PLUS

Luke 1:46-47 “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.”

Philippians 2:10-11 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, or things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

A few weeks ago, we celebrated the 246^thanniversary of the Boston Tea Party.  On December 16^th, 1773, a large group of American colonists boarded three British boats and dumped 342 boxes of tea into Boston Harbor.  It was a tangible sign of revolutionary change by a few that impacted many.

On the day after the Boston Tea Party, John Adams wrote the following:

“This is the most magnificent Movement of all.  There is a Dignity, a Majesty, a Sublimity, in this last Effort of the Patriots, that I greatly admire.  The People should never rise, without doing something to be remembered – something notable and striking.  This Destruction of Tea is so bold, so daring, so firm, intrepid and inflexible, and it must have so important Consequences, and so lasting, that I can’t but consider it as an Epocha in History.”

Christ’s arrival on this earth was a sterling example of such revolutionary change – a tangible sign by God that impacted all.  It was bold and daring.  It was notable and striking.  It was characterized by dignity, majesty, and sublimity.  Its resulted in the most important and lasting of consequences. It was the most notable Epocha of History, and it started a magnificent movement.

What are you and I doing now to live up to this most magnificent movement?  What do we plan to do for Christ in 2020 that is revolutionary? PLEASE PRAY THAT WE WOULD FULLY INVEST OURSELVES IN THE DIGNIFIED, MAJESTIC, AND SUBLIME MOVEMENT OF CHRIST IN 2020.  It is the most magnificent movement of all!

II Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.”

Isaiah 9:6 “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.”

Galatians 4:4-5 “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

Christmastime fell during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, when the outcome of World War II in the European Theater was still uncertain.  In the midst of that challenge, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a Christmas Eve address to the nation.  His thoughts from 75 years ago included the following:

“Here, at home, we will celebrate this Christmas Day in our traditional American way – because of its deep spiritual meaning to us; because the teachings of Christ are fundamental in our lives; and because we want our youngest generation to grow up knowing the significance of this tradition and the story of the coming of the immortal Prince of Peace and Good Will.”

What a great reminder, from our wartime President, of the importance of Christmas.  In the midst of a busy holiday season, may we keep Christmas preeminent because of its deep spiritual meaning, because of the teachings of Christ that are fundamental to our lives, and because of the significance of the coming of the immortal Prince of Peace and Good Will.  

PLEASE PRAY FOR CHRISTIAN AMERICANS TO FOCUS ON CHRIST DURING CHRISTMASTIME.  That is why we celebrate Christmas!

See these previous posts about the Battle of the Bulge:

Fair Weather

Write About Nothing Else

Spiritually Alert Minorities

We Cannot Fail

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

II Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.”

John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

George Müller was a Nineteenth Century Christian evangelist well known for his prolific care of orphans in Britain.  He once stated the following:  “Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible.  There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible.  Faith begins where man’s power ends.”

This Christmastime, it is vital to remember that the miraculous birth of Christ is outside the realm of the possible – the humanly possible.  The coming of a Savior extends well beyond where man’s power ends.  Our high priest is an unspeakable gift.  The dwelling of the Word among us brought glory to God and redemption to man.  May we give thanks to God for His glory, His grace, and His truth – during the Christmas season and throughout the calendar year.

PLEASE PRAY WITH ETERNAL APPRECIATION FOR A GOD WHO OPERATES WELL BEYOND WHERE MAN’S POWER ENDS. Christ’s birth is God demonstrating His power and His love well outside the realm of the possible.

Romans 1:22 “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools”

I Corinthians 1:25 “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

I Corinthians 3:19-21a “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.  For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.  Therefore let no man glory in men.”

Looking back at World War II, Charles Lindbergh made the following comment:  “Nazism was scientific truth, unbalanced by the truths of religion.  The German scientists had partaken of the fruit from which death had surely followed.” He went on to say that an overemphasis on science “weakens the human character and upsets life’s balance.” Those are strong words coming from this aviation hero who fought valiantly in the skies over the Pacific as a civilian “observer” of the war.  

Lindbergh’s thoughts say a lot about the urge for self-sufficiency in the human race. Man’s search for knowledge is a fundamental component of our existence, and science is essential to our understanding of the world around us.  Yet, it is not sufficient by itself because knowledge and truth come from heavenly as well as earthly sources.  Indeed, without the context of Biblically revealed truth, our nature uplifts the self over everything else.  The ultimate extension of such thinking is imbalance and a weakening of the human character. That is what Lindbergh observed first-hand during the lead-up to conflict in Europe as he witnessed the German aggressive build up.  

PLEASE PRAY FOR AN AMERICAN SOCIETY THAT PROPERLY BALANCES SCIENTIFIC TRUTH BY THE TRUTHS OF RELIGION. Otherwise, we become fools as we profess ourselves wise.  May we not partake of the fruit from which death surely follows.

ADMIN NOTE:  The Lindbergh quotes came from The Aviators

I Thessalonians 5:18 “In every thing give thanks:  for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Jonah 2:9 “But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed.  Salvation is of the LORD.”

I Corinthians 4:7 “For who maketh thee to differ from another?  and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?  now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”

In this weekend after Thanksgiving, our sense of gratitude should be burning bright.  As we reflect upon our amazing blessings and the richness of God’s love that is manifested in the upcoming Christmas season, we should be filled with a desire to praise God and serve others around us.  It should all stem from a profound sense of gratitude to a Lord and Savior who have given us far more than we deserve or could ever earn. We are magnificently blessed.  Yet sadly, so many of those around us are not living in an uplifted and encouraged state.  Their spirits are dull, dim, and dour.

Os Guinness, the son of a missionary and a social critic, stated that a society with “no sense of God produces modern people with no sense of gratitude.”  In far too many cases, this describes the situation perfectly.  Our societal self-sufficiency has sapped our ability to see the source of our blessings. We don’t recognize our dependency and moral debt to the One who richly provides all things.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A SOCIETAL SENSE OF GOD THAT YIELDS A PROPER SENSE OF GRATITUDE.  Modern people need Him just as much as anyone ever has.