Hello Everyone,
This week we are concluding our series on the Promises of God with the ultimate promise that was fulfilled. The birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Every year at Christmas we think of the gifts that were brought to Jesus from the wisemen and shepherds that were in the field. We even started the tradition of giving gifts at Christmas to celebrate the glorious events of Jesus birth. While celebrating Christ birth we forget what his birth represents for mankind. Jesus' birth was the fulfillment of God's most important promise to man, the promise of a Messiah to redeem us to him for the sins of mankind.
When Christ was born hope was restored to a broken world and with his death on the cross we were given full atonement for our sins and a restored relationship with him. I can't think of a better gift anyone could give or receive. One life changed the lives of millions for eternity. This week before Christmas I want to thank God for the gift and all the fulfilled promises he has given me personally and the ultimate gift he has given us all.
God bless and Merry Christmas,
Billy
Luke 2: 8-20
8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.
10And the angel said unto them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!"
15And it came to pass, when the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us."
16And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
17And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
18And all those who heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
The Promises of God
Hello Everyone,
Around the holidays I always wish that I were wealthy and could give my family and friends lavish gifts, you know Lexus commercial type gifts, the ones they would never expect to receive. With it being the holiday season we can think of the Promise of Salvation God made to us when he promised to send us a Messiah for full atonement for our sins as that kind of gift. The kind none of us are worthy of receiving but as a father God gave it to us anyway.
I know over the years I have received many gifts that I didn't expect and some I know I didn't deserve to get, but my parents got them for me just the same. The things I think of the most are how much enjoyment it brought my Dad when he took the time to wrap a shotgun in five separate packages just to see my face when I finally got all five pieces to the puzzle. I think God does the same thing. He gets enjoyment when he sees us finally accept his gift of salvation when we get the whole package open. When we realize we can't do it by ourselves.
I didn't fully grasp how important it is for a father to be needed until I had children of my own. When they do things on their own its tough to admit but we don't feel as needed as we did when they were dependant on us. Yes we can learn to be SELF-sufficient, we can be SELF-made but we lose the whole point of why we were made. If we were made to be by ourselves God would have made Adam and been done.
God made promises to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, as the grains of sand in the sea. He wouldn't have made that promise if he wanted us to be SELF-sufficient or SELF-made. He wouldn't have given us the ultimate gift in Jesus Christ for us to be by ourselves. He fulfilled his promise two thousand years ago in a manger in Bethlehem, our part is to accept Christ and love like Jesus loved.
Have a blessed week!
Billy
Genesis 17:6-9
6And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
7And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.
8And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
9And God said unto Abraham, "Thou shalt keep My covenant, therefore, thou and thy seed after thee in their generations
Luke 2:25-32
25And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
26And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
27And he came by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for Him after the custom of the law,
28then he took Him up in his arms, and blessed God and said,
29"Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word;
30for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,
31which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people,
32a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel."
Around the holidays I always wish that I were wealthy and could give my family and friends lavish gifts, you know Lexus commercial type gifts, the ones they would never expect to receive. With it being the holiday season we can think of the Promise of Salvation God made to us when he promised to send us a Messiah for full atonement for our sins as that kind of gift. The kind none of us are worthy of receiving but as a father God gave it to us anyway.
I know over the years I have received many gifts that I didn't expect and some I know I didn't deserve to get, but my parents got them for me just the same. The things I think of the most are how much enjoyment it brought my Dad when he took the time to wrap a shotgun in five separate packages just to see my face when I finally got all five pieces to the puzzle. I think God does the same thing. He gets enjoyment when he sees us finally accept his gift of salvation when we get the whole package open. When we realize we can't do it by ourselves.
I didn't fully grasp how important it is for a father to be needed until I had children of my own. When they do things on their own its tough to admit but we don't feel as needed as we did when they were dependant on us. Yes we can learn to be SELF-sufficient, we can be SELF-made but we lose the whole point of why we were made. If we were made to be by ourselves God would have made Adam and been done.
God made promises to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, as the grains of sand in the sea. He wouldn't have made that promise if he wanted us to be SELF-sufficient or SELF-made. He wouldn't have given us the ultimate gift in Jesus Christ for us to be by ourselves. He fulfilled his promise two thousand years ago in a manger in Bethlehem, our part is to accept Christ and love like Jesus loved.
Have a blessed week!
Billy
Genesis 17:6-9
6And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
7And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.
8And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
9And God said unto Abraham, "Thou shalt keep My covenant, therefore, thou and thy seed after thee in their generations
Luke 2:25-32
25And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
26And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
27And he came by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for Him after the custom of the law,
28then he took Him up in his arms, and blessed God and said,
29"Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word;
30for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,
31which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people,
32a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel."
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The promises of God
Hello Everyone,
This week I am starting a series titled Promises of God. Over the next few weeks we are going to cover many passages that show God fulfilling the promises he has made.
While reading different bible passages this week I was in Deuteronomy when I read chapter 9 verse 5 and 6 which reads "It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go into possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore understand the Lord your God is not giving you this land because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.
When I first read this passage I was just thinking ok he is letting the people of Israel know that they have sinned and are not getting the land because they are good, which they were not. He is giving the land because of a promise he made long ago many generations before. When we think about this in context and with a few New Testament passages the picture becomes clearer.
Romans 11:26 and 27
And so all Israel will be saved as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins."
2 Corinthians 1:19,20
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not "yea" and "nay," but in Him was "yea."
For all the promises of God in Him are "yea"; and in Him "amen" unto the glory of God by us.
As you can see from these passages God is fulfilling the promises he had made to Abraham and his descendants. Not only did he promise them land flowing with milk and honey he promised salvation to all who would believe and call on His name. One thing you will find in reading through the bible when God makes a promise he keeps it. He promised Abraham the "promised land" and although Abraham did not follow God's word and stopped before reaching the Promised Land his descendants still received the land.
Next week we will look into the passages about the promise of salvation.
This week as you read through scripture ask God to lead you to a better understanding so you can find more ways he has fulfilled His Word.
Have a blessed week!
Billy
This week I am starting a series titled Promises of God. Over the next few weeks we are going to cover many passages that show God fulfilling the promises he has made.
While reading different bible passages this week I was in Deuteronomy when I read chapter 9 verse 5 and 6 which reads "It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go into possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore understand the Lord your God is not giving you this land because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.
When I first read this passage I was just thinking ok he is letting the people of Israel know that they have sinned and are not getting the land because they are good, which they were not. He is giving the land because of a promise he made long ago many generations before. When we think about this in context and with a few New Testament passages the picture becomes clearer.
Romans 11:26 and 27
And so all Israel will be saved as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins."
2 Corinthians 1:19,20
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not "yea" and "nay," but in Him was "yea."
For all the promises of God in Him are "yea"; and in Him "amen" unto the glory of God by us.
As you can see from these passages God is fulfilling the promises he had made to Abraham and his descendants. Not only did he promise them land flowing with milk and honey he promised salvation to all who would believe and call on His name. One thing you will find in reading through the bible when God makes a promise he keeps it. He promised Abraham the "promised land" and although Abraham did not follow God's word and stopped before reaching the Promised Land his descendants still received the land.
Next week we will look into the passages about the promise of salvation.
This week as you read through scripture ask God to lead you to a better understanding so you can find more ways he has fulfilled His Word.
Have a blessed week!
Billy
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