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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) ljchristians
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) abidinglife | |
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Flight to Egypt
Read Matthew 2:1-15
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” Matthew 2:13 NKJV
* * *
Centuries before this, God instructed the family of Jacob (Israel) to settle in Egypt because of a great famine in the land. Now the family of Messiah, descendants of Jacob are forced to flee to Egypt once again. This time just until the death of Herod, but still a significant event in the light of prophesy.
What was to both generations a time of sorrow and testing was actually the moving of the providence of God in bringing about the salvation that is so freely offered to us today. Jesus, the Son of God, was also a descendant of Jacob through his mother Mary, and the fulfillment of a promise made to Jacob. God's perfect plan was being worked out in spite of the acts of wicked sinful men.
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Lord, help us to trust you and your plan for our lives, in spite of the circumstances we face. You are the God of history and You have our future in Your hands. Help us to never forget that as we look with dismay at threatening world events shaping up around us.
* * *
When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” Matthew 2:14-15 NKJV
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christianity
anti_nietzsche | |
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How do you distinguish a simple mistake from a sin?
Ie, when do you downplay some mistake you've made, and when do you see it's a big thing and you must ask for forgiveness?
Jesus seemed to distinguish between camels and gnats. But other christians have told me that all sins are the same, all anger God equally. I've kinda gone away from this, the route of God is angry with me. I don't believe God gets angry so quickly as some make Him out to be. Yes, sin is bad, but if you ask for forgiveness, it is easily forgiven and repaired.
Oh yes, and do you believe there are sins of thought? Or are thoughts always free, like the song says? I am trying not to value my thoughts so much. When I fall into bad thoughts I stop them and go on, I'm trying to avoid all this "I sinned so terribly, God must first forgive me before I can go on with life". When it's been really bad I say a prayer and then go on. But I'm trying not to wait for feeling forgiven. Would you say that's ok? There are many drawbacks to believing in sins of thought. The thing is, if you say to yourself that particular thought is incredibly evil ... then it happens that the mind even more cannot detach itself from such thoughts.
What do you think?
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ljchristians
abidinglife | |
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* * *
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under– Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: Matthew 2:16–17 NIV
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More than 1400 years before Christ was born, the patriarch Jacob buried his beloved wife, Rachel. We read, "So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel's tomb." (Genesis 35:19–20) The prophet Jeremiah predicted a future day when children would be slaughtered near Rachel's grave. (Jeremiah 31:15) This was fulfilled when Herod killed all of the male babies under two, trying to destroy the Jewish Messiah.
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We live in a day where it could be said "A voice was heard in America of weeping and mourning for children, because they are no more." The travesty of millions of babies aborted over the past thirty plus years must grieve your heart, Lord. Don't let us become apathetic to the cries of unborn babies, or the grief caused to women in our day.
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"A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." Matthew 2:18 NIV
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