December 26

“The spirit of prophecy was upon this man of God, and while Joseph and Mary stood by, wondering at his words, he blessed them, and said unto Mary, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

Desire of Ages, page 55 from the chapter, 'The Dedication'

We are getting ready for a new year, the days are now getting longer(not that you would notice much yet) and the hope is that all will go well for you.

What we have been working up to is you, and your prayer partner, developing a relationship with the people you have been praying for so that at some stage they will say to you, “I appreciate the ways in which you have helped me, I have enjoyed the times we have done things together – now I want you to tell me what has made the difference in your life.”

You have been thinking, you have been working out words and you have invited the Holy Spirit into your life every day. You want to be able to share your faith accurately, as you ought. You also want to be completely free to share your faith.

Jesus is a babe in arms, no ministry in mind, his only thought is to smile when his Mummy and Daddy smile. He has met this lovely man who has given him a warm cuddle. You expect a happy ever after ending.

What Jesus doesn’t know at the time is that his parents have been given news in a prophecy. The first part of the prophecy is good. Jesus is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel. Now ignore the meaning for a while and focus on the second part, “a sign which shall be spoken against”.

Meaning? Jesus will have his enemies, a sign if you like, that Jesus really is who he really is. People hate him, so that means He is the real thing.

There is a by-product to this. What happens to Jesus happens to us, it is foretold. Have a read of this, John 15:18-25. Simply because we are Christ’s children means we are going to end up with people not appreciating us.

Part of the theme that I see in chapter 5 of Desire of Ages, is ‘thinking’. We are supposed to think things through in preparation for great deeds and great events. We are also supposed to think things through because there MIGHT be bad times. Take a look here, at Luke 14:25-33.

Now, consider this. Simeon is telling the Messiah’s parents what will happen. They are told the highs and the lows. We can now think that God is making sure that his Son’s surrogate parents get the time to think things through.

For you, think what to say, think how you will act. Think your future through. If it looks bleak or hard, remember, Jesus went through it first, and will go through it with you in the future. You aren’t on your own, Jesus never was.

Housekeeping details for you

The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here