Opening Hearts to God
I‘m reposting this from last year because, once again I find myself impressed by the courage and faith of Joseph and Mary. A lot of things could have happened to them in their time and culture. Per the Law of Moses, for example, intimate relations between a legally betrothed [engaged] couple could carry the death sentence. Any case lodged against them would have been very difficult to defend against because she would bring into court the irrefutable evidence of her bulging tummy.
During the Christmas season you will hear some Grinch say: “Christmas is just a pagan holiday.” That statement casts doubt on the validity of Christmas in the hearts of all who hear it. But is it true? In a post last year, I researched this question and discovered the reason for the statement and why we can confidently know that Christmas is not a pagan holiday. Go to post.
Christmas is the celebration of “God with us” in Christ, through the miracle of the Incarnation. The action of God seeking and being with His people, is the overarching theme of the Bible. Christ with us is the reason for the season.
Thank you, for following my blog this year! Merry Christmas!
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Rob Oberto, D.Min., is the award-winning author of “Intimacy With God” available from Amazon. ©2017 Rob Oberto, All Rights Reserved.
Today, in a Facebook post, my wife and I learned that a friend named Mark Price died in a car crash yesterday morning at 9:30. He was 48. Our hearts are deeply saddened. Such an event causes us to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas — Jesus came to bring eternal life for all who choose to believe in Him. Earlier this year, our friend wrote on Facebook about his choice to believe in, and follow, Jesus. Below, he wrote:
How did the Magi know when to start looking in the sky for signs of the Messiah’s birth? The answer is in the instructions Daniel received from Gabriel over 500 years prior to the Magi’s journey. Daniel had given them a heads-up as to when to expect the King to be born. All we need is the right starting point and some simple math to figure out this little mystery.
Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas someone will say: “Christmas is just a pagan holiday.” That statement casts doubt about the validity of Christmas, and for that reason it irritates me. This year I decided to determine if this claim was true. There’s a lot of detail involved, but I will summarize the support for Christmas not being a pagan holiday by first considering Simple Logic, then the Historical Data, and then the Astronomical Data.
After the shepherds heard an angel of the Lord announcing the Messiah’s birth and the multitude of heavenly hosts praising God, they went straight to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the feeding trough (Luke 2:8–20). The shepherds story amazed everyone. It was the first Nativity.
When the shepherds returned to their flocks they glorified and praised God for all they had seen (Luke 2:20).