THE THORN OF BLESSING

Greetings again my most wonderful friends. Yes, here in the U.S.A. it is Christmas time again. The time where we have much joy as we reflect on how great Father God's love is for us, as seen in the miracle of His Son's birth. The birth of Jesus (the Messiah for our Jewish friends) finally arrived about two thousand years ago, fulfilling hundreds and hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament (Covenant). To me the greatest thing was that God loved us so much that He humbled Himself to become a man. To walk among us in human form so we could witness His heart. And it was a heart full of love, compassion, mercy and hope. The list could go on and on. Of course Jesus has ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father after He had walked among us for thirty years. After He performed many miracles. After He was crucified (shedding His sinless blood to pay the penalty of our sins). After He was resurrected from the dead. Afterward He appeared to many, many more just before He ascended. And now He lives in us by the Holy Spirit if we would but believe and commit our lives to Him. And He is coming back for us, very, very soon.

The following is the Christmas message God gave me for this year. The first part is the original message I have mailed to my friends and family. At the end are additional passages which were not part of the original. I felt that the Holy Spirit wanted me to add a little more for my friends here at Jehovah Productions. Lord God Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth....we adore You. Thank You for Your Son Jesus. Thank You for Your Word, Your Holy Spirit and for Your mercy. You are coming back for us who believe. Keep us we pray during the troublesome times ahead. Keep us walking in love, humility and faith. We long to be with You. God, You love us and we love You too. In Jesus name we pray....AMEN.

As I stooped down to get a better view of our nativity scene, all aglow from our lighted tree...I wept. That usually happens to me when God speaks. Probably with you too. While I gazed upon the baby Jesus, Father God said, “You are bowing before the One who bowed low for you. This posture is who I am. I am Love displayed in humility. I got My mind off of Myself and purposely placed it on you, my son. This is the greatest weapon I have given you against all your enemies.”

He then reminded me of the following: "Don't act out of selfish ambition or be conceited. Instead, humbly think of others as being better than yourselves. Don't be concerned only about your own interests, but also be concerned about the interests of others. Have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Although he was in the form of God and equal with God, he did not take advantage of this equality. Instead, he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant, by becoming like other humans, by having a human appearance. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, death on a cross. This is why God has given him an exceptional honor— the name honored above all other names— so that at the name of Jesus everyone in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will kneel and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Phil 2:3-11.

As long as we live here on this earth. Until we hear the sweetest sound we will ever hear. The sound of Jesus calling us home. We will constantly have a battle between our flesh and our spirit. Our flesh will always want things done it's way. It will always seek to put itself first. By the power of the Holy Spirit we have the ability to on purpose choose to put God and others above ourselves. But, sometimes, even this wonderful life of love and humility can get us into trouble. Out of God's great love for us, He has decided to hold back the reigns of our being perfected. If everything was perfect in our life then our flesh would soon make itself god with no need for faith or a reason to submit to God.

There was given Paul a thorn. I call it a thorn of blessing. The original Greek word defines Paul's thorn as a physical ailment. Regardless, the thorn represents something sent by God to be troublesome to us. It keeps us humble before God and others. Thank God that He loves you and I so much that He helps us to stay humble, like Paul. Now, go ahead, worship and embrace our baby Jesus. And while you are bowed low, embrace your Thorn of Blessing !

And why did God say at the beginning that humility is the greatest weapon that we have? Because I firmly believe that lucifer, that father of lies, doesn't understand Love(God) or humility. By the way, don't you agree, that you have to go through humility to reach love? I Peter 5:5 says, "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Take time to look up other scripture which pertain to humility. You might be surprised to find that there are many. I have always contended that the door to God (love) is humility. That position also works the same way when we love others. When we esteem them higher than ourselves, IT DRIVES THE DEVIL CRAZY !

OK, back to the Garden of Eden again. The devil knew it was just a matter of time before Eve's seed kicked his butt. Why? Because he was there when God cursed him and prophesied. We find that in Genesis 3:15. "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed (those who do not belong to God) and hers; He will crush your head and you will strike His heel." From that day forward the devil was always looking over his shoulder. "Could Moses be the one," he asked himself. So he tried to kill Moses. We see that in Exodus 1:20,21. "So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own. Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live." The devil whispered in Pharaoh's ear. Or could it be Samson? Maybe David, Abraham or Noah the devil must have wondered. Hundreds of years came and went, but the devil had plenty of time and he was very patient.

But then he knew he had his enemy pinpointed when to his surprise he overheard Gabriel, the angel he hated, prophesy over a virgin named Mary. Turn to Luke 1:30-33 with me. Here we read, "But the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end." The devil thought there was some sort of mistake. Why would God humble Himself to become a man? Just in case, he put a host of demons in charge of following Mary. But the Love of God (shrouded in humility) out witted him again because Jesus was born in a humble stable among the livestock. The devil's host were asleep at the wheel. They just can't see through the humility.

So the devil did some more whispering. This time to King Herod. Let's read Matthew 2:1-3;13,16. 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 in the east and have come to worship Him.' When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him." "When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." "When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi."

Even before Jesus began His earthly ministry, during his wilderness experience, the devil was still not sure He was the One. Why? Because in Luke 4:1-4,9 we read, "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days, He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to Him, if you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread. Jesus answered, It is written: Man does not live on bread alone." "The devil led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down from here."

So, when indeed did the devil realize that Jesus was the Christ? When did he realize that this was indeed the One who would do him in? When he saw Jesus acting in concert with the Father and Holy Spirit as it was from the beginning. In the beginning, the Father thought. The Son spoke. And the Holy Spirit brought it into being. The devil witnessed this process in the creation of the world and he saw it in the miracles Jesus performed. Now do you understand why the thorn of blessing is so important? Think about it for a moment. First of all it is a good thing to depend on God for all things. Sometimes, He gives us a troublesome thorn to keep us in His Face. This posture will keep us walking in love with Him and others. From there springs the very power of God. The anointing. The devil is after the anointing. Anti-christ...anti-anointing. Christ means, "the anointed One and His anointing." Humility gets us to God (love). And it gets us to love others. God is love. Love is power. So be it unto us all. MERRY CHRISTMAS !