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ANYTHING BUT IDEAL

Christmas cannot be understood apart from this simple truth revealed to us in Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the women, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.
The entire Old and New Testament was written so we can understand the spiritual struggle thousands of years in the making. Just think about the New Testament alone. Every chapter provides a glimpse into this spiritual conflict. Follow Jesus footsteps and you are confronted with the fact that wherever He goes, whatever He says, whatever He does, spiritual confrontation with the unseen powers are a daily occurrence. Eventually, the conflict pursues him unto death – it was just a matter of time; God’s time.
Today, the Christmas story has been so sanitized we miss the whole story altogether. It did not happen over night. This romanticizing has taken place over centuries and eventually was picked up by Hollywood, and commercialized by the merchants of this world. The church is not without fault in all of this. Throughout the western world, churches idealize the birth of Jesus Christ through songs, pageants, musicals and dazzling performances.
As we address the theme of this series: “It’s just a matter of time” in the next few weeks, we will pull back the curtain to see what is going on in the spiritual and physical world for thousands of years, eventually culminating when Christ returns the second time to this earth. It’s just a matter of time; God’s time when everything will come to a completion.
Remember, at that time political intrigue, racial tension, increased immorality and societal instability was the norm. This was a time of unprecedented economic and political success for the rich only. For the rest of the Roman empire it was a time of unprecedented economic and political oppression. In other words, for the Jewish people it was anything but ideal. They were hoping that their Messiah would show up and once again lead them out of bondage like Moses did when leading the Hebrews out of Egypt. It was such time as this that God the Father sent His son to this earth. It does not look good. The chances of success are slim from a human perspective.
The problem with the world at large is that people’s lives are dominated with the headlines of the day. God works behind the headlines to accomplish His will. In His word, He revealed to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear what He will do IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME. He tells us WHERE, WHAT, WHEN AND HOW.
Today’s time are no different when Jesus was born. Political corruption…religious compromise…economic crisis. These will always be headline news. Just remember, God uses desperate times, anything but ideal times, to accomplish His eternal purposes in our world and in our lives.

Keep On Believing

The birth of Jesus Christ was the beginning, not the end of God’s good news to all men. The Christian life begins with a new birth, which is great news and brings much joy. However, that is just the beginning.
Growing in grace and in faith is necessary to see the promises of God being fulfilled in our lives.
Today, we claim to believe in the saving Grace of God Almighty, but that’s about how far it goes. When confronted with biblical truth, we simply say: Well, I just have a hard time believing that God would do that for me. That’s what the Hebrew writer means when he says that God has no pleasure in those who draw back.
Spiritual strength has never come to us by OBEYING COMMANDMENTS. Those people who drop out of the race, AND who have no perseverance to the end have simply stopped trusting the promises of the living God. They are children of the living God, they have been protected by the blood of the lamb, but they are being robbed of all the promises God has given them for their future.
The Apostle Peter simply explains that it is these promises that draw the heart to God in faith. In fact, the great command of the New Covenant is TO BELIEVE. The Israelites did not have many words of God they could hang unto, but what they were given was enough to lead them out of bondage.
You and I have the written word of God, but without feeding on the promises of the Word, not faith life will be strong. Without the word we are not able to continue on and persevere.