God let Micah in on the Promise

Luke 2:1-7

Micah lived about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem, we are told God showed Micah the fall of Samaria, Jerusalem’s destruction, the Babylonian captivity and the return from exile, as well as the birth of God’s future Davidic ruler in Bethlehem.  (Thoughts taken from HCSB page 1522)  Do you recall King David and God’s promise to him about his throne?  You will find this in 2 Samuel 7:16, “And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever.”  It is almost 700 years till the birth of the Messiah and God opened the eyes of His prophet Micah to see and record what was to come. "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity."

Today we would refer to Bethlehem as a suburb of Jerusalem in that it is only about five miles outside of Jerusalem.  Bethlehem was very small, an insignificant city with this one exception, it was the birthplace of King David.  The Gospel according to Matthew gives this account:  “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”  (Matthew 2:1-2 ESV) 

In the gospel according to John, we have more information on the birthplace of the Messiah.  In John 7 we find the people divided over if Jesus is the Christ or a prophet, and this shows the confusion among this group of where Christ was born.  Picking up the account in verse 41, “Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” (John 7:41-42 ESV)

Luke 2:1-7 is a story preached and told before the day many refer to as the holiday season, but to all who have been changed, forgiven, redeemed, made new, we call it Christmas, for no one else in all the history of the world has done for mankind what Christ Jesus has done for us.  The great prophet Isaiah who lived from around 740-698 shared this event that would not happen till about 700+ years; “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7 ESV)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Are you a manager or an owner?

Are you a manager or an owner?

Are you a label reader, do you look to see what is in the product you are consuming, and where it comes from?  If not you would be wise to do so, and as followers of Christ, you would be wise to look at the many warnings about money and possessions, for they can deceive a person into taking ownership and a state of being in control, forgetting your role of manager, not owner.

What are some of the warning labels in Scripture, one I recall is the dishonest manager’s money.  You can read the story in Luke 16:1-13, but I want to ponder on these verses: “If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?”  King Solomon shared this warning label in Ecclesiastes 5:10, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.  This too is meaningless.”  The Bible is full of warning labels against allowing a good gift from God to become a little god in your life, never forget, your skill set, your mind, your training are a gift from God, and the more you are given the more is required of you.  The apostle Paul in his letter to young Timothy has this warning label; “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief’s.”

My story, as a student is one of not understanding these truths; a person reaps what they sow, and as a child, most of my schooling was not seen as an investment in knowledge but in keeping me from enjoying fun things.  So later as I attempted college I got my return on my contribution as a fun loving student in the first twelve years of my education.  My poor management of the skills and mind the Lord had given me became a reality, I was reaping what I had sown, and when I looked into the mirror it was apparent it was not my teachers fault. 

So I returned to what my dad and mother had taught, hard work brings a profit and laziness brings only harm.  To give more than is expected and to not build debt into your life, wait and pray and hope, but do not become a slave to credit, and to give the Lord a tenth of all He has bless you with, and that became the model of my life for many years.   Much later, I came to the understanding that true joy and blessing were in giving, not in acquiring.  And I’ve experienced that as a manager of all my Master has entrusted to me, the more I trust Him, the more freedom I have and fear has less of a hold on my life.

My hearts desire is to be wise to my Master’s desires and I’ve found this warning label that I have taken to heart will settle the issue of trying to own what was never mine.  “Thus says the Lord: “Let the wise man not boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, and justice, and righteousness in the earth.  For in these things I delight declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23)

I often will keep quotes and this one from Pat Morley “Man in the Mirror” (Solving the 48 problems men face) has shed light on the verse above. “When possessions and money become a surrogate for our real identity, who we are is tied to things that rust and rot away.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

For nothing will be impossible with God

Luke 1:57-80

We may not understand what Elizabeth has experienced, being the wife of a priest and not being able to bare him a child especially a son, and the criticism is not from Zechariah but from family and friends, and the neighbors.  In that day and culture it was considered a curse from God for a woman not to be able to have children.  So Elizabeth stays in seclusion for five months and Mary arrives in the six month and I’m sure these words of Gabriel have played over and over in her heart and head; “And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”  (Luke 1:36-37 ESV)

Now it’s time to give birth to a male child, and both Elizabeth, Zechariah, and Mary have no doubt it will be a long awaited son, and now the neighbors, friends and family members are showing up for the birth.  There is no question that God has blessed Elizabeth, for she, as her husband has stated to the angel, is “well along in years.”  The same ones who have said all kinds of not so nice things are now showing up, but the spotlight is not on their past but on the present of rejoicing at the mercy God has shown to this family.

We may forget our God is a covenant God and you will find it in Genesis 17:1-2, “When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in My presence and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”  And this was the covenant; “This is My covenant, which you are to keep, between Me and you and your offspring after you: Every one of your males must be circumcised. You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and you. Throughout your generations, every male among you at eight days old is to be circumcised.” (Genesis 17:10-12a)

Have you ever noticed how the group will try to take over, now they are excited, but they are not part of the decision making because God has already given this new born a name, it is John.  But the relatives and friends and even the community at large were going to name him after his dad, they said his name will be Zachariah, but His mother responded, “No! He will be called John.”  The relatives and members of the community would not except anything but Zachariah so they motioned to Zachariah and he asks for a writing tablet and wrote: “His name is John.”

Now it is getting exciting; “And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.”  (Luke 1:64-66 ESV)  “And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.  And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Special Dad for a Special Boy

Luke 1:56

Mary stayed with Elizabeth and Zechariah about three months and returned home, and guess what, no one at home maybe not even Joseph knew about Mary being with child.  She would have been four months pregnant and she returned to a small town were she is well known; this is found in Matthew 1:18, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.”  (Note: Before they came together means that Joseph and Mary did not have sexual intercourse and so Joseph would have assumed Mary had been unfaithful.)   

Can you imagine what that thief the one Jesus refers to in John 10:10, the one that controls Channel One the deceptive channel is doing to Mary on her way home?  I bet it went something like this; “girl there is going to be a stoning and you are going to be at the center of it.”  Now for my young readers, Mary understood that an unfaithful wife by law could be taken out and the village or town people would throw stones at her till she was dead.  Do you recall my favorite saying: “But God,” and you can be sure what is referred to as Channel Two, controlled by the Holy Spirit is telling Mary; “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

Joseph does not get much ink in the Scriptures, but do not doubt that He is the handpicked husband for Mary and a mentor and teacher and earthly dad to God’s one and only Son.  So it should not be a surprise to anyone the character found in Joseph.  “And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.”  (Matthew 1:18-25 ESV)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

What is missing in the Pew Research Report?

In my past life of being a salesman, I was often reminded that perception is the way things are to that person, it does not mean the customer is correct in their observation but it does mean that is their belief or awareness of the subject.  I often found it was not based on logic or data, but on exposure, the current product or belief was all they had experienced.

With that backdrop of perception, it is the way it is to you; we must come to grips with this fact, the number of Americans who self-identify as Christians has dropped from 78 percent to 71 percent according to the Pew Research Center, which has just released its latest U.S. Religious Landscape Study.  As a follower of Christ, what is my perception of being a Christian, and how can 7% who make this claim quit being a Christian?

First, let’s look at what Scripture says about Christians, when did the term come into being?  At Antioch and you can find that in Acts 11:26, but that does not answer the question, why at Antioch?  The answer lies in a scattered group being persecuted and fleeing Jerusalem after the death of Stephen one of the first of a group called The Way, followers of Jesus Christ, over 500 had seen the risen Lord.  This first group had this understanding, Jesus was God, He lived and walked among them, He taught, He healed, and He died on a cross, for in doing so He overcame death and the grave, for on the third day He arose victorious over both the grave and death.  And he was seen by eleven of His disciples and the apostle Paul gives this account; “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of who are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-9)

So as one who believes this to be 100% correct, I’m basing being a Christian not on a religion or a denominational belief, but on entering a relationship with Jesus based on faith that He tells the truth.  And as I’ve shared with you often, I was a religious person, a member of the Baptist church, who believed Jesus was God, who gave ten percent of my income some of the time, and yet had never ask Jesus to forgive me, I had often tried to make deals with Him but had never ask Him to come into my heart and be the Lord of all my being, till one night in a hotel room after reading Romans 10:9-10, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” and by faith acting on the grace He gives freely, I entered into Christ’s time line, and it has no beginning or end, I was changed.  And this is what happened that night: “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. (Matthew 14:20)

 

I was changed from religious Baptist Bob to a new creation in Christ, I was not a strong follower of Christ, but that came as I grew in my understanding of what He had done, and was doing in my life, but I was a Christian.  So if your definition of being a Christian is based on Scripture, on the finished work of Christ on the cross, where did the 7% go?  How does one get out of the Father, out of Christ, who is living in them, and they in Him?  For we have this word from Jesus; “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30)

My dad was a very wise man, a man of the Scripture, and he often would remind me that a word to the wise was sufficient, this is a word to the wise: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (1 Corinthians 13:5)  A wrong perception of truth does not change truth!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

All generations will call me Blessed

Luke 1:39-55

Luke tells us that Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a town in Judah, and most of us do not grasp the fullness of what is being said.  Mary is from Nazareth that is in Galilee and her cousin Elizabeth lives in a town in Judah, it is not next-door, it is a journey and being a family who may have been under resourced, she probably walked.  God does not give us any of the details of the trip; in fact, the next thing we read Mary is entering the house of Zechariah and greeting Elizabeth.  Mary did not receive e-mail or snail mail, the first word of the great news about her relative Elizabeth is from an angel.  Doctor Luke tells us that Elizabeth hid her pregnancy for the first five months, so Gabriel’s message to Mary may have been the first time she had heard about her cousin.

Luke being a doctor may be giving information only a doctor would have found interesting; such as the baby in Elizabeth jumping when he heard the greeting from Mary.  But something else happened; Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and “and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”  (Luke 1:42-45 ESV) 

Now as you read Mary’s reply do it slowly for it is amazing: “And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.  For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed, for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.  And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.  He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.  He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Holy Spirit - how Scripture address Him

Luke 1:35

            “And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” 

We refer to Him as the third person of the Triune (Three in One) God, and Scripture addresses Him as the Holy Spirit, today is a good day to look deeper into what the Scriptures say about Him.  In the second letter of Peter, chapter one verse twenty-one, we are told the Holy Spirit is the “Author of Scripture.” Both the prophet Isaiah and the apostle John gives this insight into the Holy Spirit as Comforter / Counselor / Helper; Isaiah 11:2, “And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.”   In John 14:16-17 we have this insight; “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

The apostle John calls the Holy Spirit our “Teacher” in John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my mane, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”  Note: it requires one to read and study the Bible for the Holy Spirit to teach us and to bring to our memory what Jesus has said.  The apostle Paul tells us the Holy Spirit is also our “Intercessor” in Romans 8:26-27, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning’s too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

The apostle John tells us when the Helper comes He will “Convict of Sin” and of Righteousness” you will find this in John 16:7-11.  As one who is a follower of Jesus Christ, who put faith in the blood of Jesus that covers all sin, and in the finished work of the cross, this act of the Holy Spirit to be our “Deposit / Seal” “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

When the Holy Spirit comes upon you and the power of the Most High overshadows you your life will never be the same, God is the same today as He was yesterday.

Form the Back Porch,

Bob Rice