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In more than three decades of my Christian life, I have been blest by 2 types of Daily devos'
(matter not exceeding 500 words) in universal Christian literature. Not only those Devos'
which have a different theme everyday but also the ones which revolve around a certain
theme over a period of time, say a fortnight, have richly edified me. In fact, both
styles have their own inherent advantages. If the former style caters to the varying
spiritual needs of a christian from day-to-day, the latter aims 'to ground'
a child of God in a certain subject in order he derives the full benefits of the
deep insightful study of a certain topic, spread over a fixed span of time.
In my Daily devo page, I have consciously tried to go in for 'a blend of both the
styles' whereby within a constant theme, I would be aiming to focus on different
facets of it which admittedly is a closer imitation of the 'Constant theme' style
than the 'Varying topics' one.
As the month of December coincides with the Christmas season, in this month I intend to
dwell exclusively on all the topics revolving around Christmas using the visit of the
Wise man described in Matthew 2 as the base.
Let me wish you a happy and an edifying read… oh yes-MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF US!
Suresh Manoharan
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December 26th
The Two pillars of Christian Faith
When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of
the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea,"
they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 'But you, Bethlehem,
in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out
of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' " –
Matt 2:4-6
‘…while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God
and Savior, Jesus Christ…’ – Titus 2:13
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While continuing to meditate on the Christmas story post Christmas (we have to retain the festive
spirit at all times. Right?) using the visit of the Wise men as our text, we
focus once again on the tête-à-tête between the nervy King Herod and the Jewish
religious leaders of those times for it would cast light on one of the many
prophecies concerning Christ’s life. We had concluded before (refer Daily Devo dated 9th Dec) that
clear-cut prophecies concerning several aspects of Christ’s life preempts
cynics and rationalists from attributing Christ’s life to mere coincidence,
whereas the truth is quite different.
Today, we come to yet another significance of fulfillment of prophecies. That is it compels us to
take the only remaining unfulfilled prophecy of God…Christ’s II Coming…
seriously. For the I advent of Christ loses its significance unless we
keep the II advent in perspective. No wonder Biblical scholars
quite rightly assert that the I advent and the II advent of Christ are the two
pillars on which the Christian faith rests squarely. Paul even calls the
anticipated II Coming of our Lord ‘the Blessed hope’
(Titus 2:13).
Even in the human realm, if we have a friend who time and again sticks to his word, won’t we take his
other promises’ seriously simply because of his spotless track record of
sticking to his word, always? Similarly, if our Lord has time and again, kept
up His word in the past, should we not take Him at His word when it comes to
His II Coming?
Today, the World over all the nations would be somberly remembering what happened exactly 4 years back on
Dec 26th 2004 when Tsunami waves lashed several coastal cities of
the world in perfect fulfillment of the prophecy regarding signs preceding His
II Coming. Consider the following scripture portion culled out of
Luke 21:25b, which reads thus…
‘…And
here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and
strange tides’ -
NLV
Isn’t this a clear sign of His II Coming? Just reflect on the cause of Tsunami waves– earthquake in the
sea surface- and the enormity of the significance of the words ‘STRANGE TIDES’
in the above-captioned scripture portion would sink in instantly, for tsunami
waves were no ordinary tidal waves triggered by a cyclonic storm like many
tidal waves are but rather these waves, which shook mankind to the core, were
the very definition of ‘strange tides’ for they were caused
by a rare earthquake in the sea surface. Really scriptures, leave no
room for doubt. Right?
Now, should lakhs perish in order the II Coming of a loving Lord be heralded? Where is God’s love
in all these? We shall ponder deeply on this issue tomorrow. Meanwhile it would
serve us well to simply remember that God is great and that He is just.
Prayer:
Father, thou art a Sovereign God but also a loving and a just God. Perhaps only in eternity,
we may gauge the purpose behind all thy actions, meanwhile enable us to trust thee implicitly
even while eagerly awaiting the II Coming of thy dear Son and our Saviour. Amen
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