Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: christmas

  • He hath led me (into darkness, not light)

    He hath led me (into darkness, not light)

    He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.

    Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.

    He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.

    He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.

    Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.

    Lamentations 3 KJV excerpt

    Harsh words, seemingly without hope. Who would say such a thing?

    In fact, a most godly man, the Prophet Jeremiah, after Jerusalem had fallen to enemies.

    These are not Psalms of restoration praising the LORD; in fact, these songs are best described as a funeral dirge. And what is the question they ask?

    How!?

    Fall of JerusalemThese sad songs of Jeremiah lament the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Nearly six centuries later in the time of the Messiah Jesus, Jerusalem yet remained in the hold of her enemies. A great darkness yet weighed on the hearts of God’s chosen people.

     Lamentations 1: English/Hebrew

     

    The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against His word; hear, I pray, all you peoples, and behold my pain; my maidens and my youths have gone into captivity. יחצַדִּיק הוּא יְהֹוָה כִּי פִיהוּ מָרִיתִי שִׁמְעוּ נָא כָל הָעַמִּים (כתיב עַמִּים) וּרְאוּ מַכְאֹבִי בְּתוּלֹתַי וּבַחוּרַי הָלְכוּ בַשֶּׁבִי:

    A Second Temple was rebuilt and rededicated after Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem in 445 B.C. It, too, would be destroyed. A Temple of Herod, built to glorify Rome in Jerusalem, would eventually be destroyed by the Romans. The alliance of Herod the Great with Rome also built Caesarea.

    A King allied with Caesar to rule over the people? Who can really rule when the captives disagree?

    Israel is destroyed for her sins. Yet no King or Caesar can prevail over the LORD. A place, Israel, is not heard in the darkness for more than two millennia, until a remnant is restored to share in some of its blood-stained soil in the year of our Lord, 1948.

    Once more, a renewed Israel had no King and a remnant worshiped recaptured soil rather than the Lord.

    Hanukkah LightAs light fails sooner and the days diminish into darkness, our hope of restoration remains in the Lord and not the remembering of miracles of the past.

    Where is your hope, O Jerusalem,

    Your light, O people of God?

    Why do we insist on restoration without repentance?

    Another Prophet even before Jeremiah had seen a greater King and a more perfect worship.

    Isaiah 9 ESV: {Chapter 8 in Hebrew}

    The people who walked in darkness
        have seen a great light;
    those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
        on them has light shone.

    ” … in the land of the shadow of death,” reads the King James Version of the Bible; “upon them hath the light shined.”

    It is prophesy of the birth of a Messiah, God With Us, in a manger in Bethlehem.

    Even Charlie Brown and Linus know the verses to follow.

    Will you not repent of the darkness of your sin and be restored in the Light of the Messiah Jesus?

    6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

     

    Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, shehecheyanu v’kiy’manu v’higianu laz’man hazeh.

    In the year of our Lord, 2015, we worship the Light which shines in the darkness. Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand! Even now in these last days, the Lord would be your Redeemer in Christ Jesus.

    To be continued…

    In preparation for the holidays of Hanukkah & Christmas for the beloved chosen of the Lord and peoples adopted into the Light of the Lord, in His Redeemer, Christ Jesus.

     

  • as to a lamp shining in a dark place

    as to a lamp shining in a dark place

    Perhaps you look at Biblical prophesy as something of darkness from the past. Maybe in this 21st century we just don’t believe the lives and words of men like Jeremiah or Isaiah could shed any light on the struggles of our life.

    If God has spoken through certain men of old, why send Jesus to fulfill the many prophesies already given over the millennia? Why would God have to send a Messiah to the mortal men of the world?

    The Apostle Peter gives us an insight into what God has spoken through Jesus as a Prophet.

    2 Peter 1:

    • Prophets as light
      Prophets predicted the Messiah of God, Christ Jesus

      we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ

    • we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
    • he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,”
    • we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven

    19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.

    21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

    The Apostle Peter proclaims that God provided a first-hand witness, an intimate look at the Person of God Incarnate. Twelve Disciples witnessed the daily life and teaching of Christ Jesus. The rabbi, Jesus, spoke more than just a retelling of words of God.

    Though Jesus the Messiah prophesied, He IS more than a Prophet.

    • The most powerful predictions of Jesus Christ augmented even His highly acclaimed miracles.
    • Jesus not only explained the scriptures, He taught how He fulfilled them.
    • Christ foretold His own death on the Cross.
    • Jesus amazingly told of HIs resurrection from the dead in 3 days!
    • As a Prophet, the Messiah Jesus tells of His return.

    The Disciples continued to preach the Gospel, the Good News that God IS involved in our lives in the Person of Christ Jesus.

    The return of Christ Jesus in these last days will be a final fulfillment of all prophesy and perfection of God the Father’s plan of grace.

    After His resurrection and even now, He sends true followers into the world to tell the Good News (Gospel) until the number of the elect will fill the streets of a glorious New Jerusalem.

    Many are called; few are chosen.

    Believe in the Son of Man: born as a lowly babe in a manger. Believe in the Christ child who become a refugee to Egypt in Mary’s arms. Believe in the witness of His glory on earth by sinners like Peter, Levi, prostitutes and Pharisees. Believe in Jesus crucified on a Cross by gentile Roman soldiers, convicted by corrupt religious rulers manipulating mob-ruled injustice.

    Believe: Jesus IS risen from the dead! Believe scripture when we are told Jesus’ resurrection from the grave was witnessed by over five hundred mortals. He IS the Messiah of God, prophesied to return once more to rule in righteousness and love.

    In the year of our Lord, 2015, we see only though a mist these dark days of so many suffering souls.

    Let us be a light in Christ, a flicker of hope in the darkness of the sin so pervasive in the hearts and acts of mankind. Lord let your church and bride shed more than a flicker of hope on those lost souls who do not know the love of your great Light.

    To be continued…

    This is the fourth in a series of Christmas messages by Roger Harned. Please share the Gospel with others through your social media witness.
  • Days of Despair

    Days of Despair

     In Christ we have a Light of hope in a season of our dark despair.

    Job 30:

    16 “And now my soul is poured out within me;
        days of affliction have taken hold of me.
    17 The night racks my bones,
        and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.

    Have you ever had a bad time in life like this?

    18 With great force my garment is disfigured;
        it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.
    19 God has cast me into the mire,
        and I have become like dust and ashes.
    20 I cry to you for help and you do not answer me;
        I stand, and you only look at me.

    IF you even ask, do you sometimes feel like God does not answer you?

    21 You have turned cruel to me;
        with the might of your hand you persecute me.
    22 You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it,
        and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.
    23 For I know that you will bring me to death
        and to the house appointed for all living.

     

    Does despair, inward pain and silence from God turn your Christmas joy into a longing for the gift of hope?

     

    26 But when I hoped for good, evil came,
        and when I waited for light, darkness came.

    27 My inward parts are in turmoil and never still;
        days of affliction come to meet me.

    28 I go about darkened, but not by the sun;
        I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

    Bible trivia: Job is the oldest of any book of the Bible written approximately 2100-1800 B.C.

     

    Job was a righteous man who had some big troubles test his faith. Perhaps you think that you are a righteous man or woman as well. You do mostly good. You live like you should (for the most part).

    You cry out to God for help… and nothing…

    Job could not help himself, except to pray to God. Often, neither can you or I.

    This time of year you may hear the familiar Christmas nativity story told by either Luke or Matthew. If we were to read on in Matthew to a time thirty years later when Jesus first began His teaching, we would read how our Lord heals the afflictions of mankind.

    Matthew 4:

    23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

    24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains,those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

     

    Are you just one in the Christmas crowds who follow Jesus just to see if He will heal someone else?

    Jesus Christ IS the balm for your wounded soul and the salvation of your sinful flesh.

    Hear these words of encouragement from the Apostle Paul to the church at Corinth:

    2 Corinthians 4:

    But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 

    We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;

    perplexed, but not driven to despair; 

    persecuted, but not forsaken;

    struck down, but not destroyed;

    always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,

    so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

     

    To be continued…

    This look at the afflictions of Job is the third installment in my Christmas series in the year of our Lord, 2015.