Response To The News

As I read the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, one thing I find  interesting is the responses to the news about the birth of the King of the Jews, the long-awaited Messiah.

The shepherds received the news from the angel and went with “haste” to find the Messiah. (Luke 2:15-16) My guess is that it wasn’t exactly an easy task with all the people in Bethlehem because of the taxation.  As we know the only place for Joseph and Mary to stay was in a stable.  All other accommodations were full.  But the shepherds searched until they found the baby that the angel told them about. They were told they would find the baby in a manger, but I would guess there were more than a few mangers in stables in Bethlehem.  After they found the baby they shared the good news.  The lowly shepherds were the first to be informed and the first to spread the good news concerning the Messiah being born.  They returned to their sheep “glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen.”  (Luke 2:20)

Then there is the Magi that evidently traveled a long distance because they saw the star that indicated to them that this King of the Jews had been born.  (By the way, there were not just three kings/Magi.  We don’t really know how many there were.  And they probably had a large entourage with them. Something about their entrance in to Jerusalem was noticeable enough to get the attention of King Herod and the people of Jerusalem.)  These men had persisted in their search for the King and came bearing precious gifts fit for a King.  Once they found the baby King Jesus, they gave Him gifts and worshiped Him.

King Herod was troubled by the news of a king of the Jews being born.  It was seen by him as a threat to his political position.  He chose to let the Magi do the work of finding for him so he could kill the new born king.  Herod pretended to want to go worship the new born king.  The Magi heeded the warning of the angel of the Lord and did not return to Herod to tell him exactly where the baby was.  But Herod still sought to kill the child that he thought may be a threat to his political position.

King Herod had contacted the religious leaders of the Jews to find out what they knew about where their King was to be born.  They told him what the Scriptures said, but there is no indication that they even had any interest in going to find this King, their long-awaited Messiah. 

I would hope that my response to the news of the birth of King Jesus would be one of immediately going to search Him out and worship Him, as the shepherds did. Or that my response to the indication of the birth of this great King would be one of persistence, traveling whatever distance I needed to in order to find and worship this great King with gifts. 

I would hope my response would not be one of seeking to destroy the King to protect my position  or of lack of interest as seems to be the case with the political and religious leaders of the day. 

(Luke 2:8-20; Matthew 2:1-18)

Come As You Are

Romans 12:1-2 ESV  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 

When we lay our lives before the Lord as a living sacrifice, sometimes we may think we can only bring the pure and undefiled parts, because the sacrifices God wanted were the best of the flock without blemish.  Only Jesus could come to God as that kind of pure, unblemished, perfect sacrifice. We can only bring our weakness and imperfection as a sacrifice unto God and let Him take it and transform us.

In this verse the fact it says "holy" may make us think we need to get ourselves cleaned up first.  It has to do with consecration unto God, a coming to Him based on Jesus' sacrifice. It is the only way to be acceptable.  All our attempts at being holy fall far short of the holiness of God that can only be manifest in our lives because of Jesus' sacrifice and our submission to Him. Holiness is a separation unto God and from the ways of this world.

We come boldly before the throne of grace based on the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We come with all our need to receive mercy and grace. If we wait until we are good enough, we will never come.  It is there before the throne that we are cleansed as we confess our sin and receive all we need to live a pure and holy life.

It is only as we come to Him with all our imperfections and needs that we can be transformed and become all He created us to be.

Hebrews 4:14-16 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

Titus 3:4-7 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Being Moved By Compassion

Recently at Tuesday night Bible study we were looking at what we call the "Parable of the Good Samaritan", found in Luke 10:25-42. In the parable there is a man that has been robbed and beaten and left by the road to die. A priest came by and walked right past the guy. A Levite came by and also walked right past. Both of these men would have been considered Jewish religious leaders, but they did nothing. A Samaritan, a man of a race despised by the Jews, came by and ministered to the man's wounds, put the man on his donkey, took him to an inn, and left money for the man to be cared for.

As we read it this time I noticed, perhaps for the first time, the Samaritan, "felt" compassion when he saw the man. (vs. 33) That is what moved him to action.

We see in scripture that Jesus was moved to action by compassion time and again. The following are just a few of the scripture references in which you will find this: Matthew 9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 20:34

I tend to believe that real ministry only flows from a heart of love. Although love and compassion are somewhat different. I don't think we can have compassion without having love.

I wonder how often I am more like the religious leaders and fail to let the Lord's compassion fill my heart and move me to action. I want to be like Jesus. If I am going to be like Jesus I will need to be moved with compassion.

God I need you to fill my heart with your love so I can be moved with compassion.

Let No Man Deceive You

When Jesus was asked what would be the sign of His coming. The first thing He said to His disciples was "Take heed that no man deceive you." This is recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and in Luke 21. Jesus repeated this admonition as He talked about the various signs of the end times that we should be aware of. He spoke specifically that many would come in His name and deceive many.

In 2 Thessalonians Paul warns the people of Thessalonica not to be deceived when he was talking to them about end time things. As I prepared to lead a Bible study on this passage I looked up the meaning of the word "deceive" in the Strong's Concordance. I found that it means "to cause to roam from safety, truth, or virtue." Isn't that interesting? Think about that for a minute.........Isn't that what the enemy is always trying to do to us as Christians? He is always trying to get us off the path that God has laid out for us...that straight and narrow path that leads unto life. When we get off that path we are deceived.....we roam from safety, truth and virtue.

Father, I pray for each person who reads this that You will cause them to stay on that straight and narrow path. And if by chance they have strayed please guide them back onto that path that you have for them.