Bethlehem: Christmas Series Part 8
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting. Micah 5:2
Tiny Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem, has witnessed a mighty flow of history. Rachel died there and was buried by the wayside (see Genesis 48:7). Just east of there, Ruth gleaned the fields and met Boaz who, marrying her, would tie her into the Messiah’s direct genealogy. The psalmist David was born there, and as a teen he was anointed there as king by the prophet Samuel (see 1 Samuel 16:4-13). There three of David’s mighty men risked their lives to get him a drink of water from the well when he was being fiercely pursued by Saul (see 2 Samuel 23:13-17).
But above all other cities and every other notable event, Bethlehem stands alone—shining forever as a beacon in history—as the birthplace of Him whose goings forth were from old, from everlasting.
Micah, the prophet who foretold that Bethlehem would be the origin of the One who would be Ruler in Israel, lived about 700 to 750 years before the birth of Christ.
This Ruler would be One whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting. The people of God anticipated this Ruler; they knew He would be Someone very special; but here Micah declared that He would be from old and from everlasting. He was yet to be born, yet He was from before the days of antiquity. The thought boggled the mind.
Who could have been alive from everlasting except the Ancient of Days Himself?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.…And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-2; 14
He—the One who would be Ruler in Israel—is also the One who was in the beginning with God and who was the Word of God—and who was God—yesterday, today, and forever. He became flesh, was conceived within the womb of a virgin, and entered the human race to dwell among us.
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:4-5
At the right time, in tiny Bethlehem, was born the Word of God. He came to be Ruler in Israel; He came from everlasting into time and space. He came to those dwelling in darkness; in Him was life and His life was the Light of men.
He beckons to all—to the Jew first and also to the Gentile (see Romans 1:16)—calling to men and women throughout history and from all ends of the earth—I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life (John 8:12). Many have come to His light—the Light that was born long ago in the tiny town of Bethlehem.
His light still shines in darkness, and try as it might, the darkness has never been able to comprehend it. But to as many as receive Him, believing in His name, to them He gives the right to become sons and daughters of God (see John 1:12).
May the Light of life, born in Bethlehem, enlighten your path and shine through your heart and life as you trust wholeheartedly in Him.
Dorothy
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting. Micah 5:2
© 2015, Dorothy Frick
Read MoreThe government: Christmas Series Part 7
Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth…And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David. Luke 2:1, 3-4
…and the government will rest on His shoulders… Isaiah 9:6b
God’s big, sweeping plan to redeem mankind from the grip and tyranny of sin was ordained before the foundation of the world. As part of that plan, He also designed smaller sub-plans laced with prophetic and intricate details to bring clarity, precision, and confirmation to His greater plan. And as His plan unfolded, most of the individuals involved were utterly unaware that they personally played a specific role in its fulfillment.
Take Caesar Augustus, for instance. Caesar’s own records (“The Deeds of the Divine Augustus”, see http://classics.mit.edu/Augustus/deeds.html, #8) reveal that he conducted three censuses during his reign. They were held in roughly twenty-year cycles, and the census that summoned Joseph to Bethlehem when Mary was pregnant with Jesus was likely the second of the three. Caesar Augustus—the self-proclaimed “divine Augustus”—was merely a mortal chess-piece played by the wisdom and hand of the one true God to fulfill His predetermined purpose. Whereas Augustus took great pride in amassing boundless wealth for his administration through taxes collected in the census, God used this empire-building monarch’s hunger for ever-increasing power to get Mary and Joseph to the right place at the right time.
Know this: There is no power or throne established by the hand of man or angel that supersedes the power and authority of our God and His Christ. Neither Caesar, nor Pilate, nor Herod, nor Nero, nor Lenin, nor Hitler, nor governments present nor governments to come can override the rule and the plan of God.
Don’t be surprised if the heathen rage (see Psalm 2:1). Don’t be shaken if you see the “nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing. The kings of the earth” may indeed “take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!’” (See Psalm 2:1-3). The fact is that your God is aware of it all and He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them (Psalm 2:4).
The God who used the governmental drive of Caesar Augustus to get His handmaiden and her fiancé to Bethlehem for the birth of the Christ child is not moved by regulations, laws, decrees, or even lawless acts of the governmental leaders in our day. He sees the end from the beginning and His purpose will be established; He will accomplish all His good pleasure (see Isaiah 46:10).
Knowing this—that God is sovereign and His purpose will not be thwarted—how then should you live?
- Connected: More than anything else, you are to maintain your vital and intimate connection to the Lord. Though the mountains are shaken and the hills tumble down, His steadfast love will never leave you (see Isaiah 54:10). As you praise Him and give thanks throughout your days, you will be nurturing that vital, unshakable connection with Him.
- Confidently: You have entered an unbreakable covenant with the Child of Bethlehem, Jesus Christ, through the blood He shed on the cross. He will neither leave you nor forsake you. You are called to walk with confidence in Him, knowing that He who has begun a good work in you will see it through to completion (see Philippians 1:6).
- Circumspectly: You also are called to walk with vigilance and watchfulness. To walk circumspectly, you shun the things designed to hinder or halt your connection with the Lord. You listen carefully to Him and let Him lead you through your day as you watchfully pray about the people and situations He places on your heart.
- Compassionately: You are a carrier of the One who laid down His life for the world. Wherever you go, His compassion is upon you and within you. Led by His compassion, directed by His Spirit, and filled with His Word, you are a light shining in a dark place. He is able to move upon situations and people as you yield to His compassion within you.
Caesar Augustus was subject to the plan of God unawares. And despite the rumblings within governmental proceedings of our day, no purpose of God can be thwarted. You, as one who has opened your heart to the Highest Authority in the universe, can be confident in your God as you live out your days. You were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord. No one—neither man nor government nor devil—can stop you from walking as a child of the Light.
Be confident and be bold this Christmas season…and forever! It is your birthright in the Lord.
Dorothy
…if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36
© 2015, Dorothy Frick
Read MoreEmmanuel: Christmas Series Part 6
“O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.” (Translated from Latin to English by John M. Neale, 1851.)
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matthew 1:23, KJV
God came to earth in the form of a baby. Human flesh—tender, baby, crying, kicking, gurgling, cooing flesh—cloaked the Ancient of Days.
God came to earth. He was Emmanuel—God with us. He joined the race of man in the same manner that the rest of us did—He was born.
His primary purpose was to become a ransom for His people Israel, and then through that one sacrificial payment, to redeem the rest of the human race as well.
Neither animal sacrifice nor good works was enough to open Heaven’s door to humanity. Sin had permeated our beings; we lived our allotted time on earth in the lonely exile of sin. And then? The Son of God was born. Rejoice, rejoice! God is with us.
“O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.”
The Messiah was to come through the lineage of David, son of Jesse. From that kingly heritage would be birthed the One who would bring an end to the devil’s tyranny over mankind. He would save God’s people from hell and even grant them victory over the grave. Tall order for a newborn babe. Yet within that infant in swaddling clothes lay the future conquest over Satan—the one who currently held the keys to death and hell. At the right time, this Boy would step into the Manhood and ministry that would forever change the world.
“O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.”
The planet has long been fractured and splintered into divisive groups. It seems like the more we celebrate diversity in an attempt to affirm and unify, the further apart we grow. Man’s tinkering, it appears, has only served to stir up already-agitated waters, exposing our species’ innate inability to solve such deeply-rooted issues.
Not so with the One called the Desire of nations (see Haggai 2:7, KJV). He came to create one heart, one mind, and one body through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost (see Titus 3:5). He came to break down the barrier walls between us—in Christ “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:28-29).
Those of us who have been born from above through faith in the Child of Bethlehem—all grown up, crucified, and risen from the grave—are one body, wherever we dwell on the earth and in whatever portion of history we occupy.
If you are born again, you are my brother or my sister. We are family, even if we don’t always see eye to eye. We have a bond that runs more deeply than human DNA, a bond forged in the redemptive shed blood of Jesus.
Emmanuel—God with us—came to the earth and redeemed for Himself anyone and everyone who would believe in Him. And to them He gave the privilege to become the sons and daughters of God.
Rejoice! God is with us!
Dorothy
© 2015, Dorothy Frick
Tomorrow: The government
Read MoreJoseph: Christmas Series Part 5
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. Matthew 1:18-19
Joseph the carpenter was a righteous man. He had recently asked for Mary’s hand in marriage and they were anticipating their wedding day. However, something terrible became known to him—she, the desire of his heart—was pregnant though he had never touched her. He must have wrestled with this news; outrage, suspicion, horror, and unbearable hurt surely collided within his heart and overwhelmed him. Finally, that godly man made up his mind: not wanting to disgrace her, he developed a plan to send her away secretly.
Joseph was not only a righteous man, but he was a kind man as well. He knew the Law; according to it, Mary must be stoned for committing adultery. However, he could not bear the disgrace and terror of agony that would befall her; therefore, he made a plan to send her away before anyone noticed her swelling belly.
Such was the man whom God chose to raise His Son—he was a man of faith and a man of compassion.
After hearing the heartbreaking news of Mary’s unwed pregnancy, the gears must have been turning in Joseph’s mind as he developed a plan to send her out of town as soon as possible. It likely happened that very night, as he tossed and turned in fretful sleep, that he received the plan for “Operation Mary”—an entirely unexpected, miraculously impossible, nearly unbelievable plan straight from the realm of glory.
But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit…” Matthew 1:20
The angel of the Lord called him by name and told him not to be afraid. Then the plan unfolded: he was to marry this young woman; the Child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. Matthew 1:21
She would have a boy and Joseph was to name Him Jesus. This baby would not only grow up in Joseph’s home and be raised as his son, but one day this Child would also save God’s people—and Joseph himself—from their sins.
And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. Matthew 1:24-25
Joseph, the righteous man and Joseph the compassionate man received the plan from God. He took Mary as his wife and kept her a virgin until the birth of her Son. And he named the boy Jesus according to plan.
Mary was the instrument of God through whom the Messiah entered the earth, yet she was not left to fulfill this magnificent plan alone. Although her faith in God was unshakable, that which had happened to her was beyond far-fetched, and because of that, Joseph had fully intended to secretly send her away to let her start a new life on her own far from the judging suspicions of the townspeople.
But God had another plan, and He was entirely capable of making it known to Joseph, whom He had chosen just as He had chosen Mary. And through their faith and obedience, the Messiah grew up in a loving, righteous home.
Has God put a dream or desire in your heart that appears nearly impossible to fulfill? Do you feel alone in the vision He has planted within you? Take courage from the story of Mary and Joseph; when God purposes to accomplish a specific task through your life, He will speak to whomever He must—just as He did with Joseph—to see to it that His plan unfolds at just the right time.
Allow your faith in the miraculous ability of God to grow and be buoyed up within you as you consider the lives of the couple whom God chose to raise the Messiah. Does your situation look laughable? Impossible? Beyond the reach of human help or reason? Then you are just the candidate for whom God can unfold His plan—in accordance with His Word and complete with signs, wonders, behind-the-scene workings, and sweetly surprising coincidences of glory.
And yes, just like He did for Mary, God will speak to whomever He must in order to accomplish His plan in your life. In the meantime, what is your job? It is to declare as Mary did in the face of God’s impossible plan, “May it be done to me according to Your Word.”
And then, like Joseph, as you forsake neither righteousness nor kindness, simply listen to Him in your heart and obey.
Dorothy
I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. Job 42:2
© 2015, Dorothy Frick
Tomorrow: Emmanuel—God with us
Read MoreAccording to Your Word: Christmas Series Part 4
And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Luke 1:38
When you think about it, Mary was a radical believer. She humbly submitted herself to the will of God even when doing so could bring her untold hardship and shame. A virgin with child? Absolutely preposterous. Scandalous. Shameful.
She embraced the impossible, knowing that with God, nothing is impossible. Think about her life; she was recently engaged to the godly carpenter Joseph, and this new predicament would surely bring shame to him as well. Would he understand? Would anyone understand?
“May it be done to me according to your word,” she said, despite the nearly certain outcry of ridicule and suspicion to follow.
You may be facing a crossroad in your life. Perhaps the Lord is directing you down an unbeaten path. Maybe He is prompting you to take a stand that is unpopular with your peers. One of the messages of Christmas is plain and direct: “Lord, I am Your bondslave. May it be done to me according to Your Word.”
Yes, the story of Christmas is tender, warm, and mild. But within it—in the courageous spirit of the sweet young virgin—is a bold, fierce passion for the plan and will of God—a passion that does not cower at the consequences or cost.
Think about that as you see the young mother in nativity scenes and on Christmas cards this season. Her humble willingness to lose everything—her reputation, her husband-to-be, and perhaps even her life—to gain the will and approval of God speaks indelibly amidst the hubbub of the season.
May God grant you not only the joy of Christmas, but also a fierce, bold passion that says to God in the face of impossibilities, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to Your Word.”
Dorothy
© 2015, Dorothy Frick
Tomorrow: Joseph
Read MoreThe forerunner: Christmas Series Part 3
“The angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John…” Luke 1:13
You won’t see this scene on any of your Christmas cards or in the glitzy commercial holiday world, but this subplot is an essential part of the Christmas story.
“And he [John] will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord’’’ (Luke 1:16-17).
God prepared a forerunner—someone who would move in the spirit and power of the Old Testament prophet Elijah; someone who would step into the ministry of reconciliation; someone who would prepare the way of the Lord. The plan of God was to redeem not only Israel but also the entire world. To do so, this important preparatory component needed to play out just before the birth of the Messiah.
John the Baptist was that forerunner, and his conception and birth were attended by the miraculous. First, an angel appeared to his father Zacharias, announcing God’s plan to use this yet-to-be-conceived child to prepare the way of the Messiah. Second, his wife Elizabeth was past the age of childbearing and had been barren all her life, yet she would bear for Zacharias this amazing forerunner. Then when Zacharias asked the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years” (see Luke 1:18), he became mute, unable to speak until the things the angel told him took place.
Elizabeth conceived soon thereafter. When the time arrived for the baby to be named, Elizabeth instructed those present that his name was John. Determined to name him after his father, they attempted to pressure Elizabeth to conform with convention until Zacharias—still mute—stepped in and wrote on a tablet, “His name is John” (see Luke 1:24, 59-63). “And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God” (Luke 1:64). It all happened just as the angel had predicted.
Perhaps one of the most astounding wonders of all surrounding John in those early days was what happened when Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy. The virgin Mary, newly pregnant, traveled to the hill country of Judah to visit her aging cousin. The moment Mary greeted her upon arrival, Elizabeth exclaimed, “…how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy” (Luke1:43-44). The Holy Spirit so overwhelmed the unborn forerunner that his mother could feel him rejoicing within her.
Two godly women—one a virgin bearing the Messiah, and the other, after lifelong barrenness, now pregnant in her old age with His forerunner—carried within them the plan and purpose of God for the ages. Things played out relatively quietly for the two women, humanly speaking, but they found themselves in the center of the supernatural workings of Heaven.
John would grow up to be a prophet, living in the wilderness, preaching repentance, baptizing, and proclaiming, “Make ready the way of the Lord” (see Luke 3:4), and he would even baptize Jesus just before the Lord entered His three-year ministry. Later Jesus would say of John, “I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28).
Jesus, the baby of the young virgin, would grow up to teach, preach, cast out demons, heal the sick, and raise the dead. Although He was utterly non-political, He would be viewed as a revolutionary. His purpose was to revolutionize the hearts of men and women and to make them citizens of the kingdom of God. His greatest work, however, was in His death—He was arrested as an agitator, lawbreaker, a fraud, and a proclaimer of Fake News. He was sentenced, beaten, stripped, and nailed to a cross. He died, spilling His blood—as a ransom for you and for me.
Of this Man, the prophet Isaiah had written hundreds of years before, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).
The forerunner came to prepare the way of the Lord for ministry and for death. And before that, the forerunner’s mother became pregnant as a sign and confirmation to the young Mary that with God nothing is impossible (see Luke 1:37).
And in your life, despite all that may have transpired, God is working behind the scenes to will and to work for His good pleasure. Know that even as He orchestrated the details for everyone involved on that first Christmas, He is still active, orchestrating details for your life as well. And as you worship the One who made His debut here on earth as an infant in a manger, trust Him this Christmas to work out every one of your details, as well.
Dorothy
Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. 1 Thessalonians 5:24
© 2015, Dorothy Frick
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