CHRISTMAS

December 25 MERRY CHRISTMAS! REJOICE IN THE LORD!

“He who is mighty has done great things, and holy is His name” Luke 1:49.

Please bear with me as I depart from the usual format of this blog. We have spent the week establishing some of the prophetic messages of a coming Messiah and acknowledging some of those people who recognized who Jesus was when He arrived on earth as a Babe. There is another aspect of His Godhead that is pertinent to us, and that is the fact that HE IS WITH US TODAY and that HE DESIRES TO MEET US AT OUR POINT OF NEED.

About thirty years ago, as of this writing, our family lived in a ‘closed’ mid-eastern country that is very hostile to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the entirety of the land, there was not then nor is there now one church building, although there are underground groups of believers who worship secretly. Though they are not sanctioned, they are tolerated as long as they do not become too ‘visible’ and as long as they do not attempt to proselyte.

It was Christmas Day and our small group had gathered at the home of Philip, a British physician, to worship our Lord and celebrate His birth. The haunting strains of his flute were accompanied on a keyboard by our ‘unofficial pastor’s’ wife. The Filipino guitarist added not only his skill but his touch of the Holy Spirit upon the accompaniment he provided. In spite of the tension that arose out of concern of scrutiny by the religious police, we were able to lose ourselves in worship and praise—and the songs of the celebration of His birth never sounded so sweet.

While we were thus engaged in communion with God, there came a knock at the door downstairs. A few of our men went down while those of us upstairs bound together in prayer. Our worst fears were apparently realized, for the intruders were the dreaded matawas—the religious police!

Our men greeted them graciously and spent some time conversing with them. They insisted they wanted to come upstairs to see for themselves what was going on, so, without an alternative, they were invited to do so. They would have discovered hymn books and Bibles--all forbidden--in addition to musical instruments for worship.

As they began to climb the stairs, their leader abruptly stopped and could not proceed! He spoke some words in Arabic to those who were with him, apologized to our men for having disturbed them and backed down the stairs! We had been spared a confrontation and probable imprisonment—and our joy was boundless!

Our worship and praise ascended to His throne with heightened fervency and our thanksgiving at the covering He had spread over us was mingled with no small amount of amazement at how marvelously the Lord works.

We felt like the Wise Men who had incurred the wrath of Herod in order to pursue their holy mission, and like them, we had been granted a vision of our precious King. We had dared to risk everything in order to adore Him, and like the Wise Men, we beheld His glory!

May you be encouraged to trust Jesus to meet you at your point of need. When you do, you will find as did our little band of believers on that long-ago Christmas Day, that the Book of Acts is still in the process of being written in the lives of those who lean on the Lord.