Eleven Days Until Christmas

Twas’ eleven days before Christmas, around 9:38

When twenty beautiful children stormed through heaven’s gate.

Their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air;

They could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.

They were filled with such joy, they didn’t know what to say.

They remembered nothing of what happened that day.

“Where are we?” asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse.

“This is heaven,” declared a small boy. 

“We’re spending Christmas in God’s house!”

When what to their wondering eyes did appear,

But Jesus, their Savior!….The children gathered near.

He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same.

Then He opened His arms and He called them by name.

And in that moment was joy that only heaven can bring;

Those children all flew into the arms of their king.

And as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace,

One small girl turned and looked at Jesus’ face.

And as if He could read all the questions she had,

He gently whispered to her, “I’ll take care of your mom and dad.”

Then He looked down on earth, the world far below

He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow and woe.

Then He closed His eyes and He outstretched His hand,

“Let My power and presence re-enter this land!”

“May this country be delivered from the hands of fools.”

“I’m taking back my nation; I’m taking back my schools!”

Then He and the children stood up without a sound.

“Come now my children, let me show you around.”

Excitement filled the space….some skipped and some ran.

All displayed enthusiasm that only a small child can.

And I heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight,

“In the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT.”

My website and blog: www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com

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The Slaughter of the Innocents

Well, the Kings did find Jesus and then received a heavenly message 

to skip Jerusalem on the way home. Joseph had a visitation by the same 

angel and packed up his family and headed for Egypt.

Herod was furious! He wanted to be the only king, so he sent out an edict 

to kill all baby boys two years and under who lived in Bethlehem or in 

the surrounding area. 

“Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

‘A voice was heard in Ramah,

Weeping and loud lamentation,

Rachel weeping for her children;

She refused to be comforted, because

They were no more.’” (Matthew 2:18)

Jesus comes to bring peace, but the first major event after his birth 

is the slaughter of the children; blood flows. It was incomprehensible then. 

It is incomprehensible now. “How can a good God allow...?”

Well, God protected His son, but what about all of those innocent babies? 

Jesus escaped scott free--or did He? He lived only to die a gruesome death 

on a cross some 30 years later. He too, was innocent.

John the Baptist sums it up with this cry:

“...Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

I cannot fully partake of the Christmas story without looking at the cross. 

From the very beginning of the story we encounter evil, sin, blood and tears.

Really, the story, the whole story, is incomprehensible.

Read a Christmas Story: The Redeeming Power of God

http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

The Wise Men

Wise men, the Magi or kings from the east, studied the heavens 

and when an unusual star appeared, they did some research and 

found that a king had come, the Christ. They packed costly gifts in 

order to worship this One. Unsure of where to go, they stopped 

in Jerusalem and were told to check out Bethlehem.  Evidently 

Jesus had been living quietly with his parents, unseen, and unknown 

for quite some time. King Herod, the Priests and the Scribes were clueless. 

The prophesied King had arrived and was living right under their noses, 

and they had missed the whole show!

Papa, I want to stay alert, be aware, of what you are doing in our world today.

I don’t want to miss a thing!

See a Christmas Story: The Redeeming Power of God

http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Blood, Sweat and Tears

“Silent Night, Holy Night,

All is calm…”

Well, our Savior was born like any baby is born. But wait! His teenage Mom

was away from her family and with a man she had only recently married. She 

was in labor. Do you think that it was a supernatural birth just because it was 

a supernatural beginning? No, for out of her came groans, tears, blood, sweat, 

torn flesh, then the cutting of the cord. She bore the brunt of the pain, but Joseph 

suffered as he was in a  place he had never been before either. And what about 

the baby? His body had to conform to the birth canal. Jesus was born into our 

world to parents who had never had a course in childbirth or childraising! 

The whole scene seems doomed to failure. And yet, and yet…

“God became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have beheld his glory.” 

Dear Reader, linger awhile and ponder this. It will blow your mind!

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Stunned

The killing of twenty little children last Friday is overwhelming 

and even today, I am stunned. As this thing unfolded in the news 

my heart was broken over the carnage and loss of life. I listened 

to the newscasters trying to make sense of something so senseless. 

I can only come up with one thing: What we saw was the face of evil.

Listen to what Jesus says:

The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: 

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it 

more abundantly. (Jn 10:10 KJV)

Jesus came to give us life through His Life. 

Killing and destruction are not from Him.

I cannot make sense of things that don't make sense

without spending time with the One who is the giver 

of Life.

Have you met Him?

I Tell You a Mystery

Both the Old and New Testaments are full of allusions to the times 

in which we live today, which include:  the last days, the rapture, 

the tribulation, the second coming, followed by the Millennium. There 

are far more prophecies concerning these days than the prophecies 

pertaining to the birth of Christ. The season of His first coming makes 

me think about His next coming. 

Today I was listening to the music from Handel’s, Messiah, and 

specifically to the music he wrote from 1Corinthians 15:51-55:

(read the whole chapter. You’l be glad you did!)

“Behold! I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall 

all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last 

trump: for the trumpet will sound, and the dead shall be raised 

imperishable, and we shall all be changed”...then, 

“O death, where is thy sting?

O grave, where is thy victory?”

The Rapture has always been immenent, meaning it could happen today.

Is there anything you need to do to prepare? His coming is more sure than 

the dawn. And, yes, we do not know the day or the hour, which is why we 

need to be awake, alert, watching.

Check out the story pages

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Those Who Have Died

The Thessalonian church experienced much persecution from its 

very inception taking away both friends and relatives. They were 

also very concerned about the Lord’s return feeling that it had all 

ready happened; that they had missed it somehow. Paul answers 

their heart-felt questions in both of his letters to this church.

He begins in the 13^th verse of the fourth chapter of 

1 Thessalonians: 

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who 

have fallen asleep, that you may not grieve as others who have no hope. 

For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through 

Jesus, God will bring with him, those who have fallen asleep. For this we 

declare to you by word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left 

until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.”

Now I don’t know if you are encouraged by this word from Paul, but I am. 

I KNOW that I will see my friends and family and that we will be reunited 

at the time of the Rapture. Oh, glorious day!

Maranatha--Come, Lord Jesus!

Check out the story pages

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Difficult Times in the Last Days

We have heard from Jesus and Peter, now we will hear from Paul. 

Does not the following line up with what we are seeing in our culture?

“But understand this, that in the last days there will be times of 

difficulty. For people will be:

Lovers of self,

Lovers of money,

Proud,

Arrogant,

Abusive,

Disobedient to their parents,

Ungrateful,

Unholy,

Heartless,

Unappeasable,

Slanderous,

Without self-control,

Brutal,

Not loving good,

Treacherous,

Reckless,

Swollen with conceit,

Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. 

Avoid such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

“How then should we live?”   
This is a quote from Frances Schaeffer, who was teaching in 
Switzerland when I was a college student back in the 60’s. 
He said that the philosopher speaks to the first generation; 
the next generation absorbs it, followed by the generation who lives it.

Check out the story pages

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Mockers

Peter continues the discussion of the last days:

“Knowing this first, that in the last days mockers shall come 

with mockery, walking after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where 

is the promise of his coming? For, from the day the fathers 

fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning 

of the creation...they are willingly ignorant...that the world that then 

was, being overflowed with water, perished.” (2 Peter 3:3-6)

Back in the 1970’s, it seemed that most Christians were speaking 

about the Rapture, which means “the catching away.” There was 

an excitement, an anticipation of an event that would bring about 

tremendous change for both those who were taken to heaven and 

those who were left behind. Books were written on this subject. 

Today it seems that no one is interested in the Rapture and those 
who believe in the immanent return of Jesus, are scoffed at. In fact, 
the comments made sound very much like what Peter speaks of in 
the verses above. 

When I feel the warmth of the sun on my back, hear the birds singing, 

the laughter of my grandson, everything feels normal; I cannot imagine 

that it will not continue indefinitely. But scripture declares that all things

 have not stayed the same because there WAS a real flood, and it 

destroyed the world.

It could happen tomorrow. So what do we do with today?

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It Could Happen Tomorrow!

In the words of Jesus concerning a future event:

“But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the 

angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.  

And, as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming 

of the Son of man. For as in those days which were before 

the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving 

In marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 

and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all 

away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man. 

Matthew 24:36-39)

I often hear people saying, “Well, no one knows the day or the 

hour,” thus ending the conversation on both the rapture and the 

tribulation. But Jesus is pointing out that since no one knows, 

we need to be alert and watch for the signs of His coming and 

the signs of the tribulation.

I watch Noah play and I think about the people in that day, who came 

outside to bask in the sunshine and took the building of an ark on dry 

land as a joke! Then the door was shut and no amount of clamoring 

gave entrance to safety. The coming of Jesus will take most people 

by surprise, including Christians.

Dear Reader, consider both the cross and the blood as the way into 

the Ark of Protection and choose eternal life by repenting of your sin. 

“TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.” 

Tomorrow may be too late for that day could come tomorrow!

Check out the story pages

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Heavy Seismicity

I came across an article a couple of days ago talking about the
number of earthquakes over the weekend:

Alaska had numerous small quakes and a 5.8 earthquake in
Anchorage yesterday.
Iran a 4.5
Romania a 4.6
Hawaii a mild jolt
Indonesia a 4.6
South America a 4.5
Afghanistan a 4.1
Vanautu Islands, located between Australia and Fiji, a 6.4 followed
the next day by a 6.0
Sichuan, China a 4.8

Written on December 2:
"As it stands, there have been twenty earthquakes today, 207 
earthquakes in the past seven days, 822 earthquakes in the past
month, and 17,474 earthquakes in the last year."

I went back over an eight day period in November and counted
eight earthquakes over 6, three of them over 7!

Why is this important to talk about? Because of the words of Jesus:

"Then he said unto them, 'Nation shall rise against nation and 
Kingdom against kingdom:  And great earthquakes shall be in
divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights
and great signs shall there be from heaven.'" (Luke 21:10,11)

The disciples had asked Jesus in Matthew 24, "Tell us,...what
shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world."

As I go about my daily life I am also listening for the sound of
the trumpet! The hour is late, a time is coming when every thing
will shift. We can use the Mayan Calendar, and the date of
december 21, not as a place of truth, or fear, but as a wake up call
"to watch."