Friday 12/21/12 The Story

Dear Father in Heaven, Thanks again for all You do for us, and Lord, we have a lot of work to do for You.  All those folks, Lord, that thought the world was going to end for sure did not know about You.  Father, we need to get the word out that not even Jesus knows when You are going to send Him back.  We do pray it will be soon, but until then, we sure have work to do, and please help us to get it done.  Today, Lord, I pray for all pastors, priests, and all who will be teaching and preaching this Sunday and on Christmas Eve and even Christmas Day.  I pray that each and every one of them will preach the truth, Lord, and leave a Salvation Message, for we will surely have people in front of us who only come to church once or twice a year.  Thanks for all the blessings.  Help me now, please, dear Lord, with the message.  I love you, Lord, and I pray to You, Father, in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Good Friday afternoon, my dear brothers and sisters.  I am going to try and get this message out this afternoon so you have it before Christmas.  Please pray for all those who just do not understand who Jesus is, like all those who were planning for the world to end today.  The plan they need is to take Jesus into their hearts, work for Him daily until they hear the sound of the trumpet.  Let me get to the message now.

12/21/12 - The Story (and the first day of winter).

Luke 2:15 - When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."  16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and The Baby, who was lying in the manger.  17 When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen which were just as they had been told.  (NIV)

Notice again that the Bible is now referring to the angels and that is meaning more than one of them.  You recall that I talked about the great company of heavenly hosts.  After the angels made their announcement to the shepherds they went back to heaven.  I have had many people tell me that they felt like they were touched by an angel, and to me this does show that angels still make "house calls" so to speak.  More on that at a later date.  Luke 2:15 then goes on to say that the shepherds talked to one another and decided to go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told them about.  Notice how they knew and accepted that the angel, who we feel was Gabriel, was indeed a messenger of the Lord.  For they said, "which the Lord has told us about."

In verse 16 it tells us they "hurried off" and since they did not have any other means of travel with them while watching their flocks, I would take the hurried off to mean they did not spend much time getting ready and maybe even did a fast walk to Bethlehem.  I think that they might not have all gone at once, leaving their flock unattended.  I am thinking that because the Bible tells us that after they found Mary, Joseph, and The Baby, and had seen Him, they spread the word concerning the event.  This leads me to believe that they went right back to their flocks and told others.  Maybe they helped each other out.  It also tells us that all who heard the word were amazed.  I am sure that the facts remained the same as it went from one person to the next.

Luke 2:19 states that "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."  Let me ask you this, have you ever taken what God has told you and thought about it for awhile?  I would think that Mary had a lot to treasure.  She was there with time to think about all that was going on.  She was a virgin, she gave herself freely to the Lord, and now I would think she was pondering the responsibility that she was going to have in raising this "Child of God."  I would think like any mother she is trying to remember the events and she is running them through her heart.  Today I don't think people dwell much on the events as they  happen.  Now it is on camera, or people are taking pictures with their phone.  I would think she would be thinking about feeding Him.  How often would He eat, and, maybe how long would she be spending in the stable.  I mean a lot has happened.  Maybe she is thinking back to when the angel of the Lord first appeared to her.  I am sure this young virgin we all the "Virgin Mary" today had much to think about.

In Luke 2:20 we see that the shepherds returned, and while telling others they were glorifying and praising God for "all the things they had heard and seen."  And the neat thing is that they found it just as they were told.  Nothing was changed.  As in all things coming from God we can expect the truth.

And that is why, I believe all, I said ALL the events in the Bible, just as they are laid out.  There are times we need to use our own minds and think things through when it is not spelled out word for word.  Let me give you an example of my believing.  The Bible tells us that God created the heavens and the earth and all things and He did it in six days and rested on the seventh.  I believe it, and I believe the days were the same in time as today, for after all we still have the same sun and moon making the day and the night.  That is a wrap for today.

Dear Father in Heaven, thanks for Your great gift to us, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  No greater gift was ever given to us, Lord.  None, Lord, I am sure glad, Lord, that I have come nearer and nearer to You so that I can appreciate this great gift.  Thanks again, and all glory and honor is Yours.  I pray in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Now go forth and share those blessings.  Have a great weekend.  God willing, I will be up early on Christmas Eve morning to send out a word that is given to me for that day.

Love ya, Pastor Dan