“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” Isaiah 9:6 KJV
In the Scripture quoted above it speaks of the coming of “the one” who will save us from our sins & from ourselves. Amongst every meaningful sentence above, there is a particular word, the ‘zeal’ which means the passion, committedness, dedication of the intended purpose of God. He meant to do this. God had a passion to save us from our sins & in order to do so, He made preparations. He prepared a body – a baby boy, who had no sin but would become sin for us; His name so beautifully put above, shall be called “Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”. He would also be prophetically called Jesus “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” God not only prepared a virgin her name was Mary, who would carry this boy child & in preparation, God prepared His name JESUS -THE SAVIOUR. God prepared the place of birth, the lowly place in a mucky stable, that The King of Kings would be born – there was no mistake. In preparation for the saving of our souls He was telling us “I come lowly, I come for everyone”. In preparation for The King, God gave The world -us, a magnificent sign “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel“.
This miracle of a virgin giving birth, was part of the preparations to lead us to Jesus. This is the zeal that He has for the saving of our souls but all who come to Him must do so willingly, just as God willingly, gave His only begotten prepared son Jesus by Mary who became a willing vessel “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her” God prepared a man named Joseph who was Mary’s fiancé & woud be shocked to know she would be pregnant when she was meant to be a chased virgin. “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.“
God prepared the wisemen “When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.” The was also in preparation for Christ’s death.
God also prepared the Place, The Angels & the Shepherds “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.“
The intricacies of Gods precise preparations through the birth of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, has given us the gifts of salvation & of eternal life. The King of Kings born of a virgin handmaiden Mary in a manger, witnessed by her faithful husband Joseph, the Angels & animals fulfilled the preparations put into place for Christ’s birth. What preparations are we doing in our life for Jesus Christ when He returns. Oh, He is coming back with His rewards in His hands. Just like the star was given as a sign for the wise men, we too have been given many signs. From His Word we know that “the stars of heaven shall fall and the moon shall turn into blood & the Son of Man shall appear” we need to be spiritually awake for His returning. God has this all covered too!
As many around the world prepare for the 25th December 2017 being Christmas Day the date the calendar was given as Christ’s birth, what about the preparations before & after this day? What preparations are being made for the throne of our hearts for The King of Kings to sit at? Have we sanctified ourselves by confessing our sins before Him? Are we welcoming Him in continually as our Honoured & esteemed Father, or are we unawares that He is looking in like a lonely, humble child peering in from outside a window? How are we preparing others for His returning, are we sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ & Him crucified with all we meet? Does The King of Kings know that He is loved by us individually? Is our lives right with Him? Are we loving one another as Jesus loves us?
Lets us prepare for the fateful day that our lord Jesus Christ returns, we too are seeing the signs of His returning being fulfilled as those who saw the signs of His coming to this earth, almost 3000 years ago in that lowly Manger but are we taking heed? The wiseman followed the star & took gifts to adore Christ with. The Shepherds went to praise His birth & now before The King, are we adoring Him as He should be? Bowing lowly before The Mighty God & Counsellor? The tinsel, lights, sumptuous foods & guest lists are earthly preparations of Christmas but the daily, spiritual preparation of our souls is what is needed in order for us to make it into Heaven. Are we taking The Gospel of Jesus wherever we go? Is it shared in the alleys, to the hungry in the broken places in the highways & byways just like Emmanuel came to be. He is The Good News! Remember Gods zeal- He meant to do this.
As Christmas is celebrated, let the preparations of Gods love for us in giving the world His only child, not only to live but to die for our sins, so that we might have life more abundantly, free from that sin, be known. Share the message & testimonies of His unadulterated, perpetual love & let it be made known and felt in all we do & say to others, the broken, the widows, the lonely, the afflicted, the addicted, the poor & disheartened, especially our enemies when you think you just cannot forgive, for this is the true meaning of what Christ-mas is. He did not come for the tree or the baubles, as pretty and delightful they are, He came to save & set free. So…how are your preparations going?
May God richly bless & keep you & your families now and throughout all of 2018 from all at LPCF, we are always praying for requests, so please continue to send them into us via email, Facebook or @christianpolice on Twitter. Remember this, no matter what happens in your life, Jesus Christ The King of Kings loves you??
Samantha?
