Hi all,
Greetings and Merry Christmas, and thank you for being part of our lives!
We all know Jesus wasn’t born on December 25
But it is good that we take time to remember His birthday. If we can celebrate our own birthdays and those of our friends and family, we can certainly give thanks for the Lord’s birthday – whenever it was.
The series above, ‘Pagan Christmas; Should we celebrate it?’ answers questions about holidays with pagan roots. It’s a good series to have in your library year round because at some point you may meet someone wondering how to handle Christmas and Easter.
Whether one decorates for the season or not: We all give thanks to the Father for giving us His Son, and for Christ being willing to give Himself for us.
Philippians 2: 6-11 says Christ ’emptied Himself’ and became a human being. It says ‘Finding Himself as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient, even to death, even the death of the cross.”
Man was bound in sin through the natural process of reproduction, so man could not sacrifice enough, give enough, pray enough, fast enough, to bring an end to his sinful nature. Man sinned so man would have to pay for sin, but there was no way to break the chain of sin passed from one generation to the next.
At conception it is the male that determines the blood
This is why sin has passed to all mankind as Romans 5: 12-14 says. The only remedy possible was if the Creator could become a man, conceived supernaturally so that the blood running through His veins was not tainted by the sin passed down from Adam.
This was accomplished as Isaiah 7:14 says, by “a virgin will conceive”. When Mary rightly asked how she would conceive God’s Son, the angel Gabriel told her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the Power of of the Highest will overshadow you as a cloud…” Luke 1: 34-35
As Christ was ’emptying Himself’, leaving heaven…
…Hebrews 10: 5-7 records what He said: “Therefore when He came into this world He said; ‘In sacrifice and offerings you have had no pleasure…but you have prepared a body for me. Then I say, ‘Look! I’m coming! In the volume of the book (Old Testament) it is written of Me, to do your will O God.'”
The Father and Christ needed an egg to conceive so that Messiah’s body would not have blood tainted by sin, and Mary’s egg provided that body.
How He was conceived is beyond our understanding
It was mystical and truly miraculous. That Christ would empty Himself of all rights and privileges as God’s Son to become one of His creations, demonstrates a love for us that is beyond our ability to comprehend.
Indeed, in Paul’s prayer of Ephesians 3: 15-20 he prays that by the Father’s Spirit we may be ‘rooted and grounded in (unconditional) love that you may know the height, depth, width, and breadth of the full volume of the love of Christ which is beyond knowing.
The only way to know His unconditional love is by knowing the Father, knowing the Son, which results in having that revelation in our spirit.
The reason many Christians have long-term issues of doubt and fear is because they were never ‘rooted and grounded in unconditional love’. Either in their upbringing or by wrong teaching about the Father God, they have not known nor had that security and peace that comes from knowing that you know you are unconditionally loved. That inner knowing provides confidence and peace in any situation, and stands against anyone speaking ill of you, and answers any personal doubt or fear in one’s own imagination.
I’ve found directing them to read slowly Ephesians chapters 1 through 3, pausing to think on all mentions of ‘God’ as ‘Father God’, brings revelation to them about how much they are loved by the Father, and what He has done and is doing for them.
Not just read, but spend several days…
…on say, Ephesians 1:3, that the Father has already blessed you with ‘all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies’ – what does that mean – roll that over and over in your mind and cross reference it, study it out – that you are so loved and trusted that the Father has blessed you with all spiritual blessings – that shouts in the face of all opposing thoughts that you are unloved, ungifted, not needed or valued!
Take that time to think on and challenge all thoughts and feelings of fear and doubt with those truths in those chapters – and you will emerge in a couple weeks a new person!
Other news:
We are sending 3 from here in Tulsa to visit leaders in Uganda and Kenya in March, and it’s a very expensive trip, but needed. They will visit with leader, house churches, the children cared for by our www.kwowi.org efforts, and more. If you can add some extra for this trip to your normal giving it would be appreciated.
Visit kwowi.org to for children to sponsor and what is happening in Uganda and Kenya.
Mark your calendar for June 8-11, Scotland conference!
We will have our European conference in Glasgow, Scotland June 8-11, with registration starting after the 1st of the year. In past years we’ve been in the Netherlands, so this is a first. Glasgow is a great jumping off place to see Scotland, the UK, or to the EU or Nordics.
We anticipate having the registration form in the header of the Weekly Thoughts January 6 and will close registration about April 21st due to hotel deadlines, and there can be no refunds.
The registration fee will be all inclusive, covering room, food, conference fee: That is 3 nights at the hotel (Thursday, Friday, Saturday), all meals starting Friday morning through Sunday lunch, and 2 ‘tea times’ with tea and scones in the afternoons. Final costs are still being determined, so watch for the January 6 Weekly Thoughts for information.
We will not be providing Thursday evening (8th) meal as it will be a travel day for most, but will have a 7pm meeting for introductions and such. We will have 2 full days Friday, and Saturday, and dismiss Sunday after house church style meeting and then lunch.
Our conferences are like family reunions with deep worship, teaching, personal prayer, time to visit, Q&A – and is a relaxing family experience, so child care is not provided. Scotland is a beautiful country with amazing history and people, and we are excited to see old friends and meet new ones! Consider joining us!
We appreciate your patience.
As of this writing, my 2 interviews on the Deep Believer channel on YouTube have been seen over 672,000 times. We have been busy with the resultant emails and requests for information about house church as well.
Thank you for remembering us in your prayers and giving. You are prayed for and appreciated more than you know.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
John & Barb, Brian & Amy
