HE LIVED IN HISTORY! (Advent 27)

LUKE 2: 1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. (NIV)

Did you ever research your ancestry? My husband and I have. I think his great-great-grandfather must have dropped from a passing spaceship since we haven’t found a record of him. A man who attended a Professional C.E. Seminar I taught said, “I don’t know why people spend time tracing their genealogy. I’m Jewish. I know who my ancestors were. He knows because the People of Israel have a written history. Jesus, the Christ Child of Christmas, is part of that family genealogy, part of that history.

The birth of Christ is not a myth or a fable borrowed from an ancient religion. Jesus lived in a specific time, in a specific place, and was born of a family who had a covenant with the Living God—that they would be his people and he would be their God. If you can begin, in these last few days of Advent, to have a new understanding—Jesus was-what a Christmas blessing that will be! That may seem obvious to many, but to those who struggle with faith, that acceptance will be a miracle that will sooth and heal their soul. If you can find that faith, then you are on your way to believing—Jesus is and will continue to be. Step one in believing the miracles of Christ, is to believe—HE LIVED IN HISTORY! Let us pray:

“God of the ages and Lord of our life, we praise your holy name. Let this be the Christmas Season when many begin to open their eyes and their heart to know the simple fact—It is true! The miracle began with a baby in a lowly manger and has never ceased since that time when angles sang and the sky was brightened by a single star. We ask, during this day as we go about making preparations to celebrate the birth of your son, that your truth may shine through our eyes and touch the heart of one in doubt. Hallelujah the angels sang—“Praise Yah” (YHWH—which is your Holy Name). Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah—praise ye the Lord! It is true! It is true! We pray that we may be a blessing to others in the name of Jesus, your son, who was born, was crucified, rose again and lives! Amen.”
Doris
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”
Copyright 2011 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.