Preparation for Christmas

Christmas is only one day but it is one day that calls for many more days of preparation. Shopping, decorating, partying all consume time. And on the quiet side, or inside, we prepare by reflecting on the meaning of that original Christmas Day.....when all of history was changed upon the entrance of a baby. But, the arrival of the baby caught many by surprise. Later, when that baby had become a young man and was about to launch into life changing ministry there came a great time of preparation. Jesus' cousin, John, became known as John the Baptist. His role was to prepare people for salvation by helping them see their need. People don't come to Jesus unless they see their need for Him. That was true then and it is true now. John the Baptist was God's instrument to convince hearts that they were unclean and broken and they needed to acknowledge their brokenness before they'd be ready for a remedy. The Holy Spirit does that work in our hearts today. John the Baptist and the Holy Spirit force us to ask tough questions about ourselves and admit that we need the help that only God can provide. We are broken and in need of repair and restoration...really we need transformation!

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Matthew 3:

3 In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, ² "Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." ³ The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said,

"He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
'Prepare the way for the Lord's coming!
Clear the road for him!'"

⁴ John's clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁵ People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John. ⁶ And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

illustration of life

Jesus provided an illustration of life in His own life. Matthew tells us the story of Jesus' physical birth, spiritual awakening, maturity through trial and God-centered ministry. In so doing, He shows the pattern for our lives as well. We are born physically and then we must be born again spiritually (a choice we make... a conscious response to God's call). Then God will shape us, often through trial and the battle with temptation and sin, to ultimately have an impact for His Kingdom in the lives of others, together in ministry with others. This is depicted for us as Jesus is baptized by John to commence His spiritual walk and then is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil and then begins His work of reaching men for the Kingdom of God. From birth to ministry the sovereign hand of God is evident throughout this process of life and of life extended. This model matches God's method for man...for you and me!

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Matthew 3:

¹³ Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to talk him out of it. "I am the one who needs to be baptized by you," he said, "so why are you coming to me?"

¹⁵ But Jesus said, "It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.^[f]" So John agreed to baptize him.

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Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.

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Matthew 4:¹⁷ From then on Jesus began to preach, "Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.^[g]"

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Ruler of all

I've been reading the early chapters of Matthew in preparation for Christmas. I have been struck with the great drama of Jesus' arrival and early life. (By the way we are experiencing new life in our family with Annalise Joy just born this morning to daughter Courtney and her husband Ben). You have this humble couple, Joseph and Mary, and they are the ones God has chosen to bear and protect the savior of the world. And then you have an evil King (Herod), who is determined to find and destroy the baby and has armies and wealth and power. It would seem that the odds were stacked against little Jesus. But God provides the guidance just when needed to direct Joseph away from danger at several points and Joseph follows God's guidance. Angels play a big role in the process and there are also important messages that come through holy dreams. It can seem like evil is winning in our lives too. It can appear that the "bad guys" have all the chips...all the power and resources to push things their way. But God with you and God in you constitutes an unbeatable team....because God is for you and He will lead you!

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Matthew 2:¹³ After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother," the angel said. "Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Looking for Jesus

Matthew 2:1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, ² "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him."

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The first people to come looking for Jesus were the wise men from the east. It struck me as very interesting that this amazing star is a clear signal to them that He has been born and the star leads them specifically to Jerusalem....but then, once they reach Jerusalem they have to start asking for directions. What's that all about? Why couldn't the star continue leading them directly to Bethlehem without the detour to Jerusalem? It's almost like they had Jesus' location loaded in their GPS and were receiving "turn by turn" directions and all of a sudden they lost the signal! But, as if that isn't interesting enough, they find the answer to their question from the evil king who is bent on finding and killing Jesus. When Herod hears that the Messiah has been born he asks his religious advisors where the Messiah is prophesied to be born and they tell him the location is Bethlehem. Herod gives the wise men the Bethlehem location and as they head out of Jerusalem the star shows up again and leads them, not only to Bethlehem, but to the very stable where Jesus is laying. One of the applications I get from these events is that God's plan to bring the savior to the world and to bring the world to the savior will not be thwarted by evil. In fact, God is sovereign over evil and will redirect evil intentions to complete His good purposes!

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And His Holy Spirit, like the star of the wise men, will guide you to the Messiah, despite the reality of evil that swirls around you.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

deeply disturbed

Matthew 2:1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, ² "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him."

³ King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.

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So as we approach Christmas and begin preparing our hearts to celebrate the arrival of the Messiah we are "deeply disturbed"...right...that's not quite the emotion and the attitude we expect. But that was the exact response of King Herod and all the people of Jerusalem when the long awaited Messiah had arrived. Why would they be "deeply disturbed" instead of excited, joyful and eager to meet their long awaited deliverer? I think it may be for the same reason that people today are not eager to meet him, without the persuasion of God through the work of the Holy Spirit. The people then, and we people now, basically feel like we have a good thing going...on our own...in our way...on our terms. Somewhere in the back of our minds we know that we are out of alignment with God and that there will be a reckoning. But, by and large, we don't want to face that reality. It can be disturbing to realize that there really is one who will judge our thoughts and actions. It can be disturbing to face the reality of eternity and that this life will end. We don't have to drill too deeply within our hearts, minds and memories to uncover the things that we are not proud of...that will not be pleasing to the God who actually sees and judges. We need to check our attitude as we approach Christmas to see what our attitude is as we approach our Messiah!

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blessings,

Rob Smith

His story

How many generations back can you trace your ancestry? Genealogy has become pretty popular and with modern internet searches and conscientious research many have traced their line back quite far. I, personally, have heard from other relatives who have looked into our family background and found ancestors who actually were on the crew of the ships that sailed to Jamestown in 1607! But I really don't have much knowledge of my predecessors before my great grandparents. I have started reading the Gospel of Matthew to prepare for Christmas. It begins with the genealogy of Jesus and actually goes all the way back to Abraham! What records they must have kept. It was important for the people of Israel to know what tribe they had come from. It played into the transfer of property across generations and preserved the record of God's covenant with them as families and as a nation. Jesus was in the line of King David, but He was also a descendant of Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, who gave inside information to the Hebrew spies in exchange for her freedom. Jesus was also from the line of Ruth and Ruth was a foreigner who had been redeemed into the Hebrew people for her faithfulness to her mother in law, Naomi.

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I am struck with the reality of Jesus. He was a real person, with a recorded ancestry that dates way back to the personalities we read about in Genesis. If anyone has lived and walked the earth in the past and we want assurance of that reality...certainly Jesus was born and did walk the earth.

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Matthew 1:¹⁶ Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

¹⁷ All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

falling down

Can't you feel it falling down?

Drops of grace come to the ground.

Rays of light now coat the land,

Feel His touch, rest in His hand.

Stop now and reach up to sky

Reach His face and trace His smile.

He loves you....that's why you've been made.

Bathe in that warmth, rest in that shade.

Can't you feel it falling now?

breath of life...You speak my name!

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blessings to all!

Rob Smith