Sunday, December 22, 2024
Mrs Pasteur BILLEY.
Luke 2.
10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Before the news was announced to the shepherds, before the angels praised God… before the announcement of Jesus’ birth, before Mary became pregnant, there were years of spiritual preparation, decades of preparation in which heaven was involved.
From the fall of Adam to the conquest of Canaan, to the law of Moses, there were spiritual wars in which heaven was engaged. Since the conception of this plan, since the birth of the Savior, heaven has been fighting darkness. Nothing was easy until the birth of Jesus Christ. The Father fought, the Holy Spirit fought, even the angels fought so that we could sing this day, so that Mary could reach the town of Bethlehem and give birth.
What you see physically is nothing compared to what you see spiritually. The physical battles compared to the spiritual warfare that took place.
Indeed, God’s power has been engaged. His faithfulness, His patience was engaged, even when Israel committed infidelities, God had His eye on that glorious day. Even though nothing was going as He had planned for Israel, the Lord had His eyes on that moment.
And one day, that moment of glory arrived. For this reason, the angels danced, unable to contain their joy, for their battle had not been in vain.
What does all this have to do with us, God’s redeemed?
We need to be aware that since the day we were conceived, there have been battles.
Sometimes we’ve spent 20, 30, 40… years in the world; there are even people who die without knowing Jesus. Without knowing that the heaven is fighting for our lives.
Consider this, in the case of Jeremiah, the Lord said this to him:
Jeremiah 1.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
Beloved, since our conception, there have been battles. While we were rejoicing in the world, while we were doing terrible things in the world; God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit was fighting to save us.
That’s why we didn’t die in our sins in the world. The accident that was to take us away didn’t kill us; because the whole heaven was engaged.
The abortions, the lies, the hypocrisy that should have killed us, didn’t. For the Lord was fighting for our lives, committing all of heaven, and we survived.
God has opposed everything: our plans, the sorcerers, the power of the world…
The Lord fought for you, so that one day you could accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. And on that day, the heavens and the angels rejoiced, for the battles fought were not in vain.
This same joy that was manifested on the day of Christ’s birth, is the same joy that was for you when you were born again.
Luke 15.7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents…
Now, it’s important to note that the Lord’s plan was for a purpose.
When Jesus was born, the angels declared, “A savior is born…”.
Luke 2.11 Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord.
This child was born with a purpose. So the day you were born again, the day you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, you were born again with a purpose.
And when Jesus came to this earth, He did not sin, and He accomplished His purpose.
That’s why we have free access to His presence.
But the question we must ask ourselves is: Is it the same for us?
Have we achieved our goal? Are we achieving our goal?
The day the Lord spoke to Jeremiah, He told him, “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb, I knew you…”
Just as God appointed Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations, so we are born for a purpose.
Consider this:
What a tragedy, to realize that a child on whom we have staked our energy, our means, our power, our hope … but that this child is not even close, close to the call on his life!
As far as we’re concerned, God has given us a mission, a purpose, instructions but we don’t follow them, despite His call on our lives. And yet He has called us to be an instrument, a weapon, in His hands; He has called us to represent Him.
But what do we see in our lives instead?
Since we were born again, it’s true that we’ve said Lord Jesus be my Lord and Master. But at some point, we may find that we’re walking according to our own thoughts, according to our own purpose, our own direction, our own mission. We think we’re smarter, bigger than the God who called us. We take our time to follow God’s way, but we follow the world. And the call He put in our lives is asleep.
Yet we say we are God’s children.
Beloved, consider heaven’s investment in your life, look at the Father’s investment in your life, look at Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and repent. Come back to the Lord, for He has called you for a purpose, for great things, and you must fulfill it.
We were born again “great” and the angels rejoiced, but today are the heavens still rejoicing over our lives? is the Father happy? The talents, the potential that God has given us, do we use them for the Lord, or for the world, to be seen? Do we walk in a way that pleases God?
Didn’t the Lord who called us to be alive in Him tell us not to love the world?
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Beloved, if you have a child whom you’ve suffered to raise, for whom you’ve sacrificed everything and invested all your time, money, comfort, energy…to put him in the best schools, to offer him the best there is; And finally at the moment of reaping your glory, that child decides that your investment is lost, that what you’ve done has been for nothing.
How would we feel?
We can even imagine.
But glory be to Jesus Christ, there is a way to correct our mistakes, which is called repentance.
We can see that the world easily seduces and is capable of easily destroying a person’s destiny.
Someone may live in the world, but just as God doesn’t chastise right away, He doesn’t kill a minute. So we sin against Him and set our own directions, thinking all is well. And despite all that, we want God to accept what we do and bless us.
Yet God has a perfect plan for our lives, and that plan is not what we are currently following.
Beloved, Jesus has been exalted above all names. So imagine, if you fulfill God’s purpose on this earth, how great your name will be.
We continue to speak of Paul, Peter and the twelve disciples to this day. But they’ve been called the same way we have. One day, they decided to give their lives to Jesus and allowed Him to work in their lives, so that His will might be done. They didn’t get distracted, they were focused and they stayed on God’s path until they left the earth.
These are just examples, models, but Jesus is the supreme model we must follow.
We must honor the One who called us, then our ways are not right before God, we must repent.
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
When we look at the glory of our new birth, when we see the faithfulness of our God, His mercy, His kindness, His patience with us, so that we accept Jesus; We must decide not to put the world above Christ.
The world won’t give us what Jesus Christ gives us. Let’s not love the world.
Let’s remember our new birth, our journey with the Lord, and ask ourselves the right questions, probing deeply into our hearts.
We mustn’t enter the New Year with any uncertainties. We must not enter the year 2025 with idols in our hearts. We were born for great things.
Let’s not let the world steal our heritage; we must repent. The Lord loves us so much. Today is another opportunity to correct our ways.
IN THE NAME OF JESUS, Let Us Pray… →
Lord, I plead your mercy on my life.
Have mercy on me Lord Jesus.
It’s hard for me to leave the world.
I’m attracted to worldly things.
But Lord Jesus, give me the strength to give up,
to disconnect myself completely from this world.
You have redeemed me Lord Jesus, have mercy on me.
I don’t want your love, your investment in me to be lost.
I renounce the idols of my life in Jesus’ name.
I come back to you, my Redeemer,
Grant me the grace to love You deeply.
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.