Bethlehem

His Life Is the Light of Men

“Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” – Matthew 2:11 Christmas Eve has arrived, and although it looks a bit different this year, my prayer is that you are embracing the power of the One whom we celebrate and that He is filling your life with the gifts of His Spirit. In that vein, today, I want to talk about the third and final offering the Magi brought to Jesus, and how it gives us a source of fresh hope in the midst of a tough season. While gold signifies that the Lord reigns over the kingdoms of earth and incense represents His authority in the Kingdom of Heaven, myrrh speaks to His victory over the grave. Used as an embalming oil in ancient times, this valuable gift foreshadowed His crucifixion, but more importantly, it revealed His greater plan and purpose. Though

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A Glory Greater Than Gold

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’” – Matthew 2:1,2 The Christmas story is full of unexpected encouragement, and though it’s become almost too familiar, its many truths take on new meaning in seasons of testing like the one in which we’re living. I believe this is especially true as we examine the gifts the Magi brought to Jesus — each one of them has the potential to help us as we sort through the 2020 experience. To offer some background, unlike traditional depictions of the nativity, there were probably a lot more than three “wise men.” In fact, the party that traveled from the east was more like

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God Will Get You There

“Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.” – Matthew 2:22,23 When we read the story of Jesus’ birth, there’s a part we sometimes overlook because we fail to see its significance. However, in this crazy season, when many of us seem to be facing detour after detour, it’s an encouraging thing to understand. Though our Lord was born in Bethlehem so that prophecy would be fulfilled, his parents took Him and fled to Egypt because they feared evil King Herod, who was trying to kill Him. It was years before He returned to Israel, and when He did, He didn’t go back to the area in which He was born, because there was another wicked king reigning there

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