For God So Loved the World

                                                                                                                 

 Aloha Dearest Family,

      “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

             This verse is familiar to us all and we have heard it quoted hundreds of times throughout our lives. The other day I was thinking about this verse and I came to the astounding realization (once again) that God loves people. How much? You could say “God is love” all day long, and it would be true every time. But John 3:16 states briefly the ultimate demonstration of God’s love. If anybody ever questioned God’s love, John 3:16 is the undeniable proof to the world.

“For God so loved the world…”

Why was man created in the first place? God longed for a family to have day to day fellowship with so He created man.  He then designed a place for man to live - the earth. In fact, the reason for the sun, moon and stars is to shine upon the earth. And the reason for the earth is for man to live. The earth was designed to be man’s “garden of delight”. A place filled with oceans, lakes, streams, mountains, waterfalls, as well as beautiful valleys and forests. On top of all this, God populated it with an endless variety of animals. Why did God do this? For man to enjoy. We were the jewel in His wonderful creation. Then God created spirit upon man so that He could enjoy continuous communication and fellowship with His creation. After all this, He saw all that He had created and he said “It was very good”. Now He finally had someone to commune with and lavish His blessings upon. How God must have dearly loved Adam and Eve.

            But this paradise was not to last. Man, God’s beloved jewel, disobeyed God’s ONLY commandment. Because of this, sin and death entered man’s world and the spirit that was upon him died. On this day man lost his connection with his Creator. The earth itself was marred and cursed. But God, the sweet Father that He is, then set in motion a secondary plan to bring man back to Himself. A second Adam would be born to correct the error of the first Adam. This man would be God’s own son and would give his life to set things back in order. This man’s name was Jesus.

             “...that He gave His only begotten son...”

            When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, his ultimate mission in life was to die. Not for his sins, but for the sins of the world.

             “Surly he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53: 4 and 5)

            “And he is the propitiation (payment in full) for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (I John 2:1)

             Whenever my wife and I read the gospels, we almost always skip the parts that speak of Jesus’ suffering and death. It’s too hard to read about; too hard to imagine. It is so hard to read about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, when he is pleading with the Father that if there is any other way, please don’t let him have to suffer the death that was fast approaching. But in the end, there was no other way. As hard as it is for us to read about, just think how hard it must have been for his Father. The culmination of God’s plan of man’s redemption now rested upon the shoulders of Jesus Christ. No other act of giving would ever match this one act of heartrending sacrifice. God willingly gave up His son who He dearly loved and Jesus chose to give up his life because the Father asked him to. They did it for us. Did we deserve it? No. Did we desperately need it? YES!

         “...whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

God and Jesus Christ accomplished what man could not do on his own; repair the broken relationship that God first enjoyed with Adam. Man is now fully restored to a place of peace with God and given all the rights and privileges God bestows upon sons and daughters. We can now enjoy sweet, moment by moment fellowship with our Father because He has bestowed upon us His holy spirit. We now have continual access to God and we have the boldness to enter into His presence to ask for grace when we need it. We also have a future that we can look forward to, for our names are written in the lamb’s book of life and we will live with God and Jesus Christ forever.

 As we can see, John 3:16 is the culmination of all God hoped and dreamed for His beloved sons and daughters. Now whenever we read this verse, we can more clearly see in demonstration the true heart of the Father and how much God truly loves us. Let us be eternally thankful and give Him the praise and honor He deserves. And let us also thank Jesus Christ for giving his own life to bring us back to God. This is love.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

                                                Love Always, Ray

             “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

Redeemed

 

                                                                   

Aloha Dearest Family,

         When I first got born again, I learned that I was sanctified, I was justified, I was reconciled to God, I was righteous and I was redeemed. I didn’t grow up in church so a lot of these words were what I called “church words”. I had to look up each to see what these words meant, and throughout the years I have come to understand and love the true meaning of each. Today I would like to share about redemption. What does it mean to be redeemed and why did we need it?

    To answer these questions, we must go back to the beginning. In the beginning God had given Adam and Eve dominion to rule over the earth. 

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28-30).

 When they disobeyed God’s commandment, this dominion that was originally given to man, was transferred to God’s arch enemy, Satan. The devil has been the ruler of the earth from that time forward.

            “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (I John 5:19)

 Mankind then became “a slave” to the whims and desires of the devil because of sin. The sin of Adam which brought forth death, was transferred to every man (Romans 5:12) for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Because of the fear of death, mankind has been in bondage.

            “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2:14 and 15).

As we can see, the devil has the power over death - not God. God wants us to have eternal life, not death. This is why God sent Jesus Christ. To make us free from the power of the devil. When Christ died, he broke the power that the devil had over us and offered us an endless life. He died for our sins, so the power of death was broken - forever.

In the Bible redemption is defined as - to purchase back; to ransom; to liberate or rescue from captivity exchange for a payment. In Biblical times a ransom was the price paid for the release of slaves. Jesus paid this ransom when he gave his own life on the cross and liberated us from the bondage of the devil’s power.

             “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)

 Now we are FREE! Free to live the life God had planned for us. Free to be the men and women we always dreamed of becoming. The devil has no more hold on us because we belong to God and are legal citizens of heaven. We are sons and daughters of God and we will live FOREVER.

                                             Love Always, Ray

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins:” (Colossians 1:14)

         

The Love of Jesus

 

                                                                     

                                   

Aloha Dearest Family,

                The other day my wife and I were studying I Corinthians; the wonderful chapter about the love of God.

            “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love (the love of God), I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” (I Corinthians 13:1-3 NASB)

            Even if I had all spiritual abilities and gave everything I had to poor people, if I didn’t have agapeo, the love of God in evidence, it would all be for nothing.

           “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (verses 4-8a)  

              To most, love doesn’t seem to be all that important when dealing with other people. But God considers it the most important quality that we could possess.

          “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (verse 13)

The people that demonstrate God’s love to others, also demonstrate these qualities in their lives. The qualities that are evidenced in an unconditional love – compassion, kindness, patience, acceptance.     

            I can think of no other person in history that demonstrated these qualities better than the Lord Jesus Christ. Of all the prophecies about the Messiah thousands of years before his birth, nothing could compare with meeting and getting to know Jesus in the flesh. Here was a man who loved God with everything he had and loved people with a love that no one had ever seen before. Let’s see him in action.

          This record from Luke is only covered in a few verses of scripture, but the true meaning behind it is astounding. 

“And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”(Luke 5:12)

Here is a man “full of leprosy”. Leprosy in the ancient east was a horrible, contagious and incurable disease of the skin. The individuals that contracted it were called the “walking dead’ because to be diagnosed with it was a death sentence due to the flesh rotting off the bones. As horrible as living as a leper was, it was just as devastating for the family of the individual. Families in the ancient East were very close and most times they would never see their loved one again. This person would be excluded from society including all feasts and other religious gatherings. Lepers lived far from society in leper colonies and it was unlawful to come within the vicinity of others without first crying, “Unclean, unclean!”

           So, when we read that this man was “full of leprosy” we recognize that he was in the advanced stages of this disease. The sight and smell of this man would be quite horrifying and to arrive in town to see Jesus, he must have had to endure continuous derision from all who saw him.

When the man saw Jesus, he fell on his face. This was a sign of complete surrender and he asked Jesus if he was WILLING to heal him. He already knew that he was ABLE, but he was asking if he wanted to heal him. What was said next must have thrilled his soul.

                 “And he put forth [his] hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.” (Luke 5:13)

 When it says he “touched him”, it doesn’t mean that he just touched him with a fingertip. The word touched used here means, “to attach oneself to” or “to embrace”. Can you imagine Jesus hugging this man that was “full of leprosy”? JESUS DID! Think of how much love he must have had for this man. Jesus looked past his appearance and his smell and saw his need. He wasn’t just a leper to Jesus. He was someone God truly loved. Once Jesus embraced him, Jesus told him “I am willing, be thou cleansed”, and the leprosy departed from him. Think of the stir this miracle would cause. Imagine word getting back to the other lepers; how there was now someone who could free them from this dreaded curse.

This is all possible because of the love of Jesus Christ. His continual, powerful, never wavering demonstration of God’s love set him apart from all others.

              Today we are called to walk like Christ. We are encouraged to put on the “mind of Christ” and demonstrate the love that he had for people.

  “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” (Philippians 2:15)

 Be compassionate. Do not judge. Be patient with those around you. Having the mind of Christ includes seeing others the way God sees them. To look past their infirmity and see the hurting soul inside, begging to be made free. Let us be willing to love like he loved. Be willing to love the unlovable and hug the leper. The greatest blessings do not come upon those we bless. The greatest blessings come from God to those who walk like Christ.

                     Love Always, Ray

 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” (I John 4:7)

Our Daily Bread

                                                                                                                   

Aloha Dearest Family,

            Today we will begin by looking at what is known as The Lord’s Prayer.

            “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-15)

            This is probably the greatest prayer in the Bible. Not that we should repeat, word for word, like a chant, but it serves as a model of what prayer to God should look like. Within this prayer contains the verse that will be the focus of today’s sharing.

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

This prayer is repeated in Luke 11 when one of his disciples asks Jesus to teach them how to pray. One of the lines of the prayer is in verse 3, “Give us day by day our daily bread.”  This verse refers back to the days of ancient Israel when the children spent over 40 years in the wilderness.

If you remember, God brought His people out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, through the wilderness to the promised land. The people were full of joy and confidence that God was able to bring them through the Red Sea. There was much joy and dancing. But three days into the wilderness, when they were thirsty, they started to complain and grumble against Moses. God miraculously gave them water to drink. A few days later, when they began to get hungry, they again started to grumble against Moses. God then does the impossible and invents a new type of food.

“Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” (Exodus 16:4 and 5)

No one had ever seen anything like it before. In fact, the word Manna in Hebrew, means “What is it?” To provide bread for His people, day by day, God caused it to appear with the morning dew. Each family would gather just enough for that day’s meals. If they gathered more than they needed and tried to store some up for the next day, this portion would breed worms and start to stink. Furthermore, since the 7^th day was the Sabbath when no work was to be done, they would be allowed to go out on the 6^th and collect a double portion to last through the next two days. This was surely the original “wonder-bread.” In this way God was able to sustain Israel for 40 years in the wilderness. Through this time God would take care of the needs of His people, such as what they would drink, what they would eat and what they would wear (in 40 years their shoes and clothes never wore out. See Deuteronomy 29:5) God would provide, day after day, what they needed, and in turn His people learned to trust that when they went out to gather their “daily bread’, that it would be there. God never failed to provide for them in the entire 40 years. When they entered the promised land, the manna stopped.

When Jesus prayed that God would give them their “daily bread’, in essence he was asking God to once again take care of the needs of His people, day after day. Later on, in the same sermon, Jesus taught them that their needs would be supplied because God already knew what they needed.

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (Matthew 6:31 and 32 NIV)

The next verse provides the key to having God supply all of our needs.

“But seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Verse 33NIV)

When we put God first and seek after His righteousness, God promises that He will take care of our needs. All we need to do is believe that He will be true to His promises. Just as Israel had to trust that God would provide their daily share of manna, we need to trust Him that He will supply our “day to day” needs. And He will.

                           Love Always, Ray

 “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

(Philippians 4:19)

 

The Seed of Greatness

                                                                                                                       

 

Aloha Dearest Family,

                The seed is one of the greatest miracles God ever invented. Even today’s scientists cannot explain how a seed works. The seed has only one purpose - to grow. All the potential of the plant is in that one seed.

                The people of the Bible were very familiar with the way seeds worked and there are many, many examples of seeds and the growing of plants and trees in the Bible. Here are a few examples.

   -The prosperous tree (Jeremiah 17:7 and 8)

-The tree whose leaf does not wither (Psalm 1:1-3)

-The teaching of the good and evil trees (Matthew 7:17-20)

-The parable of the sower of seeds (Luke 8:5-8 - for the explanation of this parable see Luke 8:11-15)

-The parable of the tares in the field (Matthew 13:24-30)

-The teaching of Christ being the branch (John 15 15:1-8)

-Paul planting, Apollos watering (I Corinthians 3:6)

           …..There are many more. These are just a few examples.

 The point of seeds is that they don’t remain seeds. When planted in good soil, with the right amount of water and sunlight, this seed will grow. It can’t help it. This is what it was designed to do. The seed can be the smallest of all seeds but it can produce the greatest result.

         “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.” (Matthew 13:31 and 32)

         You may ask, “What do learning about seeds in the Bible have to do with me?” I’m glad you asked.

        If you have confessed Jesus as your savior and believed in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, (Romans 10:9) then the Bible says you are saved. At this time God placed within you His incorruptible seed.

         “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” (I Peter 1:23)

  This seed in you makes you a child of God.

         “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (I John 3:1 NIV)

Being God’s children is not something that we aspire to be - it’s who we are right now!

God has placed His seed within us. And what have we learned about seeds? They grow. We all have within us the seed of greatness! God has destined greatness for our lives; in health, in wealth, in knowledge, in EVERYTHING! This is what God’s seed was designed to do in us. A seed never stays the same. If given the right conditions, it can produce incredible fruit in our lives.

But what can hinder a seeds growth? Not using the right soil, not enough water or sunlight or letting weeds grow around our seedling. In order to let our seed grow to its fullest potential within us, we have to be diligent. A farmer doesn’t just plant his seed in the ground and then comes back in a few months when the crop starts to come up. He is vigilant and tends to his crop. Remember a seed wants to grow so let’s provide the right conditions.

                When we renew our mind to God’s Word, obey the command to love God and love people, then the seed will grow and mature. We cannot allow weeds to grow around our seedling. Weeds are the thoughts and ways of this world that are contrary to God’s ways. They only hinder our growth. (Praying and conversing with your Heavenly Father is a great way to put life into the soil where your seed is planted).

                

Another aspect of a seed is that it grows up to be exactly like the original. When we are born again, God places within us holy spirit, His spiritual seed. This seed is also called the spirit of Christ ((I Peter 1:11) and Christ in you (Colossians 1:27). When we do God’s Will, love people and serve in God’s household, the seed within us can become fully mature and produce fruit.

                “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance…” (Galatians 5:22 and 23a)  

This is the same type of fruit displayed by Jesus Christ himself. When we allow the seed within us to grow and mature, we become just like Christ. This is what this seed was designed to do. And when we produce this fruit we bring glory to God just like our Savior did and still does.

                “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” (John 15:8)

                         Love Always, Ray

Yoked to the Master

                                                                                                                 

     

Aloha Dearest Family,

               “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 1:28-30)

                This scripture passage has been a source of comfort and encouragement to countless believers for more than 2,000 years. And they are no less a source of strength to us today since the day they were first spoken by Jesus himself. We will examine this passage in today’s sharing.     

“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

 We might ask ourselves, why were these people who he was addressing, laboring and heavy laden? First, we must remember that at this time in history, Israel was under Roman rule, and the empire invaded every aspect of their lives. They were not free to conduct day to day business except by permission from Rome. Even their Sabbaths and required feasts could be stopped or even cancelled at the whim of the emperor. Secondly, and more insidious, the people of Israel were oppressed by their own religious leaders. During this time several groups held rule over the faith practices of the people. Among these were the Pharisees and Sadducees. These two groups burdened the people with man-made laws, many of their laws were against God’s law. Scholars believed that they had added over 600 new laws that were virtually impossible to follow, leaving the people in a continual feeling of sin because they could never meet these standards. Jesus summed up the damage they were doing.

            “Woe unto you, lawyers (teachers of the law)! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.” (Luke 11:52)

These leaders were more concerned with political power and control than helping people. They were supposed to be the shepherds of the people, but instead they were fleecing the flock.

Most people wanted to live a life that was pleasing to God, but they were constantly burdened by the doctrines and commandments of men. Jesus’ words must have been like a breath of fresh air to the listeners. Jesus promised rest from the labor of walking by the rules and regulations that could never bring them closer to God. Jesus says I will give you rest from your labor.

            The start of the next verse may seem to us like a contradiction to what Jesus had just said.

            “Take my yoke upon you…,” First he said, I will give you rest, now he is saying take my yoke upon you.  Seems like labor to me. What am I missing?

            The people of the ancient East knew what a yoke was. A yoke was a sturdy wooden harness that would be used to attach two animals together (preferably oxen for plowing). Farmers knew that they had to choose these two oxen very carefully before yoking these animals together. He couldn’t choose animals that would oppose one another. The farmer would choose an experienced, well-seasoned ox and yoke him with an inexperienced one. In this way the inexperienced ox would learn from the experienced one. In this verse we are like the inexperienced ox and Jesus would be the well-seasoned ox. If we are not sure what to do, we rely upon him to show us the way. He will teach us how to be successful. But first we must be unburdened by the cares of this world, then we can partake in the work of the kingdom.

             “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (verse 29) By following his example, we learn how to be meek and lowly in heart (humble). When we do this, we will find rest to our souls.

             “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Verse 30)

 Jesus said that his yoke was easy and his burden light. This is an astounding statement to make, considering that his primary mission in life was to die for the sins of the world. How could he say that my burden is light? He could say this because he was yoked to his Father. Jesus was not alone in his mission. The Father was with him at all times. It was his Father that he leaned upon and learned from. They were partners in the work; an unbeatable team. God is love. All that He ever designed or brought to pass was because He so loved us. His Son did and accomplished no less and for the same reasons – Love.

            We should never feel alone in our walk of faith. And we never have to feel that we are left on our own to figure out how to fulfill our function in the church. For we are yoked to the master, and he shows us and teaches us what needs to be done.

                                                             Love Always, Ray   

The Joy of the Lord

                                                                                                                  

Aloha Dearest Family,

                In the past couple of weeks I’ve had the privilege of studying the topic of Joy in the Bible. Most people cannot define joy but they know when they have it, and they know when they don’t have it. Almost all of us have experienced joy at one time or another. Perhaps it was upon the birth of a child or when they got married. Joy can be defined as “a settled state of contentment, confidence and hope”. Joy is more than happiness because happiness depends upon what happens to you. It is based on your circumstances. But Joy is an internal bubbling up on the inside and is based upon something more permanent.  

                Jesus Christ wanted his followers to have joy. In John 15 he told his disciples, 

“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”  (John 15:11) 

      There are two points to learn from this scripture. First, Jesus always had joy. Because of the relationship he had developed with his heavenly Father, he walked in constant joy. One of his favorite times was when he spent time in prayer and fellowship with His Father. It didn’t matter the circumstance or situation he found himself in, he could always experience joy because he knew who he was and he knew that he was fulfilling God’s work. Secondly, he wanted us to have HIS Joy. And he wanted our joy to be full. So to live in continual joy should be normal for us. 

                We know that Jesus had joy and he wanted his followers to have joy, but what about God? What gives God joy? To find out, let us look at a verse from Nehemiah.

            “…the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10b) 

I have read this verse many times and frankly, I didn’t quite grasp the meaning. How could joy be strength? Maybe I wasn’t seeing the whole picture. To understand this section of scripture, we must first find the context of this verse. Why was it said and what were the circumstances surrounding it?

To give a brief overview, the children of Israel had just been held in captivity in Babylon for seventy years. Now they were finally able to go back to the land, rebuild the Temple of the Lord and rebuild the wall surrounding the city. After all this, God’s priest Ezra, and the Levites, read the entire law in the ears of all the people of Israel. Not only did they hear God’s words, but Ezra and the Levites gave the meaning of the words being spoken. This caused the people to weep for sorrow, because they saw how they had disobeyed God’s commands. But Ezra the priest encouraged the people.

“Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law. Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:9 and 10) 

The people were encouraged and told to stop weeping and grieving but rejoice because this day is a holy day to God, for the joy of the Lord would be their strength. But what does this mean? First, this joy is the Lord’s joy. Why would He have joy? Remember that Israel was finally able to return to the promised land, rebuild the temple and city walls and they were able to hear God’s Word again. And their response-they wept. Think of how joyful God must have been at this time. God loves to fellowship with His people. This is what gives Him Joy. 

But how can God’s joy be our strength? The Hebrew word for strength is also translated 1) a place or means of safety, 2) protection, 3) refuge, 4) stronghold, 5) a harbor or safe haven. What this verse is saying is that God would be their safe haven, their protection and their stronghold because He has joy in His people. How these words must have thrilled the hearts of the people. To let them know that He is no longer angry with them, but finds joy in them. A similar verse is found in Zephaniah. 

            “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17) God finds joy in His people.

                When the angels first declared the birth of God’s son, they said, “.. Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” (Luke 2:10) This announcement must have given great joy to the shepherds who found the babe in the manger. But think how God felt! After all this time, He was finally able to fulfill a promise He had made 4,000 years earlier. God would be able to enjoy sweet, intimate fellowship with His son each day and the time was drawing near to the time when mankind would be brought back together with Himself. This was the purpose of the ages. Even though He had to experience the death of His own son, God must have been bursting with pride at the resurrection. Now each of us can enjoy sweet fellowship with our heavenly Father. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice gave us a seat near God as well. When we spend time in God’s presence we too can experience fullness of joy, just like Jesus did.

                “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalm 16:11)  

                Likewise, our Father enjoys spending time with us and He loves for us to talk to Him. Sometimes we must unburden our hearts before Him and put our trust in Him. And sometimes we just want to say, “Thank you.” God loves being a Father to us.

                “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” (III John 4)

God has great joy because we choose to obey His Word. We do this because we love Him so.

                                         Love Always, Ray 

Mary's Treasure

                                                                                                                                                

Aloha Dearest Family,

                Today we will examine how God worked with Mary to build up and encourage her for the mission given to her by Him. She would not only give birth to the Messiah, but raise him as well. The meaning of this one child would be more important than any other who came before. How do you prepare for such an assignment? Let’s look at what God revealed to her at the start.

                “..God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”  (Luke 1:26-35) 

This is quite a proclamation. This promise was 4,000 years in the making (since Adam). But God is always true to His promises. She would need God’s help and encouragement to fulfill this assignment.

                Shortly after Mary agreed to this monumental task, she goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who herself is also pregnant. While she is there both Elizabeth and her husband Zachariah encourage her with prophetic words from God.

                Six months later she is in Bethlehem with her husband Joseph where she finally gives birth to Jesus-the long awaited promised seed (see Genesis 3:15). Now around the same time as  this joyous event, shepherds were in the field around Bethlehem tending their sheep.

                “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” (Luke 2:8-15)

These shepherds could not wait to go and see this child for themselves. “

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” (verses 16-18) 

These shepherds were not silent about what they had just experienced. They told everybody they met and all that heard them were amazed. Guess who else heard their words? Mary. Think how these words must have thrilled her. This is something she would always remember.

“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (verse 19) 

What she heard would be her own personal treasure and she pondered them in her heart. To ponder means “to meditate upon, to go over and over in your mind, to contemplate deeply about.” These words of the shepherds must have thrilled her heart and greatly encouraged her. She was once again reminded that God was faithful to His promises.

  

In the Temple

Eight days later Mary and Joseph were in the temple at Jerusalem where the baby was circumcised and named. When they were there, they met a man named Simeon, who prophesied about this child.

“Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” (Luke 3:28-32) 

Both Joseph and Mary were astounded at these words, encouraging them further. But Simeon also told of heartbreak to come to Mary. 

“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

 About this time a prophetess came in and also spoke encouraging words regarding the little boy, Jesus. I’m sure Mary made all these words her secret treasure. She must have pondered upon and meditated on these words and happenings for many years to come.

 

The Magi 

 

About a year and a half later, a caravan of Magi from the East showed up at their front door step. (This must have been quite a sight since Bethlehem was a small town). After the Magi presented their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (gifts given to kings), Mary and Joseph must have listened intently to their incredible story of how they saw his particular star in the East (in the rising) and what it meant. This was also further encouragement God gave this young couple that God was taking care of them. They would need this final encouragement for they would soon flee to Egypt, for King Herod would seek out the boy’s life. But throughout all their trials in life, God was faithful in all that He promised.

All these words that were spoken about her son were electrifying and she must have treasured every memory of his young life. Even the memory of when Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem at the age of 12. She still kept these memories as her own personal treasure.

“Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.” 

                          Love Always, Ray