Chosen Child of God

Brothers by the tree!

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, 

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." 

Romans 15:13

December 25
Merry Christmas
My first thought this morning was about Mary in labor.  Having gone through that process six times I'm quite sympathetic to women in active childbirth.  I thought about this teenage girl chosen by God for this important role.  While the trinity can be a challenge to grasp I recognize that Jesus was God, yet in earthly form he had choices to make.  God chose Jesus to carry out a critical role on earth.  From early on in my days on the playground in elementary school and kickball teams being selected, I learned how good it feels to be chosen!  Those anticipations went on into jr and high school when it came time for dates for dances, then college admittance and sororities, right up to job searches.

Now as I look ahead to life after death, the choosing has been done. I've chosen  Jesus and secured a chosen spot in the Book of Life.  There's nothing more precious than celebrating Christmas Day as a chosen child of God!

I'm filled with joy by the way God knows all my thoughts (well, not thrilled when He catches me in thoughts of trepidation, anxiety, jealousy, doubt or bitterness) and meets my needs accordingly.  His provisions are such a testimony to His attributes of being almighty, all knowing, righteous, and compassionate.

Sunday night as I laid my head down and thought about this incredible week ahead I told the Lord I wanted to go deeper and deeper each day in my knowledge of who Christ is.  I've been doing an amazing Advent study by She Reads Truth and Monday morning was one of the best synopsis on Jesus I've ever read.  It's lengthy, but I promise you will find a nugget is you dig in.

Loving each of you this Christmas Day and asking God to make today special for you!
Boo

Jesus is the Promised One

Text: Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 16:5, Micah 5:2, Galatians 4:4-7, 1 Peter 1:20-21 Since Adam and Eve ate the fruit God told them not to touch, every generation has groaned with the pains of childbirth, longing to be delivered from the effects of their first parents’ fall (Romans 8:22). And now, our deliverer has come. He is the hero of our story, the perfect spotless lamb sent to adorn the doorposts of our hearts with His own blood (1 Peter 1:17–21, Exodus 12:22). He is the descendant from Eve sent to crush the head of the deceiver (Genesis 3:15). He is Isaac’s ram caught in the thicket, God’s perfectly timed provision of a substitute (Genesis 22:13). He is the heir of Abraham’s line—born by a miracle and filling the world with laughter (Genesis 22:18). He gave Jacob the gracious gift of a limp to remind him of his weakness (Genesis 32:25). He is the new Joseph, the forgotten brother, unrecognizable in a foreign land (Genesis 42:8, John 1:11), though He alone possesses the resources needed to satisfy our spiritual famine. He is our new Moses, sent by God to deliver us from the land of our slavery into our promised inheritance (Exodus 3:7–10). He doesn’t just deliver God’s Law to us (Exodus 34:29), He fulfills it on our behalf—perfectly (Matthew 5:17). He is the faultless judge who rescues His people from our own waywardness (Judges 2:17, 2 Corinthians 3:4–6). He does what no other judge is able to do—He takes our hearts of stone and gives us hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19). He is the King the Lord promised to David, a ruler from his own body whose Kingdom the Lord would establish forever, ancient and strong (2 Samuel 7:12). He has courage deeper than David (Luke 6:1–5), wisdom greater than Solomon (Luke 11:31), and faith firmer than Elijah (Matthew 4:1–11). He is the remnant growing beneath the smoldering ruins of Judah, the Son to be given, the child to be born (Isaiah 9:6). He is Immanuel—God with His people (Isaiah 6:13). Where there is despair, He brings hope. Where there is brokenness, He brings healing. Where there is sadness, He brings joy. Where there is bondage, He sets people free. The people of His day had grown up with the stories of Immanuel’s coming. They had heard the prophets implore them to listen, but seeing, they did not see, and hearing, they did not hear, nor did they understand (Matthew 13:13). But who could blame them? Jesus grew up like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground with nothing in His form—no majesty or beauty—that would lead anyone to desire Him (Isaiah 53:1–3). No one could know by looking at Him that He had come to bear their grief and carry their sorrows. The days ahead for Him would bring suffering so great that people would consider Him stricken by God and afflicted. But the purpose of this suffering was what pleased the Father. He would be wounded for our transgressions. He would be crushed for our iniquities. Upon Him would be laid the punishment that would bring His people peace, and by His wounds we would be healed (Romans 5:1, Hebrews 9:22, Isaiah 53:4–5). Like sheep, every last man, woman, and child has gone astray, each turning to their own way. So the Father sent His Son and laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6–7). Under unjust allegations, Jesus was betrayed, arrested, tried, and put to death as a criminal. But death could not hold Him. He had done no wrong, so He owed it no wage. Jesus was never the victim of men; it was the will of His Father to crush Him. It was God who put Him through such grief to bear the iniquities of His people, making many unrighteous men righteous (Isaiah 53:8–12). No one took His life from Him. He laid it down, and He took it up again, claiming victory over the grave (John 10:18). All of this required a birth.