Merry CHRISTmas, Friends!

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who is called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her (Luke 1:26-38)

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, and angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find the Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth, peace, goodwill toward men!”

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.

Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.  (Luke 2:1-20)

As the heavenly host praised God and celebrated the birth of the Savior, let us praise God and celebrate Him today. As the shepherds sought out the Savior, praising God for revealing such a gift to them, let us likewise seek out our Savior and praise God for such a miraculous gift of Love. As Mary pondered these things in her heart, let us ponder the wonder of Christ in our hearts.

Merry CHRISTmas, friends!

The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom

As the kids and I explored the book of Proverbs this past week, we couldn’t ignore the repetitious cries to “Get wisdom! Get understanding!” (Prov 4:5,7). In the first several chapters, Solomon, son of King David, repeats it over and over again; to the point of frustration. We voiced several times, “All right already, I think we get the point!” However, as I have come to learn in the past, if the scriptures repeat, and repeat, and repeat, it must be because we are NOT getting the point.  So, I’ve spent some time mulling over this thing called wisdom.

Proverbs 9:10 tells us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” What better place to start than the beginning.  What is the fear of the Lord? And doesn’t 2 Timothy 1:7 tell us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love of and a sound mind? How then are we to fear the Lord? Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance offers some insight into this confusion, informing us that the fear of the Lord speaks of reverence, exceedingly and dreadful.*

Compare that to the definition offered regarding the spirit of fear which is described as timid, faithless fear.* These explanations draw very contrasting pictures of fear. A reverencing fear of God is distinctly different than the timid, faithless fear many of us have experienced; a fear that leaves us feeling helpless and hopeless.  The Godly fear of the Lord brings with it power, love, and a sound mind that faithless fear robs us of. This godly fear also brings with it wisdom.

James (the book, not my husband J) tells us that there is a wisdom that is from above and a wisdom that does not descend from above. Funny, when you consider wisdom, don’t you generally relate it to knowledge, insight, intelligence, perception, or good judgment? Isn’t wisdom always a good thing? Not according to James who describes wisdom as fitting into one of two categories: earthly, sensual, and demonic or pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy (Jas 3:15-17). If you are anything like me, you read this and think, “Surely I’ve never offered or received wisdom that does not descend from above. Surely I’ve had nothing to do with demonic wisdom!”

Then I am reminded of poor Peter. Yes, Peter, the one we remember as opening his big mouth and being silenced by God Himself (Lk 9:33-35). The same Peter we are told rejected his Lord three times after boldly proclaiming “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” (Matt 26:35). Yes, poor Peter. No doubt there were times he must have wanted nothing less than to crawl into a hole and disappear. Well, Matthew 16:21-23 had to be one of those times! After hearing Jesus tell of his coming crucifixion, Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. Jesus replied “Get behind Me, Satan!” Wow! That had to hurt. But, we argue, Peter only had Jesus’ best interest in mind. No, Peter had faithless fear, failing to trust Jesus’ words that He would be raised the third day. Jesus’ best interest was centered on doing His Father’s will, showing His love for sinful mankind, and going to the cross to save us from that sin. Anything contrary to that was and is in the interest of Satan.

If this same Peter, who repeatedly testified boldly of Christ, lead three thousand to the Lord in one day (Acts 2:14-41), healed a lame man (Acts 3:1-9), and miraculously escaped from prison (Acts 12), was capable of offering wisdom that does not descend from above, capable of offering demonic wisdom, are we not more so? Thankfully, we can go again to the book of James for some encouragement: if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him (1:5).

The message to me in all of this: Fear God, be about His interest, be steadfastly asking Him for wisdom that comes only from above, and always keep in mind that I am not above receiving and giving demonic wisdom.

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him

-Ephesians 1:15-17

* Strong, James H. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House Company, 1989. Print. – (Hebrew #3374, Greek #1167 )