servant for Christ

The gospel is to be preached to all the world. The Magi were the first to start that wonderful commandment. To apply this to our lives, we are to do the same. Pray for God to lead us and take every opporunity to witness to people, pray for God to give us the boldness we need to get His work done.

It showed their obedience and honor because they knew He was the King of Kings. Their heart attitude- they gave him the best they had. For us- we are to bring our best before the Lord, which is ourselves. It does not manner how great or small, all God wants is to worship Him from our heart, our whole heart.

Humbleness, honor, respect, they acknowledged himas the Lord of Lords, and the King of Kings. They knew He was the Messiah, their Redeemer had finally come. We can emulate this kind of worship by praising and worshiping God for who He is, what He has done, and what He is going to do. By realizing He is the King of Kings and He is worthy of our praises.

The star was a sign that the King of the Jews was born, the Messiah. The star was a light from God giving the people the sign they believed would come. The Magi came to find Christ because they believed God that their king had been born. They brought gifts to worship and praise the new born king. The birth of Christ has been prophesied through out the whole Old Testament. The prophets had dreams. The prophesy was fulfilled.

Yes, I can relate to money owning me. There was a time I believed the lies of the devil, and did not tithe and pay my offerings the way I should. Praise God, he delivered me from that and now I am a fatihful tither and God is blessing because I have put Him first and fore most. Yes, the desire for money can destroy a person.

I think he meant it literal. You can not serve God and money at the same time. He wants to know where our heart is. Put God first and he will supply all your needs. He will give you blessings that you cannot contain. Yes, wealthy people can serve God because they have their priories in line.

To store up our treasure in heaven, we do acts of love toward God. Living the way He wants us to live. The advantage is we will have eternal things that will not rust, or decay, or be stolen. I am not uncomfortable with the concept, but I think some people are because of doubt and unbelief. I know that heaven is my reward and my Lord will be there. PRAISE THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS!!

I think Jesus is speaking specifically. He is talking about the greed that this world is full of. He wants us to depend on Him to meet every need that we have. This is an old teaching. There are several scriptures that can relate to this through the Bible.

Jesus condemned him for selfishness and greed. I think the key verse is 21: So is he that lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. The context is seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness. This relates to the Sermon On The Mount in that we are to give to the poor, an seek God to provide for us.

I think all of these are present in my life because of what the Lord has brought me through in the year 2008. I can not get enough of the Lord's word, I can not tell enough people about how good God is and what He is doing, and I love letting the love of God shine through me. If you don't have all these in your life, seek God. Ask Him to give you understanding.

The three titles: Savior- one who rescues, deliever, preserver Christ- anointed, messiah Lord- owner, lord, master It tells us that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, our Messiah, our Redeemer, our Deliever, our Salvation, our Healer, our Provider, our Counsellor, and so much more.

I think that the message of Jesus' birth comes to shepherds because they were considered the lowest of the low. Also, they could spread the good news of the Messiah. Jesus was born in a stable to show that he had come as a servant to mankind. God's point was that Jesus came for everybody. There is not one soul that Christ did not come to live and die for.

The journey had to be difficult for Mary physically and emotionally. She had the hope of God in her, she knew she was carrying the Messiah. Yes, I think there is pleasure in God's will. I am not talking about pain and suffering, but I am talking about knowing who we are in Christ and knowing who He really is. Trusting Him one hundred percent with everyone and everything in our life. Depending on God totally. Knowing that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Standing on His promises and His word. An example from my life is when I lost my job and out of work for almost a year. EXTRA CREDIT: Yes, being a consistent Christian causes more hardships than just going with the flow. We are not of this world. We are the children of the Most High God. We are to be like Him. In everything we do. That is hard, because of the ways of the world. We think sometimes it is just easier to go with the flow and don't worry about it. We can't do that. We can not compromise who we are or what we stand for. You give the devil an inch, he'll take a mile, then you have given him a foot hold. Christ never had an easy life, neither will we as long as we follow in our Father's foot steps.

I think he named the rulers so we could have a time line in a historical event. The point he is making, is that Jesus is real. He gives us the history of Jesus birth and the hardship that Mary and Joseph went through. I think it proves that the Bible is real, God's word is real.

By accepting Mary as his wife, Joseph showed he was a righteous and devout man that wanted to obey the Lord and the law. By obeying the Lord and giving the name Jesus, when Joseph adopted him as his own, that put Jesus in the lineage of David. The rightful heir to the kingdom.

The virgin birth fulfilled the prophesy of Isaiah. Immanuel- God with us was born of a virgin and He is with us today. He was God born in the flesh. Through Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven and we can have a new life and an eternal one.l

The significance of the name Jesus was to let the world know that our Savior, the one to redeem us from our sins, that He saves us from our sins, the Anointed One, is being born. The angel gave Mary and Joseph the name independently so they would know it was from God.

Mary's option's were very grim. Her husband would divorce her, she could be stoned, she could be shunned, and she would not be able to remarry again. The character that Joseph showed was of a mature and gentle man that wanted to do the right thing and not to hurt Mary.

Jesus would have learned the trade of his earthly father. He would have learned the responsibility of a trade, a job. He learned how to use the trade in the business of his Heavenly Father. The experiences would have exposed him to dealing with people, and honesty.

The titles are appropriate for Mary because she was blessed to carry and give birth to our Lord and Savior, and she was the mother of our Lord and Savior. She was blessed because she was a virgin and she believed and trusted her God. I think we are hesitant to exalt her because it is hard to imagine a virgin birth in the natural state of flesh. When we get a hold of who Christ is, we can see the blessing that was on Mary's life. She was indeed very blessed . She is the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Mother of God.

Her response to the angel was one of total submission to her Lord. We can learn to stand on our faith as Mary did, do not doubt or argue with the Lord. Let the Lord lead and guide us according to His will. He knows the best for us. Her consent was saying I will do as my Lord says, I believe and trust Him. When we respond to God, we are saying " as your will be done, not mine".

It teaches us that it was a miracle, that Jesus' nature is God's nature because He is the Son of God. He came as a human to save us and redeem us from our sins. The virgin conception is important because He became man, went through every trial that we will ever face, and made a way for us to go to the Father. To go to the Father, we must turn to Jesus, because He is fulfilling God's Holy Word.

Mary's question of how differ's from Zechariah's because she believed and had faith in God. She knew it was going to happen, but she was puzzled at how it would happen. She never doubted the Lord. Zechariah never believed or trusted the Lord. He did not have the faith. Mary was rewarded because of her faith and Zechariah was disciplined because of his unbelief.

His announcement said that Mary's Child was the Messiah, a Savior tat the world needs, not what the Jews expected. He would be truly great because He will be called the Son of the Highest, Son of God. He would rule the throne of David. His kingdom will be eternal, never ending. He is the Holy One.

We are to continually ask God's forgiviness so we can forgive others. We have to let go of the unforgiviness. It can block God's blessing because we have sin in our heart. Our heart is hard. Unforgiveness can block God's unforgiveness because we will not be forgiven. He will not hear our prayers. Forgiving is God's love. We have to show God's love.