Made in His Image

A few months ago, I was on a train looking out the window. It was around 6 am and the sky was overcast with rain clouds, but it has not started raining yet. The morning breeze was ticklishly chilly and saturated with a plethora of smells...wet earth, green leaves, smoke from a fire lit in a thatched hut. Even though there was no sun, the sky was illuminated in a magnificent way giving the entire scenery a brilliant grey background.

A few white birds flew past when I felt the tender voice of the Holy Spirit tell me that all of what I was seeing and appreciating, all of mother nature in her magnificence, was created by the Word, the Breath, the Vibrations from the mouth of God. He spoke and they came to be. Hallelujah!! My spirit rejoiced with the Spirit of God. And then in a way that only God can, He blew my mind with the next thing which He pointed out. He said, "..but son, I formed you by My hands"!! Oh the joy that flooded my spirit at that moment. A silent but powerful revelation.

The Psalmist realized the glory of God which was manifested in the human form and proclaimed in worship, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalms 139:14). Beloved we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Although we are on earth, our blueprints are heavenly, we are images of the Holy, Omniscient and Omnipotent Master of the universe. Hallelujah!! Our bodies were not meant to be afflicted with maladies and stress. We were created to soar, to commune with Heaven and walk hand in hand with Elohim. The human body is a masterpiece. It is perfectly designed to resist disease, fueled by two sources of energy - one of the world and one divine (proving our supernatural tie with the Creator) and built to live long and meaningful lives on earth and then live forever in Jesus Christ.

Beloved, you are not an accident. You are not a product of chance, improved over millions of years of evolution and survival of the fittest. You are a masterpiece crafted carefully in the comforting hands of a Loving and Caring Father. His love for you is unfathomable. The Apostle Paul concludes, "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever may believe in Him, will not perish but will have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Beloved the Messiah, promised to Abraham was born on Christmas day. The Christ, Yeshua, the Saviour was the Son of God, the Holy One of Yahweh made flesh, born to die, the Lamb who would take away the sins of the whole world (John 1:29). Hallelujah!!

Paul, by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, says, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost" (1 Corinthians 6:19). Declare these truths over you bodies today, and witness the healing power of Jehovah Rapha in your lives as you call on His Name. Finally, I quote the words of John, who knew the Love of God, he said, "Beloved, in regard to all things I pray that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers" (3 John 1:2).

Shalom!!

Born to Die: The Christmas Story

Mary lifted her eyes up to the heavens to gaze at a particularly bright star. It was almost as if it guided them to their destination. They had finally arrived at Bethlehem, Joseph’s birthplace; for he was of the family of David and according to Caesars decree each man had to return to his place of birth for the census. Joseph seemed tensed, although their long and tiring journey had at last come to an end, there was another thought which troubled him. The baby was coming and they had no room to spend the night, no place for Mary to give birth. A gentle evening breeze kissed her face as she, bravely enduring the pains of labor, watched her husband run fruitlessly from one door to another, pleading for a roof over their heads. Bethlehem had no room to accommodate the desperate couple that night.

Beloved, all circumstances surrounding the birth of our Lord were in no way coincidental, (Jeremiah 31:15) they were a series of events beautifully orchestrated by the Holy One of Israel. Joseph and Mary not finding a place to stay was just another piece of the Master Plan being executed at just the right time.

“And by and by they found a nook in a stable all forlorn / and in a manger cold and dark Mary’s little boy was born”

 - Bethlehem Ephrathah, the place where the baby lay in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes was not an ordinary animal shelter. It was the place where newborn lambs were set apart for the Passover. As the ewes would give birth, the new born lambs would be wrapped in swaddling clothes to make sure that they remain without blemish, to maintain them as the perfect sacrifice. So when the angels described the baby to the shepherds they had absolutely no trouble finding that particular stable where the King of kings lay. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy in Micah 5:2 “And you, Bethlehem Ephratah, you being least among the thousands of Judah, out of you He shall come forth to Me, to become Ruler in Israel, He whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity.”

The branch from the stem of Jesse promised by Isaiah....the heir of David.... the Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty One of Yahweh, the Sar Shalom (Prince of Peace) was born; God made flesh, the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the World – they named Him Yeshua, as instructed by the angel of the Lord.

A group of shepherds watching their flocks by night they were startled by a brilliant light in the heavens. A million floodlights of our day could not match the brilliance of the angelic host that came to proclaim the birth of the Son of God. The Father lit up the sky to announce that His Son had been born as the Son of Man.  And the angels sang “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)

These lowly shepherds became the first ones to witness the incarnation of God as Man, the Holy one of Israel as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a stone trough where animals were fed. None could imagine the depth of that glorious sight which lay before them. The babe wrapped in cloth lying in a stone trough looked awfully similar to a dead man lain in a stone tomb.

As some time passed, the three wise men who knew about the prophecies concerning the birth of the Savior of the world reached Bethlehem. They claimed to have followed a new star that had appeared in the heavens and it led them to the city of David. Matthew 2:11 says, “And coming into the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother. And they fell down and worshiped Him. And opening their treasures, they presented gifts to Him, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”

Gold offered as a gift fit for a descendant of Royalty, for the baby in Mary’s arms was the long awaited heir of David (Jeremiah 23:5). Frankincense, offered to the high priest of the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7) who would one day stand before Elohim, as the perfect mediator – the One Job longed to have (Job 16 and 17). The last gift was unusual; it was Myrrh, bitter herbs, to embalm the body of the Perfect Sacrifice.

 Mary knew that her firstborn was different; He was not another human baby for He was not born of man but of the Holy Spirit. She understood why the scholars and shepherds came to worship her Son. She knew that the joy in Simeon’s eyes was the joy of the Lord, like a fountain gushing from a dry well, the man had seen God. His words “For my eyes have seen Your Salvation” is literally translated “For my eyes have seen Your Yeshua”. (Luke 2:25-30) The words of Anna the prophetess (Luke 2:38) confirmed to all who were eagerly waiting for redemption, that unto them a King had been born, the babe in Mary's arms was the Savior of the World.

Right from the day He was born, Jesus was set apart to be offered up as propitiation for our sins. That our sins be placed on Him and His righteousness imputed to us by faith in His perfect work. (Romans 3:25)

The ram caught in the thicket by the horns, (Genesis 22:13) the perfect sacrifice for Abraham to offer to God in his son’s stead……the Passover lamb, whose blood on the doorposts of the Israelites saved their firstborn and earned them their freedom (Exodus 12:7, 13)……these were all shadows, prophetic events in history pointing to the final offering that would once and for all time (Hebrews 9:28) reconcile man to God… the Messiah, who was born on Christmas Day. Praise God!!

Mary, did you know

that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary, did you know

that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?

Did you know,

that your baby boy is heaven's perfect lamb?

This sleeping child you're holding, is the great I AM.

Hallelujah!! Merry Christmas to you all. Shalom!