24 Saturday Dec 2011
Tags
birth of Christ, Christmas, Christmas story, gospel, Jesus, longings end, michael kimball, sheila kimball
We thought an audio post would be the most fitting for Christmas. From our home to yours… Merry Christmas!
~michael & sheila
A Christmas Story: a reading from Isaiah and Luke
21 Wednesday Dec 2011
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.
Now it came about, while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear gripped him.
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or liquor; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, while yet in his mother’s womb. And he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
(Luke 1:5-17 NASB)
In reading Luke’s account of the Christmas story I’ve lingered over this early passage, enjoying another opportunity for the Spirit of God to order my thoughts—just as He is wont to do for all who seek Him.
A childless Zacharias and Elizabeth are getting on in years when, by the Lord’s decree of the lot, Zacharias is tapped for the priestly service of burning incense in the temple. Gabriel, an angel of the Lord appears, telling him that his prayer has been heard and Elizabeth is to bear him a son.
Wow!
It comes to me that this couple—who have loved and obeyed the Lord all their lives—have likely been praying for a child for years without any apparent answer. Until now.
Their son is to be born at an amazing point in human history: a time concurrent with the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. And not only will their boy grow up to behold the Messiah, he will declare Him, “…the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” for John is to be a prophet in the spirit and power of Elijah. The very fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy at the close of the Old Testament. The long years of silence between the Old and New Testaments are coming to an end. The season of rejoicing is at hand!
Had a child been granted to them years earlier I’m sure they would have been delighted. But maybe, just maybe they had prayed for a special child, one that would make a difference in the world. A son whose heart would be wholly devoted to the Lord! If so, then Gabriel’s pronouncement epitomizes persevering prayer; trusting God with the form and fulfillment of the petition sought no matter how long it takes or impossible the situation appears to be. For, as the name “John” implies, the Lord is gracious and full of mercy, freely giving to those in need.
~michael
08 Sunday May 2011
“And this He was saying to test him…” (John 6:6)
A lot of people were flocking to Jesus because of the signs He was performing on the sick. With the hungry multitude surrounding them, Jesus turns to Philip and asks him a question, to test him. “Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?”
Why Philip? And why a test?
Before reaching the sixth chapter of the gospel of John, we find in chapter one a proclamation about Jesus that Philip makes to his friend, Nathaniel. “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (v45)
Pretty heady stuff this finding of the Messiah, the One alluded to as the promise of God by Moses as well as the Old Testament prophets. And what good is a verbal declaration without an opportunity, a test, to see if someone really believes the words they have so boldly declared?
Why Philip? Because he made a proclamation of faith, a bold assertion about the person of Jesus Christ. Why a test? Because Philip needed an opportunity to see how sincerely he believed the words he had uttered.
The more I think about it, the more it seems to me that every trial God allows us to face in life could be considered in part a test, daring us to believe ‒ either what we say we believe about Him or what He declares is true about Himself in His own word, the Bible.
So what if we fail the test? School continues and the queued up lessons God has prepared for us in advance go on.
When asked by Jesus where they were to buy bread enough to feed the multitude, Philip didn’t reply by saying something like, “No problem, Jesus. You are the bread of life, God in the form of a man. The situations that look impossible to me are the very situations you show yourself glorious beyond words.” No. What Philip actually said was, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.”
Jesus queued it up for Philip again in chapter fourteen although he didn’t do much better then, either. You’re a lot like me, Philip.
School continues for, after all, love never fails…
~m
01 Sunday May 2011
“The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.” (John the Baptist ‒ John 3:35)
“All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” (Jesus the Christ ‒ John 6:37)
I find myself struck by the grand possibilities these two verses conjure up in my mind’s eye. Far from any sense that God has chosen but a small segment of the creatures He made in His own image to be reconciled to Himself through His Son, it speaks to me of a plan of more amazing breadth. Nor is it singular, as if the Gospels, or even the New Testament in general, are absent of such indications of grandeur.
Try something new. Read the four gospels, emptying your mind of all you have been taught by others and allow yourself, with the aid of God’s gracious Spirit, to consider anew the good news of Jesus, the Savior of the world. (John 3:17, 1 John 2:2)
~m
