Thought for December 19, 2023

•  1686: Robinson Crusoe leaves his island after 28 years
• 1732: Ben Franklin begins publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac"
• 1776: Thomas Paine begins "American Crisis" with "These are the times that try men's souls."
• 1843: Charles Dickens publishes "A Christmas Carol"
• 1910: Rayon first commercially produced
• 1955: Carl Pickens records "Blue Suede Shoes"
• 1998: House votes to impeach Bill Clinton
• Born: Leonid Brezhnev, W. A. Criswell, Edith Piaf, Little Jimmy Dickens, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Cicely Tyson, Al Kaline, Janie Fricke, Reggie White, Warren Sapp, Jake Gyllenhaal
• Died: Emily Bronte, Desmond Llewelyn [Q for James Bond], Hope Lange, Robert Bork

On this day in 1903, Sunder Singh was converted. A Sikh in India, he attended a Christian School. When his mother died, he blamed God, organized a gang and attacked Christian students. He was removed from the school, but later returned as a student asking for a Bible--which he burned. Burning the Bible made him unhappy, so he told God that if He did not reveal Himself, Sunder would throw himself in front of a train. He later said that while asking God to reveal Himself, his room filled with a glow and a man with nail-scarred hands appeared and asked" How long will you deny me? I died for you." He ran and told his parent he was a Christian--they threatened him and tried to bribe him, but he would not change his mind--they threw him out after poisoning him. He became a preacher and his father later converted. He went to Tibet to preach and was never heard from again.

Thought:

Less than a week to Christmas and like most years the songs of Christmas are on the radio, in the stores, and sung in church. Choirs are doing there Christmas programs, school children are having concerts, and the new Christmas albums are out. The rest of this week, I am thinking about my favorite Christmas songs and the messages they bring to us. 

My thoughts are of the people of 5-6 BC. Roman rule and occupation. They might read Isaiah and think about the promised Immanuel, the Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace promised to them. They might have read the Psalms and prayed for the Messiah. Promises in the Old Testament were 1400 years old by then. I wonder if the people were praying for the Messiah to come. Certainly we know Simeon was praying for he was promised to see the Messiah [Luke 2: 25-32]. 

One of the oldest hymns of Christmas is "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" which originated as an antiphonal chant in the Medieval days. Notice that each of the five verses in our hymnals celebrate a title of the Messiah:

• Emmanuel--redeem us from our exile here on earth. Think about that. Our home is not here, we are aliens. Our kingdom is not here. Like slaves in Egypt or prisoners in Babylon or the Lost Tribes exiled to foreign lands by the Assyrians, we are exiles here. So our plea today is God with Us redeem us and take us home.
• Lord of Might--You gave us Your Law on Sinai and have demonstrated Your power throughout the centuries. You are the mighty One capable of redeeming us and taking us home. We are weak, but You are all powerful. Nothing is impossible with You.
• Rod of Jesse--Come Messiah, stirke down Satan who deceives and attacks us. Like the Shepherd, use Your rod and staff to protect and secure us, to guide and direct us. Restore Your Kingdom now.
• Dayspring--The word means "sun rising." Come Messiah and end the darkness. John captures this is chapter one--the Light of men has come. Read Luke 1: 67-79 this morning. Zacharias' prophesy "the Sunrise from on high shall visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." 
• Key of David--Isaiah 22:22 says tGod will give Jesus the key to the house of David. For "the government shall be upon His shoulders and His kingdom will have no end." 

Charles Wesley  published "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" in 1745.

• Come and set Your people free. In Christ we have freedom. But today we could sing--free us from disease, free us from pain, free us from hatred, free us from war, free us from doubt and fear. 
• Jesus is our strength, He is our consolation [sending the Great Comforter], He is our Hope and the hope of the world, and He is our Joy--the joy sought by every longing heart.
• He was born to deliver us--a King to reign over us. Notice His reign begins in our heart. When He is king of your heart--love, joy, peace flow in abundance.
• We get to His throne through His merit alone, nothing of us is worthy. 

Simeon looked for the long expected Jesus. Today, I am looking for the long expected Jesus to return and join with the saints is singing --come o come Emmanuel. 

Blessings

Larry