"And behold, an angel of The Lord stood before them, and the glory of The Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
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.
For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, 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, goodwill toward men!'"
Luke 2:9-14
Last night we celebrated my Father in Laws birthday. As we were sitting in Papa Don & Mama Donna's living room, Papa Don called to my attention a scripture that I had read many times, but never caught the magnitude of the words.
Did you notice in the above scripture, a multitude of angels were in the sky praising God. Can you even begin to imagine what this must have looked like?
Emily's Bible says it well, in The Jesus Storybook Bible...
"They (the shepherds) turned around. Standing in front of them was a huge warrior of light, blazing in the darkness. 'Don't be afraid of me!' the bright shining man said. 'I haven't come to hurt you. I've come to bring you happy news for everyone everywhere. Today, in David's town, in Bethlehem, God's Son has been born! You can go and see him. He is sleeping in a manger."
Behind the angel they saw a strange glowing cloud- except it wasn't a cloud, it was angels...troops and troops of angels, armed with light! And they were singing a beautiful song:'Glory to God! To God be Fame and Honor and all our Hoorays!"
Can you even imagine standing in that field and seeing such a sight?
Lets not let the familiarity of this Season drown out the magnitude of the event.
JB Phillips puts it well when he said,
"By far the most important and significant event in the whole course of human history will be celebrated, with or without understanding, at the end of this Season, Advent. The towering miracle of God's visit to this planet on which we live will be glossed over, brushed aside or rendered impotent by over-familiarity....Does he (the believer), for instance, as he daily treads the surface of the planet, reflect with confidence that 'my God has been here, here on this earth'? Does he keep his faith wrapped in a napkin as a precious thing and apart; or does he allow every discovery of the truth to enlarge his conception of the God behind this immensely complex universe? And does he then marvel and adore the infinite wisdom and power, which so humbly descends to human stature? We rejoice in the fact that God has actually been here- and that is one half of the meaning of Advent."
WOW~
Are you as convicted as I?
JB Phillips mentions the one-half of advent...what is the second? It is Christs return. Let us prepare our hearts for His Coming once again.
Join me this Christmas Season. Invite the Lord Jesus into your heart again and again. Let Him examine your heart. Humbly receive correction. Gratefully receive instruction and let us prepare our hearts for His Glorious arrival onto this planet earth once again. For we know not the time nor hour, but we know for certain of its existence.
