December 24th 2024
Count Your Blessing During This Season Of Advent!
Galatians 4:4-5 (NIV)
But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.
God told the prophets about the coming of the Messiah to the Israelites, but they either did not understand the prophecies, or they did not understand what their God given Messiah was supposed to do for them when He arrived? It seemed they were looking for Him to be a military leader who would conquer the Romans and allow them to return to being a powerful nation able to return to the good old days, when they were a world military power and financial power assuring their continued freedom to rule themselves.
It seems the writer of Deuteronomy may have had a clue that their Messiah would be a teacher not a military leader. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. (Deuteronomy 18:15). Of course, this verse says, “You must listen to him.” Then again if you make up your mind about something and refuse to listen to anyone who disagrees with you then they may assume to listen to Him as He teaches how to wage war!
Isaiah was told by God that their Messiah would be given birth by a virgin, and that His mother would call Him Immanuel, which means God with us! Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14). However, we must remember that the Israelites already had witnessed having God with them, as a Spirit of God lead them through the wilderness for 40 years. God’s presence could also be felt and seen as God came into the Tent of Meeting.
Trying to think like God is an impossibility, and some people today seem to think they could have done a better job or creating the universe, and they come to believe in evolutionary theory over the Biblical accounts God gave us for how it was done, and it did not take millions of years, but only thousands. God told Isaiah about the futility of trying to think like God. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. (Isaiah 55:8).
True believers try to understand how to trust that God gave us our Bible with enough information that we can study it and then come to trust God above any member of humankind. Solomon wrote Proverbs based on the knowledge God gave him so he could lead God’s chosen people. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6). As Solomon wrote we need to first try to understand God by studying His Word enough to be able to “lean not on your own understanding.” And I would add or to not trust any human reasoning over God’s Word!
Now let us get back to this time and think and reason in Advent Season mode about who is this baby born of a virgin and coming into this cursed world. Knowing the rest of this story that this baby grew up in the normal way, and He became a carpenter making things out of wood. He lived with a family and had brothers and sisters, as I recall. At about 30 years old He started a ministry, and He selected twelve normal man to assist Him in running His ministry. Along the way before His ministry at His mother’s biding He performed His first miracle by turning water into fine wine, which normally would have taken years of aging to produce such wine. At 12 years of age, He stayed behind when traveling with His earthly parents, and they found Him in the temple learning and teaching the Biblical theologians of that time. They were amazed at His understanding!
Later He told His disciples that they (we) must become one with Him to obtain the power He possessed so they could pass on this miraculous power, He brought into this cursed world. This power can only be possessed and passed on to others only if we become His disciples too! Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5,8). Have you studied His Word as contained in the New Testament books, so that you too can pass forward His thoughts, not your words, but His by being connected to Him?
When Jesus told His disciples that He was going back to be with God the Father! Jesus said, “You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:4-6). Jesus told them, and is telling you, if you claim to be follower of Jesus Christ that He is the Way the only Way for people living today to follow Him to the Paradise of God, when we leave this cursed world and await the new earth, AKA heaven, to be our final destination!
Later when Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst in a locked room, He addressed the unbelief of his disciple named Thomas about His resurrection from the dead. After Jesus showed doubting Thomas, His wounds suffered at His crucifixion to answer his doubts! Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:28-29). No one reading this has the option to see Jesus while still living in this cursed world to quell their doubts about the fact that Jesus did rise from the dead. So, did you get what Jesus said about believing without seeing, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Count your blessing during this season of Advent!
During this Advent Season it is okay to look forward to the presents that SC may bring, remembering these “things” will wear out or become valueless, and you cannot take them with you when you die and leave this temporary place called earth, but thank God for sending His Son our Lord and Savior into this world to offer us all a Way to continue to live forever, with Jesus Christ in heaven. Now that is something for us to thank God for during this Advent Season!
With all the wonderful blessings our Bibles tells us about, John wanted to let us all know that the Bible does not tell us ALL of the blessing Jesus performed as proof of Who He is! John wrote, Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31). Believers have the miracles written in our Bible offered for us to support our belief! However, John offers a boost for us in that “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.” Amen and Amen!
If you need it, here is a boost for your belief in Jesus!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Galatians 4:4-5 (NIV)
But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.
God told the prophets about the coming of the Messiah to the Israelites, but they either did not understand the prophecies, or they did not understand what their God given Messiah was supposed to do for them when He arrived? It seemed they were looking for Him to be a military leader who would conquer the Romans and allow them to return to being a powerful nation able to return to the good old days, when they were a world military power and financial power assuring their continued freedom to rule themselves.
It seems the writer of Deuteronomy may have had a clue that their Messiah would be a teacher not a military leader. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. (Deuteronomy 18:15). Of course, this verse says, “You must listen to him.” Then again if you make up your mind about something and refuse to listen to anyone who disagrees with you then they may assume to listen to Him as He teaches how to wage war!
Isaiah was told by God that their Messiah would be given birth by a virgin, and that His mother would call Him Immanuel, which means God with us! Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14). However, we must remember that the Israelites already had witnessed having God with them, as a Spirit of God lead them through the wilderness for 40 years. God’s presence could also be felt and seen as God came into the Tent of Meeting.
Trying to think like God is an impossibility, and some people today seem to think they could have done a better job or creating the universe, and they come to believe in evolutionary theory over the Biblical accounts God gave us for how it was done, and it did not take millions of years, but only thousands. God told Isaiah about the futility of trying to think like God. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. (Isaiah 55:8).
True believers try to understand how to trust that God gave us our Bible with enough information that we can study it and then come to trust God above any member of humankind. Solomon wrote Proverbs based on the knowledge God gave him so he could lead God’s chosen people. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6). As Solomon wrote we need to first try to understand God by studying His Word enough to be able to “lean not on your own understanding.” And I would add or to not trust any human reasoning over God’s Word!
Now let us get back to this time and think and reason in Advent Season mode about who is this baby born of a virgin and coming into this cursed world. Knowing the rest of this story that this baby grew up in the normal way, and He became a carpenter making things out of wood. He lived with a family and had brothers and sisters, as I recall. At about 30 years old He started a ministry, and He selected twelve normal man to assist Him in running His ministry. Along the way before His ministry at His mother’s biding He performed His first miracle by turning water into fine wine, which normally would have taken years of aging to produce such wine. At 12 years of age, He stayed behind when traveling with His earthly parents, and they found Him in the temple learning and teaching the Biblical theologians of that time. They were amazed at His understanding!
Later He told His disciples that they (we) must become one with Him to obtain the power He possessed so they could pass on this miraculous power, He brought into this cursed world. This power can only be possessed and passed on to others only if we become His disciples too! Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5,8). Have you studied His Word as contained in the New Testament books, so that you too can pass forward His thoughts, not your words, but His by being connected to Him?
When Jesus told His disciples that He was going back to be with God the Father! Jesus said, “You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:4-6). Jesus told them, and is telling you, if you claim to be follower of Jesus Christ that He is the Way the only Way for people living today to follow Him to the Paradise of God, when we leave this cursed world and await the new earth, AKA heaven, to be our final destination!
Later when Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst in a locked room, He addressed the unbelief of his disciple named Thomas about His resurrection from the dead. After Jesus showed doubting Thomas, His wounds suffered at His crucifixion to answer his doubts! Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:28-29). No one reading this has the option to see Jesus while still living in this cursed world to quell their doubts about the fact that Jesus did rise from the dead. So, did you get what Jesus said about believing without seeing, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Count your blessing during this season of Advent!
During this Advent Season it is okay to look forward to the presents that SC may bring, remembering these “things” will wear out or become valueless, and you cannot take them with you when you die and leave this temporary place called earth, but thank God for sending His Son our Lord and Savior into this world to offer us all a Way to continue to live forever, with Jesus Christ in heaven. Now that is something for us to thank God for during this Advent Season!
With all the wonderful blessings our Bibles tells us about, John wanted to let us all know that the Bible does not tell us ALL of the blessing Jesus performed as proof of Who He is! John wrote, Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31). Believers have the miracles written in our Bible offered for us to support our belief! However, John offers a boost for us in that “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.” Amen and Amen!
If you need it, here is a boost for your belief in Jesus!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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