HE+ CAME, A BABE ~ HE+ LEFT, A SAVIOR+

HE+ came, a Babe 
~ HE+ left, a SAVIOR+

KOREAN CAROLERS' CAVE in Bethlehem, courtesy of

http://baumersabroad.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-eve-in-bethlehem.html

His+ GIFT to Us... A ROBE of Righteousness

His+ Gift to Us... 
A Robe of Righteousness

Glory to GOD in the Highest!

And on earth, peace,

goodwill towards men !

Luke 2:14

GOD loveth mankind!  HE gave us HIS SON+ Who+ gave us the GIFT of Life.

THOU+ hast ascended on High,

THOU+ hast led captivity captive:

THOU+ hast received gifts for men;

yea, for the rebellious also,

that the

LORD GOD might dwell among them.

Psalm 68:18

Our LORD JESUS CHRIST/ Y'SHU+ the M'SHIKHA robed Himself+ in our human flesh ... so that we might be robed in His+ Divine Righteousness.

  

And to Her

( the Bride of the LAMB+ )

was granted

that she should be arrayed

in fine linen,

clean and white:

for the fine linen is

the righteousness of saints.

Revelation 19:8

Regardless of the date of the Incarnation of CHRIST JESUS /Y'SHU+ the M'SHIKHA ... HE+ DID COME ... at the fulness of time, at the Time so Appointed by The FATHER.

.

But  when

the fulness of the time was come,

GOD sent forth His SON+,

made of a woman,

made under the Law,

To Redeem them

that were under the Law,

that we might receive

the adoption of sons.

Galatians 4:4 - 5

.

The LORD JESUS/ Y'SHU+ the M'SHIKHA had much WORK to take upon Himself+ when HE+ came. Furthermore, this DIVINE work could only be accomplished by His+ coming in the flesh as the SECOND ADAM+ .

Thus, HE+ came.

.

But made Himself+ 

of no reputation,

and took upon HIM+ 

the form of a servant,

and was made 

in the likeness of men:

And being found in fashion 

as a man,

HE+ humbled Himself+,

and

became obedient unto death,

even the death of the Cross.

Philippians 2:7-8

.

Because that is what HE+ did when HE+ came here, we  can now be robed in white linen, pure and clean ... pure and clean as a newborn babe in all its innocency.

 

Because HE+ came, we who seriously follow JESUS / Y'SHU+  become un-stained from sin.  We are made New Creatures in CHRIST / the M'SHIKHA+.

JESUS /Y'SHU+ saith unto him,

I+ am

the way,

the truth, and the life:

no man

cometh unto THE FATHER,

but by ME+.

John 14:6

Our FATHER sees the Prodigal from afar, returning to HIM ... through CHRIST JESUS / Y'SHU+ the M'SHIKHA+.

And he arose, and came to his father.

But when he was yet a great way off,

his father saw him,

and had compassion, and ran,

and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

For this my son was dead,

and is alive again;

he was lost,

and is found.

And they began to be merry.

~ from Luke 15

We too are arrayed in the "Best Robe" of the Prodigal , that special Robe handed to us by our Gladsome FATHER. The great MERRIMENT that occurs in Heaven when we repent will over-flow into our own hearts here on earth !

 I+ say unto you,

that likewise joy shall be in Heaven

over one sinner that repenteth,

more than over ninety and nine 

just persons,

which need no repentance.

Luke 15:7

Because The LORD JESUS / Y'SHU+  condescended to be born in the flesh, we can be born from Above, Anew, Again.

Because

HE+ came down,

we can go UP !

Even more, we do NOT have to wait until we die to have companionship with the LORD. That companionship is ours NOW... because HE+ came as EMMANUEL, GOD with us.

I will greatly rejoice in The LORD!

My soul shall be joyful in my GOD;

For HE hath clothed me

with the garments of Salvation.

HE has covered me

with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decketh himself

with ornaments,

and as a bride adorneth herself

with her jewels.

Isaiah 61:10  

Glory to GOD in the Highest!

And on earth, peace,

goodwill towards men!

Luke 2:14

Redeeming the Time at Christmas

+  +  +

The problem of CHRISTMAS

Christmas brings with it a host of problems,

not the least being

WHAT are we to do with it ? 

 

It is abundantly CLEAR that Christmas did not stem from what Our LORD taught. HE+ did not instruct us to do ANYTHING to proclaim His+ Wondrous Birth… even though the Heavenly Hosts proclaimed it !

 

No, rather, HE+ told us through the Apostle Paul to remember His+ Body broken for us and His+ Blood, shed for us. 

HE+ told us to PROCLAIM His+ Death until HE+ comes again !

For I have received of the LORD that which also I delivered unto you, that the LORD JESUS the same night in which HE+ was betrayed took bread:

And when HE+ had given thanks, HE+ brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is My+ Body, which is broken for you:

this do in remembrance of ME+.

After the same manner also HE+ took the cup, when HE+ had supped, saying, This Cup is the New Covenant in My+ Blood:

this do ye,

as oft as ye drink IT+,

in remembrance of ME+.

For as often as ye eat This Bread, and drink This Cup, ye do PROCLAIM ( GK)  the LORD’S Death till HE+ come.

I Corinthians 11: 23-26 , Courtesy of BibleGateway

We know — for those who care to look — that Christmas was NOT celebrated by the Apostles, NOT proclaimed by the Brethren, and NOT listed as a feast of any sort in any of the books of the New Testament, to be kept by the Followers of JESUS.

 

However,

what are we to do with

the Problem of Christmas ?

… for it is HERE, and indeed a problem

for serious-minded Followers of JESUS. 

The problem presents itself like this: 

All worldlings “KNOW” ( i.e., think they know ) that Christmas is supposed to have something to do with the Birth of CHRIST.  Even inmates in a prison expressed confusion to a Christian Sister who wore a habit as she worked with them, upset and confused that she did not “keep” Christmas. 

Christmas was the sum total

of all they knew

about Christianity. 

[Realizing that it was better to maintain a consistent Christian witness with the little they “knew” about Christianity,  she quickly planned an appropriate activity to point them to CHRIST, in a Christmas setting. Inmates are  part of the hurting population.]

It is a season that brings PROBLEMS to a lot of persons … persons without any family or with such dysfunctional families that any family-oriented holiday becomes a time of dread.

Loneliness, sorrow from rejection or neglect, grief over loved ones who have passed away, depression over no money to spend for “Christmas” gifts and foods … all present HUGE PROBLEMS for both worldlings and sadly enough, for many Christians as well. 

So, WHAT are we FOLLOWERS OF JESUS to do ?

We cannot change the “traditions” of the culture that we all have experienced in our childhood. People are left immured in the muddle of these traditions, trapped by emotions, wrapped in tension and fear that they will be forgotten — once again — by friends and family.

There seems to be a Great Need out there, to minister CHRIST JESUS to hurting hearts… and those hurting hearts are WIDE OPEN AT CHRISTMAS TIME … regardless of how we personally  feel about Christmas.

Thus, Followers of JESUS need not hide behind closed shutters and well-draped windows like some do on halloween.

No, Followers of JESUS might rather be on the look-out for those sad faces and teary, wistful eyes they encounter here and there during this “merry” season of the year.

Followers of JESUS might rather make some inquiries around their neighborhood, churches, laundromats, or other places they frequent to search out the poor, the handicapped, the forgotten, the empty.

Then said HE+ also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

But when thou makest a feast,

call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

Luke 14: 12-14, Courtesy of BibleGateway

Not everybody can have strangers in their home, at their banqueting table … but rest assured, there is SOMETHING that The LORD will lead the willing heart to do , to minister His+ Love and Good News to the empty and hurting at this season.

We do not do this in the name of “Christmas” ; that is simply the vehicle that presents itself to us, to carry forth the Salvation message of JESUS to the lonely and lost ones.

Hearts, for some reason,

are more open

to Receive

the GOOD NEWS of CHRIST

during Christmas,

than at any other season

of the year.

We minister in the Name of CHRIST JESUS, the ONE+ Who+ left His+ Throne in Glory to come to this dying earth to Redeem human beings. HE+ Robed HIMSELF+ in human flesh , with all its pain,  in order to minister His+ Life, His+ Love to this tragic and wounded world.

The hurting ones

NEED

to know that Truth.

• If we are forced to attend a family dinner, then let us invite one of the hurting ones to go along with us, redeeming the time — for they cannot repay you in either food or invitation for THEIR family get-together, for they may have neither.

• If we cannot invite strangers into our midst for the family banquet , then can we cook a meal and take it TO A HUNGRY FAMILY, as a “Christmas” present … along with  some literature to introduce them to CHRIST ?

• If we cannot cook a meal, can we take a plate of “Christmas” cookies to the elderly shut-in … and visit with them a couple of minutes ? [ Stores have ample supplies of seasonal goodies, if baking Christmas cookies is a hindrance.]

• And just to show them JESUS has not forgotten them, could we ask if they had any prayer needs ? Would they like a visit every week to pray and study the Bible together, just to show that this Follower of JESUS has not forgotten them, either ?

• If we cannot devote the time to visit, then can we supply a JESUS DVD*** to a handicapped “friend” we just happen to meet ?

• If we cannot supply a JESUS DVD, then can we send a “Christmas” card to an unknown neighbor, perhaps not a speaker of English, with a friendly message in their own language (found via the internet search engines) — and include a couple of JESUS tracts**** in it ?

• If our neighbors are all Saved in CHRIST, then are  we sufficiently supplied that we could include a $1 bill or  $5 bill in a “Christmas” card to a homeless stranger we see on the sidewalk — along with that tract ?

• If NOTHING ELSE presents itself for ministry, then can we dine on soup and crackers on Christmas Day and send the saved money to a Christian out-reach ministry like Voice of the Persecuted or some ministry where JESUS is Lifted up ?

People who are hurting HIDE.

But they are not hidden from The LORD.  HE+ knows who they are and where.

HE+ also knows …

 …. who is His+ faithful servant among us, the one HE+ can tap and say, ” Go to that person; she is hurting now. Show her My+ Care and give her the Gospel message of Salvation.”

 No, we need not forsake the truth about where Christmas originated as we minister The LORD to others. JESUS NEEDS TO REMAIN THE FOCUS. We are freed from maintaining the many traditions accompanying  Christmas. But to so many…

“Christmas” is the only thing

they know about Christianity.

Let’s change that.  

It is not better doctrine they need; it is better WITNESSES TO CHRIST JESUS.

Let us SEEK THE LORD to see what HE+ would have us do to Redeem the Time during this Christmas Season. Let us all DO WHAT WE CAN  to bring others into the Flock of CHRIST.

Preach the Word+;

In Season and out.

In the Name of The FATHER Who created us; and HIS HOLY SON+ JESUS CHRIST, Who+ Saves us; and the Blessed HOLY SPIRIT, Who sanctifies us. Amen.

+  +  +

*** DVD:  JESUS: HE+ LIVED AMONG US is an excellent, high-quality animated DVD, action-packed so children like to watch it as well as adults. It starts out with the Apostle John  on the Isle of Patmos, aged now, telling about his (flashback) experiences with The LORD JESUS. It comes in SEVERAL LANGUAGES for those who cannot speak English, as well as English. It is reasonably priced from the Voice of the Martyrs website.

 

**** TRACTS: Chick Tracts are excellent evangelistic tools. They are small “comic-book” type tracts, with a true-to-life story-line that leads a person to CHRIST. Brother Jack Chick culled the stories out of his many encounters with the unredeemed. His website features many tracts and they are AVAILABLE TO READ ON LINE, so one can see what is in the tract. Reasonably priced, also. THEY COME IN A VARIETY OF LANGUAGES

REDEEMING the TIME... In Season and Out

+  +  + A Personal Note to Fellow Christians... 

Courtesy of BiblePictures.NET

+  +  +

CHRISTMAS is not celebrated, as is done in Western Civilization, in The Holy Scriptures. There is no feasting, gift-giving, and other celebrations recorded about the BIRTH of CHRIST JESUS. 

So... what SHOULD we be doing ? 

Although many Christians no longer keep Christmas, we have noticed one thing: 

the worldlings do !

 

We have gone for decades avoiding the Christmas traditions we all were raised with, much to the consternation of our families and some of our Christian friends.  

However, every pagan, heathen, and “good” citizen in our community  --- including the public school children ---  all celebrate Christmas Day with as much festivity as they can find and many, alas, beyond what they can afford.

Scripture instructs us:  “ Walk circumspectly, redeeming the time because the days are evil.” 

We are also instructed:  “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.”

As our LORD HIMSELF+ has said, “  I+ must work the works of HIM that sent ME+, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”

There is simply no better time to witness at large than during the Christmas season. 

A plate of goodies accompanied by JESUS tracts and  a wonderful cd from Voice of the Martys , JESUS, HE+ Lived Among us,  goes into hearts, homes, and businesses of our acquaintances during Christmas …. because they will accept the witness at that time.

Statistics bear out the fact that there are more suicides and depression at this season of the year than at any other time.  Is not it better to issue HOPE to the ones who would be drowning their sorrows in the bottle or drowning their bodies in the sea, out of despair?

Would it not be better to utilize this season of raw emotion to point them how to come OUT of the sea of lies ? 

What better time to issue the Royal Invitation that there IS INDEED ONE+ Who+ loves you, ONE+ Who+ cares that you are lonely and hurting, ONE+ Who+ will make a “home” for you ?

 

We have been able to place JESUS-tracts inside some very dark homes and hearts by this method, all places that would not normally receive an open witness. Children are especially open to the Gospel message at this season and the elderly are always touched by an act of kindness.

One church we know of urges its congregation to do UNEXPECTED acts of kindness during this INCARNATION Season, as they go about their errands. So they do things such as buy lunch for the fellow behind them in the fast-food drive-in, on a work day, IN THE NAME OF CHRIST JESUS.   

How effective that is ! The fast-food worker receives the witness as well as the unknown stranger in the car behind ! 

So, in all this,  do we promote "keeping of Christmas" and its traditions to the un-saved ? 

NO.. by all means, NO !  

We pick JESUS-tracts that talk about repentance, the need to be saved, the dead-end street of following sin, flesh, and the devil. These tracts invite the readers to JESUS. 

Ourselves, we consent to remember only one thing:  His+ Coming, His+ INCARNATION.  

Because...  if our LORD JESUS had not humbled HIMSELF+ to be robed in human flesh and come in the likeness of man, not ONE of us human beings could have been saved. HE+ had to come! 

Even the serious Christmas hymns, like Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and O Come, All ye Faithful, and some others, give the Gospel message in a nutshell. 

This we all know and agree with, I’m sure.

Scripture only gives us a peek at the season in which HE+ came: at the time of Roman taxation after the fall harvest of crops. 

Shepherds were still in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night. It seems reasonable to think SOMETHING happened in the last month of the year, either the Conception of the HOLY BABE+ or HIS+ Birth. 

The exact date, however, is ... ALTHOUGH PRECISE ... is not necessary for us to know.    

We agree that The LORD is precise as to the prophetic timing of His+ breaking into human history as the SON+ of Man, but HE has not deemed it necessary to inform us of that precise time, like HE did with the certainty of PASCHA / Resurrection .

In addition, it certainly is in keeping with Scriptures to offer adoration of the CHRIST at His+ birth: the Holy Angels of GOD did it, proclaiming loudly to the shepherds; the shepherds themselves did, hastening to the stable to look with  awe upon their MESSIAH come in the flesh. 

Even up to child-hood, we see the Wise men from the East who not only came to worship the young child JESUS, KING+ of the Jews …  but also offered HIM+ gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, as we all well know.

Because we --- from a distance of 2,000 years away from HIS+ first Advent ---  are so far removed from the actual event, it can be FRUITFUL in CHRIST to offer HIM+ our adoration in awe of what HE+ did, coming as a helpless Baby into this hurtful world. 

It seems fitting, during this season, to offer HIM+ thanksgiving for descending to take on the robe  of Adamic flesh. There is NO OTHER remembrance of the INCARNATION of CHRIST become flesh in the Christian calendar.

It is a blessed season to use 

our gold, frankincense,and myrrh as GIFTS 

for those who do not know HIM+, 

that they might be drawn 

to this HUMBLE JESUS 

Whom+ we love and serve.

Now, I will not argue with anyone either for or against “keeping” Christmas: let every man walk in his convictions in this matter, for whatsoever is not of faith is SIN.

As it is written:

One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike.

Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the LORD; 

and he that regardeth not the day, to the LORD he doth not regard it. 

He that eateth, eateth to the LORD, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the LORD he eateth not, and giveth GOD thanks

This is simply to share with you how we redeem the time, how we share CHRIST and HIM+ crucified, in season and out. 

Yes, the satan has snatched the INCARNATION of CHRIST away from its rightful owners and drowned it in worldliness.  

Are we able to look above

the tawdry and mundane worldly celebrations 

and snatch the MOMENT… 

redeeming the time, 

because the days are evil… 

and darkness is coming, 

in which NO MAN can work?