Through the Bible - Macah 4- Nahum 1, Revelation 12
Good morning,
In last weekend's worship service we sand "O Holy Night", one of my favorite Christmas carols, I'm sure that you are familiar with it but here is the first stanza.
O Holy Night
O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Refrain
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
The line that struck me was " a thrill of hope". Many people around us are weary, lacking of losing hope. Many of the songs of the Christmas season revolve around hope and peace. For today's verse we'll go to the Old Testament book of Micah, part of this weekend's reading schedule, which prophesies about Jesus' birth and that He will be the source of our peace for ages to come.
Mic 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you,
one whose origins are from the distant past.
5 And he will be the source of peace.
Our church will be doing "cardboard testimonies" as part of the worship service this weekend. These thoughts of hope and peace were in my mind all week as our family considered our own cardboard testimonies. We considered words that have come out of our son Jeff's mouth, who we were told after his accident that he would never speak again. Consider these words, which I've shared before, that Jeff has spoken to us but whose source was Jesus Chris our Lord. "Hope is my favorite thing to have", "I have the peace that passes understanding", and "My peace to you".
Jesus has been our hope and our peace. As you sing or listen to some of the Christmas hymns and carols over the coming week, look for the words hope and peace and their context.
Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
Israel's strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Or from O Little Town of Bethlehem:
The hopes and fears of all the years,
Are met in Thee tonight.
I'll close with a verse from Proverbs 13 that I read the other day.
Prov 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. NIV
If you have a hope that has been deferred, may you find rest, peace, and joy this season in Jesus, the tree of life.
In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace NIV
Mic 5:2-5
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace NIV
Mic 5:2-5
A Ruler from Bethlehem
2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you,
one whose origins are from the distant past.
3 The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies
until the woman in labor gives birth.
Then at last his fellow countrymen
will return from exile to their own land.
4 And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord's strength,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
Then his people will live there undisturbed,
for he will be highly honored around the world.
5 And he will be the source of peace. NLT
are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you,
one whose origins are from the distant past.
3 The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies
until the woman in labor gives birth.
Then at last his fellow countrymen
will return from exile to their own land.
4 And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord's strength,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
Then his people will live there undisturbed,
for he will be highly honored around the world.
5 And he will be the source of peace. NLT
No comments:
Post a Comment