Hello everyone. Because it is the Christmas season, I will try to tell the Christmas story in my own words.
Now we all know that Jesus was born on Christmas day and that there were some wise men involved plus a barn with a bunch of animals and a star, etc. But the Christmas story actually starts about 9 months before that. The interesting thing is that there are two kids involved not just Jesus. The first one's name is John.
OK, John's parents were Zacharias and Elisabeth. Now both of them were too old to have kids. I don't mean that they felt too old, I mean that their bodies were too old to have kids and they didn't have any kids because Elisabeth was barren. Now Zach was a pretty important guy. He was a real big wig in his church. His job that year was to go into the holiest part of the temple and burn incense to the Lord. We really don't do this today but it was a real important job. It was so important that a whole bunch of people were outside the temple praying while Zach went in to do it.
So this angel of the Lord appears right next to him and it freaks him out. He was really afraid. Think of something that really scares you and that will give you a hint about what Zach was feeling. Now something I just noticed was that Zach was a man of faith. See he had been praying that God would give he and Elisabeth a child even though they were past the age of child bearing. I guess he knew that if God could do it for Abraham, God could do it for him. So this angel tells him that he will get Elisabeth pregnant and they will have a child named John and that he will be really happy and so will everyone else when John gets here. The angel goes on to say that John will not ever drink alcohol and that the Holy Spirit will be upon him before he is even born. Also, he will turn many of the Israelites to God and lastly that he will prepare the way for Jesus.
OK so we should all stop hear and rejoice that Zach got his prayer answered and this mighty miracle took place right? Well we would if that was what Zach actually did. But here is something else interesting that happens. Now understand that Zach has been praying for a kid for a long time and here an angel appears out of thin air right in front of him inside a place where only he could go. The angel tells him that his prayer has been answered and immediately Zach goes from talking faith to talking doubt and unbelief.
Now I don't know if I would question the angel after his entrance, etc., but Zach wants to know how it will happen and says he is way too old for something like this and that his wife is too. Why was he praying for it then? He obviously had some measure of faith but that faith was shaken when the angel showed up. I think it was shaken by fear. Now the Lord already had a plan so he decided to make Zach unable to speak until John was born because Zach didn't believe him.
Let's stop for a second. There is a lesson to be learned. Sometimes we start praying for God to do something and then when we get a word from Him that He will, we instantly question it. Have you ever needed to hear from God and when you got a scripture or someone told you something, you didn't believe it? I think I have which doesn't make sense. Also, notice that God showed up to tell Zach what he was going to do before he did it. When Zach walked out of the temple that day, Elisabeth was not pregnant yet. All Zach had to go on was the word of God. But also notice that when God tells you he is going to do something, He will do exactly what He said. Once you have a word from God on something, just keep standing on that word until He brings to pass what He said He would.
So there was a whole prayer group that marveled at how long he spent in the temple. It was normally an in and out job but the angel changed the plans. Now when he came out to them he couldn't talk so everyone figured that he must have seen a vision. Then he finished out his term as the head preacher and went home to his wife and Elisabeth got pregnant.......More to come.
That's part one of Christmas by the Minion.
Now we all know that Jesus was born on Christmas day and that there were some wise men involved plus a barn with a bunch of animals and a star, etc. But the Christmas story actually starts about 9 months before that. The interesting thing is that there are two kids involved not just Jesus. The first one's name is John.
OK, John's parents were Zacharias and Elisabeth. Now both of them were too old to have kids. I don't mean that they felt too old, I mean that their bodies were too old to have kids and they didn't have any kids because Elisabeth was barren. Now Zach was a pretty important guy. He was a real big wig in his church. His job that year was to go into the holiest part of the temple and burn incense to the Lord. We really don't do this today but it was a real important job. It was so important that a whole bunch of people were outside the temple praying while Zach went in to do it.
So this angel of the Lord appears right next to him and it freaks him out. He was really afraid. Think of something that really scares you and that will give you a hint about what Zach was feeling. Now something I just noticed was that Zach was a man of faith. See he had been praying that God would give he and Elisabeth a child even though they were past the age of child bearing. I guess he knew that if God could do it for Abraham, God could do it for him. So this angel tells him that he will get Elisabeth pregnant and they will have a child named John and that he will be really happy and so will everyone else when John gets here. The angel goes on to say that John will not ever drink alcohol and that the Holy Spirit will be upon him before he is even born. Also, he will turn many of the Israelites to God and lastly that he will prepare the way for Jesus.
OK so we should all stop hear and rejoice that Zach got his prayer answered and this mighty miracle took place right? Well we would if that was what Zach actually did. But here is something else interesting that happens. Now understand that Zach has been praying for a kid for a long time and here an angel appears out of thin air right in front of him inside a place where only he could go. The angel tells him that his prayer has been answered and immediately Zach goes from talking faith to talking doubt and unbelief.
Now I don't know if I would question the angel after his entrance, etc., but Zach wants to know how it will happen and says he is way too old for something like this and that his wife is too. Why was he praying for it then? He obviously had some measure of faith but that faith was shaken when the angel showed up. I think it was shaken by fear. Now the Lord already had a plan so he decided to make Zach unable to speak until John was born because Zach didn't believe him.
Let's stop for a second. There is a lesson to be learned. Sometimes we start praying for God to do something and then when we get a word from Him that He will, we instantly question it. Have you ever needed to hear from God and when you got a scripture or someone told you something, you didn't believe it? I think I have which doesn't make sense. Also, notice that God showed up to tell Zach what he was going to do before he did it. When Zach walked out of the temple that day, Elisabeth was not pregnant yet. All Zach had to go on was the word of God. But also notice that when God tells you he is going to do something, He will do exactly what He said. Once you have a word from God on something, just keep standing on that word until He brings to pass what He said He would.
So there was a whole prayer group that marveled at how long he spent in the temple. It was normally an in and out job but the angel changed the plans. Now when he came out to them he couldn't talk so everyone figured that he must have seen a vision. Then he finished out his term as the head preacher and went home to his wife and Elisabeth got pregnant.......More to come.
That's part one of Christmas by the Minion.
No comments:
Post a Comment