Dark Days

Matthew 2:16
Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men's report of the star's first appearance.

We have a tendency to forget things, don't we?
At least I do....
I look at the picture above and I think to myself, "What a peaceful scene....so serene....so quiet..just a perfect night for the Son of God to be born." But somehow I believe that night, or that time was anything but peaceful or serene.

Jesus entered a world that had the boot of Rome on its neck. Roman rule....Roman law....Roman taxes had been the vehicle God used to move Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem so that prophecy could be fulfilled  (Micah 5:2). People lived in fear....People would sell out their neighbor if they thought they could curry favor with the Roman government that ruled the region.

Needless to say that there probably wasn't much hope running high the night of Christ's birth. Yet it all transpired just the way God the Father had planned. The answer to mankind's problems came in the most way. Jesus wasn't born in the decorative halls of a King's palace. Yet He left the halls of heaven to come down into the mire and muck humanity had brought on itself. His birth was not heralded by fanfare, trumpets, and proclamations for nation to hear. God sent an angelic company to tell a few shepherds who were working that night outside of Bethlehem. In that day, Shepherds were considered to be the lowest of low element of society. Yet God....the God....the one who created everyone and everything chose these men to proclaim the message of the birth of His Son.

Because of Jesus' birth, other parents lost their sons to Roman swords. God had nothing to do with this...this was all the handiwork of the one we call Satan....the devil.....the serpent. His true colors came out that dark night in Bethlehem. You see, Satan had been looking for the birth of Messiah every since God proclaimed it in Genesis 3:15. Through the years, the devil did every thing he could to stop the birth of this male child who was prophesied to crush his head. We see the mass murder of Jewish baby boy's in the book of Exodus when Pharaoh ordered that they be thrown into the Nile river.

It is not my in this writing to be all gloom and doom, despair and hopelessness, because the wonderful news is that despite all that is wrong with this world....wrong with humanity....has not been able to stop Jesus. Even today, His plans are being carried out in our world. Even today, with all the fear, hatred and division we find in our country, the church.....the real church that Christ is the head of, is hard at work loving, feeding, praying, doing deliverance on those who are under the real bondage of Satan, crying out to God for healing. In many ways, our current time and season reflects what we read about that was taking place when Jesus was born.  What was it the Angel told the shepherds that night? Oh yeah. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior .....yes, the Messiah, the Lord----has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David."  That, my friend, is where we need to park our hearts and minds. On the simple truth that our deliver is with us. Don't focus on the darkness. Don't let the troubles of this world rob you of the simple joy of KNOWING Jesus. He is so much more that presents wrapped in pretty paper. His voice is so much sweeter than any Christmas song we hear. His very presence is so overwhelming, you just want to sit still and not say a word. Just simply be with Him.

I guess what I've been trying to write is that we don't have to let world dictate what they have changed Christmas into. For they have taken it and drained it of the importance that God  intended it to have. Keeping the name only, they have removed the light of the world and proclaimed the holiday for themselves as they stand in the gaudy glow of commercialism.  I will visit that stable once again during this season. I will stand and marvel at how such a tiny person could hold the second part of the God head. I will listen to the sounds of the animals that inhabited that stable. I will look into the face of the parents marveling at how they surrendered their lives and their future to be the instruments that ushered in the Prince of Peace to a time that so needed peace. And I will think to myself, "This little baby truly is THE GOOD NEWS.

Merry Christmas from the B's in Attalla....
God on you...