Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Jesus Christ-The Real focus of Christmas

Jesus Christ-The Real Focus of Christmas
Mat 1:23 (KJV)
Behold, a virgin shall be with child,
and shall bring forth a son,
and they shall call his name Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is,
God with us.

Dear Friends in Christ,
It's not the presents, it's not the shopping, it's not the parties and the drinking, it's not the reindeer and the Santas and elves and sleighs; Christmas is the celebration of the Incarnation of Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, taking on human flesh so that He could sacrifice Himself for our sins, and thereby appease the wrath of God which could have sent us all to Hell.

This year, as no other year in my memory, Christmas and everything to do with it is under attack. There are school boards who are outlawing the singing of Christmas carols or playing any kind of instrumental music, even Handel's Messiah, on school property, (while they gleefully celebrate Qansa and Ramadan in the name of "Diversity"). Somehow, "we" don't want to "offend" these culturally diverse peoples and ethnic groups, while it is perfectly alright to offend Christians by denying our right to celebrate the most important Holy Day in our religion. Haven't we just had enough of this hypocrisy and repression?

Isn't it time we stood up and said,

"I don't care what the consequences are, Jesus Christ is Lord, and I am not afraid to say so!!!"

Pray that God would send a revival and a turning-back-to-God in our country before it's too late. I think God is sending us a wake up call by all the things that are happening around us. Have we become so lethargic and complacent that we are willing to let Christ be taken incrementally and systematically out of our society? Have we become the Church of Laodicea already? about which Jesus had this to say:

Rev 3:15-17 (KJV)
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot:
I would {rather} thou {would be} cold or hot.
{16} So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,
I will spue thee out of my mouth.
{17} Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods,
and have need of nothing;
and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable,
and poor, and blind, and naked:

Or from way back in the Old Testament:

Deu 8:10-14a (KJV)
When thou hast eaten and art full,
then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God
for the good land which he hath given thee.
{11} Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God,
in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes,
which I command thee this day:
{12} Lest when thou hast eaten and art full,
and hast built goodly{Heb=beautiful} houses, and dwelt therein;
{13} And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply,
and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied,
and all that thou hast is multiplied;
{14} Then thine heart be lifted up{Heb=with pride},
and thou forget the LORD thy God,

So let us remind ourselves of what Christmas is really all about: it's about Jesus, and how He miraculously took on flesh, came to earth and walked among us, so that He could die as an atonement for our sins. Here are a few verses to help remind us of these truths...

1 John 4:9-10 (KJV)
In this was manifested the love of God toward us,
because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world,
that we might live through him.
{10} Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us,
and sent his Son to be the propitiation{Grk=covering} for our sins.

Isa 9:6 (KJV)
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.

Job 15:14-16 (KJV)
What is man, that he should be clean?
and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
{15} Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints{Heb=religious leaders};
yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
{16} How much more abominable and filthy is man,
which drinketh iniquity like water?

Isa 64:6-7 (KJV)
But we are all as an unclean thing,
and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;
and we all do fade as a leaf;
and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
{7} And there is none that calleth upon thy name,
that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee:
for thou hast hid thy face from us,
and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

Job 14:4 (KJV)
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
not one.{ie. no one}

Luke 1:26-35 (KJV)
And in the sixth month
the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
{27} To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph,
of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
{28} And the angel came in unto her, and said,
Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee:
blessed art thou among women.

{29} And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying,
and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

{30} And the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
{31} And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
{32} He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest:
and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
{33} And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

{34} Then said Mary unto the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

{35} And the angel answered and said unto her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:
therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called
The Son of God.

Mat 1:20-23 (KJV)
But while he{Joseph} thought on these things,
behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying,
Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:
for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
{21} And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name JESUS:
for he shall save his people from their sins.

{22} Now all this was done,
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying, {23} Behold, a virgin shall be with child,
and shall bring forth a son,
and they shall call his name Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is,
God with us.

John 1:14 (KJV)
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.

1 John 4:9-10 (KJV)
In this was manifested the love of God toward us,
because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world,
that we might live through him.
{10} Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us,
and sent his Son to be the propitiation{Grk=covering} for our sins.

John 3:16-21 (KJV)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.
{17} For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world;
but that the world through him might be saved.
{18} He that believeth on him is not condemned:
but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
{19} And this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil.
{20} For every one that doeth evil hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
{21} But he that doeth truth cometh to the light,
that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God.

Heb 1:1-13 (KJV)
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
{2} Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things,
by whom also he made the worlds;
{3} Who being the brightness of his glory,
and the express image of his person,
and upholding all things by the word of his power,
when he had by himself purged our sins,
sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
{4} Being made so much better than the angels,
as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

{5} For unto which of the angels said he at any time,
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?
And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
{6} And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world,
he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
{7} And of the angels he saith,
Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

{8} But unto the Son he saith,
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:
a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
{9} Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity;
therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee
with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
{10} And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth;
and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
{11} They shall perish; but thou remainest;
and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
{12} And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up,
and they shall be changed:
but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
{13} But to which of the angels said he at any time,
Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Heb 10:5-7 (KJV)
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith,
Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me:
{6} In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
{7} Then said I, Lo, I come
(in the volume of the book it is written of me,)
to do thy will, O God.

God Bless You and Your Family.
In Christ...brother bob...<><
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