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Monday, December 20, 2021

THE ANGEL OF THE LORD

I love the Christmas Story from Luke. I memorized it as a small child. I still love the powerful wording from the King James Bible. “And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus—” “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night.”

Look with me at verses 8-16 of Luke Chapter 2.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 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 among those with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

Can you put yourself on that shepherd hillside? As night falls your family is keeping watch over the flocks. Who knows what might come in the night, but you never dreamed of The Angel of The Lord coming upon you. You are stunned by his appearance and the thunderous words that proceed from his mouth. The first thing the angel says is, “Fear not,” If you are not terrified by his visage, you are still asleep. But he explains that he is bringing you good news of great joy. For unto you is born a Savior.

Listen to what he says. To the shepherds the angel said, “Unto you.” He did not say, “Unto all mankind is born a savior.” He did not say to “men and women, boys and girls.” He did not say “to all generations from creation to the end of time.” Nor did he say “to every nation, tribe, people, and language.” He said, “unto you.”

Those shepherds were nobodies. We do not know one of their names. We do not know anything substantial about them. But God knew and He said, “Unto you is born a Savior.” God sent His Savior to you as well. The Angel announced A Personal Savior.

The Angel of the Lord said, “Unto you is born This Day.” You might have said, “one who will become Savior.” But the Angel of The Lord said “Today.” Many people have a once upon a time savior. You may remember a time when you were serious about God. But you have pushed every thought of Him out of your life.

I have met people who have a someday savior. Someday I will get serious about God, But your heart is getting harder and harder. This is certainly the easiest time you will ever have to hear the voice of God. Every day that you live without Him, your heart will grow harder. This may well be the last time you are able to hear that God sent His Son to be your Savior.

You can only come to Him as A Present Savior.

The Savior was not born in Rome, Alexandria, Ephesus, or even Jerusalem. He was born in the little town of Bethlehem. Do you know why? Because some 500 years before, Micah of Moresheth said,

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”

That is not the first time the coming of the Savior was prophesied. In Genesis 3 God told Satan who had tempted mankind to fall into our desperate need for a Savior.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring[e] and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

1 Peter 1:20 tells us,

“ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but made manifest in the last times for your sake.”

This is not a blink in the eye of history. From beyond time God knew you would be lost without Him. He foreordained that His Son would die on a cross for you.

He is A Prophesied Savior.

This is not government aid. This is not a political solution. This is not the bright idea of your broker or the latest expert. The Angel announced to the Shepherds on the hillside, “A Savior who is Christ the LORD!”

Peter said it in Acts 4:12.

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

God sent A Powerful Savior! He is enough to forgive your sin, change your heart, and redeem you from the judgement that is to come.

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Tuesday, December 14, 2021

A CHRISTMAS NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN

My mother was a wonderful storyteller. Especially at Christmas time she would be asked to tell stories at church or community functions. Several weeks ago my sister sent me a file of Christmas stories Mother told. One of my favorites came out of her own childhood during a worldwide pandemic that took the lives of millions. And I wanted to share it with you as we seek to emerge from such a plague.

It was in the Spring of 1918 that my family sold everything at an auction and set out from Oklahoma to homestead in New Mexico. This was an exciting adventure for my brother and me, who were 7 and 5 years old.

Part of our journey was made by train and the rest in a covered wagon that Papa purchased along the way. In order for us to live until our house was built and our crops harvested, Papa worked with a road construction gang with all of the families living nearby in tents. This was just like a camping trip that lasted all summer.

Cold weather hit in the early fall. At the same time the flu epidemic struck our country. It was quite frightening because people were dying everywhere.

We moved into a house in Cimarron and managed to get one bed set up before we were stricken. My brother walked through deep snow for a doctor only to find when he arrived at the doctor’s office that his own temperature was 105°.

The four of us were sick in only one bed. A kind Mexican man came every day to check on us and care for our needs. My aunt, who was a nurse and very dear to us, came to care for us and literally saved our lives.

When Christmas drew near Mama was still in bed recovering from pneumonia. Papa was too weak to return to work yet. More than anything else, Brother and I wanted a Christmas tree because the Swearingen family next door had an enormous one that turned round and round on a track playing Christmas music. We only needed to climb a mountain to get one, but Papa was not yet strong enough to cut and bring one home.

On Christmas Eve we hung our stockings near Mama’s bed so she could see us open them on Christmas morning. I can see them yet, long brown stockings like all the children wore in that cold country hanging from nails on the wall. We were not expecting much because everyone had been ill for so long.

Christmas morning we rushed into the room long before daylight. Our stockings hung there on the wall just like we had left them, flat and empty. Brother darted back to his room where no one would see him cry. I looked forlornly around the darkened room.

“Brother! Oh Brother!” I cried, “We’ve got a tree!” There in the corner stood the most beautiful tree we had ever seen. My doll and his skates were hanging on the tree, but for a long time we didn’t touch them. Kneeling down beside the tree, we folded our hands and gazed at it.

Our neighbor had climbed a mountain and cut a tree just for us. Papa and my aunt had gone downtown after we were put to bed and brought decorations for the tree. Truly this was a Christmas never to be forgotten.

Mildred Young

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Friday, December 10, 2021

UKRAINE AND THE WORLD

Pray for Ukraine.

Why has Russia massed 175,000 troops on the Ukraine border? Some years ago German University Professor and historian, Martin Aust, said, “Russia, even with Crimea, is not an empire. But Russia with all of Ukraine is an empire.”

This scheme did not begin with Vladimir Putin. Joseph Stalin put to death a huge percentage of the Ukrainian population, millions of them by militarily enforced famine. Then he moved people of Russian descent and language into Ukraine and other Soviet states to establish the future of the Soviet empire.

The Kremlin's present efforts to annex Ukraine is a step toward expanding their power on the world stage.

Make no mistake, Ukraine's steps toward joining NATO does not threaten Russia. Russia is the aggressor. The Kremlin doesn't want Ukraine to be protected because they want to swallow them up.

What can I do? Nothing and everything. I have no influence upon Russia. But I do have access to the throne of God. And I am praying for Ukraine and for the world. And I am praying for our president and the leaders of other countries as they try to negotiate with Russia.

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Wednesday, December 1, 2021

ADVENT!

I love the celebration of Advent. I grew up in a church that avoided anything that smacked of formality. We were ritualistically anti-liturgical. But I have come to rejoice in ways that we can celebrate the truth of Scripture with such interactive visual expressions.

We are following what is for us a different order of candle lighting this year. We began with Hope. I think that is appropriate for two reasons. First, we celebrate the fact that the coming of Jesus fulfilled the hope of the ages. We quoted the promise of Imanuel, which means God with us, from Isaiah 7. Our granddaughter spontaneously led us in singing, O come, O come Imanuel.

The word advent specifically refers to the coming of Christ. And from the early Advent celebrations the church celebrated the second advent as well. Our great and blessed hope is the second coming of Jesus. That hope is the anchor of our souls.

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