The Goodnews Of Christmas.

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The Goodnews Of Christmas.
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I want to encourage you with what I saw in my Bible in the Christmas season of 1995.
In Matthew 2:1ff the Bible tells us of the wise men who came from the East searching for the baby King. We are told they traveled nights and days perhaps for many weeks and every day the star was there to lead them. But one day just when it seemed they were near, they cannot find the star. They were lost.

Now here is where they blew it. Instead of waiting for this manifest hand of God that had led them thus far they came to a decision to get some human help. ‘Where best to inquire after the King than from a king?’ they must have reasoned. But it was a wrong move that came because they were too impatient to wait for God.

As it turned out king Herod couldn’t help them. But it was their visit to him that led him to kill all those babies later. Surely these wise men had done a very unwise thing which nearly jeopardized God's Great Plan for the nations.

Have you ever found yourself in this kind of state where you blow it real big? I have and not just once. For example, God spoke this message to me at a time I was troubled by a major wrong decision I had made for my family that threatened to jeopardize God's will for us.

I can't describe to you the comfort I got many years ago as I caught a picture of the heart of God when we fail. If I had been God, I would have chided those men before I attempted to help them. But not so God. Immediately they went back to where they left off they saw the star again.

Imagine their joy. They must have realized after leaving the king they had blown it. Perhaps they were feeling guilty wondering why they hadn't just patiently waited for God. But as soon as they got back on track, God was awaiting for them.

Do you get the message? There is no need to continue in guilt no matter how badly we've blown it. Neither should we stay on in Herod's palace; we must go back to where we left God. Go back to God and repent. And God will work things out. Note that God not only gave them back his guidance he also took care of the mess they had made so that it did not disturb his Plan and all this without chiding them.
Beloved, this is the whole message of Christmas - man blew it in the Garden of Eden but God's love made Him come as a baby to deliver us. He came not to patch us up, but wants to make us even more glorious if we would turn to him. And this is the encouragement I bring you this season: if you have blown it, there is hope. Return with all your heart to him and he would straighten things out. Happy Christmas!

The Importance of Relationships in Spiritual Warfare

We can't talk of having a correct walk with God and ignore our walk with our fellow men. Jesus taught that the state of our relationship with our fellowmen can affect the effectiveness of our prayers (Matthew 5: 23-26; 6:16-18). One of the things, for example that can hinder effective spiritual warfare is unforgiveness. I believe it would be a good exercise to examine your relationships and see if there are some that might need correcting. This is an important step in winning this invisible war ~ Chimezie

The Invisible War (1)

We are at war. Our enemy, Satan will not ignore us just because we ignore him.

There was a missionary couple in Thailand who suddenly began going through months of strife after relocating to a new house. They could not understand why the strife until a friend visited. God led him to show them how a Buddhist’s shrine in their compound was the source of the demonic attack on their marriage. And when they resisted the demons, peace returned to their home.

I believe it would be a good exercise for each of us to examine our lives, those of our loved ones as well as our general surrounding and ask God to show us if there is any area the enemy might be working because of our ignorance.