Month: December 2024

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.  *** (Every morning and evening, a lamb was sacrificed in the temple in Jerusalem as a symbol of Israel’s constant daily need for a remission of their sins. Bethlehem, only five miles from Jerusalem, may have provided many of those…

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census.  *** (This is actual recorded history and real events, God’s redemption anchored in time. The census was to…

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.Isaiah 7:14 KJV *** *** If Jesus Christ be ‘God with us,’ let us come to God without any question or hesitancy. Whoever you may be, you need no priest or intercessor…

Matthew tells the story through the eyes of an ordinary man, whose name means “He will add.” All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose he has given them.Oswald Chambers *** 18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged [betrothed] to be married…

“In this day, this season, miracles will grow within, unfurl, bear fruit. And the heart that makes time and space for Him to come will be a glorious place. A place of sheer, radiant defiance in the face of a world careening mad and stressed. Because each day of Advent, we will actively wait. We…

7 Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy: 68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,    because he has visited and redeemed his people.69 He has sent us a mighty Savior[h]    from the royal line of his servant David,70 just as he promised    through his holy prophets long ago. Zechariah begins by praising God for…

57 When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son. *** Just as God said. God always keeps His promises. ***  58 And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her. *** Just as God, through Gabriel, told Zechariah….

Mary responded,“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,and from now on all generations will call me blessed.For the Mighty One is holy,and he has done great things for me.Luke 1: 46-49 NLT ***

39 A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town 40 where Zechariah lived. *** It wasn’t by chance that Gabriel told Mary about Elizabeth. God knew that Mary would need Elizabeth as a spiritual mother and mentor because not everyone would accept as true either of their miraculous stories of God’s…

Mary (Hebrew “Miriam”) may mean “bitter,” or “exalted one.” My sister Mary prefers “Myrrh: bitter, but healing and fragrant when crushed.” *** 26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph,…