OUR PRINCE OF PEACE

Isaiah 9:6-7 NLT For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end.

We probably all know what it’s like when things get broken, like when a favourite mug slips from our hands and we’ve watched as it shattered into loads of broken pieces and we’ve been upset. Or more seriously we’ve experienced a precious relationship in your own life or family, or with friends, that was broken up, and we were broken hearted.

Well I have good news today, because God sent His Son into our world to heal the broken hearted, to restore our souls, to restore broken relationships. He’s the God not just of Peace, but He’s the God of broken pieces.😊

When we receive Jesus into our lives, when we repent of whatever has caused us to keep God at arm’s length, when we give all our worries and troubles to Him, then we allow Him to be the Prince of Peace in our lives. 

Jesus came to reconcile us to His Father, to bring peace between God and mankind and He’s done His part. Romans 5:1 NLT Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Now our part is to receive all He has done for us and allow Him to bring His peace to our broken pieces.

Maybe it’s dreams that have been shattered, or it’s our health that has broken down, maybe you’ve watched as your finances crumbled, but whatever it is, no matter how impossible it may look, with God all things are possible.😊

He gave us Jesus to be our Prince of Peace because He knew we needed what Jesus could bring - His peace that passes all our understanding in every circumstance. 

So this Christmas time, if you’re looking at some broken pieces, don’t relegate Him to the stable out the back somewhere, but make room for Jesus and invite Him in to every corner, every circumstance, and allow Him to pour His peace into your heart and soul and heal the broken pieces. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Photo by Jackson Simmer on Unsplash

THE SIGN

Luke 2:12 NKJV 

And this will be the sign to you: 

You will find a Babe 

wrapped in swaddling cloths, 

lying in a manger.”

Sometimes we see old feeding troughs made into ponds or planters, but have you ever wondered what the ‘sign’ meant and why Jesus was wrapped in swaddling cloths and then laid in a manger, a feeding trough?

I heard a Jewish Rabbi explain that the shepherds in those fields were not ordinary shepherds but Levitical shepherds who were caring for the sheep which would produce the lambs for sacrifice in the temple. The sheep about to deliver, were taken to the caves in the village of Bethlehem where the lambs were born and then wrapped in swaddling cloths so they had no blemish before their sacrifice.

Then we read Mary gave birth to Jesus, possibly in one of those very caves where the lambs were born, and she wrapped Him in swaddling cloths just like the sacrificial lambs, and laid Him in a manger, one of the feeding troughs, which reminds us Jesus is the Bread of Life, the source of every spiritual and physical need we will ever have.😊

God was revealing to the Shepherds that His sacrificial Lamb had been born, that the Saviour, the Messiah, had been born that night in Bethlehem. No wonder the shepherds were the first to know about Jesus’ birth and how significant it is to us. God had prophesied for centuries that Jesus would be the Lamb of God born to take away the sins of the world and that night His plan became manifest. Glory to God!

It’s the message of Christmas - we’ve been given a Saviour, if we’ll receive Him, because He is the only way to Heaven. Jesus humbled Himself, identified with us by becoming a vulnerable human baby, He volunteered to be God’s sacrificial Lamb for us, and it says Mary pondered all these things in her heart.

How awe inspiring it all is, and may God bless us as we ponder these things in our hearts on the lead up to Christmas morning.😊Amen.

Photo: Jw-k on Unsplash