09 December 2005 Devotion for Today "Hallelujah Chorus" Revelation 19:6

09 December  2005  Devotion for Today  “Hallelujah Chorus”   Revelation 19:6

 

Last night we attended a Christmas concert given by the local high school symphonic band.  Our son and several young people we knew in the community were in it, and they did an excellent job.  The final number was the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah.”  As the tune began, I knew instinctively to stand- that’s what I’ve always been told to do.  Its like standing when the National Anthem is played.  Its rising out of respect and reverence to God to whom this number is dedicated.  It all began when King George II of England, upon hearing it for the first time, rose in a gesture of worship.  As he stood, everybody stood, and so it has been for the past 250 years.  It was obvious, however, that not everyone in the audience understood the protocol.   Some stood, others- probably the majority-sat.  Others looked around tentatively for guidance.  To me it seemed like just another casualty of the culture war in which we are engaged.  It may also be a result of spiritual or perhaps even cultural ignorance which has been sweeping the country over the past generation.  When you can show up at a funeral wearing jeans and a flannel shirt; when people don’t seem to know to take their hat off in church, a restaurant, or in the hospital; when people don’t seem to know that its impolite not only to let your cell phone ring but also to chat away on the silly thing in the middle of a worship service- what more should we expect of our culture than not to know that one is supposed to rise at the playing of the Hallelujah Chorus?

 

Hallelujah: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord,
and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.
 King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.  Hallelujah!

 

The text is drawn from three Scriptures from Revelation

Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Revelation 19:6

The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)

And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:16)

 

So whether you stand or sit, what can be more magnificent than to hear the chorus, or the entire work being rendered at Christmastime?  As eloquent as Handel was, he admitted that even he could not do justice to expressing the sight of the glory of God.  Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth! 

 

Have a blessed day!

 

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@earthlink.net

 

website:   http://25621.lifewaylink.com
http://jeffrussellsblog.blogspot.com
http://devotionfortoday.blogspot.com/

 

08 December 2005 Devotion for Today "Wonder" Luke 2:6-7

08 December 2005  Devotion for Today  “Wonder”  Luke 2:6-7

 

“So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.  And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for Him in the inn.”   Luke 2:6-7

 

“I wonder as I wander…” The quiet, peaceful tone of this Christmas carol causes us to reflect upon the mystery of what God did two thousand years ago, and what He continues to do today. Filled with wonder.  The closest thing I have that thought would be to think back when my own children were born.  Not anything close to the stable that first Christmas night.  No animals, no manger, no angels.  Just a sterile hospital delivery room, a flurry of activity, and a heart pounding with excitement and joy as those tiny fingers curled around mine for the first time.  It was as though all time stood still.  Nothing could break in on the memory my wife and I were sharing at that moment: not the sound of the fall of the iron curtain; not  the news of the launching of the ground offensive of the Persian Gulf War; not even the news of the burning of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco.  These were the headlines of the world on the dates my children were born, but I could have cared less about the headlines, for I had greater memories etched into my mind- memories of wonder.  Each child born in a somewhat different way-responding to their first moments of life in squealing protest or in quiet, wide-eyed contemplation of the new world that lay outside the womb. 

 

I cannot help but reflect upon the wonder that must have filled the hearts of two earthly parents when Christ was born.  The headlines bore different news, but were just the same as they are today.  There was no sterile environment for them.  No hospital waiting room, no doctors or nurses standing around dressed in blue and white.  But the awe and majesty of God was there that dispelled whatever unpleasantness there might have been.

 

People are looking for wonder, for awe, for something really big that will transform the monotony or even the despair of life into a continuum of joy.  That was the wonder of that first Christmas: a wonder that may live on in our hearts three hundred and sixty-five days in a year when Christ is there.

 

Have a wonderful, blessed day!

 

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell

Devotion for Toaday
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@earthlink.net

 

website:   http://25621.lifewaylink.com
http://jeffrussellsblog.blogspot.com
http://devotionfortoday.blogspot.com/

 

Devotion Extra

Moms & Dads

As
you
decorate
and enjoy your
Christmas Tree, with
your children, talk about
these things:
The green of the tree symbolizes
our
eternal life through Jesus Christ.
The shape of the tree points to
heaven - our eternal home.
The Star of Angel at the top of the
tree reminds us of the first Christmas
when God created a special star to guide the
Wise Men to Jesus and then angels came to
announce
Jesus' birth to the shepherds.  The
lights on the tree remind us of the True Light
which came into the
world to enlighten all mankind - Jesus Christ.
The garland wraps around the tree the way God
wraps His love around us, always protecting
and
caring for us; never leaving us.
As we give our tree water to drink, so should
we drink of the "Living Water", Jesus
Christ, through prayer, fellowship, worship
and Bible study.
Our tree really does put special meaning
into our celebration of
Christs
birth.
May God bless you
and your family with a very special Christmas!

 

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@earthlink.net

 

website:   http://25621.lifewaylink.com
http://jeffrussellsblog.blogspot.com
http://devotionfortoday.blogspot.com/

 

07 December 2005 Devotion for Today "Wise Men" Matthew 2:1-12

 

07 December 2005  Devotion for Today  “Wise Men”  Matthew 2:1-12

 

                        A Baptist preacher went to visit a member of the community and invited him to come to church Sunday morning. It seems that this man was a producer of fine peach brandy, and told the preacher that he would attend his church IF the pastor would drink some of his brandy and admit doing so in front of his congregation. The preacher agreed and drank up. Sunday morning the man visited the church. The preacher recognized the man from the pulpit and said: "I see Mr. Johnson is here with us this morning. I want to thank him publicly for his hospitality this week and especially for the peaches he gave me and the spirit in which they were given."  That pastor was really wise, wasn’t he?

Our text today tells us about some wise men. They are called magi. These were men of science, students of astronomy, students of the body of knowledge of their day. They were seekers of the truth and they had come upon some very important knowledge. But that knowledge alone is not what made them wise. It is what they did with that knowledge. They had the sense to apply the truth of what they had.  And that is what made them wise.

           

            The Scriptures tell us the extent of their wisdom in Matthew 2:1-12:

¹ Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
⁵ So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
       ⁶ ‘ But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
      Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
      For out of you shall come a Ruler
       Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”^[a]
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
⁹ When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. ¹¹ And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

 

            Contrast  their wisdom to the utter insecurity and insanity of Herod.  if anyone in Scripture captures the spirit of our age today it is Herod.  It’s the spirit of Herod who is killing innocents today and it is his spirit who is still out there trying to kill the Christchild.  But its in keeping with what Jesus said in Matthew 24:9 Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹    Have we ever lived in such an age where people are so offended about Jesus Christ than they are today?  Its just the beginning, friend.  The Spirit of Herod- if not the spirit of Satan, who is ushering in the attitude of the end times.    The spirit of Herod cannot bear to hear Jesus’ name being spoken, much less hear it being preached.   Military chaplains are receiving “gag” orders not to pray in Jesus Name.  Communities and towns everywhere are ripping the very mention of the word “Christmas” out of their holiday greetings because they contain the name of Christ.  Its clear to me while Al Quida is taking pot shots at our soldiers in Iraq, the real terrorists are right here- in our marketplaces with a full-scale assault against Christmas and everything that is Christian.  Why?  Because even the baby Jesus in a manger reminds us all that we are sinners, and we need to be saved, and we don’t want to be reminded of that.  We would rather bow before Herod than bow before God.

            However, wise men (and women) still seek Him, wise men still proclaim Him, wise men still follow Him.  Won’t you be a wise man today? 

 

-Have a blessed day!

 

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@earthlink.net

 

website:   http://25621.lifewaylink.com
http://jeffrussellsblog.blogspot.com
http://devotionfortoday.blogspot.com/