The Lord God Omnipotent Among The People

Isaiah 12:3-6
Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And in that day you will say, "Praise the Lord, call upon His name. Declare His deeds among the peoples. Make mention that His name is exalted. Sing to the Lord for He has done excellent things. This is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, O inhabitants of Zion. For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!"

Usually such songs as "Handel's Messiah" are found in great concert halls and churches around the world. Accompanied by musicians, choirs fill these halls with the sound that, to me, is as close to heaven as I think a body can come without dying. How can you not hear the majesty and honor directed toward a loving God and not be stirred. I am not.......I am not an expert on "high" music. Classical music. But I know what I like, and I know what stirs me deep inside. Whenever I hear Handel's Messiah, I am taken out of my problems and out of whatever trials I am currently going through, and I am transported into the presence of Almighty God. I am aware of my humanness in the light of His divinity. I am overcome with gratitude and thankfulness that He didn't give up on me and that His love was extended to me through Christ.

I chose this video to present Handel's Messiah because of where it took place. The glory of God presented and declared in the middle of a mall food court. The awesomeness of God declared among "the people". Watch the look on peoples faces as the music unfolds and the words begin to hit home. God manifested Himself in that food court as the song was given as an offering to Him.

It is moments such as this that define Christmas for me, and remind me of the Christmas Story. I'm not talking just about the birth of the Christ child. To me the entire Bible is the Christmas story. How can you take one event from Scripture and make it stand alone. Christ came to earth in the form of a baby because there was a cross in His future. He walked in the garden, in the cool of the day, because He knew that man had disobeyed and was in need of a Savior. To pull one event out of Scripture and hold it up as a single entity, is like pulling that loose thread on a sweater. The entire sweater begins to unravel. So, yes, while we do celebrate the event of Christ's birth...remember that it is only one part of a magnificent declaration that sin has been defeated.

Merry Christmas from the "B's" in Attalla.