Aches and Praise Two Hundred & Seventy Six

Posted on 2016-12-22 in English |

Dear friends,
 

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” You’ve probably heard this phrase sung or spoken many times in recent weeks. Indeed, increased sales at this time of year bring joy to many in business. An expression that is not as popular is “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Although “Happy holidays” has replaced “Merry Christmas” as the greeting of choice in Quebec, Jesus is the central figure in this season. How many people stop to consider that the calendar dates back to Him?

One person who asked questions for a living is Lee Strobel, an award-winning journalist who was the legal editor of The Chicago Tribune. In his book “The Case for Christ,” Strobel tells of his spiritual journey from atheism to faith in Christ. Seeking answers to questions about Jesus, Lee Strobel interviewed many scholars, including Ben Witherington, who shared insights as to how Jesus regarded Himself.
 

“Look at his relationship with his disciples. Jesus has twelve disciples, yet notice that he’s not one of the Twelve. If the Twelve represent a renewed Israel, where does Jesus fit in? He’s not just part of Israel, not merely part of the redeemed group, he’s forming the group – just as God in the Old Testament formed his people and set up the twelve tribes of Israel. That’s a clue about what Jesus thought of himself.”

The next time you hear the song about the twelve days of Christmas, why not think about the twelve disciples and the True Love of all mankind? With so much emphasis on receiving gifts at this time of year, how can we fail to observe the greatest gift of all time? God loved you and me so much that He sent His one and only Son – Jesus – to make it possible for us to receive forgiveness for our sins through faith in Him. If you have never trusted in Christ as your personal Saviour, what are you waiting for? If you are a child of God, have you thanked Him today for His love and grace?

Scripture for the weekend: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 (NASB)  
 
Thought for the weekend:  “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a Demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” – C. S. Lewis (quoted in “The Name” by Franklin Graham)
 
 

By His grace,

 

Steve

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