Merry Christmas...

Thank You Dear Heavenly Father for your Sacrifical Gift, in the Birth of Christ...

Thank you Dear Jesus for your willing obedience to the Father, and the sacrifical mission you came to fulfill.

In that Spirit of Love, Peace and Good Will Towards Men, Merry Christmas to All...

The Spirit of Christmas...

The Spirit of Christmas...

21 December 2011

RCH

 

It is the 21st of December, the shortest day and the longest night of the year.  While we are in the year 2011, I believe that some folks still have the seasonal excitement that leads up to the 25th of December.  However; this old salt Marine believes the American culture has long forgot the true "reason for the season"...  We have historical revisionist working overtime to remove every thread of our Spiritual heritage, while scratching their heads wondering why society is tearing at the seams.

I for one, am solemnly praying that God touch my heart and prick my spirit to keep the meaning of Christmas in my heart.  I pray that in this little message, He will give me the ability to articulate the True Spirit of Christmas, in a way that will challenge men and women's hearts to look farther, and love deeper than ever before.  I pray that all those that read this, would learn the lesson that God provided me through a study a while back that illuminated the Christmas Story unlike ever before.

You see, the Spirit of Christmas isn't a theory, a concept or a thing that can be explained, or worse yet, explained away.  The Spirit of Christmas was and is "a Spirit"! That's right, a Spirit, so why don't you relax and settle in and we will uncover this gem from a layman's perspective.

We read the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke, a story some 2000+ years ago, of an young teenage woman.  Her name was Mary, a young Jewish woman that through a Family arrangement for marriage, was betrothed to a gentleman named Joseph.  Mary's linage went all the way back to the Great King David, which in the validation of this story is both very important and significant.  Why, because that fact would both fulfill prophesy, and secure her baby's place as King of the World.

Mary, had a cousin named Elizabeth, and she was pregnant with another baby that would have significance in the Christian faith later down the road.  When Elizabeth was 6 months pregnant with her son John, the Archangel Gabriel visited Mary to give her news that would change her life and rock the world.  This young teenage woman, loved God, she was richly acquainted with the old testament scriptures, Mary was a Godly righteous young woman that found favor in God's eyes.  However; she was human, she was a part of the seed of Adam, as well as the linage of David.  Which would have posed a problem, in that whole original sin discussion.  BUT, God already had a plan to dismiss any claim of a sinful nature...  Hmm, much to see, much to learn...

Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bare a Son, and He would be The Savior to the world.  Now put yourself in this situation, think about the event itself, an Angelic being just manifested itself before your eyes.  Is it a dream?  Is it a mental breakdown?  Is it a thing to be easily dismissed and forgotten?  No...  There was to be an unborn Child that would manifest Himself in this woman's womb!  there would be physical, hormonal and emotional changes immediately in her life.  For any normal teenage woman, this would have undoubtedly shook them to the root of their soul, yet Mary seemed to take it in stride.  Her Love for and Faith in God, was undoubtedly her anchor.

There were several events that helped steady the reality of God's miracle in this story.  Mary visited Elizabeth's house, and there was great joy and moving of the Holy Spirit amongst them.  This had to be both comforting for Mary, and a real confidence builder for her to travel back to Nazareth.  There was also Zechariah's visit from Gabriel to announce the Christ child, too many events validated and collaborated by other folks of the time.  Mary knew to her core this was both true and real, there was no need or room for doubt, she had an important role to fill in this story as it unfolded.

But; what about that sin nature question...  How did God prevent Mary's blood line from tarnishing or traversing to the unborn child?  Well, we need to think this through.  First of all in Luke chapter one, we see an important question from Mary to Gabriel, and his uniquely awesome answer.  Luke 1:34 & 35;  Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?  And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that Holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God...  THE Son of God.  Two things we take from this. 

One, God through His Supernatural Power chose to; and took action to stop the human nature from entering the Child.  Hence Catholicism teaches the "immaculate conception", in layman's terms from a Protestant's perspective, God supernaturally prevented the original sin from being any part of the equation...  In addition, the second important point is that Christ was already a person, simply put, He already totally and completely existed.  He was God's only begotten Son, He was already part of the creation process.  Therefore; there was no need for an additional father of human flesh.  Thusly, we have the supernatural conception, or I would prefer, the incarnation of Christ in a human form through Mary of Nazareth.

It is because of this God orchestrated miracle that the Savior would come to us as God and man.  By the seed of Adam all men were cursed and condemned, and by the seed of God, all men have been offered redemption.  Which brings me back to the Spirit of Christmas.  In John 4:23 & 24 we read that:  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The Spirit of Christmas was God Himself!!!  Through this young woman, God sent His Only Begotten Son, to come to this earth in obedience, ultimately to go to Calvary and lay His life down for mankind.  The lesson I learned through my study months ago, was that God set the example, He lead His followers by example.  He in all His Wisdom and Might, gave up the best that He had that first Christmas night.  God showed us the model of sacrifice from Mary's Holy conception, to Christ's first breath in that stable, to His last breath on the Cross of Calvary.

Christmas isn't only about the gift of Christ, it is about Their (Father & Son) sacrifice for us.  You are scratching your head, saying where is this guy going...  Stop and think about it folks, especially those of you with children.  What in this world, would you be willing to give up the child you have always known, to send on a mission that you know would take him or her away from you.  Not only will this mission take them from your presence physically, but it will force the ugliest vile contentious manifestations the mind could imagine and beyond upon them.  You will both endure unbelievable, unimaginable pain mentally, emotionally and physically.  Could you do it?  God Did!!!

God the Father endured physical separation from His Son, while Christ walked this earth as a man.  While He was well pleased with His Son and His obedience, on that last day on earth in human form, God had to turn His back on His Son in wrath and disgust...  For Christ took on the SIN of the ENTIRE WORLD, to which the Father had to turn away, at that point all those pains were married together as the weight of the world was bore by this Perfect Lambs body and soul.  At that moment, Christ endured Mental, Emotional, Physical and Spiritual pain, to pay for my wretched sin.  God showed Mercy to man, He provided the Grace needed to find our way back to that cross and cover our sin in Christ's shed blood.  Through that transaction, God wraps us in His Son's Righteousness, and we become justified in His site through the Perfect Lamb's Blood Covering.

The Spirit of Christmas is that of Almighty God Himself and His dear and precious Son, Jesus Christ.  Interpreted by this layman, the spirit of Christmas is that of Sacrifice first, the gift second.  We must learn to love our fellow man through sacrifice, which God the Father and Christ the Son taught us by example.  That sacrifice is the price of the gift we offer to those we come in contact with each and every day, family, friends, coworkers, acquaintances and yes, if God leads you - strangers too.  We that worship in spirit, must be a witness of that Spirit that lives and dwells in us.  The Spirit of Christmas is CHRIST, we must place the Love and Spirit of Christ back into our Christmas...

Seek to Worship the Living God, through His all so Precious Son in Spirit and speak the Christ of Christmas this year...  For the day of reckoning is drawing nigh...  Be well, live and show the peace of Christ this Christmas, God Bless each and every one of you.                   Merry Christmas!

A CHRISTMAS LETTER TO YOU WHO MEAN MUCH TO US (from Dr. David & Janice Clemens) December 22, 2009 Dear One, The year’s blessings have been rich and without number. They never would have been possible without this One we call Jesus. We lovingly devote this letter to Him and His birth. Bethlehem and her inn. Totally crowded and in great fuss and bustle. So much so that there was not a place made even for a mother-to-be, due in just hours, even moments! That’s pretty incredible, to be that caught up in your own world that even a lady just about to give birth can’t get some necessary consideration. Contrast that scene with the nearby open fields and sky (GOD’S Inn, if you will). Absent was the hubbub. Present was…The GLORY! It flashed and shone all about the shepherds. They were frightened, then they were comforted by the angel bringing Good News of Great Joy. The News? Finally, the long-awaited Savior had come! Then came the instruction: “Go.” And suddenly, on that lonely, expansive hillside under that endless swath of Heaven, there appeared with the angel “an army of the troops of Heaven - a heavenly knighthood – praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth, peace among men with whom He is well-pleased – men of good will….” (Amplified Bible) Our response to that scene can only be/it must be a hushed and holy, “Wow.” Just think. If these shepherds had been in town with all the action, they would have missed the flashing lights, the “Good-News-of-Great-Joy angel, the heavenly knighthood/army, the instructions and directions to the birthplace, and, most important of all, they would have missed the God-Babe. How good it was that they were out in the fields where they could see, hear, listen to God point the way to His dear Son. Here we are, some 2000 plus years after the fact. Our inns are bustling, as is all of life around us. Even if we ourselves are not running from place to place, our hearts and minds are. In the midst of it all, today, this “grown-up” Son of God, Who was the co-equal God of the universe even before He ever was a temporary baby, is in His Heaven…and there He waits. HE waits for us. He has so much to tell us, just like the angels did so long ago. He longs for our undivided, peaceful, worshiping attention today. This Christmas, may we learn well from those wise shepherds this lesson: take time for the field, the quiet place, the place where just God, we, and His Word are alone together. And, as we do, we will be available to let the wonder in and let The Glory diffuse into even the very deepest parts of our souls. “Oh come to my heart, Lord Jesus; there is room in my heart for Thee.” In a nutshell, The Good News spoken so long ago was this: “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He even gave up His only-begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish –come to destruction, be lost- but have eternal (everlasting) life. For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge- to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on- the world; but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.” (John 3:16-17 A.B.) Now, no matter where or with whom you spend Christmas, remember that the Guest of Honor always is waiting to be invited to your home and ours. May it be a happy and holy day. Wishing you special Christmas blessings, David and Janice Clemens

To those of you that follow Dr. Clemens Ministry: One prayer request, please: David’s 2nd cataract surgery is scheduled for December 28. Please uphold him in prayer, will you? Thank you. We look forward to catching you up on God’s workings (in which you have had a part) in future e-mails.

His Singular Gift – For All of Humanity…

His Singular Gift – For All of Humanity… I have been pondering this Christmas Blog Post in my heart for over a month now. Coming into this Christmas of 2009, my wife and I have carried a plateful of troubles and worries (losing site of that wonderful chapter John 14). That being said; I had several different messages I thought of bringing to you wonderful folks, yet this is the one He has laid on my heart as a Christmas Gift & Message. Please, forgive this layman's attempt at transcribing such a precious message. By one man, Adam, our complete fellowship with our Heavenly Father was disrupted. A veil between HIS Holiness and our Humanness was introduced through Adam’s choice to go his own way. God’s desire was to receive the unconditional Praise, Worship and Love of HIS creation. It was God’s design for us to walk with HIM in the cool of the evening, to commune as one family. His Love For Us – established before the very foundation of the earth. Adam chose to defy our Precious Father – hence convicting every single generation of his offspring to pain, suffering and death. Both spiritually and physically – death was the ultimate penalty for this transgression. There were several major transactions that took place that day in the Garden, not the least of which was curse of sin. Adam’s race through one simple act of eating of the forbidden fruit was condemned to slavery. Every child of the human race since that day has been born a sinner, born into the bonds of sin slavery, the direct results of a choice to have our will and not God’s. To fully understand the significance of a baby born in Bethlehem 2000+ years ago, you must fully understand the Theology of Creation, and the doctrine of sin. If you don’t understand or believe these things, then this celebrated day of remembrance has no meaning or value to you. The post modern culture that we find ourselves immersed in, simply replaces the True meaning, with symbolism and materialism to fill that emptiness. Truth be told, those things never truly fill the void of not having God present in a man’s heart. Satan has sold the lie to the world quite well, and he is smiling and rolling on the floor laughing in cynical joy for the souls he has destroyed. For the Truth of Christmas is that of a miracle, that a young Jewish girl named Mary was touched by the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit planted the seed of Truth & Life in this woman that the Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God could come into this fallen world. That a Single Child, one lone being (God incarnate) came into this world on a dark cold night with one purpose – and one purpose only. He came to save the human race from the curse of sin bondage. HE was born of a virgin, walked this earth for 33 years, ministering to common man, the down trodden, the oppressed, the poor, the sick, the needy and the dying. Jesus came to us and corrected our view of the Law by showing us the Heart of God, and announced to the world that He was here to fulfill the law and prophesy of old. He commanded us to LOVE one another, as He loved His Church, to the point of spreading HIS arms wide open, and dying for those that literally nailed HIM to the cross. A SINGLE GIFT OF SACRIFICE – He offered up Himself from his first breath in that manger in Bethlehem, to the last breath He took as He laid down His life on that Cross 33 years later. HE came to this earth with one purpose; to bruise the head of that old serpent with the heel of His foot, saving humanity from the bonds of sin. That Christmas gift of long ago tore the veil that separated us from the Heavenly Father giving us un-tethered access to God. For through accepting His gift (once again a choice we must make), dying to ourself, and yielding to Him we can once again stand before GOD – wrapped in the Love and Righteousness of HIS Son – Jesus Christ, the TRUTH in Christmas! Please, please let me introduce you to this Wonderful man that has called me friend! For yet a little time, HE holds the door of Grace open for those to walk through that heed the call. Don’t spend another Christmas without HIM, don’t be left to a dark empty eternity. Choose Christ, and have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Your Friend,

RC Hall