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Sunday, 13 December 2009 11:51 |
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For many, Christmas evokes pleasant memories of family and friends, of the exchanging of gifts, and of fellowship and thanksgiving enjoyed over a good meal. But for us as believers, it has a deeper, more transformative meaning. Yes, Christ is the reason for the season, but the true meaning of Christmas is the miracle of incarnation. Believers all over the world are celebrating the miracle of the manifestation of God in human flesh during Christmas. Just think of it! It is positively staggering! As we read in scripture,
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (I Tim 3:16, emphasis added)
Walk down the cobblestone streets of Bethlehem until you reach a starlit stable. Walk through its doors, and you will come face to face with the miracle of Christmas. You will find a virgin mother holding in her arms a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. He is 100 percent God and 100 percent man. Though just a child, He is destined to die on a mission of mercy, and to reconcile a sin sick and perishing world to its Creator.
It was this little babe who stood on nothing and said, “Let there be light. (Gen 1:3)” It was this little babe who knelt down in the garden, took a handful of dirt, breathed the breath of life into it, and man became a living soul (Gen 2:7). It was this little babe who set a rainbow in the heavens and made a covenant with faithful Noah (Gen 9:13). It was this little babe who promised Abraham, “In thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. (Gen 28:14)” And it was this little babe who with a strong hand subdued Pharaoh and led the nation of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land (Deut 4:37).
This is one of the most exciting truths in the Word of God, the mystery of the incarnation of the ...
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Last Updated on Sunday, 13 December 2009 12:07 |
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Friday, 06 November 2009 17:02 |
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I remember so vividly the precise moment the revelation that I was a son of God exploded in my spirit. Doctrinally, I had always embraced and espoused it, but this was something far different. No longer would it be just religious rhetoric or a mere doctrinal position to me, but a living, dynamic understanding that would change the whole inner fabric of my life and the entire course of my ministry.
It happened during a time of earnest prayer. I had just returned home from Bible School and was seeking the Lord for direction. As the Spirit of God began to breathe His prayer through me, I found myself crying out over and over again, “Abba Father”. As this heavenly cry grew in intensity within me, I was led to open my bible to the book of Galatians for spiritual illumination. It was as if the scripture just burst out of the pages of the book as I read it:
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Gal 4:4-7)”
What love and assurance filled my soul! What confidence was born in me as I realized my true identity with the Father! It was as if God had poured out a warm anointing oil on the top of my head that ran down to the soles of my feet. I was a son of God and this divine fact would be eternally emblazoned on my heart. This moment of divine revelation would be the turning point in my life and ministry. It was then that I entered into a deeper relationship with Christ and a greater dimension of power and effectiveness.
It was literally this revelation, made real to my heart, that thrust me into a new dynamic of ministry. My capacity for compassion seemed to take on greater p ...
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Last Updated on Saturday, 07 November 2009 18:44 |
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Tuesday, 06 October 2009 13:18 |
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A well-known theologian once coined the phrase ‘mindless Christianity.’ Although it is a bitter pill to swallow, we must admit that the body of Christ suffers from this very condition! There are just too many aimless Christians exerting vain religious energy without a sense of divine purpose. Like Sampson of old grinding at the millstone, they go around and around in circles, void of vision and groping in darkness. The writer of Proverbs places his finger on the pulse of this problem when he warns us that, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: (Pro 29:18)” Consequently, we continue to see believers in the Church victimized by the prevailing spirit of this world and perishing as the torch of true Christian witness becomes a smoldering ember.
We stubbornly go on with business as usual in our churches while the contradiction between what should be and what is stares us in the face. Like the proverbial ostrich who buries his head in the sand, many pretend all is well and refuse to admit this problem really exists. Yet the price of our spiritual ignorance is mounting and is becoming far too great to be tolerated any longer.
Thank God, there is a remedy. We can get back on course, but to do so, the Body of Christ must apprehend a clear vision of God's intention for the Church. Unless we get back ‘in the know,’ we will never get back ‘into the flow’ of divine reality. A revelation of God's purpose directly from the Holy Spirit is required.
Isaiah the prophet underscores the magnitude of the challenge we face when he writes, “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him. (Isa 64:4 )” God has predestined a glorious future for mankind, but, according to this verse, a prevailing blindness afflicts him. From the very beginning of time, men have been simply unable to pe ...
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 06 October 2009 13:20 |
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Monday, 27 July 2009 10:30 |
The book of Genesis records the crowning event of God’s act of creation: the creation of man. We read in Genesis 2:7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Just imagine it! The God who created the heavens and the earth, the omnipotent ruler of the universe, condescended to make man in a garden. The angels watched, breathless, as Adam began to take shape under the creative touch of God’s hand.
As the pinnacle of God’s efforts, destined to have authority and rule over all the rest of God’s creation, you might think that man must have been made of diamonds or precious gems or gold or silver. But no, scripture informs us that God made man from the dust of the ground. In fact, other renderings of the word translated as ‘dust’ above include ‘rubbish’ and ‘ashes’.
This thrills my heart! When God got ready to create His masterpiece, He didn’t require rare and unusual materials. The most august precious substances of the earth were all available to Him at that moment. Yet, He reached for dust---common dirt. Praise God, for He uses the ordinary! He was able to make greatness out of rubbish and ashes: as we read in scripture, “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (I Cor 1:27).
Man is also distinguished from the rest of creation by the manner in which he was created. When God wanted to create fish, he spoke to the waters; when God wanted to create beasts of the field, he spoke to the soil; when God wanted to create birds, he spoke to the sky. But when God created man, He spoke to Himself! We read in Gen 1:26, “…let us make man” (emphasis added).
But wait a minute---didn’t God make man from just the dust of the earth? Oh, no! That was ...
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