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GLEANINGS FROM THE WORD Experiencing an extraordinary God in ordinary life Issue #936 October 17, 2003 It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like.... I've been thinking about Christmas lately. I know we haven't even reached Halloween and our American readers haven't seen Thanksgiving yet. It's the fault of one of the local department stores. They already have a great deal of Christmas stuff out on the shelves, including a six foot tall inflatable Santa that you see as soon as you walk in the door. To push me further down the Christmas theme, I was reading a biography of Jesus and got as far as the first two chapters which spoke of His birth. It had already deviated quite a bit from the gospel accounts so I quit reading. Since I was in (on?) a Christmas train of thought, I decided to reread the Gospel narratives of Jesus birth. As I read and meditated on what I read, I kept coming back to the place of His birth. Not so much the town of Bethlehem as the stable itself. My mind drifted to the idyllic pictures we see of a sparkling clean baby in an immaculate stable surrounded by friendly smiling animals. That's even less realistic than the book I gave up on. It was likely a working stable. It would have smelled of animals and manure. If the innkeeper who owned the stable was as busy as the story makes him out to be, I'm guessing that he was behind on the stable cleaning. The animals in the stable would have been working animals. Mary would have been sweating with the pangs of labor. While there is a certain "glow" about women who have just given birth, they don't generally look as altogether as the picture postcards of Mary. There's something almost poetic about Jesus being born in a filthy stable. He could have come as a baby born anywhere He wanted, yet He chose the mother, the time and the spot. A stable is a place of labor and Christ came to labor on our behalf. A stable can be a dirty spot (although not all are by any stretch of the imagination) and He came to help us shed our dirty rags and be made clean through Him. A king born in a stable is unexpected and Jesus is a good who constantly exceeds our expectations. We've sanitized the images we have of His birth into something that is nauseatingly sentimental and unrealistic. It's almost as if we don't want to face the reality of His birthplace and the reason why He came. A cute, sentimental baby Jesus is easier to deal with emotionally than a God who comes to set us free from His righteous wrath. The truth is God is both, He is love and He is wrath. Any depiction of Him that includes only one or the other misses the mark. In His coming Jesus tells of both. "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say." John 12:47-50 NIV Even if I'm completely wrong about what the place of His birth looked like, the fact of His birth cannot be denied. His death and resurrection on our behalf make it possible for us to be reconciled to God. I'm eternally glad he came. Until next time, spend some time contemplating the miracle of His coming. Look past the cute images in your mind and ponder the true wonder, Jesus came to save you and I from our sins. The God of all eternity cares that much for us. That's something to celebrate every day not just one day a year. Be blessed Hallelu Yah (Praise God)! Kevin YOU ARE Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour you are Abraham's seed. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:29 NIV Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. You have value in the eyes of God so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that heaven will not be complete without you. HELP FOR THE HURTING Maybe the cute baby Jesus in the sanitized manager is all you know. He's much more than that, He is ruler of the world, Lord eternal and more. He came and gave His life so that you could be free from the bondage of your sins. Will you let Him set you free? All you have to do is ask. You can simply begin the relationship by honestly and completely opening your heart, admitting you need God's help, and saying a prayer along the lines of: Jesus: I have made many mistakes in my life and done things I am not proud of. I have sinned. I need your love and forgiveness. I believe that you came into this world and gave your life on a cross to pay for my sins and that you defeated death and rose again. Please forgive me, and be the Lord of my life. I give my life to you Lord. Amen If you pray this prayer for the first time let me know so I can rejoice with you. Did you know that at Gleanings, we have a dedicated team of prayer warriors and all prayer concerns are kept strictly confidential? Your comments, your questions and your joys are shared with the prayer team, to keep me accountable as the head of the ministry and to encourage them as they see God at work in your life. As with prayer all these things are kept confidential within the Gleanings team. To share your questions, comments, thoughts, prayer concerns and praise reports email us If you enjoyed this issue of Gleanings From The Word, email it, in its entirety, to a friend. For information on use of Gleanings in your church newsletter or other situations please visit the permissions page . You can write to us at Gleanings From The Word Ministries International 114 Oak St Sherwood Park, AB Canada T8A 0V8 © 2003 K.F. "Kevin" Corbin Gleanings From The Word Minististries International - All Rights Reserved
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