Simeon's Testimony

Simeon’s testimony
Luke’s gospel records this incident when Jesus as a new born was taken by his parents to the temple to be dedicated to God. Luke writes,
"Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.  
Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required,  
Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 
"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 
For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."Luke 2:25-32.
Here, as Luke puts it, Simeon a devout man of God a man who had been promised by God that he would not see death until he had seen the “Lord’s Christ”, proclaims Jesus to be the Lord’s Christ.
I have always contended that if this is a false statement why is it included in Luke’s gospel? Saying anything false about Jesus at anytime would push people away. Especially saying as Luke records,
“It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ”.
Such a statement could seem outrageous.
Thus from my point of view I can only conclude that Luke believed it to be true.
For us in the twenty-first century we have a choice. We can believe Luke or not believe him. There is no middle ground.
Not only that when it comes to the whole New Testament we have the same choice. We can believe what the writers of the New Testament wrote and believed or we cannot.
The choice is yours.
Please think carefully about it.

The Hardest

The Hardest
The writer of Hebrews states,
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.  
By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.  
For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” Hebrews 11:8-10.
I think of all the things we can ask anyone to do is to have faith in something especially if it is something they cannot see. Yet that is exactly what God asks of everyone.
The writer of Hebrews telling us,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 

and certain of what we do not see.” 

                                                  Hebrews 11:1

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, 

because anyone who comes to him 

must believe that he exists 

and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” 

                                                                            Hebrews 11:6.

God fully understands that anyone who has faith in any cause will quite literally go to the grave for their beliefs.
And when it comes to God you either have faith He exists or you do not. There is no middle ground.
Please think about it.

A thought for the New Year

A thought for the New Year

On February 14, 1990, NASA at a distance of 6 billion kilometres (3,7 billion miles) had the Voyager 1 space probe take a picture of the Solar system. It showed earth as a pail blue dot smaller than the head of a pin.
Looking at it we see just how small earth is in the universe. Within the vastness of the universe it seems insignificant. Yet it is everything to those of us who live on it.
That being said what amazes me is that the God who created the universe and everything in it did not think that pail blue dot insignificant at all. For he chose to bless mankind by stepping onto that dot in the form of His One and Only Son Jesus Christ and offering to all who would receive eternal life.
The gospel of John tells us,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
He was with God in the beginning. 
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....  
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. 
We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-4, 11-14.
As fantastic as this seems it is true. As they say truth is quite often stranger than fiction.
What the apostle John writes here is the basis of Christian teaching and belief. God in the form of his One and Only Son Jesus Christ entered the world He created in order to call all men to himself. Offering them eternal life in Heaven.
I simply present it here for you to accept or reject. The choice is yours.
Please think about it.