Psalm 29 ~ The Lord sits enthroned as King Forever

Colossians 1:15-17 

The Son is the image of the invisible God,

 the firstborn over all creation.   

For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.  He is before all things, 

and in Him all things hold together.

 

The Gospels of Jesus Christ

The Word of God Himself

Luke 1

To show the mercy promised to our fathers 

 and to remember his holy covenant

The oath that He swore to our father Abraham, 

to grant us 74 that we, 

being delivered from the hand of our enemies, 

might serve Him without fear, 

in holiness and righteousness 

before Him 

all our days. 

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; 

 for you will go before the Lord to prepare His Ways, 

to give knowledge of salvation 

to His People in the forgiveness of their sins, 

Because of the tender mercy of our God, 

 whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 

to give Light

 to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, 

 to guide our feet 

into 

the way of peace. 

The Gospels of Jesus Christ

The Word of God Himself

John 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,

 and the Word was God. 

He was in the beginning with God. 

3 All things were made through Him, 

and without Him was not any thing made that was made. 

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 

The Light shines in the darkness, 

and the darkness has not overcome it.

The True Light,

which gives Light to everyone,

was coming into the world. 

Ephesians 3:17-19 

 So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you,

 being rooted and grounded in love, 

18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints 

what is the breadth 

and length 

and height

 and depth, 

and to know the love of Christ

 that surpasses knowledge, 

that you may be filled 

with all the fullness of God.

Isaiah 49:6

 "I the LORD have called unto you in righteousness, 

and have taken hold of your hand, 

and submitted you 

as the people's covenant, 

as a light unto the nations"  

Feliz Navidad

Mark 16:15 

And He said to them, 

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all of creation."

Psalm 29

A Psalm of David.

Ascribe to the Lord, 

O heavenly beings

    Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

 Ascribe to the Lord the Glory due His Name;

    worship the Lord 

in the splendor of holiness.

  

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;

    the God of glory thunders,

    the Lord, over many waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful;

    the voice of the Lord 

is full of majesty.

5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;

    the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,

    and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.

8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;

    the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth

    and strips the forests bare,

    and in His Temple all cry, 

“Glory!”

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;

   The Lord sits enthroned as King Forever.

11 May the Lord give strength 

to His People!

    

May the Lord 

Bless 

His People 

with peace!

Abba, Father!

Merry Christmas!

WE PRAY 

BLESSINGS 

We are saved by grace through faith. 

And this is not our own doing; it is Your gift of God.

The safety 

of Your people.

The safety 

of those

helping the earth 

to heal.

The Lord Bless you 

and keep you;

The Lord make His Face to shine upon you 

and 

be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His Countenance upon you 

and 

give you peace.

“So shall they put 

My Name 

upon the people of Israel, 

and I will bless them.”

✝

NORTH CAROLINA

Christmas is coming.

THE GRAHAM MINISTRY

SAMARITAN'S PURSE

IS 

DOING INCREDIBLE
SHAKE NORTH CAROLINA
SHAPE NORTH CAROLINA

Love and Mercy and Work.

GIVE TO

 SAMARITAN'S PURSE

and 

PUT IT ON YOUR CHRISTMAS LIST

ALL, 

Please.

https://www.samaritanspurse.org/

GOD BLESS THEM

Let evil and practicing evil

depart 

far 

from us

and our children.

With Your Help

We will act justly

 and to love mercy

 and to walk humbly with You, our God.

Dwell in me,

Dwell in us,

Dwell in those we Love,

Help us to seek You first.

And we will finish well, 

in Jesus Christ. 

Help us seek and find 

and bring,

to become,

 more Heaven

to this earth.

And in Jesus - this Hope, 

Faith and Love - we will rise up believing Jesus. 

Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Yes The Lord Fulfills His Purpose

Thank You Jesus

Luke 2 ~ All the world

 

Luke 2

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

 Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.

 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.


22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”


25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

29
“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;

for my eyes have seen your salvation

that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”

33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him.

34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.


39 And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.


41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

We go so fast in life, if we don't stop and enjoy and say thank you for every blessing. Our blessings fly past us without being appreciated and our hearts do not melt and have times of joy. We just truly need to see the blessings in what is presented and unfolds around us. We need to open our ears and see with our eyes of expectation.



How deeply did Jesus Love?


Ok, sure we have every Sunday School Lesson we have ever heard. Remember Albert Einstein, a Jew, said he loved the Gospels and saw so much rich emotion in Jesus. These are the new eyes to the Gospels.

Luke's Gospel in the first Chapter closes with this beauty:

Luke 1:78-80

Because of the tender mercy of our God,

whereby the sunrise shall dawn upon us

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace.

And the child grew and became strong in spirit, 

and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Wouldn't you expect the Gospel of Luke telling us of the life of Jesus Christ, Son of God would explain Jesus and end explaining Jesus instead of John the Baptist?  Jesus explains about his beloved John the Baptist. Running parallel to His life.

The Love continues for the second expected child in Luke 2.

His mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

News was brought to Jesus of John's death. Jesus has a response. There is no body to bury. No bier to touch.

Matthew 11:12

From the days of John the Baptist until 

now 

The Kingdom of Heaven has suffered violence, 

and the violent take it by force.

Matthew 14 and Mark 6 congruently tell of the 5,000 fed as a response to a funeral is required. John the Baptist's life held vast meaning for Father God. Not just another man Father God could see gave his life. Truly.

Jesus said people in Heaven were greater than the living John the Baptist. Jesus knew something of going to Heaven and being utterly, astonishingly, completely and totally filled with the Joy of God revealed. Jesus was somewhat giving John grief for asking if Jesus really was the Messiah as John faced death, but Jesus was living in expectation of seeing the John the Baptist Live The Reality of The Kingdom of My Father and Yours..

2 Samuel 12:23

But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? 

I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

John 16

23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. 

Ask, and you will receive, 

that your joy may be full.

Did Jesus Laugh? Laughter and Joy go completely and fully in unity!!!

Jesus takes time to be separate from His Disciples after feeding the crowds He had such compassion for. We can understand this completely.

And Jesus comforts Himself by "not seeing" the disciples as he walks at night upon the waters and surprises them with His visit. Remember with me - Jesus says He is Life in all men. Life Abundant! Because Jesus sees the conclusion and expects Joy.

(Point to ponder! The mystics of the 14th century explain the star was not above Jesus until Jesus was born - almost as if Jesus' own Light created the Star. The mystics go on to say that the Light in Jesus Shone in the dark explaining why Nativity scenes have a halo glow to them. I would wonder, in awe of God, if Jesus walked upon the water letting His Light Shine Forth.)

Did Jesus mourn John the Baptist? See how lovingly John is spoken of for preparing a path for Father God and making a path for Jesus. John the Baptist opens in the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and John.

1 Thessalonians 4:13

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

Abba, Father,

Jesus spoke Your Word telling us always to Pray and Have Hope.

We lift up to You, Father God, our most pressing prayer request, knowing You have heard and answer.

Thank You, Father God, 

and Blessed be the Name of Jesus the Lord. 

Amen.