Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 25

Virgin

          In the sixth month the angel Gabrielwas sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed toa man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name wasMary. (Luke 1:26-27, English Standard Version)

Marywas pure and holy, a devote Jew, who followed all of God’s laws as best shecould. Can you imagine what went through her head when the angel told her whatwas going to happen to her? But God had chosen her for a reason, and instead ofworrying what others would think or wondering how this had happened, sherejoiced that God had selected her to be the mother of His Son. 

Unfailing Love

“Though the mountains be shaken and thehills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor mycovenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah54:10, New International Version)

Unfailinglove. Can any of us love someone the way God loves us? His love is faithful,kind, and constant. He has compassion on those who don't deserve it. No matterwhat we do, God will love us unconditionally. Why else would He have sent HisSon Jesus to save us?

How precious is your unfailing love, OGod! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings. (Psalm 36:7, NewLiving Translation)

Teacher

        Thisman came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are ateacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God iswith him.” (John 3:2, New King James Version)

Jesuswas referred to by many titles – Son of God, Son of Man, Savior, Redeemer, Kingof Kings, Master, Prophet, and the list goes on.

Allof those are great, but sometimes I have a hard time picturing Jesus in thoseroles. Yes, of course, we can see Him on the cross and even dressed in white,arms out at His sides, being taken to heaven. But the picture of Jesus that Ilove the most is of Him sitting on the ground, surrounded by His disciplesteaching them through parables, teaching them what it meant for Him to be theirSavior and for them to be children of God.

Salvation

          “Behold, God is my salvation; I willtrust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, andhe has become my salvation.” (Isaiah 12:2, English Standard Version)

Notonly is He our Salvation, He is our Strength and our Song.

Andwasn’t that the whole point of Jesus, the Son of God, being born as that tiny,innocent baby. So that when He had become a Man, He could save us all from oursins.

Room

Her first son was born. She put clotharound Him and laid Him in a place where cattle are fed. There was no room forthem in the place where people stay for the night. (Luke 2:7, New Life Version)

Mostversions of the Bible say that there was no room in the inn. I chose this translationbecause there’s a good chance that there wasn’t even an inn in Bethlehem atthat time. Many Bible scholars believe that “inn” actually referred to an innerroom of the house, such as a guest room.

True,there was no room for Mary and Joseph in any of the “places where people stay”because the city was filled with travelers going there for the census. But thestable where the animals slept was warm and safe, and probably quieter thanthe houses which were filled with people.

Ithink it was a beautiful place for a baby to be born.

Prepare

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:“Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for ourGod.” (Isaiah 40:3, New King James Version)

Decemberis the one month out of the year where everyone spends so much time preparing.There are presents to buy and wrap, cookies to bake, cards to mail, a tree toput up and decorate. And all in preparation for Christmas morning.

Jesus’scousin John, better known as John the Baptist, came to prepare the people forthe coming of Jesus. He didn’t bake cookies or buy presents; he preached to allwho would listen.

Areyou telling people about Jesus in preparation of His second coming? 

Order

About that time Hezekiah became deathlyill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the kingthis message: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your affairs in order, for youare going to die. You will not recover from this illness.’” (Isaiah 38:1, NewLiving Translation)

Theword “order” has a lot of meanings. We can order someone around, we can giveorders, we can put our books in alphabetical order, we can call a meeting toorder, UPS has delivered our order. But no matter how it’s used, the word usuallysignifies some sort of organization.

Wethink of setting our affairs in order only when we think something bad is goingto happen to us. But no one knows for sure when they are going to leave theirearthly body.

Neitherdoes anyone know when Jesus will return to this earth to call all believershome. Do we need to have our affairs in order for that or do we just need to have faith in Him?

Nazareth

Philip found Nathanael and told him, “Wehave found the one whom Moses wrote about in the book of the Law and whom theprophets also wrote about. He is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”

          “Can anything good come fromNazareth?” Nathanael asked.”

          “Come and see,” answered Philip. (John1:45-46, Good News Translation)

 

“Cananything good come from Nazareth?” What a horrible thing to say. Can you thinkof names of other towns that you would say that of? Probably could think ofsome countries too?

But,boy oh boy, did Nathanael have that wrong! Because Jesus was good in every way.

Messiah

          But the angel said to them, “Do notbe afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah,the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in clothsand lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12, New International Version)

Accordingto my online dictionary, Messiah means 1) a leader or savior of a particulargroup or cause or 2) the promised deliverer of the Jewish nation prophesied inthe Hebrew Bible. Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah of the Hebrewprophecies and the savior of humankind.

Unfortunately,at the time of His birth, many wanted to be delivered from Roman rule. Theydidn’t realize that what they really needed was to be saved from their sins.

Whatabout you? What do you need to be delivered from?

Lamb

       The following day as John was standingwith two of his disciples, Jesus walked by. John looked at him intently andthen declared, “See! There is the Lamb of God!” (John 1:35-36, Living Bible)

Jesushas frequently been called the Lamb of God. Why is that?

InBible times, when a Jew sinned, they had to take a lamb to the temple as asacrifice to be forgiven. In the book of Exodus, God’s final plague for Pharaohto let His people go was that the firstborn son of every family would die. Forthe Jews to have their sons spared, they had to kill a male lamb who waswithout blemish and spread its blood on the tops and sides of their door frame.   

Nowpicture Jesus as the Lamb of God, the sacrifice that would save us all, Hisblood spread on the cross.