PJP2 THANKS 141224 - Ps 5:11....But let all who take Refuge in You Rejoice; Let them ever Sing for Joy, and spread Your Protection over them, that those who Love Your Name may Exult in You....Now just 17-hours away (or less depending on when you read this PJP2 THANKS) from Christmas 2014 officially being here. Last minute shopping, package wrapping, meal prep, driving to family or friends is about to be completed. Christmas Eve, a day of anticipation, wonder, as well as stress and challenges for certain. I do pray for us that His Peace and Presence be with us all. May He Calm any storms that has appeared, and may we sense His Love and Light as we carry on. The PJP2 THANKS entries have focused, these past eight days on The Christmas Story Characters. As I went back through them (didnt want to cover the same Character twice), I found the one set of Characters Ive not really reflected on are pretty central to The Story of His Birth - that would be the Angels. Goodness - they are a part of Gods Creation that do indeed fascinate us. Though His Word does not go into a lot of detail on His Angels, there are bits and pieces of detail we can pick up from them. There are actually several references in both the Old and New Testament to His Angels interacting with man on Gods behalf. Though I would love to do a detailed entry on Angels, today permit me to focus on just two contingents. That would be Gabriel, The Messenger to Zechariah/Elizabeth, Mary, and though The Word does not specifically say so, Scholars speculate that the Angelic Messenger to Joseph was Gabriel as well. The other Angelic Contingent would be The Heavenly Host (Luke 2:13). From what we can glean (again I will at a later time delve deeper into the Angels Story - for now appreciate your patience with this skimming the surface), The Word would seem to indicate that theres somewhat of a hierarchy in Angeldom, with there being Arch-Angels (A2), who are pretty important, standing close to Gods Throne. Again from what we can read in The Word, Gabriel and Michael are two of those A2s who play a vital part of alerting the men Gods chosen for a specific Mission, whats the OPORD for their part of Gods Mission. For example in the Book of Daniel (Daniel 10:10-14) an Angel of The Lord appeared to Daniel to provide Daniel with details of the End of the Ages. This Angel, perhaps Gabriel as well, mentions Michael, a Chief Prince among the Angels Corps, who fights the evil forces attempting to thwart Gods Plan. So Gods used His Messenger Angels at critical times to alert His children in regards to what is rolling down the pipe. I also find it interesting that each time the Angel(s) appear, one of Their first comment to the recipient of Their visit, Fear NOT! I actually think The Lord is still saying that to us today, Fear NOT - I Am with you. Cool. So you have Gabriel sharing The Plan with our other Characters in His Story of coming to earth on His Fathers Mission - Operation Lifesaver. I often wonder if Michael had to ride shot-gun again, sense I am confident the evil forces of darkness were not to thrilled that Gods Plan of Salvation and Eternal Redemption would have sounded the starting of the final-toll of His Bell regards their certain ultimate failure and damnation as recorded in Rev 20:7-10. Just conjecture on my part. Then theres the second Contingent - In Luke 2:8-14 we have first one Angel appearing to the shepherds, but wait theres more. In Luke 2:13 there was a multitude of the heavenly host showing up to say......Glory to God in the Highest and on earth Peace among those whom He is pleased!....I can just imagine being one of those shepherds, starts out like a normal Judean night - finally just get the sheep calmed down, small fire burning to keep us warm, may have just finished eating and cleaning up, settling back for that second cup of tea, when Ba-Bam!!!! Theres a brilliant light and this Creature popping into view literally out of nowhere. Part of me wonders if the sheep didnt suddenly get startled, and a few of the shepherds had to run off to keep the sheep herd together - the other part of me thinks that as soon as the Angel (was this again Gabriel?) started to speak that the Peace of God calmed everyone not, once the Word - Fear NOT were said? Anyway, Im thinking part of the reason we see the multitude of the Heavenly Host is that Gods adding an exclamation point to the entry of His Son into the world, in human form, and that THIS is a big deal, to say the least. Indeed heaven and earth will Sing as He begins both His First Ministry, and comes back again to Finish the Second Coming. Wow, I simply have to say Thanks Lord for employing your Angels then, and still today to share Your Word with us. Let me close today with a snippet from Ps 9:1-2....I will Give Thanks to The Lord with my whole heart; I will Recount All of Your Wonderful deeds. I will be Glad and Exult in You; I will Sing Praise to Your Name, O Most High! Blessings and Joy to you and yours - Come Lord Jesus Come
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 12:21:48 +0000
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