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Luke 2:12

And this will be the sign to you: “You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

You are probably familiar with the story of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. The Bible says that when the time had come, Mary “brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger”. (Luke 2:6-7) Have you ever wondered why the angel told the shepherds that the Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger was a “sign”?

A manger is actually a feeding trough for livestock. Do you know what a feeding trough in those days looks like? It is basically a big rectangular block of stone with the trough carved out of it. So baby Jesus, who was wrapped in swaddling cloths, was placed in such a stone trough.

But why was that a sign? If you have seen the empty tomb of Jesus at a place called The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, you would notice that the place where His body was laid, inside a tomb carved out of rock, resembling a stone trough. The Bible says that after Jesus’ crucifixion and death, Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body, wrapped it in linen and laid it in a tomb carved out of a rock. (Mark 15:43-46)

Can you see the similarities? Wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger, baby Jesus would one day be wrapped in linen and laid in a tomb. That was the sign the angel was referring to. It pointed to Jesus’ death.

Jesus was the only child in all of humanity born to die. Once you realize that, you will realize how much God loves you. You will realize that He gave up His Son for that one purpose, and that His Son willingly came for that one purpose – to die for your sins and mine.

Can you imagine living your life knowing that you are just qualifying yourself to die on the cross to save the world? That was the life that Jesus lived. He lived to die, so that we might live and enjoy life abundantly today!

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Throughout the Old Testament, God told his people that a Messiah was coming. There were many prophesies about the coming of the Messiah, and Jesus Christ fulfilled every one of the them! Christmas is the day we celebrate the birth of Christ, the Messiah. God’s promise of salvation went into effect the day that Jesus was born.

Isaiah uses four names to describe the Messiah. These names have special meaning to us.

Wonderful Counselor: He is exceptional, distinguished, and without peer, the one who gives the right advise.

Might God: He is God Himself.

Everlasting Father: He is timeless; He is God the Father.

Prince of Peace: His government is one of justice and peace.

Although we give each other gifts at Christmas, never lose site of the greatest gift of all – Salvation! God loves you so much that He gave His Son, so that you might live forever with Him. No gift is greater than that. I wish you a Merry Christmas and hope that you will take a moment and reflect on the wonderful gift God has provided through His Son Jesus! God bless you.

Luke 2:10-11

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.”

If all is silent and dark in your life now, and you feel like you have been left out in the cold, just know that Jesus came to be your Savior at such a time as this. Jesus was not born in the comfort of a warm cozy room, but in a cold dingy manger. Jesus was born very quietly, so quietly that the Bible says that only a group of shepherds came to Him, while the rest of Bethlehem slept. (Luke 2:8-9)

Like manna falling quietly from heaven in the Old Testament, the true bread from heaven came quietly. It was a silent night, but that was not all. Jesus was also born during the darkest time in Israel’s history. Israel was under the tyrannical rule of the Romans. It was during this time, when everything was so dark, that Jesus was born.

And He will come to you in the darkest period of your life. On that cold and silent night, the shepherds were afraid when the angel of the Lord stood before them. But the angel said, “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.”

It was not a judge or lawgiver who was born. It was a mighty Savior, who came to save His people. And He came to save you and me. Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We also place gifts under our Christmas tree for those we love. So what is under God’s tree for you? Peace, love, joy, blessings, wholeness, healing, prosperity and eternal life. God’s tree is the cross.

John 17:22

And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.

When God made man, the Bible says that God crowned him with glory and honor. (Psalm 8:5) The word “crowned” here means to encompass or to surround like a glorious circle. The glory of God was therefore man’s clothing. In other words, Adam’s whole being was gloriously radiant.

When man sinned against God, he forfeited that glory of God. (Romans 3:23) But when Jesus Christ was born, the glory of God came down. (Luke 2:9) And many years later, Jesus, before He died, said to His Father, “The glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.” So the glory of God which man forfeited has now been restored because Jesus has come.

When He died on the cross, He took our shame, gave us His righteousness and restored the glory of God to us. But what exactly is the glory of God? Doxa, is the Greek word for “glory” here, which means to have a good opinion concerning one that results in praise, honor and glory. This means that in restoring to us His glory, God wants us to have the sense that we are praiseworthy, honorable and glorious because of His constant good opinion of us! Also, because God’s glory is on you, you can expect it to touch every aspect of your life – your finances, relationships, work and health.

So, because Jesus has come and restored the glory of God to you, be conscious of God’s constant good opinion of you. Know that there is a weightiness about you and arise, shine!

Exodus 23:25

Worship the LORD your God, and His blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you.

If we are in need of healing for our physical body, we need to put what God’s Word says about health into context with these two scripture passages.

Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” John 5:14

“Faith without works is useless.” James 2:20

Essentially, once God does His part, we must do our part! He heals us and we maintain the healing!

Personally, I don’t think that sickness as a sin issue. And from what I can see in Scripture, neither does Jesus. Otherwise, why would He say this in John 9:3? “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

The point that I think our Lord is trying to make is that, when we sin, we put ourselves in harm’s way. Reckless behavior, misuse of medicines and deliberate poor food choices (i.e. all “sins”) can and oftentimes damages our bodies and will make us more susceptible to get sick. That is why it’s so crucial to put faith to our deeds and put deeds to our faith!

As you seek God for healing, I suggest you do your best to learn how to be healthy and make the proper abundant life-giving choices. Starting with the foods you eat. I have a saying, “Eat bad – feel bad, eat good – feel good.” I can personally attest to this because every time I eat something unhealthy, which by the way I enjoy, I end up feeling bad. When I stay on good wholesome foods, I feel good.

Psalm 1:3

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

When darkness covered the face of the earth, God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:3) When a certain man paralyzed for 38 years lay helpless at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus said, “Rise, take up your bed and walk,” and immediately, the man was healed, took up his bed and walked. (John 5:8-9)

You don’t say such words unless you see something others don’t. God does not see the way man sees. Man, however, must learn to see the way God sees. We must see the vision of the Almighty.

The prophet Balaam saw the vision of the Almighty when the Spirit of God fell on him. As he looked down from a mountain at the camp of the Israelites, he found himself saying, “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob! Your dwellings, O Israel! Like valleys that stretch out, like gardens by the riverside, like aloes planted by the Lord, like cedars beside the waters.” (Numbers 24:5-6) Balaam would not have said this unless he saw Israel not in the natural, but as God saw it. At that time, the Israelites were a discontented, always murmuring and complaining in the wilderness. But when God looked at them, He saw them like flourishing gardens planted by the rivers – fruitful and prosperous.

God wants you to see yourself the way He sees you – “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper”. So see yourself like a tree planted by the rivers of water, bringing forth fruit in your season. See yourself as one who will not wither, whose health will not fail. See whatever you do prospering! See the vision of the Almighty. Whenever you see your situation through God’s eyes, you will find that your situation will change because when you see as He sees, you allow Him to work as the Almighty in your life!

John 14:7

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

You may have heard that just because you ask God for something, it does not mean that He will give it to you. Quoting from 1 John 5:14-15, he said that we first have to ask according to His will before He hears and gives us what we ask of Him.

Of course, we do not ask for things that are against God’s will or Word. But what is normally implied in the earlier statement is that we don’t always know what God’s will for us is. But didn’t Jesus say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father”? (John 14:9) This means that if you want to know what the Father’s will, mind, heart or attitude toward you and your family is, just look at Jesus in the Gospel stories.

So if your child is sick, is it God’s will to heal him? Well, look at Jesus and see how He ministered to children who were sick – the Syro-Phoenician’s daughter who was demon-possessed (Mark 7:24-30), Jairus’ daughter who was dead (Mark 5:22-24, 35-43), and the widow of Nain’s only son who had died and was about to be buried. (Luke 7:12-15) Jesus cast out the demon. He raised the dead. He healed them all!

Don’t say, “We can never know God’s will. Sometimes He heals, sometimes He doesn’t. He may bless us, but He may also take away our blessings.” The Jesus of the Bible never made anyone sick. He never made anyone poor. He made the little become much with 12 baskets full of leftovers. (Matthew 14:20) He gave a net-breaking, boat-sinking load of fish to fishermen. (Luke 5:6-7)

The Jesus of the Bible loves to heal, deliver, prosper and save people. This Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) And He says to you today, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” So you can know God’s will for you. You can see what He will do for you when you know the Jesus of the Bible and what He did.

1 Peter 5:7

…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

It does not matter how tightly knit our families are or how many close friends we have. When we go through a difficult time or trial, we still feel all alone and that no one really cares or understands.

Martha knew that feeling. She had on one occasion cried out to Jesus, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?” (Luke 10:40) Jesus’ disciples also knew what it was like to feel small, alone and in trouble. They cried out, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” when they were swept up in a terrifying storm. (Mark 4:38)

Today, maybe the cry of your heart is also, “Lord, do You not care that I am left all alone…that I am going under…that I am perishing?” The Lord does care for you. He loves you so much that He wants you to cast all your cares upon Him – not just some but all your cares. He wants both your big and small cares. There is nothing too small or big for Him. If it is a care in your heart, He wants you to cast it upon Him.

When the apostle Peter wrote “casting all your care upon Him”, he was talking about the continuous act of casting all your cares upon the Lord. As a care comes, God wants you to cast it to Him. That is the lifestyle He wants you to adopt. Why? The verse gives us the reason – “for He cares for you”. You are casting all your cares upon the One who loves you, and who left all of heaven to come and die for you. That is who you are casting your cares to. It is not just any person, but it is the One who gave His life for you!

When you are going through a difficult time, God wants you to believe that you are never alone because He Himself has said that He will never leave you nor forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5) As the object of His care, He will take care of you for the rest of your life. You are never alone and always cared for!

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time…

Nothing happens to you by accident when you have God in your life. Even a “chance” meeting with someone is part of His plan to set in motion His blessings in your life.

Such was the divinely arranged meeting of the Shunammite woman and Prophet Elisha. It led to the prophet pronouncing over her the blessing of a miracle child even though she was barren and her husband was old. (2 Kings 4:8-17) A few years later, it was this friendship with the man of God, which saw her through a crisis when her son fell seriously ill and died – Elisha raised her son back to life. (2 Kings 4:18-37)

When God is the one orchestrating the events in your life, neither lack nor danger nor destruction can affect you. When famine hit the land, the Shunammite woman’s family did not suffer because through Elisha, God had told them to leave the land. They went to the land of the Philistines and lived there throughout the seven years of famine. (2 Kings 8:1-2)

God can place you at the right place at the right time, even through your daily decision-making. The Shunammite woman returned to Shunem after the famine had ended. She then decided to appeal to the king of Israel for help to regain her house and land, which had been illegally acquired by others during her absence. This decision brought her before the king on the same day that Elisha’s servant Gehazi was in audience with the king. The king wanted to hear all about the miracles performed by Elisha. This gave the Shunammite woman the opportunity to share firsthand with the king how Elisha had raised her son from the dead. The thrilled king then ordered the restoration of her house and land, including all the proceeds of the field from the day that she had left until then. (2 Kings 8:3-6) The Lord had timed and set up everything beautifully for her!

God can also make all things beautiful in its time for you. As you involve Him in your daily life and trust His love for you, you too will see Him lead and place you at the right place at the right time to enjoy His blessings.