King Herod.. the Original Scrooge

Herod was king when Jesus was born... there were Herods before him and Herods after him. And for the most part. they were all alike. Corrupted by their own power and there thirst for more influence, they only looked out for themselves. When Jesus was born and the wise men told Herod that a new king had been born.. well... that was more than old Herod could take. He had all the male children under the age of two slaughtered. Jesus was taken to Egypt. That's what saved Christmas. Herod, the original Scrooge died and another Herod took his place. Before long the Herodian dynasty had all died out. But the boy Jesus grew to be a man. He perfectly obeyed God all of His life. He willingly gave His life for us, His enemies. He rose from the dead to proclaim the victory of God over sin. His dynasty will never die out! His is an eternal kingdom!  God's grace triumphs over man's failure. He is a living Savior... He offers us life - His life as a free gift. Jesus is the best Christmas gift I've ever received...  You can have Him too if you come with the empty hands of faith. - Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved (Acts 6:13)
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

"And suddenly..."

"And suddenly there 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."
                                                                                                                 Luke 2: 13 -14 (ESV)
The word "host" in the Greek is "stratia". One of the meanings of the word is an assembled, strategic, army.... when God's army invaded earth on the first Christmas they declared peace. But only peace with whom He was pleased. Peace on earth is fine and dandy and we should pursue peace as much as it is possible. But the peace God is talking about isn't the absence of conflict among humans. It is a peace between God and man and with the ones with whom He is pleased. Ephesians 2:3 reminds us that we are by nature children of God's wrath. Romans 3 quotes the Psalms and reminds us that no one is good and no one seeks after God. It must be God who draws us near (John 6:44). It is God who brings us back to life and makes us at peace with Himself and makes us fit for His use in His kingdom. (Ephesians 2:1-10) ... This Christmas season, let's all remember that without the baby born in Bethlehem we would have no one to make peace between a holy, righteous God and ourselves. -- O Come Let us Adore Him..... Christ the Lord!

Being Happy in God

Often times Christians feel guilty if they are happy. The JOY part we know about. Christian Joy is something that is not controlled by circumstances. I read in an old "Daily Bread" devotional years ago that, "Happiness depends on happenings but joy depends on Jesus. This is quite true. We can and should be joyful even in unhappy circumstances. But again, if our happiness and joy are both found in the same place, or rather the same Person; we can always have both. True Christian happiness is the joy of knowing Jesus and being found in Him.
I've been reading "More Precious Than Gold" , 50  Daily Meditations on the Psalms; by Sam Storms. I love his definition; "Happiness is the whole soul resting in God and rejoicing that such a beautiful and glorious Being is ours."  ... Amen!

Spurgeon - Prince of Preachers

“If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.”
                                                                                        2 Timothy 2:13
“I tell you, if he were to shut you out, dear soul, whoever you may be, if you go to him, he would deny himself. He never did deny himself yet. Whenever a sinner comes to him he becomes his Savior. Whenever he meets a sick soul he acts as his Physician. . . . If you go to him you will find him at home and on the look-out for you. He will be more glad to receive you than you will be to be received. . . . As Matthew sat at the receipt of custom, waiting for the people to pay their dues, so does Christ sit at the receipt of sinners, waiting for them to mention their wants. He is watching for you. I tell you again that he cannot reject you. That would be to alter his whole character and un-Christ himself. To spurn a coming sinner would un-Jesus him and make him to be somebody else and not himself any longer. ‘He cannot deny himself.’ Go and try him; go and try him.”
C. H. Spurgeon, Treasury of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, 1950), III:862.