A Life That Matters
| Our Own Little Bethlehem - #6505 |
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| A Word With You - Your Most Important Relationship |
Friday, December 16, 2011
Download MP3 (right click to save) There's just no better time to have a baby boy than Christmastime. My parents did, we did. Not my wife and me! That would really be a Christmas miracle! No, it was our son and daughter-in-law. And our family was able to say, with the ancient prophecy of Jesus' coming, "to us a child is born; to us a son is given" (Isaiah 9:6 ). And what a baby boy he was, charging into the world at ten pounds, ten ounces! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Our Own Little Bethlehem." The parents decided to hold off on announcing Christmas-boy's name until he was born, so we didn't know. And they gave him a strong Bible name for a first name. But it was his middle name that melted me into a puddle. It's my brother's name; the one who died suddenly when I was only four years old; the baby who brought Jesus to our family. I was a baby boy born at Christmastime, too, but into a family who knew little or nothing about Jesus. I never heard about Him. In our little second-floor apartment on the south side of Chicago, there was as in the Christmas story, "no room" for Jesus. There was room for gambling and arguing and drinking, but we were spiritually nowhere. Then came the night my only sibling, my baby brother, was rushed to the hospital, and he never came home. My dad's heart broke. And in his grief, he decided he should take his four-year-old son to church. Oh, he didn't go in; he just stayed in the car and read his Sunday paper and smoked his cigarette. One Sunday I came bounding out of that church, and I said, "Daddy, today I accepted Jesus into my heart." I don't think he had any idea what I was talking about, but the following Christmas Eve he got it. That night my father went to church there and he came out with Jesus in his heart, too. My mom soon followed. And Jesus became the center of our life in that little apartment, and I got a brand new mommy and daddy all because of a baby who died. As I understand the Bible, my little brother's in heaven. But his mom and dad and brother were headed for a different destination. He was the only one in our family who was ready to die. My whole family believed then, and believes now, that my baby brother was sent by God to lead us to Jesus. And over the years, it has been my privilege to be there as many thousands of folks have found the same Jesus that changed my family and changed our eternities forever. Because of that baby, because of the mission he accomplished, all my children belong to Jesus. And so do all their children who are old enough to welcome Jesus into their heart as I did. One of my children was right then, the father of a brand new, hours-old baby boy. The baby I looked at across the hospital room. The baby who bears the name of the baby God used to give me Jesus. I can't answer all those hard questions about why God allows suffering and pain in the world. But I can tell you how God used the seemingly "senseless" death of a baby to help me, my family and ultimately countless others be in heaven someday. We experienced the truth of that wonderful word from God's Word, our word for today from John 1:12 - "He came unto His own. His own did not receive Him, but to as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the children of God, even to those who believe in His name." Born into His family because of the baby who was born in Bethlehem, and in our case, the baby who was born that led us to Him. I wonder if you've ever had that birthday? I wonder if you've ever come to know this Jesus? He's brought you down a journey; brought you down a road that has brought you to listen to the radio and come to this point this day because this is the day He is ready to come into your heart. If you hear Him knocking, open the door. Go to our website. How I would love to be a part of helping you begin your relationship with Him. The website is YoursForLife.net. You know, Christmas really is all about a Baby who came to die so we could live. And I will never stop thanking Him that He saw that lost little family in a second floor apartment on the south side of Chicago and sent a missionary - my brother - who never spoke a word to gave us Jesus. |
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Comments
We contemplate answers for the future instead of just trusting God to make it all right for us to adjust to whatever future we have before us and go from there.
We are going to be so surprised at what the real truth is about "eternal" life.
I'd also like to point out that when Scripture says "He came into his own. His own did not receive him..." it refers to Israel as a NATION. Bear in mind that ALL his disciples and first preachers were JEWISH. They participated in fulfilling the promise given to Abram. "and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Gen 12:3) They were obedient in keeping the Torah and preaching to the gentiles as well.
Ignoring this promotes inadvertent anti-semitism.
Meaning that they died knowing and obeying His commandments and following His teachings. They made Jesus Lord of their lives.
Call it nonsense if you like, but when The Lord returns we'll see that it isn't nonsense but actual fact. Study your Bible with prayer and guideance from the Holy Spirit.
Case closed.
Enjoy your 74th year.
I have read the Bible and used it for 30 years in sermons in 5 churches. If you had read yours, you might have remembered: "Judge not, lest ye be not judged with the same judgment with which you have judged." You cannot proved the validity of anything in the Bible with the Bible itself, just as you would not be willing to do the same with every science book.
"You have heard it said, but I say unto you (that is nonsense) No more revenge 70x7,nor just an eye for an eye, but forgive 70x7.
I wasn't judging you, but it sounds like you're judging me. I do not feel that I have closed my mind by ending the debate, but what's the point of continuing when you are not willing to even try to understand. I choose to go by what the Bible says and only what the Bible says.
My question to you is this. If you can't prove the validity of the Bible by the Bible Itself then why even bother using it? 2nd Timothy 3:16 Says that all scripture is inspired by God.
I don't have all the answers and neither do you. I don't mean this to be judgemental, but it sounds to me like you don't even believe what the Bible says otherwise you wouldn't be making the coments you made in your letters.
The Bible is the only rule of faith. God used ordinary men lead by the Holy Spirit to write His messages down for us to follow.
If the validity of the Bible can't be proved by the Bible itself, then why use it?
If the validity of a history book can't be proved by the book itself, then why rely on that book at history? The answer is that you cannot prove that I am telling the truth by asking me! Same thing.
The Bibl, a progression of thought, makes all thought in the past about the thought in the future makes obsolete.
Eye for an eye is no longer valid for relationships, but 70x7 forgiving is.
The Bible is the true word of God and I accept it as such. God doesn't make mistakes, but we do. Like I said neither you or I have all the answers, but I know what the Bible says and will go by that. If you look up each scripture that pertains to the subject you're studying and let the Holy Spirit lead you will know that the Bible is true and factual. Enouch already. You're not getting it.
You mentioned in your previous comment that the validity of the Bible cannot be proven. My question is this. If you feel that the Bible's validity cannot be proven, then why use it? Sounds to me and I don't mean to be judgemental, but it sounds to me like you don't believe the Bible. Again, if that's the case why use it?
The only book I'm interested in reading and taking on faith is the Holy Bible God's holy word. It's true and factual.
Just because I choose not to continue to debate over something that neither one of us will concede does not mean I have a closed mind, but it is usseless to argue with someone who thinks he has all the answers.
He who knows the Bible and does not want to know anything else about the Bible does not want to know the Bible.