Weekly Devotional: Gems From Pastor Jim 12/2/2019

by Jim Hughes

Is. 9:6-7 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

For unto us a child is born…..The birth of Jesus was not a spur of the moment event. In Ephesians 1:3-10 Paul makes it clear that before the foundation of the world was laid, God had a plan in place to redeem us. He purposely made us with the ability to accept or reject Him knowing that most would reject Him. He knew that there would be no way once sin entered into Unto us a child is born, a son is given. Jesus IS the Son of God. We hear God speak in Matt. 3:16-17 and 17:5 and declare that Jesus is His son in whom He is well pleased. Jesus left no room for doubt that He was the Son of God. John declares it to be so in John 1:1 and 14. Jesus is also the Son of Man. It is one of the titles Jesus often used of himself. He was human in every since of the word. We often find Him being hungry, tired, frustrated, praying, worshiping, dependant on God. We find Him wrestling with His certain death, in great physical pain and dying on a cross. Malachi describes His as being the Sun of Righteousness, with healing in His wings (Mal. 4:2).

Unto us a child is born, a son is given, a promise is kept. Starting in the Garden of Eden, God promised the world a Savior. Over and over again God declared the coming of the Savior. God was well aware of the world’s need for a Savior and in the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4) came, God sent His Son. Even though it seemed like God was not available, that He had abandoned His people, Jesus came. People had not given up hope, even though they had not heard from God for 400 years. They were living out life knowing that God was trustworthy and the Messiah would come some day.

We today celebrate the birth of the promised Messiah, Jesus our Savior, and we too are living out life in anticipation of His coming. Only this time, when Jesus comes He will be coming to take us, the church, out of the world to be with Him in heaven. God is trustworthy and He will keep His promise; Jesus is coming soon. Are you ready? Far more important than celebrating His birth is the celebrating of His soon return. Let us live each day in readiness.

man’s heart that He would be able to have fellowship with him, so He put in a plan whereby we could be restored to fellowship with Him. God gave us His Son because He loves us and wants to spend eternity with us (John 3:16). A child was born to be our Savior and Lord.

Jesus was no ordinary child. He is the embodiment of God in human flesh. He lived a sinless life, even though He was faced with all the temptations we are faced with. He lived and died to become our Savior and Lord (Phil. 2:5-8). Jesus came to address the desperate need of our hearts. He came to be with us in this journey of life, to be our Immanuel.

Before and After the Honeymoon

About the Author:

Spending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.

C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chapter on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one's self from such failures.

I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn't broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.