The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 1:1      In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. 

    6  God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 

   10  He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

Like Mark, John, also began his Gospel story at the beginning of Christ's adult ministry through the three years to his Crucifixion, resurrection and Ascension. The nativity narrative that we celebrate as Christmas, is subsumed in the general statement about the entire Old Testament era from creation forward to Christ's coming with verses 1 through 5. The major points of creation are covered: Creation, Fall, and Redemption. The person of the the Trinity called The Son, was also named The Word. With this description so compact in its theology, John clarifies how God, became human, but was nevertheless always God as well. It clarifies how Christ, or "The Word" 'already existed prior to the beginning. It clarifies how He was the force of creating all that was made. And, it sets the stage for the rest of John's Gospel to describe how this all powerful Word, submitted Himself to becoming human, and to suffering under the rejection and torture by humanity that He had, Himself created! 

Next, John's nativity story is the coming of The Baptist as one called to bring a witness to The Light. Jesus was 'The Light." John merely points Him out to humanity as the announcer. So, this Gospel presents Christ, Jesus as The Word, as God, as The Light of God, as The Redeemer, and the One through whom we become reborn into a new Holy Nature that is in the likeness of God.  The several wonderful points packed into the Apostle John's narrative's first 13 verses, are worthy of careful reflection today. I encourage us all to think about each verse and then offer a prayer of praise to God for what He has done for us through Christ the Lord and Savior.

Make this part of your Christmas remembering along with the traditional visions of the baby, the manger, the star, the shepherds, angels, and Magi. Keep Christ the Lord, your Redeemer at the very center of your Christmas thinking and praying.

Your servant in Christ's love

Dan

drdanelliott@gmail.com

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”

Mark 1:1 This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It began
Mark 1:2 just as the prophet Isaiah had written:
     “Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
         and he will prepare your way.
Mark 1:3      He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
     ‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming!
         Clear the road for him!’”
Mark 1:4  ¶ This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.
Mark 1:5 All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.
Mark 1:6 His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.
Mark 1:7  ¶ John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals.
Mark 1:8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”

The Gospel Writer Mark does not cover the birth of Christ but picks up the begging of Christ's story by announcing His purpose-- Good news about Jesus the Messiah.  For Mark the story begins at the point where the adult Jesus starts his public ministry, foreshadowed by John the Baptist-- his cousin and herald. Both shared the same birth narrative story-- John with the elderly couple, Elizabeth and Zechariah, and Jesus with the virgin mother and both announced by the same angel. Both had a single purpose-- John to announce the Messiah coming and Jesus to be the Messiah. Jesus, as King, would have a herald go before him making an awareness among people to be ready to receive the King's words. Both John and Jesus fulfilled prophesy. Both demonstrated a power from God to live outside of self-will and to do the will of The Father instead.

We tend to get caught up in our gift giving and Christmas listing these days. We are filling stockings and wrapping boxes, checking off lists for others and answering the endless quarries of 'what do you want for Christmas' Our North American Christmas tradition is pretty commercial. Our political leaders worry that our business communities will not  make their annual Christmas season sales targets. The only reason they do not give in to the pressure from the people like the ACLU who want to completely eradicate Christmas from human memory, is that the season is good for business. If we could keep Santa and loose the Messiah all would be happy. But the season is not about Santa. It is about the birth of the Messiah-- the one who came to remove the sins of the world and redeem humans from their deserved consequences,

John's prophesy was that the Lord would baptize us with the Holy Spirit. He used the symbol of baptism to represent washing away the old, cleansing from within, and arising to walk in new life. That is what being washed in the Holy Spirit does for us. And it results from our faith, believing in Christ-- that He came from God, to do what He said He came to do-- save us from our sins. That is the work God wants us all to do-- to believe. And, if we believe then He wants us to be equipped by His Spirit to live like we believe it.

Don't you wonder now how we can make Christmas more about The Christ and less about the shopping? I do.

Your servant in Christ's love
Dan
drdanelliott@gmail.com

The Evil King vs the Good King

Matt. 2:13-23 NLT  

  13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 

  14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15 and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” 

  16 Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. 17 Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 

  18 “A cry was heard in Ramah— weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted,  for they are dead.” 

  19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20 “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” 

  21 So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. 22 But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. 23 So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

The duel between good and evil continues across the ages but it caught the baby Christ child squarely in the cross-hairs of the enemy's sights. We might think we live in evil times, but one has got to admit, in a culture where a King could simply command his soldiers to murder all infants in a village of his subjects, and they would do it-- that is certainly a more evil culture. No one spoke up, no one had enough authority to stop them. But God worked His plan and the Christ Child was not killed by the agents of the murderous king.

Joseph is instructed in another angelic dream to move from there to Egypt. Later, the evil king dies and the dream-angel instructs Joseph to move back to Israel. The plan takes them to Nazareth, where Christ grew up and fulfilled even more ancient prophesy about the Messiah.  Herod would stop at nothing to protect his throne and in the end that is what he got-- nothing!  Christ sacrificed everything to become our Redeemer and in the end, He received EVERYTHING.  God's plan will happen, evil cannot stop it. You cannot stop it. The liberals in our society cannot stop it. Bad governments cannot stop it. The plan is in motion. The good news calls you and me into becoming a party to and part of this plan of God through the end of the ages and into eternity. Just as the ancient part of the plan was fulfilled, so will the part in the present and future.

Why not make this the Christmas when you discover total and limitless commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why not discover the joy of the Holy Spirit's total and ongoing filling by emptying yourself of yourself? What have you got to lose? Look at all you have to gain!

Your servant in Christ's love
Dan
drdanelliott@gmail.com

Where is the. . . king?. . .we have come to worship him.”

Matt. 2:1-11 NLT

  1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking,  2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” 

  3  King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.  4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?” 

  5   “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: 6  ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,  are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,  for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’” 

   Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!” 

  9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

We saw the Christmas story through the eyes of the Gospel Writer Luke, who researched it from the memories of Mary and the Disciples. Here we have the story from the Jewish tax-collector turned Disciple of Christ, Matthew. His account contains details that the Gentile writer Luke leaves out. The story of the wise men from Babylon is included. Jews had a history with Babylon-- a love-hate relationship with it. Though their ancestors had been taken captive, they had also moved into leadership within the empire and had great influence on its educational system. It is reasonable to connect these first century scholars from there as having been influenced by their education's Hebrew roots so they were aware of the prophesy of the coming King and Messiah.  How sad it is was that Gentiles endured years of hardship searching for the humble birth of the King, while to His own people it went barely noticed by only the poorest of the poor. But the Magi came bringing gifts and worshiping. They departed worshiping as well. Doubtless their rich gifts supported this young family for many years thereafter through the hardships that another was plotting.

The antithesis of the faithful Magi was Herod. As soon as he inadvertently became aware of a 'king' born in the humble village of Bethlehem, he, too was interested. But his interest was evil. He intended harm and we shall look more deeply into that tomorrow. But the Magi traveled thousands of miles simply to worship, leave their gifts of faith, and return in their way homeward rejoicing that they were privileged among human kind to witness the infant king of the universe. We hear nothing more about them in history, but one has to realize that throughout the disbelieving world, God has his faithful ones that few will ever recognize or anticipate. It does not matter that the world fails to recognize us for our faith-- God recognizes it. God grants it to us. God blesses us. And when we have obeyed the tasks God has placed into our own hands, as well as we might, then we, too, can go our way rejoicing in the Holy Spirit that we were permitted to play some role in the greater plans of God.

Have you been faithful? Then rejoice today for what He has allowed you to do, whether you know the ultimate outcome or not. It matters not that we know outcomes, only that we know we have been allowed and empowered to be faithful.

Your servant in His love
Dan
drdanelliott@gmail.com

What authority and power this man’s words possess!

Luke 4:33-44 NLT  

   Once when he was in the synagogue, a man possessed by a demon—an evil spirit—began shouting at Jesus, 34 “Go away! Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 

   35 Jesus cut him short. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd watched; then it came out of him without hurting him further. 

   36 Amazed, the people exclaimed, “What authority and power this man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him, and they flee at his command!” 37 The news about Jesus spread through every village in the entire region. 

   38 After leaving the synagogue that day, Jesus went to Simon’s home, where he found Simon’s mother-in-law very sick with a high fever. “Please heal her,” everyone begged. 39 Standing at her bedside, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. And she got up at once and prepared a meal for them. 

   40 As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one. 41 Many were possessed by demons; and the demons came out at his command, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But because they knew he was the Messiah, he rebuked them and refused to let them speak. 

   42 Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. 43 But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.” 44 So he continued to travel around, preaching in synagogues throughout Judea.

At his trial and execution, Jesus' detractors kept demanding evidence. Yet he had provided evidence and the testimony of those who saw for the previous three years was widely known. Many had seen the fruit of his powers. That they were beyond normal human powers no one could deny. They had witnessed him speak vision into blind eyes, hearing into deaf ears, activity into paralyzed legs, and life into lifeless bodies. They had witnessed him producing food for thousands from food for an individual. Everyone was talking about it. But those who would ask Jesus for proof wanted none, really, they merely wanted to eliminate him from their way. Little did they know they were fulfilling the prophesy of the ages about the Messiah, the Lamb of sacrifice for mankind's sin.

Before this, Jesus had a mission. He could have spent a comfortable lifetime healing and providing for those in his home region and becoming acclaimed as King. He could have raised armies and defeated political oppressors. But he had a bigger mission. Jesus was not to be deterred from the mission God called Him to. It was to preach the good news until the human leaders could stand no more of it and would either repent themselves or fulfill prophesy and kill Him. Jesus knew what would happen, he had studied the scriptures and he had the knowledge of the will of God in his mind.

Are we as focused upon the mission that Jesus has given us to do? Are we living in His will, His purposes, His strength, and walking His paths? If not, why not?

Your servant in Christ's love

Dan

drdanelliott@gmail.com

The Year of the Lord's Favor!

Luke 4:14-19 NLT  

  14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 

  16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures.  17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: 

  18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me,  for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,  that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.”

Coming right of a month and a half without food or water, and then a galactic level supernatural challenge by the chief enemy of God, Jesus goes home and to a house of the Lord to teach people. He selects a passage from Isaiah 61. This passage announced the coming of God's Son, the Messiah who would take away the sins of the world. In his application message there was no mistaking what he was saying. He dared to introduce himself as the one promised by this passage.  Now, he was not without proof. He was already known for several super natural events that no one could explain and was known for speaking up on behalf of the under privileged and powerless. Since his birth he had fulfilled scripture, right in front of everyone's eyes and few noticed.  When he dared to point this out directly, the result was a mob scene, attempting to harm him. But they could not. It was not time for that to happen so they were powerless to bring their rage to harm him. That would not happen until HE permitted it. Now he was about introducing them to God's favor. Their definition of such favor, was different, apparently, than what God had in mind. God's favor is to send a messiah, a sacrificial lamb to carry all our burdens and cleans us from our sins and sin condition. But fallen humanity has a different definition of 'favor' from God. And, it usually had much to do with individuals getting their own way over everyone else. To us that seems like favor but God has a much higher plan in mind when HE shows favor.




Have you experienced the true favor of God as yet? You can right now if you wish to.

Your servant in Christ's love

Dan

drdanelliott@gmail.com

Worship the LORD your God and serve only him

Luke 4:1-13 NLT    

  1 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry. 

   3 Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 

   4  But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’”

   5  Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  6 “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. 7 I will give it all to you if you will worship me.” 

   8 Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,  ‘You must worship the LORD your God and serve only him.’”

   9  Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! 10 For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you. 11 And they will hold you up with their hands  so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’” 

   12 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the LORD your God.’”

   13 When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.

You and I might think that Satan and his forces give us hard temptations but this was horrendous. First, Jesus willingly does not eat for a month and a half. Remember that the next time you have to miss a lunch or a dinner! That long without food and water can make one lose cognitive function and ability to exert will over decisions. Yet Jesus was clear-headed in his battle.  From this I can take comfort that Jesus will keep me clear headed as well when I must endure such battles with God's enemy, just as God kept Jesus clear headed. The battle belongs to The Lord and He is the one who will provide us the resources we need to engage within it.















Jesus was God, was in the beginning with God according to John 1. Jesus created all that God willed to have created, so Jesus was Satan's creator. Yet here that creation has the arrogance to try to mislead its creator. He threw his wildest misleads to Jesus but none worked. Make rocks into bread? No need. God will provide what His servants need, and they need His presence more than mere bread or food.

Satan will give to Jesus all the people of the earth if Jesus would only worship him who is God's enemy? A lie for Satan does not have those people to give-- they are free agents and can choose God. If they do not, they, with Satan will be tormented eternally. Worship is reserved for God alone. Only Christ had the means to turn people from Satan's ways and that was why He came.

Jump off the tallest building to prove he was supernatural? A fools task because even that would not change people's minds. Their redemption had to be paid regardless and His primary purpose was just to do that.

Satan left, and will leave us, too, when we resist him with the power of God's Holy Spirit present within us. You can count on that today!
Your servant in Christ's love

Dan

drdanelliott@gmail.com