art – Page 2 – Emmanuel Onimisi

FACES OF THE CHRISTMAS STORY: Elisabeth

#FacesoftheChristmasStory

“Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days wherein he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men.”

Luke 1:25

She had grown up watching women get pregnant and giving birth, fantasizing about when she would do the same. She had probably even helped change the diapers of some relatives’ babies on occasion. She got married and couldn’t wait to have a baby. But she didn’t. As the months passed, the questions started coming. Aunts were all too willing to give their unsolicited advice on ‘successful baby-making’. At first it was amusing, until it became frustrating. The months turned to years. Her friends’ babies grew into adults, got married, and were having their own babies already.

The questions dwindled, soon replaced by whispers. Soon those whispers were replaced by silent furtive glances. Everywhere she went, she could feel them. Sure, the people respected her, but it was the things they didn’t say, the things she knew they were thinking, that stung the most. She was the barren old woman from down the street. Barren. A name she had never thought would be hers.

God knows how many times she prayed. Were they being punished for their sins? Her husband was a priest, and she was a direct descendant of Aaron, the first high priest. That alone should have given them points before the Lord, but still no babies came.

Was God hearing her? Was He even there? Questions she didn’t dare put to speech. After years of agony and sadness, she settled for what they had. After all, His ways and thoughts were higher than theirs. They served God faithfully still.

One day her husband returned abruptly from the Temple without sending prior word. Literally too, because he had no words, since he had been stricken dumb. Hours of panicking and frantic sign gestures later (and the mental note to learn sign language ASAP) she was finally able to get him to write down what had happened. Long story short, the Lord had sent an angel to tell them that they would have a baby. A son. (Why couldn’t he speak? You can read about it in yesterday’s post, or better yet, check out the real account in Luke 1:5-22)

It was hard to believe. It took her a while to accept it all, but in the days that followed, she knew. She could feel it … HIM … she could feel him forming in her. “Oh dear God! So this is what it feels like? I really am having a baby?”

It’s not that she had forgotten she had a womb, it’s just that she had not needed it or even had a reminder of its presence in over a decade! But this was new. This was…different.

What would she do? How would she live, taking care of her silent husband and nursing a pregnancy? How could she, a post-post-menopausal woman, move around town with the prominent bump leading the way, an embarrassing reminder that she was carrying something that was not for people her age? She felt ashamed. The rumours would only reach a fever pitch. She couldn’t dare go out again.

But in her heart, she was hit by the reality that God had blown the barriers she had settled for and invaded her space. Prayers she had long stopped praying were being fulfilled, right in her own body. Not her neighbour’s body this time, not a woman from the stories of the days of the patriarchs … but her. “Me…?” And it gladdened her heart. “So this is the extravagant way God wants to take away my shame?”

For Zacharias it was a son, but for her it was personal. She carried the pregnancy. God had done something in her body. Her own body.

It was a miracle. For a long time, miracles were just the stuff from the Scriptures. Like the Lord parting the Red Sea, or stopping time for Joshua’s armies to prevail, or making Aaron’s dead rod bloom. They were the stories she loved hearing as a young girl. But now, a miracle had been wrought in her own life – in her own body. The Lord had chosen her.

Elisabeth’s story is a picture of what Israel was going through. Their history was full of accounts of God’s miraculous intervention time and again. But for the past 400 years or more, precious little had occurred beyond the ordinary. Reality overshadowed them as foreign nation after foreign nation invaded and took over their land. Even the prophets seemed an order of the past, so there was little if any hint of divine intervention. Where was the arm of the Lord? For many, even if they did not admit it, the miracles were a thing of the past. Those historical accounts were little more than myths to some. God and His ways were probably just a coping mechanism, just in case. Still, Israel felt abandoned.

But God had not forgotten them. He was coming to them, and He was coming in a BIG way, in a way that would be so grand it would be embarrassing.

Like a soldier returning from war to meet his fiancé after years of separation, who lavishes her with lots of gifts, lots of money, a new car, teaches her to drive, and spends quality time with her … all on his first day back. Her friends are watching, bewildered as they whisper among themselves about all the attention she’s getting. And just when his fiancé has gotten embarrassed enough, a troupe of mariachis that he’s paid comes out of hiding to serenade her (she loves Mexican music … Why is it always Mexican music?). Her family has been in on the surprise, and they join the circle of onlookers with knowing grins as her Romeo drops to his knee, pulls out a ring and asks her the question…

“Will you … go see The Last Jedi with me?”

I’m just kidding. He asks her to marry him, while everyone stands in awe, literally going, “Aw…” The lady wipes a tear. (Hey, was the ring an onion ring?) You get the picture. He is with the love of his life, and it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. He will ‘spoil’ her with enough to make up for the lost years, and enough to set up their new life together. Enough to show her his boundless love for her and his delight in her.

This was God’s promise to Israel. He’d said, through His prophets, that He would not only save them from their enemies, but would also lavish them with His goodness, would give them a great kingdom with a great king, so that all the world would see His faithfulness. And He came to save, not only Israel but all the world, totally overshooting the ‘save-them-from-their-enemies’ bit, giving a new life and an inheritance to all who receive His salvation, making them part of His endless kingdom, where He is King. He is awesome like that, always doing exceeding abundantly above all we could ask or think. He saves to the uttermost.

That’s the big picture, and I’ve not even come close to describing it.

But Elisabeth’s story shows us something even extra special. “God has come, for ME.” The blessing of God, in the form of her son, was a flashing neon sign to everyone around that God had done something supercalifragilisticexpialidociously AWESOME in the life a woman well past her prime. Everyone knew her as Barren. Now she was Fruitful. God had visited her life and left His fingerprint for all to see.

It’s the gift of God being with us, among us, in us, coming into our very situation and changing it with the peace and blessing of His very presence. Immanuel. God in the life of a person changes everything, setting things right.

It’s what He did in salvation. It is a blessing upon many, and a blessing upon each one that receives Him. A blessing upon you. That men will see His awesomeness in you as well.

It’s what He can do in your life. If you’re His child you are so much more set up for His hand to work wonders in your life.

And He does. Though our lives may seem to define ordinary, He has set things in motion on your behalf.

Sometimes we don’t think we see His miracles because they don’t all seem spectacular. How wrong we are. I think it was Max Lucado that wrote, “A coincidence is a miracle where God chooses to stay anonymous.” You walk into a building and the first person you meet gives you the information you need to avoid unnecessary stress. You feel a prompting to take a certain route on your way home from a stressful workday, and on that route you meet an old friend whose presence lifts your spirits. Sometimes miracles are like that.

Some miracles are a little more direct. Let’s go back to Elisabeth for a moment.

Remember she’s expecting a baby and supporting her mute husband. She’s going to need a lot of help. So what does God do? He’s set up Mary, her younger cousin, to come down all the way from the other end of the country to visit her (Luke 1:36-40). Mary stayed there until the Elizabeth’s baby was born. Many times, just like this, God uses people to help us. He may use someone to call you with words of encouragement at a moment when you’re feeling down. Someone else may be ready to mess up your day with an annoying Whatsapp chain message, but that person is suddenly distracted by joy at the news of his daughter finally gaining admission to the university of her choice. Wheels within wheels, God is working miracles just beyond our sight.

He may even use you in the working of a miracle in someone else’s life. He did that with Elisabeth. Mary had just been told that she too would have a baby that would be the Son of God. The young lady was still going over the ramifications of this when she entered Elisabeth’s house. Suddenly, the baby in Elisabeth’s belly leaped and she, suddenly spoke words that confirmed what Mary had heard from the angel, further establishing her confidence in God’s promises. God used them both to encourage and build each other’s faith. That’s His desire, to use us to bless one another. But first, like He placed the babies in the women’s wombs, He must give you His kind of heart. That is the kind of person He can use to do His will and be blessing. That’s what Jesus’ coming was all about, to make you that kind of person.

And, yes, God does overt miracles too, through the hands of His children. You can be used of God to heal the sick, cast out devils, and even raise the dead. These are the qualities He’s promised to all who believe in Him and His work of salvation (Mark 16:15-18). If you are Christ’s, this is your nature and ability. It’s all His gift to you.

There is so much more we can learn from Elisabeth’s story, but I’ve kept you here long enough. It was not an accident that the writer of the Biblical account told her story together with her husband’s, Zacharias (spoiler alert: he gains his speech back in the end). While Elisabeth’s story shows us that God can do great miracles, even the impossible, in our lives, Zacharias’ story teaches us about faith in God, even in what looks impossible. Needs are a very common part of the human experience, both those that can be met and those that are a bit harder to meet. In all things, let your faith be in God, and you will see His hand at work in your life.

Don’t let your heart get weary. Miracles are not alien to God’s children.

After all, they are our Father’s specialty.

Remember that, this Christmas.

May you grow stronger in faith, established in the knowledge of His faithfulness in Jesus’ Name.

Amen.

“…blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of the things that were spoken to her from the Lord.”

Elizabeth speaking to her young cousin, Mary, in Luke 1:45

#9DaystoChristmas

FACES OF THE CHRISTMAS STORY: Zacharias

#FacesoftheChristmasStory

‘But the angel said unto him, “Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.” Luke 1:12

Imagine you are sitting on a park bench, scrolling through your phone while waiting for the 3 o’clock bus. On a hunch, you look up from your screen to see a stranger sitting beside you, smiling.
“Hello…” you say, but what you’re really saying is, “Do I know you?”
The stranger proceeds as if you two had been in the middle of a conversation. “What if I told you that by this time tomorrow, you will be able to fly?” He stares straight into your eyes unblinking. He actually believes what he’s just said, and he expects you to believe it too. You, fly?
What would you do? What would you say?
I would probably reply, “Sorry, but I don’t do drugs,” before I make up an excuse to leave. I would always look back on that moment as a weird one, but I would wonder about the possibilities, somewhere in my subconscious. I would remember the times when, as a kid, I tied a wrapper around my neck like Superman and leapt up, up and away … unto the floor. Living with a little concept called Reality, and it’s distant cousin ‘Gravity’, has taught me that I can’t fly, so I don’t even try or even entertain the possibility. And with that, I shove the memory of the stranger’s pitch into the ‘Don’t-even-think-about-it’ cabinet of my mind.
That’s probably what Zacharias felt like when he, while performing his priestly duties in the temple, was told by the angel Gabriel that he would have a son. He and his wife were ‘far advanced in years’ (read, they were really, really old) but they had no children, and it was definitely not for lack of trying. They had prayed and trusted in God for at least a child, but none had come. Yet they remained faithful to Him. Zach had probably even resigned to serve God wholeheartedly, even if God didn’t give him a child. And that’s quite commendable too.
But now, an angel appears and tells him he would have a child? A son, no less? Of course he was amazed that an angel had appeared to him, and this was clearly from God … but what was this? Could he dare get his hopes up again after watching them get dashed for decades? Could he dare try to even wrap his mind around all the angel said about this ‘son’? Was this a practical joke from on high? Did God even do practical jokes?
His doubts stood abreast to the angel’s words, and all Zach could say was, “What proof can you give me, so I can be sure? I’m really really old, and my wife is an old woman too.” And, if you know the story, Gabriel said that because he doubted, he wouldn’t be able to speak until those words were fulfilled. And, just like that, Zacharias couldn’t speak.
Every time I look at this story, it looks a bit unfair. [Am I permitted to think that?] So Zacharias doubted, but haven’t we all? He was only human. Why did God expect him to believe the unbelievable? I even tried explaining it away as Gabriel acting rashly without God’s permission, but angels don’t operate that way. They call Him the Lord of hosts for a reason. There’s a chain of command for heaven’s armies, and God is at the top, and none move without His permission. Those angels that rebelled and left their assigned posts were cast out and bound (Jude 1:6). If Gabriel had broken rank here he’d have been out of a job too and, well, we still see him visiting Mary a few verses down, so…
So why treat an old man so?
In the days and weeks that followed, Zacharias might have had a conflicted mind; the guilt of doubting God’s words battling with the question of why God would do this. And just in case he wondered if it was all in his head, his tied tongue was proof enough that it was still so real. And Elizabeth’s cheeky remarks about the cat finally getting his tongue didn’t help matters. But what was this about her feeling dizzy these days? And was she gaining weight or, was her belly getting bigger, or…?
And then it dawned on him that it was real. They really were having a baby! How did this happen? Of course he knew how it happened, he just didn’t expect it to result in a baby. In their old age? Impossible! But then, God had said they would, hadn’t He?
The reality of his doubts stared at him every day, along with evidence of God’s ability. If he had just believed perhaps he would still have his speech. Oh, to have the faith of their forefather, Abraham. So, apparently, God expected them to have that kind of faith. But now, Zach had doubted and he was stuck without speech. Maybe this would be with him forever, like Jacob’s limp. Or, like the angel said, perhaps when the son is born it will all be over…
In the months leading to delivery, Zach’s understanding of God’s ability was proven to him. The evidence before him was too much to deny. The angel’s words played in his mind over and over. And he knew that it would be true. Not only were they having a son, but this boy would be a major part in God’s plan to prepare His people for Messiah? Despite his doubts?
In time, the baby was born and Zacharias named him John, just as the angel had said. It was quite providential, since John means “the Lord is gracious,” or “The Lord has stooped down to favour us.”
And then, Zacharias’ speech was returned. And what did he do? Now that his words could match the faith built up on the inside, filled with the Spirit of God, he spoke words of blessing and prophecy, telling of what God was set to do through Messiah and through John, his boy. (John shows up in later chapters as John the Baptist)

Doubt is a part of our human experience. It is a consequence of our fallen nature. Since we are used to the mundane reality around us, accepting God’s promises that seem to be above the normal is not easy, and doubt sets in. That’s human. But to relate with God, we must have faith; faith in Him and His ability. And God wants to be a part of our lives much more than we want Him to, but our doubts prevent us from allowing Him.
So what does God do? He doesn’t need to take our speech. He has a better solution: he gives us new hearts that can grasp and believe His words, and then we can say the right things. He did this through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus, creating new hearts in all that believe in Him. Zacharias was living in a time before this Redemption plan had reached fruition, but God still wanted to use him. So, however long it took, some faith was built in him. And, ironically, when he could speak, it was this Redemption Plan he spoke about (see Luke 1:69-75).
Now, faith is a gift to anyone that trusts in Jesus. It is through this faith that we are saved, all an act of the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8). And with faith, He can do so much in and through us. Our part is to keep or minds focused on God’s ability, even when facing insurmountable odds. In reading His word and following Him, we grow stronger in faith. We would trust in His words better, we would speak as He pleases, and He will do great and mighty things in and through us.
We may still encounter doubts at different points in life. The giants and mountains we will face may be bigger than the ones we’ve encountered before. But the more we follow Jesus, the stronger we are in faith, and the better we can overcome doubts when they come up. So when the giants come, we send them to the ground, and when we meet the mountains, we send them for a swim.

Zacharias, and Elizabeth’s story by extension, may seem like filler episodes in a season-long Christmas TV show, not furthering the plot or telling us about the main characters. But they are anything but fillers because they show us the human faces of the time. Zacharias shows us that, true enough, while we were unable to meet up to God’s standards, despite our doubts and lack of faith, despite the lethargy that had set in with reality and it’s unfulfilled promises … God was coming to our neighbourhood and bringing us to His. He didn’t wait for us to measure up to His standards before calling us. Now all we have to do is to respond to his call, by believing in Him. He’ll handle the rest, because He can.

Elizabeth’s story … well, she’ll take the spotlight tomorrow. See you then.

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David; as He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets…
…that He would grant us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life…”
Zacharias speaking in Luke 1:68-70, 74-75

#10DaystoChristmas

FACES OF THE CHRISTMAS STORY: The Angels

‘And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels…’ 1 Timothy 3:16

While the Bible tells us a lot about the activities of angels through the history of God’s people, they do not take centre stage and, as such, one can’t really trace the time of their origin. Some things we know, however, are that they are spirits, they were created by God, they worship Him, they are His messengers, they serve the heirs of salvation, and they do not die.
Also, they are so strong that one killed an army of 185 000 men in one night. And Jesus made reference to the fact that there are whole legions of them (over 80 000), so … yeah, they are quite a lot, and quite powerful too.
So picture this.
Did you know that the angels rejoiced at Creation (Job 38:7)? They had never seen a material world before, nor ever experienced such a dimension as Time, yet they watched as the Lord made these novel constructs, and they rejoiced. “How awesome is our Lord! He is in a class of His own … Holy!” Just when they thought God was so awesome He went ahead and blew their minds, making water and plants and animals and … to top it all, He wanted to make a being in His image and likeness out of, ahem, clay?! Of all the gems in the universe, He chose red earth? Oh well, He knew what He was doing. And what He made was a Clay-being, living and breathing. So much potential locked inside ‘walking Clay’. “Isn’t the Lord awesome?”
And God loved Clay. He gave authority in the material universe to Clay, and the ability to make things, to reproduce after his kind. They spent much time together, like friends. It was a privilege to watch, even much more to experience. But the angels could only watch in amazement as Clay experienced it all.
But Clay went ahead and ruined everything. He sinned and introduced an evil into God’s Creation, an evil that made Time a dreadful thing because of the end it promised. An evil called Death. And it was all because of Clay.
But the Lord didn’t turn away, loving as He is. He stuck with Clay and gave him rules and instructions to keep Death away a little longer, and to allow Clay and his descendants to still be able to interact with the Lord, in spite of their fallen, flawed and Death-tending nature. Over the centuries the Lord would even have to send the angels to help Clay’s people out of their self-induced mishaps and the consequences of their actions. Sometimes He sent them to help those that actually pleased Him. But in the end, Death still took over their bodies and they were separated from the Lord for the rest of eternity. For beings that lived all their lives in an immaterial realm, the ramifications of such a separation were stark and horrific to even consider.
Yet Claykind — or ‘mankind’, as they like to call themselves — lived their lives with its pursuits and desires, ambitions and dreams, oblivious to the larger supernatural world that surrounded and influenced their courses, oblivious to the battles the angels fought on their behalf in the unseen in obedience to the Lord’s orders, and oblivious to their impending eternal doom. Anytime they looked at mankind it was his cringe-worthy fallen state that stared back at them.
But then, the Lord had never strayed from His plan.
In the fullness of time, it all unfolded. The sacrifices and coded notes He’d slipped to mankind over the centuries through the prophets suddenly made more sense. He was going to settle the Man problem, by becoming a Man Himself.
Ah, the privilege! Such a wonder! Such a marvel! For the Creator of Worlds to take on the frame of the very creatures that had rebelled against Him. It was unspoken of in any other terms, but then it was the Lord here. He was coming in to make things right.
He had come, and He was a human baby.
“So this is what the Lord looks like? A Baby?! That’s Him right there, and the people are oblivious to even this? Have they no idea what’s just happened? Have they not an inkling of how privileged they are?”
Soon the order rang out, and one of the angels zapped over to a group of human shepherds to tell them the great news. Soon as he flicked the visibility cloak on, the men gasped in fear at the alien intruder. “Whoa, don’t be afraid! You won’t ever have to be afraid again, because what I’m here to tell you is GREAT NEWS about something that will bring joy to all your kind, EVERYONE! Because, for you, this very day, a Saviour has been born down in David’s town! He is Messiah, yes, the One you’ve been waiting for. He is the LORD! But instead of a shiny being, what you’ll find is a Baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger—” [a paraphrase of the account in Luke 2:10-12]
The men were still trying to grasp it all when the angel was suddenly joined by a heavenly knighthood, a multitude of them, singing and rejoicing! The skies were agog with light and music and joy so thick. The gist of what they sang was summarised as, “Glory to God in the highest! And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
They understood that God was bridging the gap between Himself and man, by Himself. But this would not be the end. They would watch Him grow as a man. They would watch Him die, and wonder why. They would watch Him rise, making the way for mankind to become a newer kind of being: sons of God. The Godkind. A people that are pleasing in His sight, and would do His will always. The product of God in union with man.
The journey to this was long and wrought with much agony, but it was the Lord’s doing. And He did it well. And the angels watched it all.
And they still watch, amazed by His goodness and faithfulness shown toward us. They are not to be worshipped, and they are quick to deflect any attempt to worship them, quick to point the attention to the One that deserves it all.
It was all His doing.
And when they look on the New Creation, the result of His sacrifice and victory, they are amazed over and over again.

“How favoured is mankind? The Lord has brought peace and goodwill to him.
How awesome is our Lord?
Just when we think He is awesome, He keeps on blowing our minds!
The Lord God Almighty is in a class of His own!
He is Holy!”

‘All [the prophets] were told was that they were serving you, you who by orders from heaven have now heard for yourselves – through the Holy Spirit – the Message of those prophecies fulfilled. Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!’
1 Peter 1:12

#11DaystoChristmas

Faces of the Christmas Story: THE PROPHETS

‘Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries.’ Hebrews 1:1

When we think of the prophets, much of the time we imagine old men with flowing beards bellowing words of doom with glazed eyes, ready to rip their clothes at the slightest hint of blasphemy from their audience. Well, some of them were like that. But some of them were kings like David and government officials like Daniel.
Whenever God wanted to let His people in on what He was doing, He spoke to His prophets who would then speak to the people. So, no, these prophets were not ‘fortune-tellers’.
The people of Israel lived through some of the worst times. From slavery to finding a homeland, to raising a kingdom, to occupation by invading armies, to a scattering and an exile and the plundering of their land, to their return to that land, to another invading army coming in … phew! Talk about a rags-to-riches-to-even-more-rags story! But in all this time, God did not leave them alone to face it. He had His prophets among them, men who would speak to them exactly what God needed them to hear. Sometimes theirs were words of judgment, sometimes they were words of comfort. But one thing the people of Israel knew was that God had not abandoned them. These prophets were given to God, faithful to Him so that they could be effective mouthpieces for Him to inspire His people.
In the midst of their prophecies and teachings, the prophets were inspired of God to utter and write about His Big Plan: God was going to save them! God was going to raise someone who would bring them to a prosperous place, a King that would bring them home and restore their glory. While these prophets had glimpses into these plans, they did not fully understand it, but they wrote the prophecies as they were inspired by God. Some had their contextual interpretations, but they did not fully know.
They told of how he would be born from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:8), from the family of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1) and a descendant of King David. They told of a ‘son’ that would be born to rule them in a peaceful and never-ending kingdom, who would also be the ‘Mighty God’ (Isaiah 9:6-7). They told of how He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
What they didn’t realise was that they also spoke of the same Person when they prophesied about an anointed one that would be killed for the sake of others (Daniel 9:26), a suffering servant that would be scourged to bring healing to others, be rejected and despised, stricken for the sins of the people (Isaiah 53). They probably thought they were describing their own pain and agony when they wrote about someone that would be forsaken by God, be pierced (long before crucifixion was even invented), and whose clothes would be gambled over (Psalm 22). They probably didn’t even link it all together when they wrote about someone who God would not leave in the land of the dead, but would raise to life (Psalm 16:10). They didn’t know this was all God was talking about when He talked of giving them new hearts so they can always do what is pleasing in His sight (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
Only later, by the inspiration of God’s Spirit, would the apostles look back and see the road map God had prepared long before, telling of what He was doing. They could look on this, gain more understanding, and edify one another, confident in God’s faithfulness to His Word. (1 Peter 1:10-11)
The Prophets lives were not wasted, however, because in the time before God would become a Man and set things right, these were the people He used to bring comfort to those around them. Telling them that God was still with them. They too were human with their failings and doubts, fears and questions. But God used them. And they knew there was something more coming, and they looked forward to it.
And God fulfilled His promises, by Himself. He became a Man and fulfilled all He had promised He would. Just as He had said.
Like these Prophets, the circumstances around us may seem to cloud our understanding of God’s Word. They may even make us doubt if He is even there. It may look bleak, like we are all on our own. But we are not. The grace they prophets looked forward to has arrived in the Person of Jesus. He has promised to never leave or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), and He is true to His Word. He is alive in you, making you who He wants you to be. His promises for you are true, and He makes sure they come to pass.
Even when it doesn’t look like it. He is faithful and reliable, and you can trust Him, and in Him. Trust in His Word, in what He has said.
You don’t have to be in the dark about His faithfulness to you anymore. He won’t leave you in the dark. The Light has come. This was what the Prophets looked forward to. Now God can be known by all. Everyone.
Even you.
Trust Him.
The more you experience His love, the more it becomes a part of you beyond facts, and the more you can be a blessing to others. And they will see Him in you. That’s a life fulfilled.
It’s what God intended.

‘Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries.
Recently he spoke to us directly through his Son…’
Hebrews 1:1 and 2

#FacesoftheChristmasStory

Presenting ‘Faces of the Christmas Story’

Christmas is my favourite time of the year.
The Carols and lights, decorations and sights, everything working to tell of a story so bright. You know what I’m talking about … right?
But Christmas is more than all that. It’s the chronicle of the invasion of light into darkness, of music into a gloomy room … of God becoming Man. At the time, it was the biggest cosmic event ever, only soon surpassed by Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. There was much to celebrate, and there still is.
When I look at the Christmas story, I see men and women going about their own business when, all of a sudden, God invaded their stories and made them a part of His … be it just for a moment. They are people like us … from carpenters to shepherds, to emperors to priests, from aliens to business men, from sweet-sixteens to rolling eighties … And I see in them pictures of all of us, or some of us, at different stages of our journeys. If any of us haven’t already, we will soon see how God’s Story has coincided with ours as He calls us to be a part of what He’s set in motion, and not just for a moment but for-EVER.
So, over the next few days, we’ll be looking at some of these people. The Faces of the Christmas Story. We’ll pick just 12 as we count the next 12 days down to Christmas Day. Each will also be accompanied by an illustration, so that’s something to look forward to, I guess. Prepare for a fresh experience as you look at these people through new eyes to learn some lessons you’ve learnt already, and be reminded of some that have always been there. More than anything, I pray these light a spark in you, turning your attention to His Light. That you see, in your own corner, how He’s lighting up the room of your heart so that you can see Him better, like He did for these guys. And, unlike some of the people in this story, I pray that you actually do see Him better, that you actually receive and experience and enjoy the Gift that your True Love sent to you 2000-ish years ago.
And with that, I present to you … the Faces of the Christmas Story!
#FacesoftheChristmasStory
#12DaystoChristmas

Here are the characters. It will be updated as the list expands:

…and more to come.