January 1, 2023: Luke 2:41-42 - The Passover Lamb

“His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.” - Luke 2:41-42

Both Joseph and Mary went to the Jewish festival of Passover every year. When Jesus was 12 years old, He also went with them. Here we have the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, without blemish - without sin, perfect in every way - who would soon have His own blood shed so that those who believe in Him would not die, going to His first Passover.

God had promised to redeem His people from the bondage of the Egyptian Pharaoh, where they had been enslaved for 430 years. God sent Moses to Egypt to free His people. When Moses and his brother Aaron went to Egypt and had their first encounter with Pharaoh, Moses told him, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ “ Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.”

Pharaoh did not believe in the one true God, and made it even harder on God’s people to do the work he forced them to do. He had done evil to God’s people. Pharaoh’s heart was hard and refused to let God’s people go. Thus, God said to Moses and Aaron, “You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.” When God sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh to show a miracle of casting down Aaron’s rod before Pharaoh and causing it become a servant, Pharaoh called his wise men and sorcerers and they did the same thing with their rods. However, Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. “And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the LORD had said.”

Consequently, God sent the first of ten plagues to Egypt. However, Pharaoh hardened his heart repeatedly against the one true God and kept believing in all of his false gods and would not free God’s people. Finally, God sent the tenth plague, which would cause the death of the firstborn of all people in Egypt as well as the firstborn of all their animals. However, God spoke to Moses and Aaron and He instituted the Passover in that month, which God said “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month, every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.’

‘Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.’

God then told Moses and Aaron about the requirements for the Passover Feast that would be kept every year, and the lamb must be roasted in fire and eaten that night with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. “It is the LORD’s Passover.”

‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.’ ”

Thus, Moses and Aaron did everything that God had told them to do. Then Moses told all the elders of Israel all that the Lord God had told him and Aaron. Moses then said to them, “And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” “So the people bowed their heads and worshipped. Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.”

“And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.”

“Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the LORD as you have said.” (Exodus 12:1-31)

With the death of his own firstborn son, Pharaoh finally had relented and freed God’s people from their bondage in Egypt. Though much turmoil still lied ahead of them, the Israelites were free. It took the power of Almighty God and the blood of an unblemished male lamb to break their bondage of slavery.

John the Baptist would later proclaim when he saw Jesus Christ, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Jesus breaks the bondage of all sins for all people who believe in Him, whom God the Father sent. Without redemption of our sins through Jesus Christ, we will be enslaved in our sin forever and ever in hell, making slavery in Egypt look like paradise. As with the Passover lamb in the book of Exodus, it took the blood of Jesus, who is without sin and perfect in every way, for the judgment of God to passover us who believe in Jesus, sparing us from not only death but eternal death in sin. Though the Jews were living their lives in Egypt in bondage prior to being freed, they were not experiencing true life, true life only comes from being freed by Jesus Christ.

At the age of twelve when Jesus went to the Feast of the Passover with His parents and saw with His eyes the sacrificing of an unblemished male Passover lamb, He would later become our Passover. Jesus would have His last supper with His apostles, and it was a Passover meal. He would be crucified and die on a cross and be resurrected three days later at Passover time. He is the final Passover Lamb.

Are you covered by His precious blood, forgiven of all your sins, or will you hold onto your sins, like Pharaoh and experience the heartache and consequences of your hardened heart?

“…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” - 1 Peter 1:18-21 ✝️

December 31, 2022: Luke 2:39-40 - The Grace of God was Upon Him

“So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” - Luke 2:39-40

As in the account of the apostle Matthew, before Joseph and Mary left Bethlehem with Jesus to go to Galilee in Nazareth, Joseph had been warned by an angel in a dream, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” (Matthew 2:13) Herod the king had sought to kill Jesus and ordered that all male children ages two years and under be put to death. This is what pride, arrogance, and the desire for power does to people: it corrupts the heart and deep into the soul. Why would Herod be fearful if this Child was just like any child? It’s because Herod had heard about the account that people were saying that the magi had come from the East to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” This Child was unlike any other child who had even been born. Herod clearly felt threatened, and he wanted people to worship him, not this King of the Jews.

Joseph took the Child Jesus and His mother to Egypt, and they stayed there until the death of Herod the king. As they traveled back to Israel, Joseph was afraid to take them to Judea because Herod’s son Archelaus was reigning there. Joseph was warned by God again in a dream not to take his family there but instead to take them into the region of Galilee, to the city of Nazareth. Joseph did, and that is where the Child Jesus “grew and became strong in spirit.”

As a mother, I cherish those years when my children were little, watching them grow and learn and experience new things. I also realized that no one had to teach my sweet little children to sin, for ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, each and every person who has ever been born is born with sin. No one had to teach my children to lie when I asked them a question; no, they just did it. I remember when I was a young child in elementary school and I had found a little round rubber coin purse that had money in it. I took it to the principal’s office to turn it in, but I had secretly kept the money that was inside of it. I remember when the principal had asked me if there had been any money in it, and I had answered, “no.” I must have had a look on my face that told the principal I wasn’t telling the truth, and I believe he asked me again. I honestly cannot remember what I said, but I remember that I had been caught in a lie. It was the first time I had been caught by someone who wasn’t in my family, and that memory has stuck with me all these years.

Yet, there is One who was not born with sin and who has never committed any sins, and that is Jesus the Christ. I can’t imagine not ever committing any sins, for I can’t even go a day without sinning on some way, whether it’s a thought in my head that shouldn’t be or something else.

Jesus must have had a very close relationship with God the Father while growing up. We know from scriptures as He grew older and during His time of ministry that Jesus prayed often to Him. Jesus knew the burden that He would one day bear, taking on the sins of the whole world, and He needed God’s guidance and the closeness that comes by praying to Him. Jesus was surrounded by a world of sinners, and yet, He committed no sin. He provides the example of what it means to be in the world but not of the world. Yes, He lived on the earth, walked among us, was hated by many and loved by few, but He did not become like the world, conforming to what it calls “truth”; no, He stood strong in the word of God, even to the point of death, for He had a purpose to fulfill and He fulfilled it: to offer redemption of sins for all who choose to believe in Him.

When we choose to follow Jesus, we are born again by the grace of God, the grace that was freely offered to us when He went to the cross to bear all our sins. When we are born again by believing in Jesus as our Savior, we are immediately filled with the Holy Spirit within us. This is salvation. We are now called “Children of God.” As a child of God, we take off our old fleshly nature and we take on the nature of Christ. For some this happens rather quickly, but for some of us, including me, it’s a process that can take many years, even a lifetime. This is sanctification, when we are set apart from those in the world who have not been born again. As we become more like Him, we grow in wisdom by reading God’s word and praying to Him daily, and the more we do it, the more we desire it, for it is the bread of life.

Years later, as Jesus lay dying on the cross after having been scourged and beaten - to the point that He became unrecognizable - by the ones He came to save - all of us - He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Oh, what kind of love is this that even while dying in extreme agony, He prayed for us sinners! Will you seek Jesus while He still may be found in your life, before you take your last breath here on earth and enter your eternity? Will you accept His free gift of salvation from all your sins? If you are not saved, I pray you do not let another year, month, day, hour or minute go by without turning to Him.

I give you Jesus’ words He spoke to Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews when Jesus told Him that no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born again:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” - Jesus Christ; John 3:16-18 ✝️

December 30, 2022: Luke 2:38 - The Grace of God for All Who Look for Redemption

“And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” - Luke 2:38

Anna was one of a handful of women in the Bible who was called a “prophetess,” which is a female prophet, one who proclaims God’s word and speaks for God. The name “Anna” is from the Hebrew name “Channah” or “Hannah,” which means “favored” or “grace.” Anna was the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old and a widow for a long time. She was married only seven years. She lived a life by serving God faithfully in fasting and prayers night and day.

Throughout Anna’s life, she must have experienced many trials, as she was a widow for many years. The Bible doesn’t say that she had remarried, so no other husband would have cared for her. Anna likely had known the scriptures about widows and that God has a heart for them, including:

- Proverbs 15:25 “The LORD will destroy the house of the proud, but He will establish the boundary of the widow.”

- Psalm 68:5 “A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.”

- Psalm 146:9 “The LORD watches over the strangers; he relieves the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down.”

She trusted in the Lord and in His word. She trusted in Him to provide and in Him to make the way for redemption of sins.

Anna was one of two eye witnesses who saw the Child Jesus when Joseph and His mother Mary came to Jerusalem to present Jesus to the Lord in the Jewish temple. Simeon was the other eye witness to this extraordinary event. Like Anna, Simeon was old in age, and both had been looking and faithfully waiting for the salvation of the Lord to come. Anna not only came to the temple, the Bible says, “And coming in that instant.” She came without hesitation, for she knew something remarkable had happened! Oh, that we as believers in Christ may act as she did, not holding back, but trusting in the Lord, and when He says “Go!”, we go!

Anna gave thanks to the Lord for His blessed gift of redemption - Jesus, Christ the Lord - who offers redemption of all our sins for all who believe in Him, and she spoke of Jesus to all who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. She knew that redemption of all our sins cannot come by coming to the temple no matter how faithful we are; rather, it can only come by believing in Jesus, sent by God, who is the Savior, Christ the Lord. She knew that Jesus was sent for all people, not just the Jews. For as Simeon proclaimed through the Holy Spirit when he held the Child Jesus, “For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

As Jesus would later tell His disciples during His time of ministry here on earth, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) Are you looking to Him for redemption? Have you found Him and given thanks to Him, as Anna and Simeon did? ✝️

December 29, 2022: Luke 2:34-35 - That the Thoughts of Many Hearts May Be Revealed

“Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, ‘Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’ ” - Luke 2:34-35

After seeing the Child Jesus and blessing the Lord for His salvation, Simeon also had some sorrowful and prophetic words for Mary. He told her that a sword would pierce through her own soul, for many would reject Jesus and their hearts would be revealed. This makes me remember Judas Iscariot, who would be one of the 12 apostles chosen by Jesus to follow Him and tell Israel of the way to redemption of sins and to live in eternal glory in heaven with God the Father. Yet, Judas was the one who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Judas’ heart was revealed, and it was a heart of greed, pride, wickedness, and evil; it was the heart of a sinner in need of a Savior. Judas had eaten, walked, and talked with Jesus, listening to all that Jesus had told him and the other apostles from the start, and yet he did not ever really know Jesus and believe that Jesus was who He said He was.

Simeon, through the Holy Spirit, told Jesus’ mother Mary that a sword would pierce through her own soul, a level of pain and anguish a mother should never have to experience. As a mother, I cannot imagine the sorrow Mary must have experienced as she watched her son Jesus grow and be absolutely hated and despised by the same people to whom God had sent His only begotten Son to offer them salvation from all their sins. Perhaps Mary would hear when people said of Jesus, “He has a demon and is mad [insane]. Why do you listen to Him?” Maybe she had heard what the Pharisees had said of Him, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” As any loving mother knows, when our child hurts, we hurt. These words must have pierced her as a sword that cuts deep, for she knew the real purpose why Jesus had come to this earth. Perhaps Simeon’s words to her were also a foreshadowing of the spear or sword that would pierce the side of Jesus by a Roman solider after Jesus had given up His life. The horror Mary would have to witness as Jesus died and was then pierced by a sword would be for her like someone putting a sword straight through her soul.

There were so many people who absolutely hated and despised Jesus, just as there are today. This Child whom Mary loved so deeply would be the Man of sorrows, as foretold in Isaiah 53:3, “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, Jesus had revealed about Himself to the apostle John. In Revelation 1:16 John had a vision of Jesus and wrote: “He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.” Jesus is the Word of God. As the Bible tells us in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The Word of God divides, separating those who have a heart for Jesus and those who are against Him. Jesus would later tell His disciples, “Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’”

Jesus knew what was in Judas’ heart, just as He knows what is in the heart of every single person who has ever lived. It is the heart that causes us to believe or not believe in Jesus as Messiah. Will we have a heart like Simeon’s, full of hope, love, and peace for our Savior, or will it be hardened against Him, like Judas, refusing to know Him, rejecting salvation, and ready to betray Him? What do your thoughts about Jesus reveal about your own heart? ✝️

December 28, 2022: Luke 2:33 - Joseph and Mary Marveled

“And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.” - Luke 2:33

As one could imagine, Joseph and Jesus’ mother Mary marveled at what Simeon had just proclaimed about Jesus when they had brought Jesus to the temple to present Him to the Lord. To “marvel” means “to be filled with wonder, admiration, or astonishment, as at something surprising or extraordinary.” (dictionary.com)

It must have been further confirmation to Joseph what an angel had proclaimed to him when his betrothed wife Mary had been found to be with child before they had come together. When Joseph was considering what to do about the matter, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”

To Mary, it must have been confirmation of what the angel Gabriel had previously told her before she had conceived by the Holy Spirit, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 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. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” The angel Gabriel had also told 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.”

As Simeon spoke to her and Joseph, Mary also may have recalled when she had entered the house of Zacharias to visit her pregnant relative Elizabeth. When Mary greeted her, it happened that when Elizabeth, whose baby would later be the John who would baptize Jesus, heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in Elizabeth’s womb with joy, for he recognized his Savior.

Joseph and Mary may have remembered the prophecy of the coming Messiah as given by the Holy Spirit to Zacharias after the birth of his son John, who would prepare the way of the Lord Jesus:

“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

So here they were, Joseph and Mary, faithful unto God, trusting in Him. Did they know all that would happen to Jesus, the Son of God, to them, the Jewish people, and to all who would believe in Him? No, but they marveled at all that God had done, and they obediently listened to Him, and obeyed His commands. The world they lived in was the same as the one we live in today in one specific way: it was filled with sinners in need of a Savior. Joseph and Mary had witnessed with their own eyes the birth of the Savior, and had seen and heard shepherds who had come from their fields to see Him lying in a manager and praising God for Him, and a devout man come to the temple to see Jesus and praising God for Him.

As believers in Christ as our Savior, let us see and hear Him through hearing and reading His word, praying and being obedient to Him, trusting in Him in all things, even when we don’t understand, and let us marvel at all those things which were spoken of Him and have been fulfilled, and things spoken of Him which are yet to be fulfilled, for He will fulfill every single one of them, and we will marvel at Him. ✝️

December 27, 2022: Luke 2:28-32 - My Eyes Have Seen Your Salvation

“…he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

‘Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.’ ” - Luke 2:28-32

The Holy Spirit had revealed something of tremendous importance to Simeon, a faithful Jewish servant of the Lord who had read about the prophesied coming of the Messiah. Simeon had been waiting for Jesus, the Consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit chose this devout man and told him that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

The Spirit prompted Simeon to go to the temple, and he did. When Jesus’ parents had taken Him to be presented in the temple and to offer a sacrifice according to Jewish Law for the birth of a male child, Simeon was immediately filled with gratitude and joy, for the arrival of Jesus had come! While he likely had no idea of how Messiah would come, he probably had not been expecting Him to come as a baby. However, upon seeing the Child, Simeon knew immediately and beyond the shadow of a doubt that this Child was the prophesied Messiah. He lovingly took Jesus in his arms and blessed and praised God.

Simeon’s words speak volumes. There is so much depth in what he spoke. Simeon had put all of his hope in Jesus, so much so that he was now ready to depart this earth and move onto eternity, and he would depart in peace. He wasn’t clinging to this world; he was clinging to Jesus. He knew all the prophecies of the One he was now holding in his arms that had not yet come true would come true because the greatest prophecy of all had just been fulfilled: the birth of Messiah. He knew what the Lord had spoken to Isaiah and all the prophets about the Redeemer, who is the Holy One of Israel.

The words of praise Simeon spoke to God revealed that he knew that the Redeemer was sent not only to offer salvation to His people, the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. He also said God’s salvation would be the glory of God’s people Israel. Jesus was born a Jew, and His lineage is of the Jews, the people of Israel. The greatest glory that would ever come out of Israel is their salvation through the prophesied Messiah, Jesus the Christ. While they are not in glory yet because of their unbelief, there is coming a day, when Messiah will return to righteously judge the world and all of the remnant of Israel will be saved.

Do you have a heart like Simeon’s, full of hope, love, and peace for our Savior? I pray that you will have a heart like Simeon’s, blessing God for His salvation - Jesus the Christ - who one day, we too, will see with our own eyes. ✝️

December 26, 2022: Luke 2:21 - His Name was Called JESUS

“And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.” - Luke 2:21

As part of the unconditional covenant God had made with Abraham, the Abrahamic Covenant, all males descended from Abraham must be circumcised. Circumcision was also repeated in the Mosaic Law. Jesus was born a Jew, to a Jewish mother, and would be raised in a Jewish home that kept Jewish law, including the rite of circumcision. Thus, He was circumcised on the eight day, and they named Him JESUS, which means “Savior,” as the angel Gabriel had said they should call Him before He was even conceived.

Jesus came to His own as a Jew, adhering to Jewish Law, for if He had not, He would have been immediately rejected by the Jews for not being circumcised. Though Jesus would commit no sins - ever - but would fulfill the Law, He was rejected because those He came to save didn’t need a circumcision of the flesh; rather, they needed a circumcision of the heart. Hundreds of years prior to Jesus’ arrival as a Child, the prophet Jeremiah had proclaimed to the Jews the words of God, saying, “For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: ‘Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.’”

In much earlier times when Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Bible was written, which is part of the Jewish Torah, God said to the Jews regarding His Law, “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.” (Deuteronomy 10:16) In Deuteronomy 30:5-6 when God is telling His people of the blessings of returning to Him, He said to them, “Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”

What is the greatest stumbling block between sinful men and women and the heavenly Father? The answer is the heart. The heart is full of pride, puffing us up, making us feel like we don’t need God; we can save ourselves, or even worse, that sin isn’t sin and we can do whatever we want without experiencing any negative consequences from our sin. Who or what is the answer? His name is Jesus, Christ the Lord. Jesus is the One - the only One, the only way - to God the Father. He came to earth as a Child to tell us of the way of salvation of sins, to lead by example, to show us what a soft heart does: it enables us to have eyes to see and ears to hear the truth of God. That truth is that we are all sinners, none of us can save ourselves, when we die, each one of us will go to either heaven or hell, and the only way to heaven is to believe in Jesus as our Savior. Getting circumcised won’t get us there, trying to keep the Divine Law of God won’t do it, for no one can keep it, trying to be a good person won’t either, doing good things for others, going to church, … won’t get us there, only Jesus can. Why? Because He was chosen by God to come to this earth by being born as a Child to a virgin, grow and begin His earthly ministry, choose His disciples to whom He would teach, die a horrible death of crucifixion on the cross, rise again after three days, walk the earth for 40 days after, showing His resurrected self to over 500 people, and ascend to the right hand of the heavenly throne of God the Father, where He is today.

Each one of us must decide if will we let our hearts continue in hardness, preventing us to have eyes to see and ears to hear the truth of God, letting that stumbling block remain intact and ultimately experiencing the worst consequences of it that we could ever face, or if we have a heart that is circumcised, ready to accept and follow Him, the One whose name is called JESUS. ❤️ ✝️

December 25, 2022: Luke 2:20 - Eyes to See and Ears to Hear

“Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.” - Luke 2:20

“Eyes to see and ears to hear” is a common phrase in the Bible. These shepherds believed the angel’s report they had heard for themselves of Christ the Lord being born and went to see Him for themselves, with their own eyes. They believed what the angel had said, for if they had not, surely they would not have sought to see Jesus with their own eyes.

Hundreds of years prior to Messiah’s birth, the Lord God had told the prophet Jeremiah to proclaim to His people who had forsaken Him and served foreign gods - false gods: “Hear this now, O foolish people, without understanding, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not: Do you not fear Me?” says the Lord.

As Jesus grew and at age 12 went to the temple and sat with the Jewish teachers and listened to them, “all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and His answers.”

When Jesus began His ministry at about age 30, He taught in parables. His 12 disciples asked Him why He taught in parables. Jesus said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables so that, ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.’”

How many today have hardened their hearts against God so that when they hear and see what He has told and shown them do not believe? Christmas is not about believing in Santa; it is about believing in Jesus Christ, the One who gave the greatest gift we could ever be given - redemption of all sins by believing in Him, just as the shepherds did whose hearts were not hardened by the world when they heard the good news. If you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior, today will you hear, today will you see, and turn to Him, glorifying and praising Him for all you have heard and seen? ✝️

December 24, 2022: Luke 2:19 - Let Us Ponder All These Things

“But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” - Luke 2:19

Oh, the things that Mary must have been thinking about! She had traveled with her betrothed husband Joseph to a place that wasn’t her home, and had given birth to her Son who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, as the angel Gabriel had told her she would. Gabriel had said, “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. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Gabriel had also told her, “…that Holy One who is to be born, will be called the Son of God.”

And now, shepherds from the fields had come seeking the Babe, who is Christ the Lord, whom an angel had told them they would find lying in a manger in Bethlehem, the city of David.

As a mother, I know that during pregnancy and after our children our born, we imagine all the things our children will experience as they grow. I wonder what Mary pondered about her Son. Oh, the excitement of seeing the prophecy fulfilled of conceiving a Child and yet her betrothed husband Joseph had not yet known her; the conception of a Child born of the Holy Spirit, the Child who caused her pregnant relative Elizabeth’s baby, who was still in Elizabeth’s womb, to leap with joy when he heard Mary’s voice!

Mary was chosen by God to bring forth Jesus - Emmanuel, God with Us - for she had found favor with God. Perhaps as she experienced all these things, she recalled what Scripture had also foretold, what Isaiah the prophet had written about as he wrote down words of prophecy from God Himself. Perhaps while gazing into the eyes of her newborn Son, she recalled and pondered upon what was written before His birth and what we read now in Isaiah 53: “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

We don’t know what she pondered in her heart but I am so very thankful that “God so loved the world that gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Like Mary, may we ponder in our hearts all these things which we have seen and heard about Jesus. If you do not know Him as your Savior, I pray you will see that truly He is the greatest gift ever given to mankind. I pray that today, you will not despise this Man of sorrows but would turn to Him, accept His free gift of redemption of sins, given to you with incomparable love and mercy, and let Him give light to you to guide your feet in the way of peace, as He did for Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds in those days long ago. ✝️

December 23, 2022: Luke 2:18 - What Will You Do with the Good News of Jesus Christ?

“And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.” - Luke 2:18

Imagine being told of the birth of Jesus, Christ the Lord, not by the Jewish religious leaders at the time but by shepherds, those who tended to sheep in the fields. I have read that it may be that the shepherds to whom the angel proclaimed the birth of Jesus were the shepherds who took care of the temple sheep that would be sacrificed at the temple in Jerusalem. One thing I have learned with reading God’s word is that there is no such thing as coincidence. Truly, there would be no greater sheep that would be sacrificed to take away our sins than Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, and what an honor it would be to be told of His birth by an angel of God and to share the good news about Him!

When the shepherds shared the good news with many, they marveled at what the shepherds told them. They were most likely Jews and had heard and read of the coming Messiah by the religious leaders, but what would they do with this news? What would they do with the proclamation that perhaps unlike their expectations that He would come as conquering King, instead He had come as a Child, born in meekness and humility in every way? Would they ponder in their hearts if this is Immanuel - God-With-Us - born of a virgin that the prophet Isaiah had written about so long ago? Is this the One whose name is called “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” and “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end?”

They, like us today, had to decide what they would do with this good news. Would they believe in Him as Christ the Lord, sent by God above to offer a sinful world the way - the only way - out of its sin, out of their sins, out of our sins? Would they choose to believe, despite what others might say in unbelief? Yes, Jesus came the first time as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world for all who would believe in Him, but the Bible also tells us in many books of the Bible, including Revelation, that He is coming again, and this time, it will be to righteously judge those who rejected salvation and chose to remain in their sin. My question to you is, what will you do with this good news of Jesus Christ? ✝️

December 22, 2022: Luke 2:17 - Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ

“Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.’ - Luke 2:17

The lowly shepherds had immediately gone to Bethlehem to seek the Savior, whose birth had been proclaimed to them by an angel, and they had found the Babe lying in a manger, just as they were told He would be. They heard the good news, they believed it enough that they went and sought the Lord, they found Him, and now they were ready to tell many others about Him.

This is the perfect example for the world today. Before I was saved by Jesus, I heard about God from my mother. It wasn’t anything in depth but I knew He was real and I knew about the Bible, His word. Growing up, I was always longing to know Him and I didn’t really know who Jesus was. We didn’t ever go to church, but I had this tug in my heart that wouldn’t go away. After getting married I was still seeking Him, going to a few churches along the way but left feeling empty and as though it was onlyour money they cared for and not the salvation of our souls.

In the meantime, my family had expanded with two children and I was struggling emotionally and spiritually. I was filling my life with everything but Him. Never feeling satisfied, I was filling my life with junk food when what I really needed was the bread of life. Over the years, I had started reading the Bible but had never made it past Genesis, till one day, I decided I would read the entire Bible for myself, no matter how long it took. I needed to know why Christianity is the only way to be saved; what makes it different from all the rest? It took me four years but I finally read the entire Bible, cover to cover. Yes, I was a slow reader but I was soaking it in, like a sponge, letting the living waters of life flow through me, reviving me.

I will always remember where I was, on a layover in Dallas waiting for my next flight for a work trip, when I first read Ephesians 6 that describes putting on the whole armor of God. That passage of Scripture really struck me like nothing I had ever read before. It made me realize that we truly are in a spiritual war for our souls. That is why God sent His beloved Son Jesus to offer all of us sinners a way out of our sin so that we can live a life in perfect peace with Him when we die. Our lives here on earth are but a brief stop on our way to eternity and we will spend it in one of two places: heaven or hell. For all who believe in Jesus, we will spend it in heaven with Him. For those who don’t, either by outright rejection of His free gift of salvation from sins or by not making a choice will spend it in a place called hell, eternally separated from God and all that is good, forever.

Finally one day, I accepted Jesus as my Savior. I truly believed in Him as Messiah. I finally understood what the Bible was all about: it wasn’t about knowing of Him; it was about knowing Him - Jesus. I was born again, and I was ready to share the good news with everyone I knew and even some I didn’t know. I wish I could tell you that when I did, that they all believed and turned to Him but they didn’t. I don’t know of a single one who has. Perhaps they are saved and I just don’t know, but God does.

My prayer is that like the shepherds, I will continue to share the good news, unashamedly, planting that seed of faith, and one day, that seed will be watered by another believer, and then one day, another believer will see that person who heard the good news through a planted seed of faith will accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. Then they will tell others of the good news about Him, just like the lowly shepherds did. 🙏🏻✝️

December 21, 2022: Luke 2:16 - When You Seek Him, You Will Find Him

“And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.” - Luke 2:16

God’s plan for mankind will be fulfilled; no one and no thing will ever be able to prevent it from happening. Hundreds of years before the birth of Messiah in Bethlehem, the city of David, the prophet Micah wrote about it (Micah 5:2). How could that be, especially when Joseph and Mary were living in Galilee in the city of Nazareth, where Mary was great with Child? How could this be? The answer is God Almighty. He used a Roman Caesar, Caesar Augustus to declare at that time that all people in the world must be registered, everyone to his own city.

Since Joseph was of the house and lineage of David, he took his betrothed pregnant wife Mary to Bethlehem, the city of David, to be registered. It was there in Bethlehem where Jesus, Christ the Lord, was born, fulfilling just one of hundreds of prophecies written about Him that He would fulfill.

The Holy Bible, God’s Word, is the only book ever written that prophesies events long before they happen and fulfills them with stunning accuracy. This is because the Bible is not just a book; rather, it is God’s breathed word given to chosen men to write down to tell the world of Himself, His plan for all mankind, including His chosen nation, the Jewish nation of Israel, and the Gentiles (non-Jews), and His gift of salvation from all sins for all who would believe in His only begotten Son, Jesus, Christ the Lord.

The lowly shepherds to whom the angels had proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ went to Bethlehem to see for themselves the arrival of Messiah. They found Him exactly where the angels said He would be - in Bethlehem, lying in a manger.

As God spoke to the shepherds then, He is speaking to us now, through His Word and His Holy Spirit. Are you listening? Are you seeking Jesus? If you are, you will find Him, just as the shepherds did, and your life will be forever changed, just as theirs were. ✝️

December 20, 2022: Luke 2:15 - Seek the Lord!

“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.’” - Luke 2:15

Oh, that the world today would be like these humble shepherds who when they heard of the good news of Christ the Lord’s birth, immediately got up from where they were, even in the night in the dark fields, and went to seek Him!

The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 29:12, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” In Isaiah 55:6, “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” And in Zephaniah 2:3, “Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the LORD’s anger.”

Clearly these shepherds were seeking the Lord even before the angel and the heavenly host of angels appeared to them and proclaimed the birth of Christ the Lord. They could have called it “fake news” and “misinformation” and not believed their Christ had been born to them that day in Bethlehem, the city of David. They could have stayed right where they were and gone on with their lives, never experiencing the joy of a changed life in one who seeks the Lord with all their heart and who finds Him.

But no, they left immediately to go and seek Him. They did not wait until it was morning; they left immediately. How many people have waited until it was too late to seek Him? How many died in unbelief? We must seek Him while He still may be found, for when we die, if we haven’t accepted His free gift of salvation, it will be too late to accept it and we will be forever separated from Him for eternity. If you’re not saved by believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior, I pray that like the shepherds, you will seek Him while He still may be found and that today will be your day of salvation. 🙏🏻 ✝️

December 19, 2022: Luke 2:13-14 - Glory to God in the Highest!

“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, goodwill toward men!’” - Luke 2:13-14

Now, the angel that proclaimed the good news of Christ the Lord’s birth to the lowly shepherds, is joined by a heavenly host of angels praising God, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

The Lord Jesus is the King of kings, Lord of lords, and Lord of hosts! The Hebrew word for “hosts” is “armies,” referring to the angelic armies of heaven. God’s hand of protection over Israel through His armies of heaven has protected Israel from the beginning. How many times has Israel been on the verge of being annihilated but God intervened to save a remnant. God will never be defeated, and He will never let His chosen people be destroyed completely. That is true then and that is true now. Satan knew that Jesus would be born of the Jews, and he did everything he could to try and stop Jesus’ birth by persecuting them, and he failed every single time.

Two thousand years ago at the birth of Jesus, the One who provides the only way of redemption from sins for both Jews and Gentiles, God’s glory had come to the earth! What goodwill, love, and mercy God has shown to us sinners! Jesus truly is glory to God in the highest, for it is only through God’s goodwill that true peace - peace between each individual and God - can come and that is by believing in Jesus as who He is: God’s only begotten Son sent by God to offer salvation from sins for all who would believe.

Jesus Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us, is the only way to God the Father. Let us who believe in Him join with the heavenly host of angels and proclaim, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” 🙌🏻✝️

December 18, 2022: Luke 2:12 - Born in Humility

“And this will be the sign to you: ‘You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.’” - Luke 2:12

This is what the angel told the lowly shepherds to look for as he proclaimed the arrival of Messiah, Savior, Christ the Lord. Did Jesus arrive in birth in a grand way, surrounded by family members held in high esteem by all, in a warm cradle, with all that He could ever need?

No, Jesus arrived in such a way that would distinguish His birth from all others. Born of a virgin, in a place that wasn’t His parents’ home, and in a feeding trough for animals, for the inn was full. Jesus was wrapped in swaddling cloths, not fine garments of royalty.

From His humble birth to His last breath on the cross, Jesus lived a life of humility. His life is the complete opposite of the Devil, which is all about himself. That is how he appeals to so many, for he appeals to self and self-aggrandizing. How is our world so like him today?

Self, self, self. The “me” and the “selfie” generation. “Listen to your heart and do whatever you want as long as it makes you happy.” The Bible tells us the complete opposite. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Look at our world today and see what living for self instead of living for Jesus has gotten us. A world of skyrocketing crime, wholesale slaughter of the unborn, perversion beyond compare, addiction, depression, suicide, emptiness. This is what the Devil wants.

Jesus left His heavenly home to come to a place that wasn’t His home, to be born in a feeding trough for animals, and to live a life of humility. His birth wasn’t in a palace or a castle, surrounded by people held in high esteem, in a warm cradle where His every need was met.

When He grew up and started His ministry of telling people the good news of His free gift of salvation of sins, through belief in Him as Messiah, He walked, talked, ate, and slept like us. He had no place to call His home.

Jesus wore no priestly garments adorned in such a manner to distinguish Himself from the “common people” as so many religious leaders did then and to this day.

From His first breath to His last, Jesus lived a life of humility. Humility is something that is rejected in our society today. Pride is the opposite of humility and pride I believe is the greatest stumbling block that keeps people from turning to Jesus.

How I pray that if you are not saved by believing in Jesus as your Savior, that you would turn away from the lies of the Devil that only lead to destruction and turn to Jesus and be saved from all your sins. Don’t let pride be that great chasm that separates you from Him forever. ✝️

December 17, 2022: Luke 2:11 - The Savior is Born

“For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” - Luke 2:11

Bible prophecy that has been fulfilled is what convinced me the Bible is real, and that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and that no one comes to God the Father except through Him. Only through Jesus can we get to heaven when we die.

Hundreds of prophecies about Jesus were made hundreds and sometimes thousands of years before He came to earth the first time. In Micah 5:2, the prophecy of Jesus coming from Bethlehem, the city of David was fulfilled when Jesus was born there.

Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”

Though Joseph and Mary lived in the city of Nazareth of Galilee, they had to go to Bethlehem because of Caesar Augustus’ decree that all the world should be registered. Joseph’s lineage was of the house of David. Thus they went to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem.

There, Joseph was registered with his betrothed wife Mary, who was with child. While in Bethlehem, she gave birth to Jesus, who is Christ the Lord.

Per gotquestions.org, the specificity of “Bethlehem Ephrathah” is important because when Micah wrote this, “there were two locations known as Bethlehem.” And “it specifies the Bethlehem in Judah.” Joseph was of the house of David the tribe of Judah.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Micah-5-2-Messianic.html

Micah 5:2 also indicates “The One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” This ties to John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

Isaiah 9:6-7, 42:1, 53, and 62:1-3 were fulfilled when Jesus Messiah was born. I ask you this: if He fulfilled all these prophecies and more, will He not fulfill the ones yet to be fulfilled, the ones of His second coming when at that time, He won’t come as a Lamb but as a Lion.

Jesus came the first time as a Lamb to offer salvation from sins to all who would believe in Him as Messiah. The second time He comes, it will be as a Lion to righteously judge all who rejected Him and believed Satan’s lies. I pray you accept Jesus’ gift of salvation today. 🙏🏻✝️

December 16, 2022: Luke 2:10 - Good Tidings of Great Joy

“Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.’” - Luke 2:10

An angel of the Lord appeared not to the Jewish religious leaders but to humble shepherds, keeping watch over their sheep, to bring to them the good news of the birth of Messiah, the good shepherd, the One who would give His life for the sheep.

The shepherds were chosen first to hear the good news about Jesus the Christ because as with them, whose flocks knew their voice, and they knew their sheep, and their sheep followed them, so would Jesus know His sheep, and we who know Him know His voice, and we follow Him.

This chapter of Luke lovingly demonstrates that religion can’t save anyone. Only the good shepherd can save us. Religion puffs up but faith in Jesus Christ humbles, for no matter how “good” we think we are, we are filthy compared to the glory of Jesus.

Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, is the greatest gift ever given to mankind. He is our good news, for He offers salvation from sin. He breaks the bondage of sin that keeps us from living our lives the way God planned it to be, both here and in eternity.

Is Jesus your good shepherd? Have you accepted His free gift of salvation? Does He know you? Do you know Him and His voice? Are you following Him or are you like so many who are like sheep without a shepherd and who have gone astray?

I pray you cry out to Him like a lost sheep, listen to His voice as He calls you safely to the shelter of His rod and His staff that will comfort you, and follow Him all the days of your life, where goodness and mercy will follow you, and you will dwell in His house forever. 🐑🙏🏻✝️

December 15, 2022: Mark 6:31

“And He [Jesus] said to them, ‘Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’” - Mark 6:31

Jesus loved His disciples then, and He loves His disciples now. He took care of them and knew when they needed rest. Jesus cares not only for our spiritual needs but also our physical needs.

When we rest our earthly bodies and meditate on God’s word, it refreshes our heart in the Lord. Life in this world is difficult, even for believers in Christ, perhaps more so because we walk in darkness, shining His light among the mockers and scoffers, as in the days of Noah.

Let us not grow weary and remember to take time to rest in Him, letting His Holy Spirit revive us and prepare us for another day of sharing the good news of Jesus the Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. ✝️

December 14, 2022: Psalm 32:1

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” - Psalm 32:1

In this psalm, David contrasts a life with and without confession of sins to God. In verses 1-2, he acknowledges the blessings that come from being forgiven of sins by God. It truly means to be blessed.

David knew what it was like to be deep in sin and not confessing it to God. His sin drained him, taking his vitality from him. That’s what sin does. It might seem fun at first, but sin is a destroyer, draining the life from us. How many of us have been there?

How many of us wanted to do it our way? After all, there was even a hit song written called “My Way.” God will let us do it our way, for He will not harness us like a horse or mule to do it His way. He will let us experience the consequences of our sin, like any good Father.

And when we finally get to the point when we realize what a mess we have made of our lives, and sadly most never reach this point, when we turn to Him and ask Him to forgive us, His grace, mercy and love are poured out on us. He was there waiting for us all along to turn to Him.

He was waiting for us to see that oh how we need Him in our lives, every day, every hour, every minute, every second; oh, how we need Him. Have you been blessed by God’s forgiveness of your sins? Have you been freed from the weight of sin? If not, I pray you turn to Him today. ✝️