The Messiah has come!

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

In the eternal past He saw our suffering. He saw our pain. He saw the helplessness of our existence and knew then that He would have to come. All along he watched as humanity grew further away from God. The devil and his lies replaced the truth and man would find false gods made of stone and wood. Barbaric practices, human sacrifice, torture and enslavement, became common. Then the moment came.

The spirit descended upon Mary and she did conceive. A baby boy like no other in history; for this one descended from the heavens. This child was God himself made flesh for all humanity to see. The shepherds came and worshiped. The wise man traveled from far and brought gifts, while a wretched king hunted for Him.

God’s greatest gift had come and now for those who believe there is no more darkness. Helplessness is replaced with peace and worry with Joy.

He grew among them, but they did not recognize Him. Some thought Him common, the son of a carpenter. While others with anger, said “they saw the devil in Him”. Many more pursued Him for a miracle. Many shouted, “Son of David heal me!” Some, perhaps a few, dared to wonder. “Who is this man, who talks to the wind and it obeys. Who is this man who awakens the dead? Legions of demons tremble before Him. Could He be the Messiah? “

They took him away in secret, in the darkness, without cause. He was innocent. They thought it was their plan; it had been His from the very beginning. He freely gave his life. He shed his blood, drop by drop it fell to the ground, as they whipped him and beat him. They nailed him up high for all to witness and thought him defeated.

Then came Sunday morning, the most glorious morning ever seen. The stone rolled away and out came the “bright morning star” (Revelation 22:16). Death was vanquished and no longer our master. He overcame and the victory is ours. We will live with Him forevermore.

Receive Him as Lord and be saved. He returns and His own anxiously wait. The Messiah will come with crown and sword. He will rule and His kingdom will never end!

Consider these Verses on O.T. Prophecies-of-Jesus

First they criticize, then they crucify

But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” Luke 11:15

This is dedicated to all the doers, past, present and future, the greatest one being Jesus Christ.

Who was likely the most criticized man on the planet? I can’t be sure. But Jesus sure got a lot of Criticism. It was His critics that wanted Him crucified. They said he was sinner because he healed people on the Sabbath. They said He was a blasphemer because he forgave people of their sins. Whenever he would cast out demons they said He did it with the help of the chief demon. They were even critical of his companions, the publicans; these were the hated tax collectors. Ah, nothing has changed. Sinners were always seeking Jesus out. They were in need. They accused Him of starting a rebellion, but His kingdom was not of this world. They finally decided they had enough and they demanded He be crucified.

If they criticized Jesus who did an immeasurable amount of Good in His short ministry, then what will they do with us? We cannot be surprised when we are criticized for anything good we do. Any attempts to help others or make lives better will be met with criticism. Such as “We were too late,” or “We rushed it”. Perhaps they’ll say “That was too long” or “that was too short” or “those words were too eloquent, no one understood” or “Those words were too simple, what do you think of us.” No way to please everybody. The sure fire way to not receive criticism is not to do anything. Well that may not be true. Then we’ll be accused of being Lazy.

We just need to go out and do what we have to do for the Lord. If some people don’t like what you did, no problem, tell them “Please show me how to do it better”. Most likely they won’t. Because their role in life is not to do something, just to criticize others who do something. More importantly remember we do not perform for the critics. We do it for God and the kingdom of Heaven.