GREENE STREET LETTERS: A Baby Is Born

Monday, December 12, 2011

A Baby Is Born

Hebrews 1:3
And He (Jesus) is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He (Jesus) had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Sometimes I think the reason that Christmas is so universally accepted is that we celebrate the birth of a baby. Truth be known, babies aren't to threatening to anyone. They are cute and cuddly and warm and make really funny noises. We oooooh and aaaaaahhhhh at them. We talk baby talk to them. I don't think many people today are uneasy about Jesus as a baby. Just don't let him grow up to be man. Don't let him grow up to be a man who takes on an earthly kingdom by bringing in a heavenly kingdom. The man, Jesus, stands in stark contrast to the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in manger in the town of Bethlehem.

Rod Hembree, pastor of Good Friends Church, made this observation concerning Jesus. "Two thousand years after His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ is still the main issue. He is the ultimate swear word by the culture and entertainment community. He is central argument among all religious theologians. He is the premier problem for the agents of evil. He is the classic confusion of the philosophers. He is the number one terror of the nations that terrorize His church. He is the chief pick against political correctness. He is the rub against relativism. Jesus Christ is the dissenting discomfort of the New Age movement. He is the barbed wire barrier for the man of lawlessness and the stumbling stone of man's foundational governments. That is because in all of this, and more, Jesus Christ is LORD!"

The depth of understanding of who Jesus is will never end. In John 17:3, we read that this is the very reason we have been given eternal life...."That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." So daily, through the Word of God, through my interaction of prayer and listening for God, I grow in respect to relationship. I grow in my ability to hear God and discern His good will for me. I grow in my trust that God is truly who He claims to be and will do exactly what He claims He will do.
This time of year, I find myself extremely grateful for life itself. I look to my past and see the destruction and darkness I wallowed in for years....I look to my future and see the face of Jesus, because nothing else matters out there. I look to today and find gratefulness and gratitude for having been given this gift of 24 hours. I pray that I spent it wisely and for the Kingdom of God.

Find Christ this holiday season.
Merry Christmas! From the Bynum's....
Vicki and Michael.

1 comment:

Bobby said...: Blessings on the Bynum family!; December 13, 2011 at 5:57 PM

Looking At The World Through Cracked Lens

As ol' Paul wrote in his Corinthian letters.."We see in part and we know in part." Now what piece of this bit of wisdom do we not get? I wish to not run around acting and trying to be some sort of Biblical G00-Ru (I meant to spell it wrong). Or a sage of sages.

I simply want to be able to communicate some of what God has given to me. Why? Do I think what I get is better than what you may have received from Him? Nope. But I do think encouragement comes when we share our daily story of struggle and victory in an effort to encourage each other.

Thanks for letting me share.

Time to soldier on..

mbb

Our Statement of Faith

We believe that God is the eternal king. He is an infinite, unchangeable Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, goodness, justice, power and love. From all eternity He exists as the One Living and True God in three persons of one substance, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit equal in power and glory. we believe that God created mankind in His image, male and female, for relationship with Himself and to govern the earth. Under the temptation of Satan, our original parents fell from grace, bringing sin, sickness and God's judgment of death to the earth. Through the fall, Satan and his demonic hosts gained access to God's good creation. Creation now experiences the consequences and effects of Adam's original sin. Human beings are born into sin, subject to God's judgment of death and captive to Satan's kingdom of darkness. We believe that Jesus, God's Son, was sent to this world, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, Mary, fully God and fully man in one person. He is humanity as God intended us to be. Jesus was anointed as God's Messiah and empowered by the Holy Spirit, ushering in God's kingdom reign on earth, overpowering the reign of Satan by resisting temptation, preaching the good news of salvation, healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead. Jesus' atoning death on the cross took God's judgment for sin which we deserved as law-breakers. Jesus' resurrection and ascent back to heaven opened the door for those who received salvation to begin a relationship with God.

Little Nets Into Deep Waters

Fishing nets were designed for one purpose only. To catch fish. Nets are no good if they stay on the boat. Nets serve no purpose if they are never used. I think maybe God sees us this way. We are all created for a purpose (by the way, the creator gets to define what our purpose is). Any other use besides the one we were created for does us no good. But when the creator places His hands upon us, casting us out into those scary, dark places with deep waters, it is then we can see the reality of our purpose. He knew there would be a catch waiting for us. I think I will be the net God has called me to be.

The Twelve Steps

As a community of people in recovery, we affirm that our higher power is Jesus Christ. He did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Just as God told the children of Israel He was going to give them a promised land, He has revealed to us that He desires to give us a "Promised Life." When Israel got to the promised land, God instructed them to go and in a possess it, fight for it and claim it. In recovery, the 12 Steps are the directions given to us on how to fight, possess and claim this promised life.

Monday, December 12, 2011

A Baby Is Born

1 comment:

THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD