“No one has ever heard, no one has paid attention, and no one has seen any god except you. You help those who wait for you. You greeted the one who gladly does right and remembers your ways. You showed your anger, because we've sinned. We've continued to sin for a long time. Can we still be saved? We've all become unclean, and all our righteous acts are like permanently stained rags. All of us shrivel like leaves, and our sins carry us away like the wind. No one calls on your name or tries to hold on to you. You have hidden your face from us. You have let us be ruined by our sins. But now, LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are our potter. We are the work of your hands. Don't be too angry, LORD. Don't remember our sin forever. Now look, we are all your people. Your holy cities have become a desert. Zion has become a desert. Jerusalem is a wasteland. Our holy and beautiful temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned to the ground. All that we valued has been ruined. Despite these things, LORD, will you hold back? Will you be silent and make us suffer more than we can bear?” (Isaiah 64:4-12 GW)
“No eye had ever seen such a God as Yahweh; one who so richly rewarded those who put their trust in him.” Albert Barnes says in reference to Isaiah’s writing, “In the Hebrew, the word rendered ‘O God,’ may be either in the accusative or vocative case, and the sense is, that Yahweh was a more glorious rewarder and protector than any of the gods which had ever been worshipped by the nations.”
Paul references this scripture in 1 Corinthians 2:9; “But as Scripture says: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him." (GW)
The Hebrew text and Septuagint do not have the phrase “no one has paid attention”, which in other translations is rendered “neither hath it entered into the heart of man,” and the other “no one has ever heard,” is repeated without emphasis; “nor perceived by the ear,” after, “never have heard”. The apocryphal books, Ascension of Esaiah and the Apocalypse of Elias have both phrases.
As we gather in our homes, I cannot help but wonder how secularized even the Christian celebration of the birth of our Savior has become, even within the boundaries of my own home. There is not, atheist or religious, any one who does not know what the ‘Christian’ meaning of this celebration is. Yet, we celebrate this birthday with frantic shopping, drink and song; acting as different people amid the snowy covered streets and decked halls. We have truly lost the entire ‘reason for the season’ amongst the ‘expectations’ of our cultural identity.
Yet, it is mankind that has received (whether taken or not) the invaluable gift that was born out upon a cross some thirty plus years later, in Jerusalem, at the desire of the very people who hoped for the Messiah promised in the sacred text. Some, like the apostles, received the doctrine of Christ as Divine and saw not a plain, boring history of a good man or awesome teacher but the deep and loving design of a Heavenly Father who was delivering on His promise. But it is the text in Isaiah that draws me this Christmas eve.
What was hidden from the sinful world of Christ’s time, seemingly plainly spoken in distant prophecies, was revealed during that time of Christ’s ministry on this world to the people of all ages, all nations and all cultures. That He was the Lord of glory, a title that no man (or woman) could ever honestly attain. But, do we truly believe it? Do we, all people…even myself…honor the birth of Christ with the weight and understanding now available to us? Or do we speak the very thoughts of those who knew Christ, “Isn’t he the carpenter’s son?” and nothing more?
I know some do; those have come into my life with an impact that is undeniably Christ inspired and God directed. With understanding and love that is beyond the human reasoning for its existence, they have given of themselves to a man who is struggling like so many others without reservation and cause; simply because the wisdom of God has directed them to do so, even though that man struggles with the weight of the trials set upon him; imperfectly and brokenly.
There are many things we, as children of God, would not do and would do if the understanding of the wisdom of God, the love of that Heavenly Father, was truly realized in the core of our beings.
Some mock the very idea that God, this all-powerful Being, would chose to deliver the ‘salvation of the world’ in the form of a human baby….to a poor family of modest origins in the cultural climate of a captive nation. That the wisdom of this Creator, work through the human form of Christ, would not impact the world with the undeniable power of His abilities but rather would cause His only Begotten Son to be born in such a manner as this. And yet, He did.
God, with an understanding that has been revealed to us throughout the ages, brought to the world the salvation that it needs because of the anger and sorrow caused by the original sin that has stained the landscape of our lives from the moment of expulsion from the Garden through the actions of our forbearers, Adam and Eve. But, this was only the beginning of the plan that God has for us, and only the start of the blessings that He will render to us if we will only partake, if we will only open the present presented to us thirty-three years later upon a cross of tremendous pain and sorrow. These things God has waiting for those who love and wait for Him to return……but do not wait until that return to be rendered. Waiting under the Tree of life, wrapped with pretty bows and garnished ribbons……
“If we were more consistent, more devoted to the Lord, and more zealous for His Kingdom and righteousness,” T.M. Moore, Principal of the Fellowship of Ailbe, says “then we would not be able to keep from calling for the repentance and renewal our generation of Christians sorely needs.”
Instead of trying to rewrite the Scriptures, to gain a human understanding of the Divine, it is those who take the Words of God, understood or shrouded in mystery, as fact; regardless of the harsh, anti-cultural way it appears that will realize those prettily wrapped presents under the Tree are in fact to be opened in the continual celebration of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Lord and King of all Creation and kinsman to those who believe. And the biggest present of all, beautifully wrapped and proudly displayed as the centerpiece amidst the decorations, is yet to be gotten to………
To partake of those gifts is to partake of the suffering, the pain, that our Savior endured; in the birth as a human baby, the long life lived in that human form with the power of His Divinity, and His willful death of immense torture and pain for those who had denied His rightful title and those yet to be born. In our own lives, to pick up the rough cross of abused wood, coarse and painful in its embracing, and trod in the imprint of the steps of the One we claim to follow.
“I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his children. For creation was condemned to lose its purpose, not of its own will, but because God willed it to be so. Yet there was the hope that creation itself would one day be set free from its slavery to decay and would share the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Romans 8:18-21 GNB)
Like children all around the world who eagerly await the coming day, when those garishly wrapped presents in multicolored paper, adorned with ribbons and bows, and labeled with their names can be opened and the contents within revealed………we who know the Lord and His Father, feel the quickening in our hearts fired by the power and whispering of the Holy Spirit as the blessings of our Father are revealed amidst the pain and suffering of the current age. We spend our time in a constant state of alertness and expectation for that time when we will open the greatest present of all……….
The coming Kingdom of the One and True King to renewal all of creation once broken because of man’s sin and the redemption of all of His children.
Kind of makes that Playstation, the HD TV, that hard-sought gift or the needs of today pale by comparison, doesn’t it?
May you have a warm celebration gathered with families and friends this Christmas day. May the blessings of the Lord and King be wrapped around you as a warm, fuzzy blanket…giving warmth and love among the blowing storms of this life. And as we watch those we love and cherish open the presents, eat the food and bask in the reflection of our love; remembering those who are far away from home, those who have gone to their eternal reward and wait for us to join them and those who are broken and hurt in our community with job losses, financial strains and worldly worries; let us truly realize the celebration we partake of that day….and every day following.
Born to us this day, a child, promised and purposed to deliver to all of mankind the greatest gift of all……..
Eternal life
Wednesday, December 24
Saturday, December 20
Prayer
“For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us. He shoulders responsibility and is called: Extraordinary Strategist, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His dominion will be vast and he will bring immeasurable prosperity. He will rule on David's throne and over David's kingdom, establishing it and strengthening it by promoting justice and fairness, from this time forward and forevermore. The LORD's intense devotion to his people will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7 NET.)
I have been thinking of a way to express anew the miracle and the impact of the birth that we celebrate as Christians this 25th of December as Jesus Christ’s birthday. That God, in so much love, would cause a virgin to be pregnant with the very begotten Son to be born of woman, yet still fully God, is an event that still astounds me to this day.
I have spent a sleepless night; the trials and tribulations of this ending year have reached another milestone of heaviness and sorrow, for me….the person who is struggling to be a good steward of their finances, a good father, and a godly man. With all the strides I have made in the last few months by the blessings and encouragement of others, it seems impossibly unfair that a ‘random’ event that I had no way to avoid and no reason to suspect it’s coming would bring me right back to square one and the potential loss of every gain I have made.
It seems that I have been born to live on the cutting edge of impending doom and gloom. And yet, I am seizing hold of that promised peace and joy.
This Wednesday past, we were blanketed with a little taste of winter. About three to five inches of snow covered the ground as I departed my humble little apartment, as I have done since we moved here in September, from the little village of Holly enroute to my work in Allen Park, about an hour and fifteen minute journey. Not three miles from my home, I saw the headlights of a car that had slid off the road into a yard.
As I slowed down to see if the driver was in need of assistance, my car was rocked and lifted a few inches off the ground. I stopped a few feet further and retraced my route. Lying off to the side, now, was a large landscaping rock which had been apparently thrown into the roadway by the car that was now idling on the banked lawn of a home. I discovered another rock, which I had apparently missed and put both of them well off the road so that another vehicle wouldn’t hit them as I had. Checking with the driver, and getting a “I’m okay”, I got back into my vehicle and said a quick prayer of thanks that the driver was okay, that my car seemed to be okay, and that I hadn’t had worse happen that just a little ‘scare’ thrown my way.
The car seemed to be okay and drove normally all the way to work. When I got to my job, I checked it over quickly and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I drove home that night and to work the following day without any issues. I had indeed been blessed.
The blessings that have abound in my life since the life-altering events that had destroyed the world I once knew; the separation and impending divorce from my wife, the failure of one vehicle, the engine destruction of its replacement, the financial stresses and worries, the decision to let my daughter stay with her birth mother –separating the two children because of the impact the havoc of having to move twice since the separation, my son’s sorrow and increasing special needs, and the self-destruction of the industry that my job is a part of (automotive) that seemed to make more real the yearly worry of not having a job come the new year…….throughout these sorrowful and painful events, God showed through the working of His servants that He had me, my children, my ex-wife, and all the futures of each in the palm of His hand.
Facing the impossibility of moving; no money, no car, the inability to stay where I was, no prospect for a place to move to and no reason to suspect any of that would change, I prayed and asked my brothers and sisters in Christ to pray also. A woman travelled to my work, giving me a card filled with 10 $100 bills, which gave me enough to buy the car that I mentioned, because the owner accepted my request that he take a substantial cut in his asking price. A sister in Christ, who in the past gave me the funds to attend the IFOC Chaplaincy program, sent $200 dollars to help. The scrap yard who gave me just enough for the vehicle with the blown engine, $300.00, and a brother who gave me another $400.00 and helped me load the trailer with all my possessions. All these blessings worked, along with God giving me a landlord who would rent to me, the ability to move my son and I to Holly to a two bedroom apartment of fairly decent accommodations. God showed in a powerful and impacting way that I was His child through the blessings of others.
A brother heard of my need for clothing for my son and a group went out and purchased new clothes for him (telling me that they were used, hand-me downs from his son until I picked them up and discovered otherwise). Another brother, who two years ago I attending a life-changing event called a men’s story weekend through the Awakened Hearts ministry and I hadn’t seen since, blessed me with a month’s worth of rent for December.
As I have written my blog, and the time grew closer to the celebration of Christmas; I have spoken of these blessings and my learning to be blessed by the blessings of God through the work of others. I was not worried about presents under the tree for myself, because the presents had been given already…..one of my biggest beefs of the “Christmas season” is that we act differently at this time of year when Christ would rather have us bless others with the feelings, the gifts, and the fellowship common to this season the entire year……and I was happy to focus on the true meaning of the season celebration; the beginning of the redemption of mankind and the prophesied coming of the Messiah.
Coming home from work Thursday, it seemed the remark from a brother came into reality. He said, after an event that seemed random and impossible, said that I was the unluckiest person he knew. I started my travel home from my job and about a half-hour into it, my car started acting like it was in trouble. Grinding came from the transmission and then went away. I could shift and stop with no problem and the clutch seemed to work without issue, so I continued home. When I got there, the grinding was back.
I decided, with the impending winter storm that was to dump 7-10 inches on the ground and this problem, that I would take Friday off of work and take the car to the shop to have the transmission checked. I prayed for guidance and for mercy in this problem and contently went to sleep that night feeling assured that all would work out.
The following morning, with school cancelled for a snow day, my son and I went out to go to the repair shop two miles from home to have the car looked at. A quarter mile into the journey, the car bucked and stopped. It wouldn’t move and I was smack dab in the middle of a busy street….in a snow storm….
A friend came and pushed me out of the road, where I had a tow truck sent by the officers of the Holly Police who stopped to render assistance. We travelled to the repair facility and arranged to have the car looked at. Me and my son went home, helped dig out our neighbor on the ground floor and settled in to spend some time together.
I sent a prayer request out to the campus pastor and lead pastor of my new church, The River, here in Holly and cooked dinner for me and my son….well, my son cooked with a nervous father standing over him….. I answered the offer of a breakfast fellowship with a brother in Christ in the ministry called M3 and spent the day with my son………
And then I got the call from the repair facility. It would take 1780, minimum, to fix my vehicle because the rock that I had hit on Wednesday had hit the exposed transmission case and cracked it. All the fluid had leaked out over the next day and the clutch was ‘smoked’. If, once they got into the repair, there were other parts needed the price would, of course, go up. I have exactly $0 for such a repair.
It has been a depressing yesterday for me, sick with a coming cold and stressed about how I am going to keep a job that I don’t have the ability to get to anymore; the loss of at least three unpaid days because I could work Friday and will miss both Monday and Tuesday before the layoff for the end of the year takes effect. I have spent the night tossing and turning, praying and pondering, and have felt the need to write down this prayer request to send to those faithful and powerful warriors of our Almighty Lord, Savior, and King who’s birth we gather on the 25th of December to celebrate with family, friends, and our brethren of the faith.
Because of the actions of my son, Casey. Because of the words of wisdom that he spoke with compassion and defying belief yesterday as I worried and fretted about this dilemma.
“Don’t worry, Daddy, Jesus will save us.”
I told him that, while Jesus would help us in this situation, the outcome may be different from our expectations. But I realized in the dawning of this new day, that God had already given me the assurance once more that He does indeed have me and my son, my daughter and all of us firmly within the plan of His salvation for all of His fallen and broken children. Whatever the outcome of this latest crisis in the life of His servant; whether I am homeless, jobless, carless……I am indeed saved.
I send this to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to speak what God has spoken to my heart this day……….
In the coming week, we gather together with loved ones, serve our less fortunate brethren in various ways, fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ or reach out to those in need; and celebrate the birth of a baby that was wrapped in swaddling clothing, proclaimed through the heavenly sound of an angelic host, and witnessed by the lowly shepherds as he lay in a manager amidst the sounds of the livestock he displaced; amidst the discarded wrapping paper and the joyful sounds of our loved ones reflecting upon the heartfelt gifts we have given them…..let us remember the reason we gather, whose birthday we honor and remember. Despite the economic worries, the president-elect’s promised agenda, and the daily struggle that all of us, not just me, face; losing homes, jobs, livelihoods.
Because God gave us His only Begotten Son, who became flesh for the salvation of all mankind…..through the human experience of birth, life and death……and because this Son of God, this King, and this Messiah will come again to permanently establish the Kingdom of His Father upon the renewed creation with the sons and daughters redeemed by His blood.
Please pray this day that God will move in His way; no only in my life, but the lives of your neighbors, family, and friends. That His hand will be felt in an undeniable way to those who still don’t know Him and the reason we celebrate Christmas. That He will renew within those who know Him the joyful powerful impact and blessing that came in the form of a baby boy to the Virgin Mary and her husband Joseph in a little town of Bethlehem…
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty King, Messiah…….
“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
I would ask the faithful to lift those in need, not only me and this need, up to the Almighty, that His blessing in this moment will not just impact me but bring into realization for those who need it of the love, mercy, and joy that He holds for those who will just partake of the salvation gift born on this Christmas day so long ago.
I pray that the coming celebration of the birth of our Savior is renewed within each of us; a child in swaddling clothing, of poor beginnings, who was the One who would save the world through His sacrifice upon the Cross of wood. I pray that each and every one of us facing the uncertain future of manmade designs would find the peace that comes from the assurance that our future is written in the Book of Life, and our names will be called by the Savior at the time of His Father’s choosing. I pray for peaceful fellowship, blessed relationship, and a joyful gathering on Christmas Day.
Thank you, my brothers and sisters in Christ.
In joyful proclamation of the birth of our Savior,
Jim Hutson
I have been thinking of a way to express anew the miracle and the impact of the birth that we celebrate as Christians this 25th of December as Jesus Christ’s birthday. That God, in so much love, would cause a virgin to be pregnant with the very begotten Son to be born of woman, yet still fully God, is an event that still astounds me to this day.
I have spent a sleepless night; the trials and tribulations of this ending year have reached another milestone of heaviness and sorrow, for me….the person who is struggling to be a good steward of their finances, a good father, and a godly man. With all the strides I have made in the last few months by the blessings and encouragement of others, it seems impossibly unfair that a ‘random’ event that I had no way to avoid and no reason to suspect it’s coming would bring me right back to square one and the potential loss of every gain I have made.
It seems that I have been born to live on the cutting edge of impending doom and gloom. And yet, I am seizing hold of that promised peace and joy.
This Wednesday past, we were blanketed with a little taste of winter. About three to five inches of snow covered the ground as I departed my humble little apartment, as I have done since we moved here in September, from the little village of Holly enroute to my work in Allen Park, about an hour and fifteen minute journey. Not three miles from my home, I saw the headlights of a car that had slid off the road into a yard.
As I slowed down to see if the driver was in need of assistance, my car was rocked and lifted a few inches off the ground. I stopped a few feet further and retraced my route. Lying off to the side, now, was a large landscaping rock which had been apparently thrown into the roadway by the car that was now idling on the banked lawn of a home. I discovered another rock, which I had apparently missed and put both of them well off the road so that another vehicle wouldn’t hit them as I had. Checking with the driver, and getting a “I’m okay”, I got back into my vehicle and said a quick prayer of thanks that the driver was okay, that my car seemed to be okay, and that I hadn’t had worse happen that just a little ‘scare’ thrown my way.
The car seemed to be okay and drove normally all the way to work. When I got to my job, I checked it over quickly and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I drove home that night and to work the following day without any issues. I had indeed been blessed.
The blessings that have abound in my life since the life-altering events that had destroyed the world I once knew; the separation and impending divorce from my wife, the failure of one vehicle, the engine destruction of its replacement, the financial stresses and worries, the decision to let my daughter stay with her birth mother –separating the two children because of the impact the havoc of having to move twice since the separation, my son’s sorrow and increasing special needs, and the self-destruction of the industry that my job is a part of (automotive) that seemed to make more real the yearly worry of not having a job come the new year…….throughout these sorrowful and painful events, God showed through the working of His servants that He had me, my children, my ex-wife, and all the futures of each in the palm of His hand.
Facing the impossibility of moving; no money, no car, the inability to stay where I was, no prospect for a place to move to and no reason to suspect any of that would change, I prayed and asked my brothers and sisters in Christ to pray also. A woman travelled to my work, giving me a card filled with 10 $100 bills, which gave me enough to buy the car that I mentioned, because the owner accepted my request that he take a substantial cut in his asking price. A sister in Christ, who in the past gave me the funds to attend the IFOC Chaplaincy program, sent $200 dollars to help. The scrap yard who gave me just enough for the vehicle with the blown engine, $300.00, and a brother who gave me another $400.00 and helped me load the trailer with all my possessions. All these blessings worked, along with God giving me a landlord who would rent to me, the ability to move my son and I to Holly to a two bedroom apartment of fairly decent accommodations. God showed in a powerful and impacting way that I was His child through the blessings of others.
A brother heard of my need for clothing for my son and a group went out and purchased new clothes for him (telling me that they were used, hand-me downs from his son until I picked them up and discovered otherwise). Another brother, who two years ago I attending a life-changing event called a men’s story weekend through the Awakened Hearts ministry and I hadn’t seen since, blessed me with a month’s worth of rent for December.
As I have written my blog, and the time grew closer to the celebration of Christmas; I have spoken of these blessings and my learning to be blessed by the blessings of God through the work of others. I was not worried about presents under the tree for myself, because the presents had been given already…..one of my biggest beefs of the “Christmas season” is that we act differently at this time of year when Christ would rather have us bless others with the feelings, the gifts, and the fellowship common to this season the entire year……and I was happy to focus on the true meaning of the season celebration; the beginning of the redemption of mankind and the prophesied coming of the Messiah.
Coming home from work Thursday, it seemed the remark from a brother came into reality. He said, after an event that seemed random and impossible, said that I was the unluckiest person he knew. I started my travel home from my job and about a half-hour into it, my car started acting like it was in trouble. Grinding came from the transmission and then went away. I could shift and stop with no problem and the clutch seemed to work without issue, so I continued home. When I got there, the grinding was back.
I decided, with the impending winter storm that was to dump 7-10 inches on the ground and this problem, that I would take Friday off of work and take the car to the shop to have the transmission checked. I prayed for guidance and for mercy in this problem and contently went to sleep that night feeling assured that all would work out.
The following morning, with school cancelled for a snow day, my son and I went out to go to the repair shop two miles from home to have the car looked at. A quarter mile into the journey, the car bucked and stopped. It wouldn’t move and I was smack dab in the middle of a busy street….in a snow storm….
A friend came and pushed me out of the road, where I had a tow truck sent by the officers of the Holly Police who stopped to render assistance. We travelled to the repair facility and arranged to have the car looked at. Me and my son went home, helped dig out our neighbor on the ground floor and settled in to spend some time together.
I sent a prayer request out to the campus pastor and lead pastor of my new church, The River, here in Holly and cooked dinner for me and my son….well, my son cooked with a nervous father standing over him….. I answered the offer of a breakfast fellowship with a brother in Christ in the ministry called M3 and spent the day with my son………
And then I got the call from the repair facility. It would take 1780, minimum, to fix my vehicle because the rock that I had hit on Wednesday had hit the exposed transmission case and cracked it. All the fluid had leaked out over the next day and the clutch was ‘smoked’. If, once they got into the repair, there were other parts needed the price would, of course, go up. I have exactly $0 for such a repair.
It has been a depressing yesterday for me, sick with a coming cold and stressed about how I am going to keep a job that I don’t have the ability to get to anymore; the loss of at least three unpaid days because I could work Friday and will miss both Monday and Tuesday before the layoff for the end of the year takes effect. I have spent the night tossing and turning, praying and pondering, and have felt the need to write down this prayer request to send to those faithful and powerful warriors of our Almighty Lord, Savior, and King who’s birth we gather on the 25th of December to celebrate with family, friends, and our brethren of the faith.
Because of the actions of my son, Casey. Because of the words of wisdom that he spoke with compassion and defying belief yesterday as I worried and fretted about this dilemma.
“Don’t worry, Daddy, Jesus will save us.”
I told him that, while Jesus would help us in this situation, the outcome may be different from our expectations. But I realized in the dawning of this new day, that God had already given me the assurance once more that He does indeed have me and my son, my daughter and all of us firmly within the plan of His salvation for all of His fallen and broken children. Whatever the outcome of this latest crisis in the life of His servant; whether I am homeless, jobless, carless……I am indeed saved.
I send this to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to speak what God has spoken to my heart this day……….
In the coming week, we gather together with loved ones, serve our less fortunate brethren in various ways, fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ or reach out to those in need; and celebrate the birth of a baby that was wrapped in swaddling clothing, proclaimed through the heavenly sound of an angelic host, and witnessed by the lowly shepherds as he lay in a manager amidst the sounds of the livestock he displaced; amidst the discarded wrapping paper and the joyful sounds of our loved ones reflecting upon the heartfelt gifts we have given them…..let us remember the reason we gather, whose birthday we honor and remember. Despite the economic worries, the president-elect’s promised agenda, and the daily struggle that all of us, not just me, face; losing homes, jobs, livelihoods.
Because God gave us His only Begotten Son, who became flesh for the salvation of all mankind…..through the human experience of birth, life and death……and because this Son of God, this King, and this Messiah will come again to permanently establish the Kingdom of His Father upon the renewed creation with the sons and daughters redeemed by His blood.
Please pray this day that God will move in His way; no only in my life, but the lives of your neighbors, family, and friends. That His hand will be felt in an undeniable way to those who still don’t know Him and the reason we celebrate Christmas. That He will renew within those who know Him the joyful powerful impact and blessing that came in the form of a baby boy to the Virgin Mary and her husband Joseph in a little town of Bethlehem…
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty King, Messiah…….
“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
I would ask the faithful to lift those in need, not only me and this need, up to the Almighty, that His blessing in this moment will not just impact me but bring into realization for those who need it of the love, mercy, and joy that He holds for those who will just partake of the salvation gift born on this Christmas day so long ago.
I pray that the coming celebration of the birth of our Savior is renewed within each of us; a child in swaddling clothing, of poor beginnings, who was the One who would save the world through His sacrifice upon the Cross of wood. I pray that each and every one of us facing the uncertain future of manmade designs would find the peace that comes from the assurance that our future is written in the Book of Life, and our names will be called by the Savior at the time of His Father’s choosing. I pray for peaceful fellowship, blessed relationship, and a joyful gathering on Christmas Day.
Thank you, my brothers and sisters in Christ.
In joyful proclamation of the birth of our Savior,
Jim Hutson
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