Christmas Story

The Christmas Truth

Taken from Luke 2:1-20.

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 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."

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 to them 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.

Why do we celebrate on December 25th?

Obviously, December 25th is not the actual day Jesus
was born. This day was originally set for pagan celebrations
not the celebration of the Christ child. I don't know when
Jesus was really born but the bible gives us some insight to
this. Let's see what we find.

Here's what Beth Moore, famed Christian author and speaker,
says about it:

"God did not just tolerate celebrations and festivals
commemorating his faithfulness--He commanded them.
His idea!! Some were solemn; others were for the pure
purpose of rejoicing before the Lord. On one accasion,
Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet
drinks,and send some to those who have nothing to
prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10.)
The Book of Esther also speaks of an annual day set aside "for
joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other."
(Esther 9:19). Take a look at the most concentrated
list of feasts and celebrations provided in the Old Testament.
Glance at Leviticus 23. If your bible has segment captions,
you might see the chapter organized into seven different
feasts. Take a look at the section on the Passover. Read
verses 4 & 5. What day was the Passover?
The 14th day of the 1st month.
God chose the season of the Passover to be the first
month on His own sacred calendar pertaining to planet Earth.
The first month falls according to the new moon over
the last half of March and first half of April. Look again
at the at the wording in Leviticus 23:5. The timing God
assigned to the Passover has signifigance to all of us who
have carried children in our wombs. The 14th day of the first
month is the day of conception. If by any chance our God, the
God of perfect timing and gloriously signifigant order,
happened to overshadow Mary on the 14th day of the
first month of His calendar, our Savior would have been
born toward the end of December. We absolutely no
way of knowing whether or not He did, but I would not be
the least bit surprised for God to have sparked His
Son's human life on one Passover and ended it on another."

As Beth Moore continues: "I am a hopeless romantic
when it comes to celebrating Christmas, the birth of
my Savior. Until a further "Hear ya! Hear ye! from heaven,
December 25th works mighty fine for me."
~Taken from "Jesus, the One and Only"
by Beth Moore.~

I couldn't have said it better! Thank you Beth!

What are Angels?

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 2: ~

Angel - a word signifying, both in the Hebrew and Greek,
a "messenger," and hence employed to denote any agent God
sends forth to execute his purposes. It is used of an
ordinary messenger (Job 1:14: 1 Sam. 11:3; Luke 7:24; 9:52),
of prophets (Isa. 42:19; Hag. 1:13), of priests (Mal. 2:7),
and ministers of the New Testament (Rev. 1:20).
~From Easton's Bible Dictionary~

An angel is "a messenger from God."
They are superior to man. (Hebrews 2:7; Psalm 8:5)
They belong to Heaven. (Matthew 24:36; Mark 12:25)
They belong to God. (Luke 12:8)
They perform services of God. (Psalm 103:20)
Angels are spirits. (Hebrew 1:14)
They have no material bodies as men have. They are
either human in form, or can assume the human form
when necessary. (Luke 24:4, 23; Acts 10:3, 30)
They are called "holy". (Mark 8:38)
They are "elect" or "chosen". (1 Timothy 5:21)
Some have sinned and no longer reside
in God's presence. (Matthew 25:41; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6)

"In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence
of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
Luke 15:10

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