Early Christians in the early days did not celebrate the birth of Jesus as an annual observance. Most Protestant churches did not begin celebrating Christmas until the 19th century. Now this does not in any way demean the importance of the birth of Jesus Christ, because it is something we should think about often (certainly more than once a year). After all, His birth was prophesied by…..

1. Isaiah – (Isaiah 9:6-7)
2. Micah – (Micah 5:1-5)

The significance of Jesus’ birth is that God has dwelt among men, and established His kingdom …

Simeon had been told that he would not die until He had seen the Lord’s Christ born into this world. But just who was this Baby? He is identified here as “the Lord’s Christ. Most would not understand such a magnificent truth, but Simeon did. Simeon understood Who He was – because the Holy Spirit was upon him. The shepherds knew Who He was because they were told. The angels in heaven knew Who He was because they saw what God had done, and were sent with the good news. But …

He calls us to be messengers of the gospel. But the struggle to share the gospel of Jesus Christ is real. It’s a very real spiritual battle that we fight because the enemy is always trying to shift our focus. Not everyone is going to celebrate what we are called by God to do. Not everyone likes the “good news!” Like many Christians before us, we may be ridiculed and slandered for our faith and message. And that is okay. Our suffering is nothing compared to how Jesus suffered for us. …

(Psalm 76:1)…..In Judah God is known;His name is great in Israel. So here is another Psalm – that declares the name of God as GREAT. Certainly it is declared in this passage that in Israel His name is great. How great is the name of God to us?  To you? – Individually? If His name is not great to us (that is – it’s not treated as great) – then why isn’t it? It is this name that we can call upon to save us (Psalm 5:11).

The name …

What is authentic faith? It is a holy hoping for the best? Authentic faith is the confident assurance in events not yet seen (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is not a call to believe in things when common sense tells you not to. Faith is not a mindless stab in the dark. It is not a crossing of the fingers and hoping for the best, and it is not a leap into apparent nothingness. It’s a word that speaks of reasoned, careful, deliberate, intentional thought. Thought upon what? God and his promises.…

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. An old song says: “Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” Think about that for a moment! It’s easy to lose perspective. We all face challenges and difficulties in life. And if we are not on guard, they can divert our attention from all the Lord has done for us. Yes, you may face obstacles, we may not …

(1 Peter 2:2)…..as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. If you want to grow as you should as a Christian, then feed on God’s Word just as a newborn baby desires to be fed. If you know anything about babies, you know they require regular feeding! It’s not just a quick reading of the Word that you need. You must chew the Word to get the “milk” out of it. This just means you need to meditate on God’s Word to get all …