You may have seen or heard about the Advent tradition of
reading through the Gospel of Luke beginning on December 1st with
Chapter 1 and ending on Christmas Eve with Chapter 24. It is always a good idea
to revisit the Gospels and travel along through the birth, life, death and
resurrection of Jesus. There is no better time than in the weeks leading up to
Christmas.
My husband and I began,
what I hope will be, a new tradition of doing just that. Refreshing our
memories on all of the details of the life of Christ will lift us up, and fill
us with renewed anticipation and expectation as we get ready to celebrate all He has done
and all He will do throughout our lives, and for the life ahead in our forever
home.
Maybe these verses
will whet your appetite for more.
But 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 clothes lying in a manger.” Luke 2:10-12
The Son of God and
His humble beginnings, leading to a life of service and sacrifice and to our
redemption as He was raised to new life. Behold! A child is born. Glory to God
in the highest!
Father,
Your Son brought new life and joy into this dark world. The
brilliant star lit the night sky and led the shepherds and the wise men as they
came to the miraculous sight of Jesus. Never let us forget. We anticipate the
celebration.
In Jesus name,
Amen
Are you looking
forward to a future event? Waiting expectantly for an answer? For a prayer to
be answered? For a hopeful outcome? During this Advent season, we anticipate
the celebration of the birth of Christ. We know with certainty that He walked
the earth and grew up as a sinless man, the one who would save us, and we can
anticipate, with certainty, His return.
His timing is
perfect in everything, His purposes fulfilled in their entirety, past present
and future. When the perfect time came to pass, God sent Jesus into our world.
One man brought sin into the world and one man came to redeem us all.
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death
reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s
provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the
one man, Jesus Christ? Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in
condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in
justification and life for all people. Romans 5:17-18
We are filled with
thanksgiving as we anticipate the celebration of the birth of Christ. Christmas
is all about Him, the perfect man. We who believe, receive the gift of His
righteousness, and this precious gift, filled with grace, is given freely to
all who believe!
Jesus,
You gave us life beyond death. There are no words to thank You
for all You have done for this world. We celebrate Your humanity and Your
deity, the Son of Man and the Son of God.
Amen
One other misconception in our culture today is that we can
pray to angels and ask for their help. Angels only listen to and obey God. When
John saw an angel in person as he was receiving information for the book of
Revelation, here is what happened in John’s words.
At this,
I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a
fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the
testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears
testimony to Jesus.” Revelation 19:10
This angel
astounded John and he bowed down to worship. The angel is forceful in his
language. Notice all of the exclamation points! The angels are fellow servants
along with us. There is no need to pray to angels or to anyone else. Jesus is
the intermediary for the Father. We pray in His holy name.
Father,
We praise You for Your plan of redemption and we praise You
for the angels. Someday we will see them face-to-face, along with Jesus. Until
that day, we know they are around us, serving You, just as we do, and we pray
only to the Father through and to Your Son.
In Jesus name,
Amen
There is a misconception among the general population that
people turn into protective angels after death. This simply is not true! We
will be given heavenly, eternal bodies one day, but angels are separate beings,
created by God to worship Him, to serve Him and to glorify Him.
Humans were created
in God’s image. (See Genesis 1) Angels are separate beings described both in
the book of Ezekiel, Chapters 1 and 10 and in the book of Isaiah Chapter 6. The
descriptions of the seraphim and cherubim are incredible and I look forward to
being in the presence of the angelic host one day.
The seraphim:
Above him
were seraphim, each with six wings. With two wings, they covered their faces,
with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. Isaiah 6:2
The cherubim:
But each
of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight, their feet
were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings
on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings
and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight
ahead. They did not turn as they moved. Their faces looked like this: Each of
the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face
of a lion, and on the left, the face of an ox, each also had the face of an
eagle. Ezekiel 1:6-10
Not exactly the
cute image of the cherubs we see in pictures and statues, right? The sights and
sounds of our heavenly home are beyond our imagination and angels are just one
part of all we will see and experience.
Father,
Your creation astounds us as we look around us today during
our earthly lives and when we are in eternity with spiritual bodies and minds
we will see so much more. We thank You for the gift of Your angels. Place them
around us.
In Jesus name,
Amen
I have studied death and dying, have worked with hospice
patients and have heard stories of those nearing death. Many people, as they
near death, see angels There is a story in the Gospel of Luke about an angel
escorting someone to heaven. I love the thought of being introduced into heaven
by an angel. He just might show us around and introduce us to our Lord.
“the time
came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.” Luke
16:22a
This can be a
comforting verse to the dying. Angels are nearby. The dying person may even see
the angels as they near the time to go home to heaven.
Father,
Thank You for sharing stories with us about angels. We are
grateful for their presence, for their protection and for their guidance. They
serve and honor You.
In Jesus name,
Amen
I believe we all have an angel or angels assigned to us by our
God. Our “guardian angels,” although there is no such term in the Bible. One
reason for believing each of us has an angel is found in the Book of Acts.
Peter has been
arrested for his association with Jesus. King Herod has already put James to
death and he plans to do the same with Peter. You can read the full miraculous
story in Acts 12. Many of the disciples and followers of Christ are together
praying for Peter. God hears their prayers and sends an angel to free Peter.
Four sets of four
soldiers each are assigned to guard him day and night and when the angel comes
to wake him, he is chained between two soldiers and two others guard the prison
door. Peter thinks he is dreaming as the angel leads him outside to his
freedom.
In the home where
his friends wait and pray, a servant goes to the door and sees Peter standing
before her. She is so flabbergasted, she slams the door, and runs to tell the
others. And they don’t believe her! Listen to what they believe.
“You’re
out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they
said, “It must be his angel.” Acts 12:15
Did you read the
words, “his angel?” Maybe our spiritual angels can manifest themselves to look
like us? We can only imagine, but I love to think of angels surrounding us and
protecting us and leading us to safety. All because we belong to the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords.
Jesus,
We thank You for Your angels. We believe they exist. They are
spoken of over and over again in Your Word. Thank You for giving us access to
Your holy angels.
Amen
This week we will revisit the topic of angels. These blogs
were written about fifteen years ago after an in-depth study on what the Bible has to say about angels. You may be surprised at the truth and the misconceptions we
all have about them. Open your spiritual eyes and let’s take a look.
Did you know angels
are messengers sent in service to the believers?
Are not
all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Hebrews 1:14
That’s me! I am
going to inherit salvation because of Jesus. How about you? Isn’t it exciting
to think of angels as our ministering spirits? They serve us in miraculous
ways. You may have been assisted by an angel or protected by an angel.
Angels were created
by God to serve and worship Him. Created to do God’s bidding, they hearken to
His Word. If you are reading or speaking Scripture out loud, there may be
angels surrounding you. Angles can take on human form to serve us. You may have
heard about or experienced someone coming to help and then vanishing, seemingly
into thin air. Could it have been an angel? Be kind and hospitable to everyone
and one day you may meet an angel in disguise!
Do not
forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown
hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2
Father,
Your ways are wonderful and miraculous. Keep us protected,
served and surrounded by Your angels. Keep our eyes open for ways to serve You.
Who knows if one day we will meet an angel?
In Jesus name,
Amen
