Wednesday: The Great Escape 2

Good Morning my dear brothers and sisters ... and Happy New Years Eve. Looking for something to do this evening, Carry The Light is singing at the Bridges at 6.30 PM and of course you are invited ... always welcome. Please today let us finish out the 2008 year with the Lord and start 2009 fresh ... for that, tomorrow morning I will be having online communion to start the New Year ... Today of course being Wednesday, it is Salvation Wednesday on this line ... so please pray for the unsaved in your life ...

The Big Bus Trip 26 and the Great Escape 2 ... Rev those buses up for we are going to run them today.

Taken from Matthew 2: 13 - When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "Take the child and His mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for The Child to kill Him. (NIV)

Now we have already looked at the fact it was the Magi and not kings that came to visit Jesus and surely it did not happen at the manger. In fact I would say it was back in Jerusalem at his home. We know that Jesus was presented on the eighth day of his life to be circumcised according to Law of Moses.

So this would have happened sometime after that. Again we see the angel of the Lord being involved. So let me just stop and talk about this a minute ... there are so many people that do not believe in angels yet we see it a lot in the Bible ... and around the time of the birth of Jesus it is really very clear ... An angel of the Lord talked to old Zack about the birth of John ... The angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her about being found in favor of the Lord and that she was chosen to carry our Lord and Savior in her womb to birth ... Angels of the Lord appeared to the shepherds and announced the birth of our Lord. And now an angel of the Lord has appeared to Joseph and told him to get up and "get out of town"; Go to Egypt for King Herod wants to kill your Son Jesus ... Take Jesus and Mary and go to Egypt. And like all the other times around the birth of Christ, when the angels of the Lord talked, people listened ... Joseph got right up, got the Child and Mary and left for Egypt ... where he stayed until the death of King Herod.

King Herod gave orders that all the boys in Bethlehem and its area who were two years old and under, would be killed ... This would also be John (John The Baptist) if he was caught. Weeping was heard from Rachel for her children for they were "no more". Found in Matthew 2: 18 "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." (NIV)

Now let us bring this forward ... If you had a dream, if in your dream an angel appeared and told you to move your family... Would you do it ... Maybe you live near a river and rain is expected, and this angel told you to move to higher ground, even before the rain started, would you listen ... Ah you have lived there for a long time, you have seen the water come and go before, and although your house basement has been filled a few times you were ok ... you just cleaned up ... but now in a dream you are told to get your family out ... Would you go, would you just get your family to a local motel and keep them safe or would you just set the dream aside ... Not a trick question, for it can happen today.

What if an angel appeared to you in a dream and told you to get out because there is a danger of fire, or a big storm ... what would you do ... Would you listen to a messenger of the Lord ...
Ok, guys, would you try this ... Hi honey, last night an angel of the Lord came to me in a dream and told me to help the workers keep their jobs, we should buy a new Cadillac. Do you think that you could sell that one to your wife ... Ladies, you tell your husband that an angel of the Lord appeared to you and to keep you in good health you need to take a boat cruise ...

Are you tight enough with God to know when it is He talking to you and not the voice of evil, and don't tell me that the voice of evil does not talk to you ... Would you know the difference between the angel of the Lord and one from Satan? My dear brothers and sisters maybe my examples are far off, but they are but examples, but we must always stay in touch with our good Lord, and understand when it is indeed Him talking to us ... Folks we pray and a lot of times we do not listen for an answer to our prayers ... We need to pray and listen ... We have all had dreams and all have had some that seemed so rea l... Just last night my wife dreamed that all of our dogs got loose and she dreamed how we were so worried about them for they are seniors and might not find their way home ... I am sure we have all had dreams that we were really happy to wake and find out they did not happen ... but what if the Lord came to you ... Let me say this once again.. Our Lord is the same today as He was yesterday and will be tomorrow ... so there is no reason to believe that He still will not come to us in a dream, or even talk to us through a burning bush ... I think that a lot of times we just take it will not happen again ... we think that the angel of the Lord might not come to us ... but yet we do believe that God died for us on the cross to forgive us of our sins ...

So today I ask this big, big question, why do you believe some things in the Bible and not others, or think some might happen again, as in God taking us into Heaven on the Word of Jesus and others might not happen like the direct healing from our Lord Jesus ... Folks again, we are serving the same God today and He never, ever changes. So folks when, not if, but when God speaks to your heart, you better listen to Him for God is alive and real and still talks to us ...

Today let us pray for forgiveness of our sins and for us to listen to our Lord when we talk to Him ... We expect Him to listen to us, should He not expect the same from us ... Let's go out of this year clean.

Dear Father in Heaven, clean us of our sins once again, wash us white as snow, and help us to listen to You when You speak to us ... Help us to understand the difference between Your voice and one that is of evil ... Lord be with us, and help us to live to please you each day ... help us Lord, help us ... In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

Happy New Years Eve ... enjoy and remember You are a child of God, even on this night so do things that will please Jesus ... Drinking too much is not something that pleases God ... and neither does driving when you have been drinking ... Live for Jesus, and you can have a real blast living for Jesus, and remember to share your blessings. Love ya, dan.