What Is the Meaning of the Star in the Christmas Story?

Podcast: Light on Life Season Five Episode Thirteen

What Is the Real Meaning of the Star of Bethlehem in the Christmas Story?

God’s plan was thought up and set in motion before the foundations of the world (Eph. 1:4). Particular courses of events and situations, at times, align to bring into a focus a particular aspect of God’s wisdom and plan. Today, we are going to look at the birth of Jesus in this way. We are going to look at some of the events that came into view during the Christmas story and we are going to ask a rather startling question about one of those events, the appearing of the star. Here is the question: ‘What would have happened, had the Star of Bethlehem not appeared?’

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Just Who Is Jesus to You?

[Tweet “God’s plan for your life was thought up and set in motion before the foundations of the world.”]

Becoming The Good Man God Wants You To Be

Becoming the Good Man God Wants You to Be

It has been said that “a child is not likely to find a father in God unless he finds something of God in his father.” Recently a gentleman asked the preschool class in their Sunday school to draw a picture of God. The intent was to use them as an illustration for the Sunday sermon. Toward the end of class, the children were excited to show off their work. They came up with rainbows and men with big hands. Finally, the daughter of this man showed him her picture: a man with a suit and tie on. “I don’t know what God looks like,” she said, “so I just drew my daddy instead.” What an awesome responsibility. You can live and blossom into the good man God wants you to be. A man who is respected and who models God the Father. What are some of the Bible characteristics of a good man? That’s what we are going to take a look at in today’s blog.

The Zoe Life of God in the Person of Jesus

[Tweet “If you make your God important, He is likely to return the favor.”]

Why Kindness Is a Giant Fruit of the Spirit

Why Kindness Is a Giant Fruit of the Spirit

Imagine you’re holding a cup of coffee when someone bumps into you, causing you to spill what’s in your cup. You didn’t spill the tea. Nor did you spill grape juice or soda. You spilled coffee because coffee is what was in your cup. If you’d had tea in your cup, it would have been tea that spilled out. The point is, whatever is inside your cup is what will spill out of your cup if bumped or shaken. We are each a vessel, not unlike a cup. Looking from the outside, no one can know what we “contain.” But when events of life bump up against us or shake us up, whatever is inside will likely come spilling out.

So we must ask ourselves, “What’s in my cup?” Is it love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Or is it anger, bitterness, anxiety, impatience, mean-spiritedness, ill will, faithlessness, harshness, and lack of discipline? We might present to the world that we are full of one thing when really we are full of another. It’s easy to fake it when nothing is bumping into us or shaking us up. But bring on a little trial, a little temptation, irritation, conflict, inconvenience, etc., and what’s inside our heart of hearts will come spilling out. So, fill yourselves with the Fruits of the Spirit so that the kindness and light within you spill out onto others as a testimony of the transformative power of Christ in your life.1. In today’s post, we take aim at one of the fruits of the Spirit, kindness.

What Real Prayer to God Is About

[Tweet “Kindness and goodness are visible fruits of the spirit.”]

Why God’s Provision for You Is In a Place Called ‘There’

You can walk in God's Provision

In Pentecostal Evangel pastor Dale Alan Robbins writes of an occasion early in his ministry when he and his wife were barely making ends meet: When I arrived home, my wife Jerri saw the worry on my face. I had $3 in my wallet and there was one can of soup in the cupboard. After our meager supper, I quietly leafed through my Bible in the dim light. Tears streamed from my eyes. I wondered whether we were really called by God. I felt like giving up. Then I thought, What alternative do I have? Who else but God do I have to turn to? I read the verse: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).… Encouraged, yet still burdened, Jerri and I knelt at opposite ends of the little trailer to seek God. Into the night we prayed until sleep finally overtook us. I was awakened by a pounding at the door. From the window, I could see the brilliant orange sunrise behind the city skyline. A fresh, white blanket of snow now covered the ground. Again, the knocking came. “Who is it?” I asked. A mystery voice replied, “I’ve got something for you.” Cautiously, I opened the door. There stood a short man with a grin on his face and two brown grocery bags in his arms. He quickly shoved the bags in the doorway, then turned, and walked away. Jerri joined me. Stunned, we began to look through the bags. There were bread, meat, canned goods, and several cans of my favorite soup. They were the same items and brands we normally purchased. There was also a can of shaving cream. Who knew I had just used my last ounce of shaving cream? On the bottom of one sack was an envelope with cash. (Later I discovered it was the precise amount needed to fill our gas tank to get us to our next destination.) On that wintry Saturday morning in Syracuse, my wife and I wept in our trailer and thanked God for hearing and answering our prayer. No one on the planet knew about our need; only our Lord God Almighty. And he dispatched a little grinning man to minister to us.1 In today’s post, we talk about God’s provision and how to walk in it.

[Tweet “Where’s God’s supply for your every need? It is in a place called ‘there’.”]

Why You Should Be Jubilantly Expecting Increase

God Is a God of Increase

Some months back, we did a blog post entitled ‘One Necessary Component You Need to Grow in God.’ In that post, based on the Epistle of Second Peter, we looked at some of the elements that make for a strong spiritual walk in God. In today’s blog we pick up, where we left off and talk about how ‘increase’ is a part of God and how it should be a part of your everyday life.

[Tweet “God’s name is El-Shaddai, not El-Cheapo. He is the God who is more than enough.”]

How To Have A Happy Church Life

How to Have A Happy CHurch Life

I was walking my dog this week after I got home from work. You just have to know how Kobalt is. He is always on a mission to get where he is going. And once he gets there, he has his nose to the ground. It’s just one continual sniffing party. But, on this particular day and this particular walk, Kobalt did something different. It was so out of character for him that I noticed immediately. He lifted his head to look. And look he did, for several minutes. As soon as he did that, I knew exactly what the Lord was trying to get over to me. “Emery, you’ve always got your nose to the ground. You’re always trying to get somewhere. Lift up your head and look around and enjoy what’s around you.” He didn’t say those words in my spirit, but that’s what I believe was the sense of the picture He showed me. And, he used my dog to get me that message. Just wonderful! Years ago, Joyce Myer wrote a book entitled, ‘Enjoying Where You Are on the Way to Where You Are Going’. I read the book years ago but what I remember most from that book is the title. That’s what stuck with me. We need to lift our heads and enjoy where we are. Tomorrow, we’re headed to church. Do you enjoy being in church? Do you have a happy church life? Maybe you just need to lift your head and enjoy where you are. That’s what we are going to look at in today’s blog: How to Have a Happy Church Life.

[Tweet “Happiness is a by-product of the right type of pursuit, pursuing the Lord Jesus Christ.”]

Why It’s Important to Live with Purpose Instead of the Useless

Why It's Important to Live with Purpose Instead of Engaging in the Useless

The prize for the most useless weapon of all times goes to the Russians. They invented the “dog mine.” The plan was to train the dogs to associate food with the undersides of tanks, in the hope that they would run hungrily beneath advancing Panzer divisions. Bombs were then strapped to the dogs’ backs, which endangered the dogs to the point where no insurance company would look at them. Unfortunately, the dogs’ associated food solely with Russian tanks. The plan was begun the first day of the Russian involvement in World War II…and abandoned on day two. The dogs with bombs on their backs forced an entire Soviet division to retreat.1 In this blog we are going to talk about some other useless things. Things the Spirit of God says are of no value.

[Tweet “Unbelief causes us to become prodigals of purpose.”]

Why Ignorance is Never A Good God Thing

Ignorance is Not A Good God Thing

There are a few areas where the Spirit of the Lord instructs us not to be ignorant. The old saying, ‘what you don’t know won’t hurt you is simply not true. There are certain areas that The Lord wants you to become smart in really fast. It is for your good and it’s for the establishment of the God’s Holy Kingdom.

[Tweet “Jesus has compassion on the ignorant. Such a wonderful Savior He is to us.”]

Did You Know that A Good God Has A Good Plan For Your Life?

A Good God Has A Good Plan for Your Life

A good God has a good plan for your life. He works out portions of the plan getting them ready years in advance. But you have to choose to go God’s way. You have to be sold out to His way of thinking and choose to follow him. Author Max Lucado speaks honestly and to the point when he says, “If there are a thousand steps between us and God, He will take all but one. He will leave the final one for us. The choice is ours.”1 More importantly show God your willingness to obey Him. When He knows that you love Him and that you will demonstrate that love by trusting Him enough to listen to what He, then, in due time, that plan that plan will unfold in your everyday life.

[Tweet “The greatest tragedy in life is not dying but living without a reason.”]

How to Keep from Being Sidetracked

You don't have to be sidetracked from God's purpose for your life.

Billy Graham referenced the idea of being sidetracked with the following words. “A compass is narrow-minded-it always points to the magnetic north. It seems that is a very narrow view, but a compass is not broad-minded. If it were, all the ships at sea and all the planes in the air would be in danger. We must discipline ourselves, personally, to fight any deviation from the course Jesus set for us. We cannot be tolerant of any other course. To deviate is to sin.”1 These are sound words on how to keep from living a sidetracked life. The Word of God also helps us with sound words designed to help us run our race.

[Tweet “When it comes to Bible doctrine, major on the majors and minor on the minors.”]

Why It’s Absolutely Important to Finish What You Started

It's Absolutely Important to Finish What You Started

I once heard a very godly gentleman say when he was in the twilight of his life, ‘It takes the same dedication at seventy years of age as it did when you were twenty.’ Do we get a pass on being committed just because we are in the fourth quarter of our lives? Do we get to ‘retire’ from living like a believer in Jesus? Just because we have some age under our belts does not mean we get a break from trusting God. We have to learn the fine art of focusing. We have to know what it means to finish our race in Jesus.

[Tweet “Have you looked at your dream while you were in the secret place of God’s Presence? (Psalm 91:1)”]

How to Break A Destructive Bad Habit

How to Break a Destructive Bad Habit

For non-smoking men between the ages of 55 through 59, there is one chance in 8197 of dying from lung cancer; light smokers, one chance in 2075; moderate smokers, one chance in 867; heavy smokers, one chance in 573. For nonsmokers between the ages of 60 through 64, there is one chance in 7092 of dying from lung cancer; light smokers, one in 1081; moderate smokers, one in 552; heavy smokers, one in 371. For nonsmokers over 65 years of age, there is one chance in 3165 of dying from lung cancer; light smokers, one in 412; moderate smokers, one in 393; heavy smokers, one in 296.1  Death by bad habits doesn’t have to be your legacy. You can overcome destructive bad habits by the power of God.

[Tweet “How long does it take to establish a new habit or break an old one? However long it takes!”]