Good morning! Today, I think about the song, "What Child Is This?" in response to this verse. An ordinary child would not bring such controversy, but this was no ordinary child. It was the Son of God coming to earth in accordance with the prophetic words He spoke through the prophets. The rulers of the day studied the Scriptures so they would know when this baby would come as a king. They didn't know it would not be as an earthly ruler in His first advent so they felt threate

Good morning! Whenever God has a message, He raises up a messenger to release it. He used many prophets to announce and/or pronounce what He is doing, going to do or wants to do at a particular time. It is meant to get our attention and point us to Himself. He spoke all throughout the Old Testament through many different prophets to give us details about the coming of Jesus so He would be recognized when He showed up. Those prophesies gave specific instructions and indication

Good morning! Not only did God give a sign of how Jesus would come and be born, but He also specifically named the place it would happen. Jesus was born exactly there. The circumstances were not easy and the way He made it happen was not fully understood in the moment. But God was seeing to His word. A census came that forced Mary and Joseph to a place that had not thought to be, especially as Mary was in the last trimester of her pregnancy. But it put them exactly where they

Good morning! The Lord wanted to give definitive signs to make sure people wouldn't miss the Messiah when He showed up. A virgin becoming pregnant and giving birth is a major sign. It's only happened once in history and will only ever happen this one time. God with us through a baby. Isn't it amazing how He came as the most vulnerable of people in the humblest of circumstances? Yet, through adversity, He rose to the full stature of a Man and showed us what it looks like when

Good morning! God fulfilled His word concerning Jesus. Jesus came and spoke, but many would not hear Him because He didn't look like what they thought He should. It's sad that they were full of Scripture yet couldn't recognize Jesus, the living word, when He showed up. Even though He showed up like the Scriptures said, their preference for fanfare and power clouded their vision. When Jesus shows up in your life, will you have eyes to see Him or will they be clouded by your pr

Good morning! We are in a prophetic season. Just as the Scriptures spoke prophetically of Christ's first advent, it also points to His second advent. It speaks to His eternal nature in this passage echoed by John 1:1 that says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God." He was with God in the beginning and He will be with God in the end. He was God in the beginning and He'll still be God in the end. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginnin

Good morning! I hear a lot of people telling Christians that since they don't celebrate Halloween, they shouldn't celebrate Christmas because of some of the pagan elements and roots to the holiday. We need to remember that we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Whatever you do, do it for the Lord and to glorify Him. Align everything you do with the word of God. If it is written in His word, you don't need to pray about it; you need to obey it. As it is wi

Good morning! Thanksgiving is like the start of the Christmas season as everyone starts thinking about presents for loved ones, putting up Christmas trees and decorations, and about Jesus coming to earth. We thank God for His provision and bounty, but we also let that carry over into this season. The goodness of God came down to live among us and show us the way to everlasting life. His mercy came to forgive us and His grace came to save us. The truth became manifested in a h

Good morning! Sometimes, we deny God's peace to have rulership of our hearts because we cling to anxiety over things like it is our child. We were not called to worry, but to worship. We were not called to pretense, but to praise. What rules your heart? Are you stressed constantly? Do you try to convince yourself nothing is wrong but know that worry has consumed you? Let go of that which is holding your life hostage and let God's peace rule your heart. To rule means to umpire

Good morning! We are now in the advent season and we think more intently about Jesus and how God sent Him to earth to be born of a virgin, to live perfectly and die on a cross for all the sins of humanity. We also should be thinking of His second advent. He not only came once to suffer and die fulfilling the law and all prophesies concerning Him, but He also rose from the dead and walked out of the grave. Sometimes we get stuck at the cross and forget the grave. We should thi

Good morning! Reading this verse brings a Christmas song to mind that says, "Tis the season to be jolly." I know not everyone likes Christmas songs, but it is the season we think about the joy of Christ who came to the world to save us from our sins. That's reason to be joyful at any time of year! Jesus is the Rock of our salvation and the joy of our hope for eternal life. We just finished Thanksgiving and it is a time for us to reflect on the goodness of God's provision and

Good morning! I pray this verse over my kids every day, especially when they leave for school. They are surrounded by voices every day pining for their attention. I pray they have discernment to know which voices are godly and which ones are not. I pray this for you too. Too often we look for advice from people who do not share the same worldview we have through the lens of faith, the word and the Holy Spirit. We shouldn't seek counsel from ungodly people simply because we ne

Good morning! The word, "sanctify" means to separate from profane things and dedicate to God. It also means to purify. So, the word separates us from unholy, profane things to set us apart for the use of God. It purifies us from the guilt of sin and the evil desires of the flesh. We cannot do this for ourselves, it takes the word of God to work in us to cleanse, purify and dedicate for service to God. The word is truth and the truth is what makes us free. It keeps us from def

Good morning! When you live in a lie, you walk in darkness. When you believe the lie to be truth, you can't see the reality because of the darkness that blinds your eyes. You are like a person roaming through a dark house at midnight trying to feel your way around. If you've ever done that, you know it is difficult and even dangerous. If you use even a small pen light, you can more easily navigate without stumbling into things hidden by the darkness. God's word is the light w

Good morning! In 1 Corinthians 2:14, the Apostle Paul tells us that in our own natural thinking, we cannot understand the things of God. It takes the help of the Holy Spirit to open our eyes and our hearts to see and understand the things of God. The Apostle Paul knew the Scriptures like the back of his hand, yet he didn't recognize Jesus until Jesus knocked him off his horse on the road to Damascus. All those who followed Jesus seemed like fools to Paul. But after he encount

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving! The first Thanksgiving was not easy. There had been much struggle, sickness, toil and even death. The Plymouth settlers had to learn how to survive in this new land. The Wampanoag Natives taught them how to plant crops and live off the land. This brief period of cooperation lead to the settlers learning to navigate the strange new land to become efficient at survival. They were definitely thankful for what the Lord had provided through the

Good morning! As a Gentile, I'm thankful for Christ. Because of Him, I am have access to God, forgiveness of sins and hope for eternal salvation. I don't have to stand afar off and have been grafted into God's family. We don't have to trust some man to make atonement for our sins because of Jesus. He is our High Priest. He has made the final atonement needed under the law for sins. He has made a new and better covenant to redeem us from the law of sin and death. He lived perf

Good morning! Part of the will of God is to act differently than the world. Right now, the world is acting foolish like God isn't real and that life has no value. They are loud, rude, hateful, unthankful, violent, inebriated and lewd. How you react to this will reveal your alignment with God's will or not. We don't need to shout, scream, throw fits of rage and be violent towards those who act foolish. We can know what, why and in whom we believe and readily defend the gospel

Good morning! The Lord leads us by His word and through prayer. If you never open our Bible or pray, you should never expect to hear from God and know it is His voice trying to lead you. You will not recognize His will unless you read the document that contains it. The Bible has God's will revealed for us. An heir doesn't know what they have inherited unless the will is read. We are heirs and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17) as children of God. You don't know what you ha

Good morning! Too many people who have a big platform are coming out saying how they have given their lives to Jesus and been saved, which is great, but when there is no life change, did they really give their lives to Him? Holding onto the lifestyle that Jesus paid the price to free you from is not being saved. If we say we love Jesus, yet still live like the world, we have not been transformed. We do not bear the evidence of salvation if we lie about our conversion through