Christmas Is…

“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means God with us).” – Matthew 1:22-23 (ESV)

Christmas is ‘God with us,’

‘Immanuel His name.’

In the fullness of time

The Lord Jesus came,

Fulfillment of prophecy

In God’s plan for mankind,

To restore broken kinship

And bring peace of mind

To all who draw near

With faith deep in the heart.

This is the message

That Christmas imparts.

Christmas is Love Incarnate,

The Word made flesh;

A break through the darkness

From sin that enmeshed

Mankind in bondage

For multitudinous years.

Angels declared the message:

“Rejoice! Have no fears

For behold, we bring you

This message of peace:

“Christ is born in Bethlehem”

Sin’s bondage will cease!”

Think how our gratitude

Should swell up in praise;

Let us serve Christ the Lord

Through all of our days!

“Christmas is the day

That holds all time together.”*

Christmas is “God with us.”

Let no power that bond sever.

-Ethelene Dyer Jones

*”Christmas is the day that holds all time together.” -a quotation by Alexander Smith.

Prayer: May the deep meaning of Christmas permeate our hearts and minds on this Christmas day and give us hope for living a victorious life in the year 2017. Amen. - Ethelene Dyer Jones 12.25.2016

The Compassion of the Lord – A Messianic Prophecy

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and our labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast sure love for David.” – Isaiah 55:1-4 (ESV).

      Beginning with Isaiah 54 and continuing through Isaiah 55, the prophet changes from the Suffering Servant and vicarious sufferer theme, both of which Christ became in His life. Isaiah 54 declares the eternal covenant of peace with the invitation: “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtain of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.” (Isaiah 54:2). The prophet also told of the splendor of the kingdom and its domains: “I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of agate, and your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones” (Isaiah 54:11b-12). Many, in anticipating the coming of the Ruling Messiah, saw Isaiah’s prophecy as the ushering in of and age of prosperity and wealth. Since they had endured much at the hands of oppressing nations, they would welcome restoration. They wanted their holy city of Jerusalem rebuilt with the finest materials available. But was God meaning a literal restoration of the kingdom of Israel? Or did he intend this picture from our focal passage to provide a glimpse into the eternal city prepared in heaven for the faithful?

      The invitation that opens Isaiah 55 is all-inclusive: “Come, everyone who thirsts…” God invites everyone to receive His blessings. Who doesn’t have need for water? Water difficulties and loss of water even for a short period cause great concern. Thirsting, the need for water is a universal condition. God’s invitation in this Messianic prophecy is for everyone. Farther on in Isaiah 55:6-7, he urges: “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Seeking the Lord, returning to Him, and appropriating His compassion are part of the believer’s beginning in the new kingdom. God offers salvation to all, but each individual must make the move toward God and accept His offer of help and salvation.

      Isaiah’s prophecy reminds us of Jesus feeding over five thousand, a miracle recorded in all four gospels (see, beginning with these references and following the account: Matthew 14:15, Mark 6:35, Luke 9:12 and John 6:1). Jesus, in His ministry, was moved with compassion on the crowds. He performed the miracle of feeding, but he also healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead. He was the Messiah acting to meet people’s needs. When the crowd followed Jesus still expecting a constant hand-out without working for what they received, He reprimanded them: “You seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you, for on Him the Father, even God, has set his seal (John 6:26-27, NASV). Asking how they might do the works of God, Jesus answered, “This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:29) Jesus’ word to them was a direct fulfillment of the invitation prophecy given by Isaiah. Note the strong verbs in Isaiah’s invitation: “come, come, come; listen, incline (your ear), hear! All these denote actions prior to receiving “the food that endures to eternal life.” The steps are to go to the Messiah, seek Him with the whole heart, hear His words and accept Him as Savior. The actions of these verbs—go, seek, hear, accept—also precede a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in 54:13: All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.”

      Prayer: Lord, especially at Christmas time when we are prone to join in the secular rush of the season, help us to hear and heed Your plea to “Come…take of the water of life.” Help us to “hear…that our soul may live.” In Jesus’ name. Amen. - Ethelene Dyer Jones 12.18.2016

Abraham’s Seed to Bless the Gentiles…A Messianic Prophecy

“And in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, and statutes, and my laws.” -Genesis 22:18; 16:4 (ESV).

      When God promised to bless all the nations of the earth through Abraham’s offspring, the context was extremely impressive. Abraham had undergone a great test of his faith. He heard God’s command to him to offer as a sacrifice his son Isaac. He went to the mountain with his son to perform the act of sacrifice. God intervened and stayed Abraham’s hand from killing Isaac. The writer of Hebrews in later centuries noted: “He (Abraham) considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Hebrews 11:19). The commendation from God was that Abraham had obeyed His command. He had carried through on the intent to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Was this act on the part of Abraham—offering his son—not a foretaste of same type of sacrifice God Himself made in offering His only begotten Son as a propitiation for sin? The Messiah was in the ancestral lineage of Abraham. Through the Messiah all the nations of the earth have been blessed, are still being blessed, and will continue to be blessed.

      In Genesis 26:4, the word of promise is to Isaac, Abraham’s son. The covenant was continuing. At that time, a great famine was in Israel. Isaac went to Gerar to King Abimelech of the Philistines no doubt to seek help with food due to the severe famine. God appeared to Isaac, telling him not go into Egypt (as Abraham had done at the time of a previous famine [see Genesis 12:10]). Then God renewed basically the same covenant as He had made with Abraham, Isaac’s father. He promised Isaac his offspring would be as numerous as the stars of the heavens because Abraham, his father, had obeyed God’s voice, kept his charges, his commandment, his statutes, and his laws (see Genesis 26:5). An amazing truth about this promise made to Isaac is that he was a person with flaws of character—not perfect by any means. But through people, as imperfect as they are, God accomplishes His purposes. Did this promise made to Isaac come true? Here is the response from Paul the Apostle: Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘and to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one. ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). In Hebrews 6:13 we read: “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, He swore by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” God’s promises are guaranteed by God’s own perfect and trustworthy character. There is no one greater than God who can assure the promises He Himself makes. God’s oath for blessing all the nations of the earth through “the offspring”—the Messiah—was made upon God’s own character. From the days of Abraham until the seed of Abraham came to Bethlehem to enter earth in human form as a tiny Baby, God was working out the pledge He had made to Abraham and to Isaac. Wrapped up in that tiny Baby in a manager was the means of blessing all the nations of the earth. And “the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations,” (Mark 13:10) which is a sign of the close of the age. Until then, we basically have the same work as assigned to Abraham: “to obey God’s voice, to keep His charge, His commandments, His statutes and His laws.”

      Prayer: Lord, it is amazing to think that we now are the recipients of the promise made to Abraham and to Isaac. Thank You for working Your purposes out through ordinary people with extraordinary assignments until finally Jesus came a baby who was Emmanuel, God with us, to save God’s people from their sins. And, Lord, that same Emmanuel will come again to reign in Glory. Thanks be to God. We rejoice! Amen! - Ethelene Dyer Jones 12.11.2016

God’s Promise, God’s Command

“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.” -Joshua 1:5-7 (ESV).

      Joshua was a leader after God’s own heart. Moses, the great leader of Israel, had just died. Joshua had been named his successor. Ahead of him lay the task of possessing the Promised land for the Israelites. His was not an easy task, as Joshua often led an unbelieving, grumbling, hard-to-please large, large group of people. We are told that the Israelites numbered “six hundred thousand men on foot” (that is, those men who were able to walk and engage in battle, not counting the crippled, infirm, and elderly that might have had to be carried on a litter or to ride in carts or on animals). Not included in that great number under Joshua, the new leader’s command, were the great number of women and children in the Israelite camp, awaiting entrance into the Promised Land.

      Many battles lay ahead for Joshua, the new leader. God reminded him to be “strong and courageous.” He had a heavy responsibility and recognized his need for dependence upon God. Following conquest of the land, and settlement by tribes, Joshua called the leaders together at Shechem, a major city, and there the covenant was renewed between people and the Lord God. Joshua’s statement was firm and positive, and established his stand for God before the people: “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15b). His statement was his commitment and indicated his manner of life. He was a leader after God’s own heart.

      A summary of Joshua’s leadership is found in Joshua 24:31: “Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.”

      We learn from this inspiring account of Joshua and his time as commander of Israel that a strong, God-fearing, courageous leader can make a decided difference in a nation. The lesson also teaches us that individuals with purpose and commitment can be used mightily of God to set the course of righteousness for themselves and others. God’s promise for such a leader is: “I will be with you; I will not leave your or forsake you.” God’s command for such a person is “Do not turn from Me to the right hand or to the left.” Recognizing God’s strength, the committed person’s courage and following God are keys to a job well done and are according to God’s purpose. - Ethelene Dyer Jones 12.04.2016