– Ronald Reagan
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. – 2 Chronicles 7-14
– J.I. Packer
– Charles Spurgeon
– John of Kronstadt
“If we could condense all the truths of Christmas into only three words, these would be the words: ‘God with us.’ We tend to focus our attention at Christmas on the infancy of Christ. The greater truth of the holiday is His deity. More astonishing than a baby in the manger is the truth that this promised baby is the omnipotent Creator of the heavens and the earth!”
– John MacArthur
| Old Testament – Prophesied | New Testament – Fulfilled |
| Born in Bethlehem | |
| Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans ofJudah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to beruler in Israel, whose coming forth isfrom of old, from ancient days. | Luke 2:4-7 And Joseph also went upfrom Galilee, from the town ofNazareth, to Judea, tothe city of David, which is calledBethlehem,because he was of the house and lineage of David,to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,who was with child.Andwhile they were there, the time came for her to give birth.And she gave birth to her firstborn son andwrapped him in swaddling cloths andlaid him in a manger, because there was no place for them inthe inn |
| Jesus, The Son of God | |
| Proverbs 30:4 Who hasascended to heaven and come down? Who hasgathered the wind in his fists? Who haswrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established allthe ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know! | Luke 1:31-33 “…And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” |
| Jesus, Name Above All Names | |
| Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to usa son is given; and the government shall beuponhis shoulder, and his name shall be called WonderfulCounselor,Mighty God,EverlastingFather, Prince ofPeace. | Philippians 2:9-11 ThereforeGod hashighly exalted him and bestowed on himthe name that is above every name,so that at the name of Jesusevery knee should bow,in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ isLord, to the glory of God the Father. |
| Jesus, The Anointed One | |
| Daniel 9:25-26 Know therefore and understand thatfrom the going out of the word to restore andbuild Jerusalem to the coming of ananointed one, aprince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat,but in a troubled time.And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shallbe cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.Itsend shall come with a flood,and to the end there shall be war.Desolations are decreed. | Matthew 2:1,16 Nowafter Jesus was born inBethlehem of Judeain the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men fromthe east came to Jerusalem … Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. |
| Jesus, The Seed of a Woman to Destroy Satan | |
| Genesis 3:15 “…I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspringandher offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” | 1 John 3:8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared wasto destroy the works of the devil. |
| Jesus, Born of a Virgin | |
| Isaiah 7:14 Therefore theLord himself will give you a sign.Behold, thevirgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his nameImmanuel. | Matthew 1:21-23 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). |
| Jesus, Seed of Abraham | |
| Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, andin you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” | Matthew 1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,the son of David,the son of Abraham. |
| Jesus, Seed of Isaac | |
| Genesis 21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, forthrough Isaac shall your offspring be named. | Hebrews 11:17-19 By faithAbraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,of whom it was said,“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. |
| Kings Bow Down to Jesus | |
| Psalms 72:10-11 May the kings ofTarshish and ofthe coastlands render himtribute; may the kings ofSheba andSeba bring gifts! May all kingsfall down before him, all nations serve him! | Matthew 2:9-11 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures,they offered him gifts,gold andfrankincense andmyrrh. |
| Born to Die and Rise On the Third Day | |
| Jonah 1:17 And the LORD appointeda great fish to swallow up Jonah.And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. | Matthew 12:40 Forjust as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish,so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. |
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND MAY GOD RICHLY BLESS YOU THIS COMING NEW YEAR – FROM TELLING MINISTRIES
– David Brainerd
– G.V. Wigram
– John Newton
– Phil Robertson
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It’s easy to talk about something hard that’s far behind us. The struggle, (that one, waaay back there), once paralyzing, but now safely in the blurry distance. So we say blurry, distant things about it. We exhale gratitude and relief for whatever it is we walked through. Climbed over. Defeated. We love and lean in for stories with redemptive endings. That was then, we say to each other, with fresh eyes toward the future. Those words come easily.
But it’s harder for our hearts to find words when we are in the very center of the fight. The right now of a crisis. It’s hard for our soul to find a song that sings clear and strong from a place of fear and trembling.
We pace. And weep. And stare at our ceilings in the dark hours. We pray and pray and place our shaky, hopeful confidence up on the altar before a loving and patient God who knows that come midnight, we will sneak in and frantically snatch it back.
People who love us say things like “hang on” and “you’ve got this” and they are talking about this a season or this stretch of hard highway, but you assume they are talking about the next five minutes, which is all the hang on you’ve got.
You wonder if you will ever be the person on the other side, talking about what you’ve lived through. What you actually survived. You swear you’ll write songs or sonnets or checks to anyone who has the magic wand and can fix what seems unfixable, now.
But now is all you really have.
And all you really need.
What does the sound of surviving really sound like? In real life? It is not the roar of warrior on a mountain top. It is not some chest thumping holler or victory lap. It is decidedly not a string of feel good phrases or clichéd comfort.
It is, so often, a small and lonely whisper into the darkness.
I’m still here.
It is the tiniest shimmer of belief that even in the valley of the shadow of death, you are not walking, or falling, or crawling alone.
I’m still here, you say to your body and the way it’s failing you.
I’m still here, you stay to the broken relationship, slipping away.
I’m still here, you say to your empty arms and to your agony.
I’m still here, you stay to your fear and to the unknown.
Just a whisper in the dark.
And then a whisper back, from Love himself,
(I’m here, too).
This is the sound of surviving.
Thank you to my friends at Christian Quotes for the opportunity to write as a guest this week.
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Written by Pastor Jack Wellman
