Luke 2:10 But the angel said to them ''Do not be afraid! I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people''.
Them message above was delivered by an angel of the Lord to the shepherds the night when Jesus was born.
The birth of Jesus, for me, was one of the greatest demonstrations of how much love God has for us. A love that was so much willing to take the very nature of human and die on the cross just to bring back the br0ken relati0nship with Him. And that Jesus who was for me the very image of love, the human form of love, for God is love.
God is for us!
That is why Jesus came to this w0rld almost 2000 years ago.
To know that God is for us will entirely change our perpective on life. We will stop thinking of God as someone looking down from behind the big clouds, ready to yell 'gotcha' anytime we make mistakes or everytime we mess up.
Instead we will realize God loves us; God is with us; and God is for us! God is for our success in life; he created us for a purpose and he wants us to succeed. It is God, our creator, who will measure our success in life, and no one else.
This is extremely good news!
It means we do not need to be afraid of God because God is for us. Yet some people are so afraid of God they get nervous just talking about him.
Do you kn0w why? They feel guilty, and then they start thinking ''if I get close to God, He is going to lecture me. He's going to remind me of h0w bad I am with all the things I have done wr0ng then I feel even worse''
Nothing could be further from the truth of God. Jesus said '' I didn't come into the world to condemn it, but to save it'' in effect, Jesus is saying '' I didn't come to scold you, I came to save you''.
And if God is with us and for us then who can be against us?
The arrival of this Jesus into the world is to save people not to scare us. That's why when the angel was telling the shepherds about the birth of Jesus, the first thing he said was ''Don't be afraid''.
Pastor Rick Warren said: ''When God sends a message to people in the bible, it's not unusual for the first words to be ''Don't be afraid''. There are 365 messages from God in the bible that begin with a phrase like ''Fear not'', in other words, every single day of the year you can read a message from God that says in effect ''you don't havd to be afraid, I am for you, I am with you and I love you''
Let us put in our mind that we celebrate Christmas because of this good news from God!
Dec 20, 2008
Dec 12, 2008
Why Jesus is the Immanuel?
Have you ever thought why Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23 refer to a name Immanuel that will be given to Jesus yet Jesus was never called and named Immanuel when he was born?
Isaiah 7:14 ''therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the virgin will be with a child and will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel''
Matthew 1:22-23 ''all this took place to fullfill what the Lord had said through the prophet; The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel which means ''GOD IS WITH US''
Whey Jesus named Jesus and not Immanuel?
Let us take a look at these passages...
Matthew 1:21 ''she will give birth to a son and you are to give him name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins''
The passage above was told to Joseph through a dream by an angel of the Lord. Another passage from Luke 1:31 when the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary. ''you will be with a child and will give birth to a son and you are to give him name Jesus''
What Jesus and Immanuel mean?
Jesus is a greek name that means ''SAVIOUR''. And is a form of the hebrew name ''Joshua'' that means ''THE LORD SAVES'', while Immanuel means ''GOD IS WITH US''.
Jesus is the Immanuel! Why?
Have you ever been to a baby dedication where the child's full name is announced to everyone, and the baby has three or four different names?
Sometimes there may five or six names in the middle?
The baby Jesus was like that; God gave him several names to tell us about the character of Christ and the purpose of his life. One of Jesus' names is ''Immanuel'' it means ''GOD WITH US'' (Matthew 1:23)
He is with us always and forever and he will never leave us and he will never abandon us (Hebrews 13:5)
You may have been abandoned in life by your parents or your spouse or your children or your friends. Because of that abandonment, you approach this christmas in pain and full of heartache. But the bible says God will never abandon you.
Everyone else may abandon you but not God. You may not feel God's presence in your life right now but that is no indication that God is not there, he is with you - even now unto the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
Would you be surprised to hear that God hates loneliness?
He not only hates loneliness, he understands what it means to be lonely. The bible records that when God created man he said ''it isn't good for man to be alone'' (Genesis 2:18).
Loneliness is not an issue unique to you or to people who are single. There are many married people who are painfully, desperately lonely. You feel lonely because God created you to need people in your life - but regardless of how many friends you have - your loneliness will still remain until you are intimately connected to God.
The good news is this: because of the birth of Jesus, you now know that God is with you, and never have to face another day alone. God being near removes your fear. You don't have to worry, you don't have to sweat it, you don't have to be anxious about what's going to happen.
You may not feel like God is with you, in fact some days, you may not feel like he's on the planet! But his presence in your life has nothing to do with your feelings.
Through the birth of Jesus, God says '' I am going to give you hope'' If you are lonely this christmas, let Jesus fill the emptiness in your heart.
Isaiah 7:14 ''therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the virgin will be with a child and will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel''
Matthew 1:22-23 ''all this took place to fullfill what the Lord had said through the prophet; The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel which means ''GOD IS WITH US''
Whey Jesus named Jesus and not Immanuel?
Let us take a look at these passages...
Matthew 1:21 ''she will give birth to a son and you are to give him name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins''
The passage above was told to Joseph through a dream by an angel of the Lord. Another passage from Luke 1:31 when the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary. ''you will be with a child and will give birth to a son and you are to give him name Jesus''
What Jesus and Immanuel mean?
Jesus is a greek name that means ''SAVIOUR''. And is a form of the hebrew name ''Joshua'' that means ''THE LORD SAVES'', while Immanuel means ''GOD IS WITH US''.
Jesus is the Immanuel! Why?
Have you ever been to a baby dedication where the child's full name is announced to everyone, and the baby has three or four different names?
Sometimes there may five or six names in the middle?
The baby Jesus was like that; God gave him several names to tell us about the character of Christ and the purpose of his life. One of Jesus' names is ''Immanuel'' it means ''GOD WITH US'' (Matthew 1:23)
He is with us always and forever and he will never leave us and he will never abandon us (Hebrews 13:5)
You may have been abandoned in life by your parents or your spouse or your children or your friends. Because of that abandonment, you approach this christmas in pain and full of heartache. But the bible says God will never abandon you.
Everyone else may abandon you but not God. You may not feel God's presence in your life right now but that is no indication that God is not there, he is with you - even now unto the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
Would you be surprised to hear that God hates loneliness?
He not only hates loneliness, he understands what it means to be lonely. The bible records that when God created man he said ''it isn't good for man to be alone'' (Genesis 2:18).
Loneliness is not an issue unique to you or to people who are single. There are many married people who are painfully, desperately lonely. You feel lonely because God created you to need people in your life - but regardless of how many friends you have - your loneliness will still remain until you are intimately connected to God.
The good news is this: because of the birth of Jesus, you now know that God is with you, and never have to face another day alone. God being near removes your fear. You don't have to worry, you don't have to sweat it, you don't have to be anxious about what's going to happen.
You may not feel like God is with you, in fact some days, you may not feel like he's on the planet! But his presence in your life has nothing to do with your feelings.
Through the birth of Jesus, God says '' I am going to give you hope'' If you are lonely this christmas, let Jesus fill the emptiness in your heart.
Dec 9, 2008
Beware Of The Christmas Symptoms!
As I am writing this blog we have 16 days, 3 hours, 22 minutes and 25 seconds remaining time before the celebration of our Saviour's birthday!
Christmas is just around the corner. And the season's spirit is being reminded us of by some of the following...
- Christmas songs being played on the radio in different frequencies.
- The seasonal blows of the wind.
- Churches conducting "Simbang Gabi" (Night Mass)
-13Th month pay/Christmas bonus
- School and office Christmas parties
-Christmas lights are displayed on every neighbor's house
-Christmas shopping
-tiangge
- What else? =)
But those are not the only things that we are observing today as Christmas' day is coming. There are some things that we should be more aware of especially on the very day of Christmas!!
Let me provide you some of those symptoms that will entirely invade your whole being unnoticed, come and take a look...
Be alert for symptoms of inner hope, peace and joy that can occur around this time of year.
Symptoms include:
A TENDENCY to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.
AN UNMISTAKABLE ability to enjoy the moment.
A LOSS of interest in judging others.
A LOSS of the ability to worry. (Very serious)
FREQUENT, overwhelming episodes of gratitude and peace.
CONTENTED feelings of connection with others.
AN INCREASING tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
AN INCREASED susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.
BELIEF in the Christmas angels’ message that we should be unafraid, whatever happens.
WARNING: There is no antidote.
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