The pen of a ready writer who exalts Jesus Christ
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Wanda Hartley Butts
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The Gift of Hope
-- Wanda Hartley Butts 11/24/2007Israel looked for an earthly Messiah King;
One who would come and deliver them
from the oppression of cruel leaders, but
a Messiah Savior came as a humble man
lecturing, illustrating, and story-telling;
teaching all willing listeners how to live
life joyfully for a redemptive Lord, who
would save them from wasting their lives.
Jesus Christ, our Creator’s promised Savior,
came with all power as King of kings to give
the human soul peace to rule the inner being,
so the creature could live faithfully as the
Creator’s child, in spite of human dictators.
How ironic! That King was accused, arrested,
and crucified by the beings He came to free!
Father forgive them; they know not what they do.
The Messiah, rejected and crucified by man,
established His ultimate power by rising
from the dead, and ascending back to God.
He left the humans here to live, either by his
power, or their own. Knowing someday He
would resurrect those who learned from his
teachings; and grant them the gift of living
eternally in his nonviolent Kingdom.
Eternal Christmas!
The Christmas I See--Wanda Hartley Butts (2006) Christmas is the smiling face of a child loved by its parents;Snowflakes floating slowly down;birds flittering from tree to tree; the mysterious grins on another’s face;A gift and the one who appreciates it;Bells, celebrations, choirs, children’s laughter;A Babe born for me, so I could face eternity. The knowledge that I am accepted in the Beloved,and all my family and friends can be also.Good Words Ministry
Prayer
Lord,
By your holy influence, I accepted you as my Lord and Savior. I pray for that same power to keep me living for you, so my life will glorify you and testify to others of your grace.
Amen
What Christmas do you see?
The message is taken from Isaiah 61:1-4 & verses 8-11.
The Christmas I See
--Wanda Hartley Butts (2006) Christmas is the smiling face of a child loved by its parents;
Snowflakes floating slowly down;birds flittering from tree to tree;
the mysterious grins on another’s face;A gift and the one who appreciates it;Bells, celebrations, choirs, children’s laughter;A Babe born for me, so I could face eternity.
The knowledge that I am accepted in the Beloved,and all my family and friends can be also.This time of the year we see Santa’s, Christmas trees, Christmas lights, and Christmas presents everywhere along with snow falling, icicles forming, and Christmas music playing, and people shopping, planning, cooking , and eating while visiting with friends and family. Also, nowadays, we hear debates everywhere about whether to say, “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas”, but the antichristian gains nothing by their insistence on “Happy Holidays” it is only a shortened way of saying “Happy Holy Days”, and Christmas is a Holy day.
But is this what Christmas is all about? Have we lost the true meaning of Christmas in all this hustle and bustle? We all know the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus, but is that really even it? Is the real meaning of Christmas reduced to a sweet story about a new born baby who never cries ,yet his voice crieth in the streets even today, Come unto me all ye that are havy-laden and I will give you rest. But we never hear Him because we are too absorbed in the noise of our laughter, package opening, and tossed ribbons? Or do we not hear Him because we are too absorbed in a commercialistic sport?
In Luke 4:16-21 Jesus reveals the answer the question: what is Christmas all about? There the text reads:
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
day, and stood up for to read. 17And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. This is a quote from Isaiah 61:1-4 and it defines Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth. And surely this is what Christmas is all about—not just a birth story, but the celebration of the One whose ministry was to serve mankind by setting people free of the things that restrict them, and keep them from living the abundant life that God intended for them to live.
Now, listen to the words of Isiah 61:8-11: For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed. 10I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. 11For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
What does that have to do with Christmas? Christmas is celebrating the One whose life and ministry served to change people from unproductive to productive lives. As followers of Jesus, we are the recipients of divine grace—or unearned favor or help from the Lord God. Also we are the body of Christ, which is called to tell others about the help that the Lord can give to them.
There is a story about a missionary who angrily chased thieves from his pineapple fields everyday. One day, his anger, yelling, and chasing stopped. Curiously one of the thieves asked someone why he stopped and that person told him that the missionary-farmer realized that the land didn’t belong to him; it belonged to God. In complete astonishment, the thief responded, “Uh-Oh …He became a Christian!” You see, the missionary proclaimed Christ, but he was not living for Christ, and depending on Christ to take care of him in his circumstances.
Are we expecting the joy-filled existence that characterizes the ministry of Jesus? Are we allowing the life of Jesus to touch others through us? Or, are we too caught up in a worldly Christmas? Let’s go back take a look at the first four verses Isaiah 61and see if we can experience and express the real meaning of Christmas.
Verse 1 reads; The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
This verse makes it clear that we must humble ourselves and surrender to the leadership of the Lord each day, allowing our spirit to be taught by His Spirit. Christ and his teachings are the means that God has provided for us to be free of the things that inhibit our lives and keep us from living life joyfully and abundantly. Christ is our mediator, or go-between between us and God, and through the means of prayer, we can now ask for areas of our lives that need healing and deliverance to be revealed, and then we can ask the Lord’s help with them. Also, we can ask for opportunities for that the same healing and deliverance to be granted to others through the same grace
Despite our own sinful nature, through Christ we can experience joy, instead of sorrow as we live life. To live joyfully we need to do as verse 2-3 of Isaiah 61 says: To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
We need to acknowledge that what the Lord says is true. Acknowledge that He is coming back someday and it will be his day of vengeance on all those people who continually live contrary to his principles. But, to those people who are truly sorry about their sin, he will give them beauty instead of ashes; the spirit of joy in stead of misery, and the garment of praise instead of sorrow, so that they might be the planting of the Lord and be called trees of righteousness——the people who will honor the Lord for what he did for them. Because of what Christ does for us, instead of living wrong, we will spend our time singing songs of praise to the Lord like Ephesians 5:19 says: Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; It is a little hard to have a bad attitude and sing at the same time, especially songs that praise the Lord God. Praising God sets us free from being entangled within ourselves and frees us to be of help to others. When we are focused on Jesus, He empowers us to become instruments of light that beam out showing others the way to live productively.
Verse 4 says: And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
The returning exiles from Babylon were not to set around and feel sorry for themselves because they found their homeland in a mess; they were to rebuild their ruined cities. We are not to set around and fell sorry for ourselves because our lives got messed up while we were away from God. We can rebuild our ruined lives with the help and encouragement from the Lord, thereby setting the example that there is hope, and a way for others to become productive also. We can begin by putting basic biblical principles into practice.
Psalms 37:1 – 8 relates some instructions about that new lifestyle:
1) we are not to worry about those that continue to do wrong, nor be envious of them because this verse says they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither like the green herb.
2) we are to Trust in the LORD, and do good; that’s how we are to live in the land, and truthfully that is how we will be nourished—by trusting the Lord and following his example off going about doing good.
3) we are to Delight ourselves in the LORD because it is him that fills the desires of our heart.
4) We are to Commit ourselves unto the LORD and trust in him and he will enable us.
5) The Lord will bring out righteousness and judgment like light, so it will be as plain as day to us.
6) We are to Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him, and not worry because of the person who prospers while committing wickedness with their ways.
7) We are to cease from anger, and forsake wrath, and not concern ourselves with doing any kind of evil.
There are also some more instructions in Colossians 3 which tells us not to lie to one another; we are to drop that lifestyle. It is like a filthy ill-fitting obsolete clothes that we should strip off and burn. Instead, we are to dress ourselves in a life style that is custom-made by our Creator. Also, labels like Jew and non-Jew, rule keepers and non-rule keepers, insiders and outsiders, civilized and uncivilized, slave and free, become meaningless. From now on everyone is, included in Christ and characterized by Him. People who chose Christ and this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe He picked out—clothing like compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, self- discipline and temperance , being contented with what one has, and being quick to forgive those who are offensive, as quickly and completely as the Lord forgave you. Believers are to wear love: It's our basic, all-purpose garment, so don’t be without it.Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune and in step with each other. Don’t go off and leave your leader, Jesus Christ, and do your own thing; it only gets you in trouble. Also cultivate a spirit of thankfulness. Let the Word of God have the full run of your life; give Him plenty of room to function. Instruct and direct one another using the good common sense from his Word. And joyfully sing praises to God; sing your hearts out to Him! Let every detail in your lives--words, actions, whatever--be done in the name of Christ, thanking God for being your Father every step of the way. Why should we see Christmas this way? Because, instead of Christmas being one holiday
we celebrate in a year, if we trust God, and live his way, life will become an eternal Christmas! A Christmas celebrated forever by people who love Him and each other, and do what they can to show that love to everyone by living productive lives for the Lord.
We are now living under grace, and have the opportunity of gaining God's favor; so, don’t wait until the opportunity passes to gain his help with your life. Those people who don’t want his help will face his wrath, which is yet to come.
What Christmas do you see? Do you see: A Babe born for you so you could face eternity? Do you see a Christmas that gives you the knowledge that you are accepted in the Beloved family of God, and all your family and friends can be also?
It makes a difference what you see in Christmas.
Let’s Pray:
Lord,
As we celebrate this year, help us see Christmas the way you see it, not as the birth of your Son, but the beginning of his ministry on our behalf. Help us see that his purpose is to bring us an eternal life of Christmas-- living for Him and each other everyday. Help us see that a self-centered life only leads to more trouble than we can handle.
Amen.
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Above all these things put on charity (love), which is the bond of perfectness. (Col. 3:12 - 14) Therefore, remember…. as we act and react with people… act godly….and don’t forget to apply his glue!
