Ramesh C. Reddy
Publisher
"In those days
Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the
entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while
Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to
register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to
Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house
and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged
to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there,
the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her
firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.
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 of
great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a
Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign
to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths 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, and on earth
peace to men on whom his favor rests." (Luke 1:1-14)
"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.' 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 about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at
what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things
and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and
praising God for all the
things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."
(Luke 2:15-20)
I want to share with you what I learned from the last 6 verses of
the Christmas story:
Observations:
Characters involved:
Angels, shepherds, Mary, Joseph, baby, the Lord God, and people
(implicit)
Interpretations:
Shepherds role:
The shepherds make a group decision to go and 'see
this thing that has happened'.
Do ya think they took all their sheep with them to
'see this thing that has happened'?
I think that is stretching it but we are not told. We know they were
watching over their flock by night when the angels appeared to them,
according to v.8. This means they were in the middle of their jobs. Yet,
they go now searching for this thing that the angels told them about.
They could have easily worried what is going to happen to their sheep
but I have a feeling the angels were watching over
them. In any case, the shepherds obey the angels without leaning on
their own understanding.
In the Old Testament, we learn that the angels
are
messengers of God! It is really interesting how the shepherd's react to
the angels message when they say, "Let's go to
Bethlehem to see this thing that has happened".
I have a feeling the shepherds could not
completely believe the angels until they saw the baby Jesus themselves.
Without saying, 'let's go
to Bethlehem to see the Savior born or to see Christ the Lord, they say
'let's go see this thing'.
You maybe wondering what's
the big deal?
There is a lot to say here because the shepherd's really may not have
grasped the message of the angels in their heart. For all we know, they
could have all been unbelievers without a knowledge of the Old Testament
and prophecy. This all changed when they obeyed the angels and hurried
off and saw Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus. Even as a baby, Jesus
became personal to them now.
In v.17 we read 'when they had seen him, they
spread the word concerning what had been told about this child'.
The event was not a thing anymore to them but the birth of a Savior
became reality to them.
We are told that these shepherds now spread the word concerning what had
been told about this child. We are not told that they saw the
baby Jesus and went back to their fields, saying "yeah, that's cool, we
have work to do now" but they were engaged in evangelism. This is the
first instance of evangelism by humans that we see here.
What they heard they did not keep to themselves
but spread it. Spreading Good News is cool
but spreading gossip can cause a duel.
The result of the shepherds evangelism is that
'all who heard were amazed.'
The shepherds belief in the Savior and there
actions of spreading the news had ripple effects.
Application:
It is important for us to realize that 'evangelism' began at Christmas.
The angels news to the shepherds and the shepherds news to the
people had positive ripple effects in so many lives.
This Christmas season, let us take the time to spread the message of
true love, joy, peace, and hope that can be found only in the Savior.
Christmas can just become a thing to us if we get so bogged down with
our jobs and the duties
we have to do rather than taking the time to understand the true meaning
of Christmas.
My prayer is that each one of you will remember our Lord and Savior
during this Christmas season. Christmas should be a time of celebrating
the birth of Christ and spreading the Good News.
True story of the Candy Cane (Dramatization to
make the point)
Once upon a time in a land far away, there was an elderly gentleman who
loved children so much and wanted to make them a candy where the message
of the gospel can be presented too. One Christmas morning, he decided to
give all the children a striped candy. The children loved the candy and
it's taste. However, they wanted to know how come the candy had a weird
shape. This gave the elderly gentleman the opportunity to spread
the gospel.
"You see children, this Christmas day I want
you to remember the birth of the Savior who was born for you and me even
as you eat this candy. Let me tell you the meaning of the candy",
replied the elderly gentleman.
The elderly gentleman started to tell the meaning.
"I made this candy in the shape of a cane to represent the 'staff of a
shepherd'. Jesus is your Good Shepherd and you all are his tender
sheep. The 'staff' is used to lead you all in the right direction if you
go astray. I coated it completely with a 'white color' to represent
purity. You see Jesus had no sin but was perfect in everything he did.
Each of us did yucky things though and Jesus wanted to forgive us and
deliver us from these yucky things so he came to earth to be our Savior.
I coated the 'white cane' with stripes of 'red color' to represent the
blood
of Jesus washing away all the yucky things we have done and make us
pure. Jesus died for you and me to rescue us from all our yuckiness by
becoming our Savior. I also coated it with 'three thin stripes of red'
to represent Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit. Each time, you eat a candy
cane, I wanted you to remember how much God loves you so much that He
sent Jesus as a baby, born during Christmas to become your Savior one
day and later give you His Holy Spirit to live in you and guide you
everyday. This is the meaning of the candy cane in your hands and the
gospel story." replied the elderly gentleman. Never forget that Jesus is
the reason for the season and my gift of the candy cane to you. Amen!
May you find peace and joy this season knowing
how much Jesus loves you and cares for you! Amen!
Christmas
Hope Rests In Savior, Truly Many Angels Sing! (C.H.R.I.S.T.M.A.S)
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I thank you so much your
birth is so special because you were born for me. Christmas is a time of
hope because you came
to be our Savior. Thank you so much Jesus! I am sorry Lord when I become
too preoccupied with getting presents, etc that I fail to sit at your
feet
and spend time with you on your birthday. I am sorry when I do not give
myself completely to you. Lord, we know when we give others gifts, it is
like giving you gifts. Yet, many times we can be bogged down with
Christmas shopping that the joy of this season is lost. For that we are
really sorry Lord. Even as we think of giving our loved ones presents, I
pray we would remember the reason for this season is your birth. Thank
you
so much Jesus! Please Jesus give us boldness to tell others about you as
the Shepherds did because you have the power to save all of us and be a
light in our lives. Thank you so much Jesus! Thank you Lord for hearing
us and answering us. I
pray for all those who are suffering this season that you Oh Lord would
send your healing in their lives. Whether they are suffering from a
physical ailment, emotional, psychological, or even a financial
struggle, please Lord be with them and help them experience the joy of
this season. Thank you Lord we can celebrate your birth because you are
Savior now and forever as we give our lives to thee. This Christmas we
give ourselves to thee as a present to you. We want to make you really
happy for your birthday and always. Please help us Father God to bring
you happiness. Thank you Lord and thank you Lord for the elderly
gentleman who spread the
Gospel through a candy cane. Thank you Lord that you can use anything
you want for your honor and glory. We lift all these things to you. In
Jesus Name We Pray, thanking you and praising you for everything! Amen!
May you
know Jesus, who wants to be your Lord and Savior this Christmas season and
forever!! Amen!
“He gives me strength and helps me
do what honors him the most.” (Psalm 23:3)
“But after he had considered this,
an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in
her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give
him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this
took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “The virgin
will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him
Immanuel”---which means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:20-23)
Joseph had in mind to divorce Mary quietly after he
found out she was pregnant with someone’s child but not his. Yet, he did not
want to publicly disgrace her for what he believed to have happened.
It is into this situation, the angel appears to Joseph
in a dream. In this dream, Joseph is told multiple things by the angel which I
decided to list.
- Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary
home as your wife.
- What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
- She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him
the name Jesus.
- Jesus will save his people from their sins.
- All this has taken place to fulfill prophesy.
- The virgin will be with child and give birth to a
son.
- They will call him Immanuel—which means “God with
us.”
What stuck out in my mind is the dream Joseph had when
the angel appeared to him to clear some things for him. For Joseph to have had
the dream, he had to go to sleep. This meant to me that he did not act right
away in haste when he found out about Mary’s situation. Rather, he pondered on
what he was going to do but did not rush into judgment. He just had in mind what
he was going to do. Since he did not rush into judgment, he now received a new
perspective because he waited.
I saw important implications for my own life.
When things go wrong in my life, I have had the tendency
to rush to judgment against other people. Not only that I like to hastily make
decisions to rectify the situation especially if I feel I was wronged. I found
out that is not the best way to go. Instead, whatever decisions I need to make I
should sleep on it rather than rushing into judgment.
This is what Joseph did and got a new perspective. I
believe when I don’t rush into judgment the Lord will show me a new perspective
on how to approach things. It can then be done in wisdom from the Lord rather
than taking unwise advice from the devil. When we do rush into things we do give
the devil an upper hand.
I ask you now dear friends, do you
sleep on things?
Dear friend, when things don’t go our way it can be
tempting to rush into judgment and make something happen especially when we feel
we have been wronged. Yet, I learned that could be the worst mistake we make.
Rather, we should sleep on things and wait on the Lord. It is possible that the
Lord could speak to us through a dream or through other means. When we wait, we
tell the Lord that we are trusting in Him and put our complete trust in Him even
through the pain. Then, the Lord will work in us and through us and help us make
the right decision. Then it will be up to us to act upon that decision rather
than giving into the enemy.
Friend, may you depend on the Lord even through pain and
allow Him to influence you as you seek Lord's enlightenment everyday peacefully!
For the Lord could give you enlightenment even in your sleep! Amen!
Seek Lord’s Enlightenment
Everyday Peacefully! (S.L.E.E.P)
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you I learned
that I should not rush into judgment but it can help to sleep on things. Oh
Lord, thank you that you can speak to us through dreams to to help us make
decisions we are pondering on. Give us strength and the ability not to rush into
judgment when we have been tempted to go our way. Help us to discern the dreams
you give us and seek wise counsel. I thank you so much Jesus for your help.
Thank you for being there for us. Help us to wait on you always. Thank you Jesus
you have heard us and answer us. I give myself to you and ask you to be in
control of my life to guide me and lead me. Thank you Lord you will do that. In
Your Precious Name I Pray Jesus! Thank you for dying for our sins and coming
back to life to save us. Thank you we belong to you as we confess our sins,
repent of our wrongdoing and turn to thee. Thank you when we mess up and turn to
you, you are always ready to pick us up and help us! Amen!
Love in Christ,
Ramesh
