But here is a question are you willing to be hated by the world?  Do you stand for Christ even when it is not popular?  Do you love Jesus more than anyone else in the world?

John 15:

18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

 

Sixth Day of Christmas: Reviewing the Nativity Characters
12 Days of Christmas · Christian. · Christmas

Sixth Day of Christmas: Reviewing the Nativity Characters

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Let’s zoom in on our nativity scene for a minute.

We have elite sages from some where in the East headed to Bethlehem.  They represent nobility and the highest levels of knowledge for their times.

Mary, probably 15 or 16 years old, descended from the great King David lives a humble peasant’s life in the small village of Nazareth.  A women described as favored by God.  A teenage women God trusted with His only begotten son.  Basically, you can say Mary is a small town teenager who loves God.

Joseph, we have no idea of his age, but we know he was also of the family of David.  We know he was an craftsman.  He worked with his hands to create the things needed by others.  Many believe he was a carpenter though the word can be used for any of the crafts.  This man knew he could have dealt harshly with Mary when he discovered she was pregnant, but he had compassion for her.  Then the angel came in his dream and told Joseph the baby was from God and to take Mary as his wife.  Joseph immediately did as God asked.

Shepherds leave their sheep in the fields after hearing from the angels.

Luke 2 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

In this moment we have Angels, the highest of creation and who stand at the throne of God, announcing to Shepherds about the God of creation taking on flesh and being born a baby.  The shepherds represented a strange group of people.  These men live at the edges of society.  But shepherd’s in the Bethlehem area were probably raising sheep for the Passover sacrifice.  The feast of Passover required only perfect sheep be sacrificed; these shepherds raised the sheep and provided lambs with no blemish for the Passover.  They also would be among the first to see Jesus our Passover Lamb.

1 Corinthians 5: 7B For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us

Journel Exercise

Who do you relate to in this crowd?  Are you of the educated elite?  Or are you a hard working crafts person?  Do you work in an important profession that no one respects?  I am assuming you are not an angel.

The last people to be a part of Jesus birth are a man named Simeon and a women named Anna.  Simeon waits in the temple for the messiah.  God has told Simeon that before his death he will see the Messiah.  And he does.

Luke 2

28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:

30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

Are you waiting for the second coming of Jesus?  Really waiting in expectation?

Anna was an elderly woman who spent her days in the temple praying and fasting.  She received the honor of also beholding the infant.  Are you more like Anna?  Do you spend your days in prayer?

Last question

Of our crowd, who do you wish you were like?  Why?