The Birthday of a King!

‘And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” –Luke 2:6-7 (ESV).

Now the birth of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords was on this manner:

Because there was no room in Bethlehen Inn, Mary with her husband Joseph were lodged in a stable.

This humble resting place may have been, we are told, a lime-stone cave in a hillside near the inn where animals were kept from the elements and where they rested after grazing all day.  Or it may have been, others say, the place where the people who were actually lodging in the inn stabled their animals while they were in the town. This would have been a room or area perhaps below the inn at ground level that was the room for animals.  We are told that the Jews, being very fastidious, cleaned the stable area every day.  Still, this was an unlikely place for the birth of anyone, let alone the King of Glory, the Lord of Lords, the Savior of the world, the Messiah.

And so it came to pass that the place of his birth was a stable.  The first resting place for the newborn King was a manger—a feeding tough.  We are not told, but we can imagine Joseph quickly cleaned any residue of animal food from the manger tray and laid it with soft, fresh hay.  That would have made a fragrant-smelling crib to receive the Babe, wrapped in swaddling cloths that no doubt His mother, anticipating His birth while they were in Bethlehem, had brought from Nazareth with her.  What does the manger point out for us?  It bespeaks the poverty, humility and humanity of Jesus.  The poverty:  “no crib for a bed”  we sing the words from “Away in a Manger.”  Of lowly parents and of lowly beginnings, even His birth identified Him with one who told His disciples later that He “had no place to lay His head.”  But there, on the night of His birth, His head was cradled on the hay.  His birthplace speaks of humility—Immanuel, God with us, was among the lowliest—born where a servant might have been born.  Paul wrote about this humility in Philippians 2:6-7:  “Who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”  And as to the humanity of the Babe, He could cry, He felt heat and cold, He was subject in His body to all the feelings, emotions and needs of any human, although God.  He was both wholly human; wholly divine.  Later we would be told of Him:  “He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin”(Hebrews 4:15)  The human side of Him would know that dimension.

Jeremiah wrote:  “I will raise up…a King who will reign wisely” (Jeremiah 23:5).  Song writer and musician William Harold Neidlinger gave us both words and music to the carol “The Birthday of a King”:

“In the little village of Bethlehem, There lay a child one day,

And the sky was bright with a holy light O’er the place where Jesus lay.

Aleluia!  O How the angels sang.  Aleluia!  How it rang!

And the sky was bright with a holy light,

’Twas the birthday of a King.

Prayer.  Today, as we celebrate the King’s birthday, let us allow the depth of truth of this blessed event draw us closer to Him.  May we adore and serve Him in true allegiance to the King of Kings.  Amen.

The Righteous Reign of the Branch from Jesse – A Messianic Prophecy

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.  And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.  He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what His ears hear, but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and with the breath of his lips He shall kill the wicked.  Righteousness shall be the belt of His waist, and faithfulness the belt of His loins.”-Isaiah 11:1-5 (ESV).

The theme of Isaiah 11 is the coming Messiah and how He will transform the world.  In Isaiah 10:33-34, Isaiah had pictured the destruction of evil as cutting down a vast forest: “God…will lop the boughs with terrifying power, the great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low.  He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe…”  But “a shoot from the stump of Jesse” (sprouting from that destroyed forest) will come forth and bear fruit unto righteousness.  Jesse, the father of King David, will have seed to accomplish the purposes of God and this twig will grow from the stump that remains after God’s judgment.  This new branch will bear fruit in a new and different world because the Spirit of the Lord will be upon Him.  He will bear the fruit of the Spirit in a three-fold manner:

            (1)  In wisdom and understanding – manifested in leadership;

            (2)  In counsel and might – able to advise about and carry out wise plans;

            (3)  In knowledge and the fear of the Lord – wisdom from God Himself and holiness.

Jesus Himself declared that He was the fulfillment of this prophecy from Isaiah:  “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.  From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matthew 4:16-17, ESV).  Previously, God’s called-out ones had rebelled against Him and fallen short of the Lord’s expectations.  Not so the “shoot…branch…from the stump of Jesse.”   The Messiah will be faithful to God in every respect and live before God in deepest reverence.  He will not be deceived by appearances; neither will He depart from truth, for “the rod of His mouth” will kill the intents of the wicked.  Paul had in mind “the sword of the Spirit,”…“the belt of truth,”..“the breastplate of righteousness”and “the shield of faith” from this Messianic prophecy of Isaiah as he describes the “full armor of God” (see Ephesians 6:11-17).  The Messiah was truly an embodiment of one who had on the full armor of God.  We are told:  “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” Hebrews 4:15 (ESV).

Prayer:  (Praying scripture):“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  (Hebrews 4:16 ESV).  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

The Just Shall Live by Faith

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” –Romans 1:16-17 (ESV).

In these verses the Apostle Paul expresses the theme of his epistle to the Roman Christians—the revelation of God’s judging and saving righteousness in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He wants to make very clear, to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles, that through the message of salvation in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross God both judges sin and shows His mercy and salvation.  Paul makes himself clear that he is not “ashamed” of the gospel.  Scholars hold that Paul wrote this letter to the church at Rome while he was at Corinth on his third missionary journey about 57 A. D.  As we’ve already seen in a previous devotional (June 16), Phoebe was the likely bearer of this important letter to the church at Rome.

We will remember from church history that Martin Luther put his “95 Theses” on the door of All Saints Church at Wittenburg, Germany on October 31, 1517.  Luther had not intended to cause the world-wide Reformation by his action, but by 1518 the printing press had made possible the printing and distribution of his statements about faith and practice to be known throughout Europe.  The Christian movement we call The Reformation was well on its way.  “Justification is by grace through faith” was Luther’s main contention and the doctrine he strongly upheld.  He was advocating this strong theological stand expressed in Romans 1:17.  And Paul himself was citing from Habakkuk 2:4 which reads: “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

The gospel proclaimed by Paul, many before him, and many since is powerful, personal, positive and persuasive.  It is powerful in that it has the ability to convince those who hear an believe that salvation is by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is personal in that “The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12, KJV).  It is positive in that it accomplishes the purpose for which it was intended:  “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God:  Not of works lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NKJV).  It is persuasive in that it gives us security in our faith promising that “we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the tricker of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:14-16).

Yes, indeed, the “just shall live by his faith.”  And the gospel—the word of God—has been the means whereby we have come to faith.  We, as Paul and others, should not be ashamed of the gospel, the power of God unto salvation.”  Thank God just now that you have been redeemed by faith and you will be kept against “that day of the Lord” when all of us who believe and are justified shall  “inherit the kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world”  (Matthew 25:34).  Amen!

Temptation (Testing) and Evil

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”-Matthew 6:12a (KJV).

The sixth and final petition in the Lord’s Prayer asks that we not go into temptation and that we be delivered from evil.  Some of the translations render ‘temptation’ as ‘testing.’  Does God tempt us?  James 1:13-15 states, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one.  But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire, when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”  God tests his people in order that their character might be strengthened but He never tempts.  God is altogether good and He cannot be tempted with evil.  He would never entice us to sin or to seek that which would weaken our faith.  But God allows trials and testing to strengthen our faith.  Many examples exist in the Bible:  Abraham was tested by being asked to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.  The test completed, God provided the sacrifice.  The Israelites were tested by their years of wandering in the wilderness.  After His baptism, Jesus Himself was led into the wilderness to be tested.  Concerning the account of Jesus’ testing in the wilderness, most of our translations read:“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness  to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1).  The Greek word translated “tempted” here is “peirazo” which can also mean tested.  Jesus had to make choices about falling short of God’s plan for Him.  He was victorious and did not yield to the evil one.  The devil intended to thwart God’s plan and purpose.  If Jesus had yielded (and He definitely did not!), He would have fallen into disobedience to God and would have been disqualified as the sinless Savior.  The areas in which He was tested were (1) to satisfy his physical hunger; (2) to use spectacular power to rescue himself from danger and a short-cut to recognition; and (3) to use a short cut to rule the kingdoms of the world.  Each time, Jesus quoted an appropriate scripture to counteract the devil’s very real power to entice and tempt.  In His temptations, Jesus was an example for us to follow. Jesus “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin”(Hebrews 4:15b). In this world we will be tempted, we will have trials and tribulations.  Pray that God will give us the strength to overcome, to say “no” to the temptations that beset.

The second part of this petition is “deliver us from evil.”  Evil is on every hand and we are sorely tempted by what we see, hear, feel and experience to go astray from God’s teachings and principles. One of our noted Amercian Christian leaders was asked what , from his lifetime of observation and experience, would he advise Christians to earnestly do.  His unhesitating reply was “Pray every day:  ‘Deliver us from evil. Do not compromise your Christian witness or forfeit your influence by letting Satan have the victory” (Dr. Robert Wetzel).  With all the forces of evil that surround us , we ought to have this prayer on the tip of our tongues many times during the day:  “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

A Mighty Refrain: “For His Mercy Endures Forever”

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever.” –Psalm 136:1-3 (NKJV) [Read Psalm 136]

Psalm 136 is a paean of praise to God with a repeated refrain at the end of each of its twenty-six verses. Known as the great “Hallel” or praise or Hallelujah Psalm, it expresses exuberance that overflows with fervor from the worshiper who recognizes with both awe and gratitude that mercy comes forever from the Lord God.

Mercy is a word with deep meaning for our religious experience. Used as it is by the Psalmist in Psalm 136, it means the undeserved favor of God, extending kindness, favor and forgiveness to those who do not deserve it. In an exercise of remembering God’s favor through many events, including the very creation itself, the Israelites sojourn in Egypt and their deliverance, their battles to win the Promised Land, and even to the Psalmist himself and his personal, lowly estate, the Lord’s mercy has endured through all.

This Psalm is a reminder to us that we, too, should take time to make an inventory, a list of the blessings that have come to us, undeserved, from the merciful hand of God. Where would we begin? Could we ever finish the list? Of course it would be impossible to list all the benefits from God’s mercy. But even our incomplete list would show a heart of gratitude, one like that of the Psalmist that bursts forth in a mighty refrain: “For His mercy endures forever!”

In the light of New Testament teachings and the compassion (mercy) of God as demonstrated in the life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have an even deeper understanding of the extent of God’s mercy.

His mercy was always one of the weightier matters of the law (Matthew 23:23), something His people should have been practicing all along, but many times failed to do. Salvation is not by works but “according to God's own mercy” (Titus 3:5). We are admonished to draw near to God that we may “receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

God is merciful to us. The Psalmist had a wonderful idea of expressing “His mercy endures forever,” with his listing of many blessings. We need an acute awareness of God’s mercy, as our Doxology expresses, and “praise God from Whom all blessings flow!” Since God is merciful, and His mercy endures forever, He expects merciful action to others on the part of His followers. esus gave us the parable of the Good Samaritan to teach us the value of practicing mercy, and to show us that as we progress through life there are those who need our help and our merciful attention.

After reading and studying Psalm 136, may we be more aware of God’s mercy and of expressing gratitude for God’s undeserved favor—His mercy that endures forever.