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Rapture – Real or Myth - By Dennis Huebshman - https://www.raptureready.com/2020/12/17/rapture-real-or-myth-by-dennis-huebshman/
There are a number of church denominations that do not teach that there will be a “rapture,” “harpazo,” or “taking up” of all true believers prior to any tribulation period. Some even believe there will be no such event ever, and that the concept only originated in the 1800s by a person – John Nelson Darby. He has been credited with originating the “pretribulation rapture theory.” (Wikipedia – any emphasis mine) Actually, there are several instances in the Bible where the “taking up” or “removing to avoid wrath” are given. Genesis starts by providing us the event that led to the fall of humans through sin in chapter 3, and then gives details of the first-ever murder with Cain killing his brother Abel in chapter 4. The first “taking up” is in Genesis 5:22-24; “Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah at 300 years, and had other sons and daughters. [He was faithful to all God’s will.] Thus the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” He was the first human on record that God raptured up to Heaven. Next, we look at Noah, who, after he was 500 years old, fathered Shem, Ham and Japeth. God saw that the people of the earth were totally evil except for Noah and his family, and in Genesis 6:6, He regretted that He had made man. He decided to destroy all humans with the exception of Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives. He also provided that animals and birds were spared by selecting two of each – male and female. God had Noah build a large Ark. When Noah was 600 years old (Genesis 7:6), God had him and his family and all the animals and birds enter the Ark to be kept from the wrath that He was about to unleash. God Himself shut the door to the Ark just as the rain began. In Genesis 7:21-23, we read that all forms of life that had the breath of life outside the Ark perished. Once again, there were a minimum number of people, animals and birds to repopulate the earth. Through Noah’s son Shem’s bloodline, Abram (also known as Abraham) was born. This is the same person God made the covenant with in Genesis 12, that all who blessed Abraham’s offspring would be blessed, and all who cursed them would be cursed. This covenant is still in effect today. In Exodus, God used Moses to deliver the Israelites from the Egyptians, who had put them into slavery by a ruling Pharaoh that was far removed from the Pharaoh that Joseph served. Through signs and plagues, and finally, after the 10th plague, Pharaoh allowed the Israelites to leave. After they had left and were approaching the Red Sea, Pharaoh had a change of mind and decided to pursue them and kill them all. Exodus 14 gives the details of God causing the Red Sea to part and allowing all the Israelites to cross to the other side on dry land. Just before this, even though they had witnessed all that the Father had done to gain their freedom, the Israelites began complaining. This continued all through their wanderings in the wilderness. To show that God is always in full control, when the Egyptians followed in their path across the divided sea, God caused the chariots to be slowed down. Then He caused the sea to return to normal, and all the Egyptian army perished. Some Bible verses that tell us God will keep us from wrath are: 1 Thessalonians 1:10; “And to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.” Next, 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10; “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain Salvation through our Lord, Jesus Christ, who died for us [for Me] so that whether we are awake [alive] or asleep [have died], we might live with Him.” Please note, the body is perishable, but our souls – the real us – is immortal. In Revelation 3:10, Jesus was speaking to the Church in Philadelphia, but this also was meant for us; “Because you have kept My word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial [7-year tribulation] that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on earth.” Then, Romans 5:9; “Since therefore we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the Wrath of God.” There is a warning that is for all who refuse to receive and accept the gift of Jesus to be their Savior. Romans 2:5; “But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” There are other instances where God used a “Rapture” for some specific individuals. One was Elijah in 2 Kings 2:1-11, and then, of course, the ascension of our Lord and Savior when He was taken up, back into Heaven in Acts 1:9-11. As with Enoch, these “raptures” were not to save them from imminent wrath. There are two instances where apostles spoke about being “taken up” into Heaven, but not permanently: Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, and John throughout the Book of Revelation. Whether they had actually been taken up to be given a “preview” of what was to come in the last days or not, both were given “visions” of prophecy that would be fulfilled. They each were on earth when they took their last breath, but their souls were immediately with Jesus. Their bodies will be “raptured” when He returns to call up all true believers. Paul’s accounts in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 are quite specific to what will take place just before the Tribulation. First, we read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers/sisters, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others who have no hope [all unbelievers]. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a cry of command; with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first [their bodies]. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with Him.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; “Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.” All the above will be completed in less than one second, and for this event, only true believers will be taken. This is prior to Jesus physically stepping foot back on earth, at the end of the Wrath, to rule from Jerusalem for 1,000 years. The Wrath will not actually start until we who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit are “out of the way” (2 Thessalonians 2:7). All who are left behind will be in for the most miserable days this earth has ever experienced. To be assured of being with those who are kept from the Tribulation/Wrath, the steps are given in Romans 10:9-13. Please give close attention to verse 13; “All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” We may experience trials and persecution here, but it’s nothing compared to how it will be after we’re gone. God made this specific promise in two other places: Joel 2:32 and Acts 2:21. Today would not be too early to call on Jesus to be your Savior. Waiting just a bit longer, as Satan would love for you to do, may be the biggest mistake you could ever make. “Jesus is coming soon; morning, or night or noon,” as the Oak Ridge Boys so aptly sang. Hope to see you there when we rise up to meet our Savior in the air and get our new, forever bodies. Shalom! [email protected] “The Russians Hacked Us!”: They Are Pushing A Narrative That We Are Heading For A Conflict With Russia - by Michael Snyder - http://endoftheamericandream.com/the-russians-hacked-us-they-are-already-pushing-a-narrative-that-we-are-heading-for-a-conflict-with-russia/ Not this again. In the aftermath of the 2016 election, Democrats squarely blamed “Russian interference” for Trump’s election victory, and they spent the next several years going down the rabbit hole of that conspiracy theory. So here we are in the aftermath of the 2020 election, and once again they are pushing another “blame Russia” narrative. In recent days the mainstream media has been breathlessly telling us about “a massive cyberattack” that was “the largest espionage attack in history”, and even though they are not giving us any evidence that would point to the Russians, they are insisting that Russia must have been behind the attack. Of course it is theoretically possible that the Russians could have done it, but the Chinese, the North Koreans and the Iranians also have extremely sophisticated cyberattack capabilities. Why couldn’t it have been one of them? And it is entirely possible that we could have simply attacked ourselves so that we could blame it on the Russians later. We probably will never know the actual truth in this matter. The U.S. intelligence community has been lying to the American people for so long that most of us wouldn’t believe them even if everything that they were saying was 100 percent true. And whoever did actually conduct this cyberattack is almost certainly never going to admit it. But what we do know is that this provides a convenient anti-Russia narrative for the deep state at a moment when it looks like a new administration might be entering the White House. Needless to say, the mainstream media has fallen for the “blame Russia” angle hook, line and sinker. For example, just check out the sort of stuff that is being said about this attack on CNN… Richard Clarke worked under three administrations and served as special advisor to President George W. Bush. Appearing on The Lead with Jake Tapper Thursday, he offered terrifying insight into reports of a massive cyber-attack carried out on the U.S. government. “This is the largest espionage attack in history,” Clarke flatly opened to host Jake Tapper. “This is as though the Russians got a passkey, a skeleton key for about half the locks in the country. Think about it that way. It’s 18,000 companies and government institutions scattered around the U.S. And the world. This is an espionage attack.” Needless to say, you can find similar coverage of this story on all of the other major news networks as well. But jumping to conclusions is extremely dangerous. Many of the experts that are blaming “the Russians” for “the largest espionage attack in history” also seem to be implying that the United States needs to respond in some manner. So exactly what would such a U.S. “response” look like? And how would the Russians respond once we start hitting back at them? I think that those are very important questions. We are being told that a whole host of U.S. agencies were affected by this cyberattack, and that includes the agency “which maintains the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile”… The Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration, which maintains the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, have evidence that hackers accessed their networks as part of an extensive espionage operation that has affected at least half a dozen federal agencies, officials directly familiar with the matter said. On Thursday, DOE and NNSA officials began coordinating notifications about the breach to their congressional oversight bodies after being briefed by Rocky Campione, the chief information officer at DOE. And we are also being told that “the Russians” have had access to the networks of those agencies “for six to nine months”… Tom Bossert, a former homeland security adviser to President Donald Trump, said the “magnitude of this ongoing attack is hard to overstate.” “The Russians have had access to a considerable number of important and sensitive networks for six to nine months,” Bossert said in column published in the New York Times, adding that Russian intelligence officials have likely gained “administrative control over the networks it considered priority targets.” You have got to be kidding me. Hackers have been prancing around in highly sensitive U.S. government computer systems for six to nine months and we are just finding out about it now? Apparently hackers were able to gain access to those systems through a piece of software created by a company called SolarWinds… The attackers penetrated federal computer systems through a popular piece of server software offered through a company called SolarWinds. According to USA Today, the SolarWinds Orion Platform “is used by hundreds of thousands of organizations globally, including most Fortune 500 companies and multiple U.S. federal agencies”. All of those entities could have been compromised, and all of them will now need to work to secure their networks. It also turns out that Dominion Voting Systems also uses software that was created by SolarWinds, but we are being told not to worry because they don’t use the Orion Platform that was the specific target of these particular attacks. Uh, okay. No matter who was actually behind these recent cyberattacks, the deep state and the mainstream media will almost certainly continue to pin the blame on the Russians, and that means that our relationship with Russia will continue to rapidly deteriorate. Meanwhile, the Chinese military has been training for an invasion of Taiwan… Footage aired by China’s state broadcaster CCTV last week included rare images of the Type 96A main battle tank during a war game in Hangzhou, in east China. The Chinese army units of 72nd Group Army took part in the street battle exercise which attempted to simulate conditions China’s invading forces could encounter if they invade Taiwan. If the Chinese actually pull the trigger on such an invasion, that would likely result in military conflict between the U.S. and China. But if there is a weak president such as Joe Biden in the White House, the Chinese may be emboldened to try such a move. We live at a time of wars and rumors of wars, and once Trump is out of the White House I believe that we would inevitably move much closer to war with both Russia and China. Unfortunately, most Americans don’t spend much time thinking about foreign policy these days. In fact, most Americans don’t spend much time thinking for themselves at all. Instead, they allow others to do most of their thinking for them, and that is extremely unfortunate. Prophecy Unfolding - More Members of Lost Tribe Immigrate/Return To Israel – Susan Michael - https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=4462 Tonight, 250 members of the Bnei Menashe Jewish community of northeastern India will make Aliyah via a special flight chartered by both Israel's Ministry of Aliyah and Integration and the Jerusalem-based nonprofit Shavei Israel. The Bnei Menashe, or sons of Manasseh, from Mizoram and Manipur claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel who were sent into exile by the Assyrian Empire more than 27 centuries ago. Their ancestors wandered through Central Asia and the Far East for centuries, before settling along the borders of what are now Burma and Bangladesh. Throughout their sojourn in exile, the Bnei Menashe continued to practice Judaism just as their ancestors did, including observing the Sabbath, keeping kosher, celebrating the festivals, and following the laws of family purity. They continue to nourish the dream of one day returning to the land of their ancestors, the Land of Israel. WHAT DOES THE BIBLE HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE RETURN OF THE JEWS TO THEIR HOMELAND? A special term from the Hebrew Bible is used to describe the process of returning to the Land--Aliyah, which means, to "ascend." It was used in ancient times in reference to Jewish pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem for the three great biblical Feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Thus, the process of making Aliyah today is seen as having spiritual meaning beyond the physical act of return. Let's see what the Bible has to say about the modern-day return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland--the Land of Israel. There Are Two Returns Isaiah 11:11 indicates there would be a day when God would raise his hand "a second time" to gather the children of Israel to their homeland. The first return was predicted by the prophet Jeremiah to take place after Israel had been in captivity for 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10), and according to Ezra 1:1 happened precisely as foretold. After 500 years of intermittent and partial sovereignty in the Land, the Jewish people were once again dispersed under the Roman Empire in AD 70. After 2,000 years, they have now returned and reestablished sovereignty. No other people group has managed to survive two exiles--much less one that was 2,000 years long--and then return to reestablish national sovereignty. The Second Return is from All Nations This second return was to be from every nation where they had been dispersed (Jeremiah 16:14-15; 23:3, 7-8; 29:14; 31:7-8), not just Babylon. Over the past 120 years or so, more than 3.5 million Jews have immigrated to the Land of Israel from all over the world--from the north, south, east, and west--in literal fulfillment of God's promises (Isaiah 43:5-6). A Banner to the Nations The regathering of the Jewish people to their land is depicted as God's banner to the nations (Isaiah 11:12). A banner was often a rallying point in military operations, and was carried to lead a formation, but often bore the name or image of that army's God. Using this symbolism, the Hebrew prophet Isaiah considered the ingathering as a proclamation of God's name and His character to the nations (Ezekiel 28:25). The Return is not Based on Merit The Mosaic Covenant was clear that living in the Land of Israel was a benefit of walking in obedience with God, and that even after exile, repentance would lead to Israel's return. However, the Hebrew prophets spoke of a day when God would sovereignly gather His children back to the Land, not because of anything they had done, but to be a witness to the gentiles and to vindicate His name. The timing was up to Him (Psalm 102:13); He would do it (Jeremiah 23:3), and He would even use the gentiles to make it happen (Isaiah 49:22-26; 60:8-12). God vindicates His name because it has been profaned before the nations through the disobedience and exile of His people (Ezekiel 36:22). He will demonstrate His holiness (Ezekiel 36:22-23) and His faithfulness, whether His children are deserving or not. It reflects His love and mercy toward them (Isaiah 60:8-10), as well as toward the world He plans to redeem and fill with His truth and glory for eternity (Psalm 102:16-22). This Great Act of God Leads to Revival The ingathering of the Jewish people in modern times holds great promise for Israel and for the world, as it heralds the soon coming of the Messianic kingdom. While it is a physical return with many logistical and practical aspects, it is a sacred thing because it is building a platform for the coming of the kingdom of God, when the glory of the Lord appears (Psalm 102:15-16) and He tabernacles with man (Ezekiel 37:26-27: Revelation 21:3). That the gentiles are called to assist in this process is an amazing and holy thing. Isaiah 66:20 describes the act of gentiles bringing His people home--the people He loves and will use to bless the whole earth--as so sacred it is likened to "bringing an offering to the Lord." What a wonderful image depicting the biblical significance of the return of the Jews to their homeland. Vanity of Vanities - By Grant Phillips - https://www.raptureready.com/2020/12/17/vanity-of-vanities-by-grant-phillips/ In Ecclesiastes 1:2 Solomon says, “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” “Vanity” is a word that depicts pride and self-importance. It is loaded with conceit and arrogance. My first thought reminds me of the greatest narcissist of all; i.e., Satan, also called Lucifer (and many other names). “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:12-14). My second thought is of the vanity of those today who have chosen to pick a fight with Almighty God. I speak of those in our own country who, for example, are tripping over each other to establish a one-world government based on a “eutopia” without the Christian God. God’s words to Lucifer in verses 13-14 above appropriately fit our world at large. They simply mimic their father, the devil (John 8:44). Anarchy reigns in America as I type. An election has been stolen from the people of this once great land by open criminal acts. If by another miracle of God, the election is overturned in favor of our current President, armed thugs would once again take to the streets. Will God allow this? I don’t know. These same people rejoice in the slaughter of innocent little babies in their own mothers’ wombs. They rejoice in every vile sexual perversion the corrupt mind can dream up. God is anathema in their plans to live as they please. They want no mention of Him, no display that would remind them of Him, and no interference into their lives of this God of the Christians. They hate the very thought of Him. They want a god that is all about love and never ever condemns their brazen sins. If He exists, He is probably much like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, so they think. Besides, modern man no more believes in a real God than … than they do Santa Claus. It’s all just childish nonsense. Think so? Another thought that comes to mind is what God says in the following passage: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20). It seems that nearly everything in our society today is reversed. For example, it’s okay to take the life of an innocent baby, but we defend a cold-blooded murderer that should be put to death. Males think they’re females, and females think they’re males. Maybe you should stand naked in front of a mirror after you shower and rethink that. Males commit sexual acts with males, and females commit sexual acts with females. Excuse me! God put two people in the Garden of Eden originally to continue the human race. One was male, and the other was female. Notice, God did not start with two males or two females. God said, “For this cause shall a man [male] leave his father [male] and mother [female], and shall be joined unto his wife [female], and they two [male and female] shall be one flesh” (Ephesians 5:31; inserts mine). God calls one who is unfaithful a “whoremonger,” but society says, “It’s my body, and I’ll do as I please!” God says all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire, but lying has become so commonplace in our society, we have to use fact-checkers to see who is telling the truth; but then again (if we’re smart), we know the fact-checker may be lying. “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). There is so much happening all around us today that is … how can I say this? It just isn’t normal. It’s upside down. It’s open rebellion against anything that might be called good, especially God. It dawns on me that we, as a society, are at war with God! We fired the first shot (Bible removed, 1963) in a war we cannot win. This world is charging forward at breakneck speed toward judgment. We have “poked the bear” once too often, and we are looking down the wrong end of the barrel to a time called the Tribulation. I just thank Almighty God that all who have come to Him through Jesus Christ will disappear from this world in the Rapture before the Tribulation arrives. Vanity against God is at such a fever pitch in our society, the seriousness of this coming time of judgment is not even given a thought. Consider the following: “Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the LORD and against his anointed one. ‘Let us break their chains,’ they cry, ‘and free ourselves from slavery to God.’ “But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. Then in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury. For the Lord declares, ‘I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.’ “The king proclaims the LORD’s decree: ‘The LORD said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your Father. Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession. You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.’ “Now then, you kings, act wisely! Be warned, you rulers of the earth! Serve the LORD with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling. Submit to God’s royal son, or he will become angry, and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities— for his anger flares up in an instant. But what joy for all who take refuge in him!” (Psalms 2). God always warns before He administers His justice. God’s justice will be administered upon this fallen world in a seven-year period called the Tribulation. His warnings (via signs) are already appearing as dark clouds do before a storm. He will first remove His bride, and then the judgment will begin. The seven years of God’s judgment upon the earth will be so terrible, no one would survive if it lasted any longer. There are 7.8 billion people in the world today. True Christians will first be removed, then over half of the people remaining will be destroyed. Many will be saved, but even so, many of them will be killed by the world ruler; i.e., the Antichrist. There is a saying that goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” The same is true with people, especially when it comes to our spiritual need, and that need for all of us is for our soul to be saved by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. God is a holy God of love and justice. He is not all love and no justice, and He is not all justice and no love. He wants all who will to be saved, but the decision is ours. The book of Revelation, which is the unveiling of Jesus Christ, is mostly all about the Tribulation that is certainly coming. In my opinion it is very close. If that were not so, we would not be inundated with so many signs of that coming judgment. Those who belong to Christ will first be removed in the Rapture, then that terrible seven years will begin. Once the Church, the bride of Christ, is removed, it will be too late. Can you be saved during the Tribulation? Maybe, but if you are, you will probably be beheaded. And then there is 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12. “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Grant Phillips Email: [email protected] Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com Rapture Ready: https://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html Daily Jot: The Farm Chronicles: The Christmas Break – Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com My senior year in college seemed like a particularly long one, especially winter quarter. The weather was chilling to the bone. My roommate Jimmy and I had signed up for an agronomy class at 8:00 in the morning. Ohio State’s campus was huge and it was over a mile trek to the old classroom in that damp cold. Professor Hines was nothing like his brother, who taught economics. No, this Hines was about as boring as watching corn grow. We kept falling asleep. Soon Jimmy and I were skipping the morning class and just attending the lab later in the day. Even that was taxing, but we befriended a Teacher’s Assistant, Jean, who helped us out a lot. She was from Colorado, kind of a mountain hiker, nature girl. Jimmy and I weren’t doing so well in agronomy, barely passing the tests—well, to be honest, we were kidding ourselves. We were flunking. Except that our lab work was exceptional. Jean brought it to life for us and we were acing the labs. As it turned out, Christmas break was fast approaching and Jimmy and I were talking about our plans. We asked Jean if she was going home to Colorado. She said that she had no money to go home and was just going to stay at the University. Jimmy and I looked at each other and we said almost at the same time, “Why don’t you spend Christmas break with us?” I don’t think Jean had ever been asked such a thing by a boy, let alone two. We weren’t trying to date her, we were just being sincere that she shouldn’t spend Christmas without family. She thought it over a couple of days and said “yes.” She came up just after Christmas and split her time between Jimmy’s place in Cleveland and our farm in Portage County. My folks had gifts for her and a special time planned where some of our other classmates in the area joined us. Dad hitched the horses up to the bobsled and the sleigh. We went on a tour of the hundred-acre farm, drinking apple cider as the horses pulled us through the paths in the woods. We ended up at the pond, which was frozen over in the sub-zero weather. We swept the snow off, started a little bonfire off to the side, and skated on the pond—taking breaks to warm ourselves by the fire. Horses, sleigh and bobsled, snowflakes falling, skating in the pond, we were like a Norman Rockwell painting. We ended up around the kitchen table telling stories about where we grew up, and laughing about the day. Back at school, Jimmy and I went to see Jean on our last lab class. She asked us into her little office where she showed us the bad news. There were all these names and numbers on a sheet of paper, probably about 300 in the class. Ohio State’s a big school. Line after line of names and numbers. Then a couple of lines skipped, Jimmy’s and my name and numbers, then a couple more lines skipped and a bunch of other names below ours. She said that Professor Hines drew the line for passing just above our names. Our hearts sank. But with a wry Colorado smile, she said she talked him into moving the line below ours, so we would pass. Romans 12:15 says, “Rejoice with them that rejoice and mourn with them that mourn.” It could have gone either way, but we got a Christmas Break thanks to Jean. We rejoiced! Daily Devotion: An Appointment with Planet Earth - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. —Galatians 4:4 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/an-appointment-with-planet-earth/ - Listen When you open your Christmas presents, most likely you’ll get something you’re excited about. But that which is new today can become old in two or three weeks. Someone has said that familiarity breeds contempt, but I think more often it breeds indifference. We can become like that toward the message of Christmas. Let’s try to put ourselves in Bethlehem two thousand years ago and imagine the impact of this message. From Genesis on, we read about angels, prophets, and messages from God that came in rapid succession. But prior to the arrival of Jesus, there were four hundred years of silence from Heaven. But then angels broke that silence when the angel Gabriel came to tell Zacharias that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would be the parents of John the Baptist. Later, the angels announced the birth of Jesus Himself. This was a significant event that changed world history and all of humanity. Luke’s gospel is very specific in pointing out certain facts, so we’ll have a historical basis to understand when this actually happened. Luke mentions the emperor Caesar Augustus and Quirinius, the governor of Syria. He wants us to know this was a real event that happened in history rather than a fairy tale that he invented. Luke is telling us that this is a historical event that happened in real time. Interestingly, the story of Jesus is not a rags-to-riches story; it’s a riches-to-rags story. He gave up everything to come to us. Galatians 4 tells us, “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children” (verses 4–5 NLT). The message of Christ’s birth is that He came to bring hope, healing, and salvation to us. FROM THE HEART
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