See the Sign

Happy Sunday!

Our guest speaker today was,  Dr. Keith Hershey.  I recommend that you check out his ministry, Mutual Faith Ministries.  If the Spirit leads you to help a ministry that reaches and assists people all over the world, this is a good one to support.  The Apostle Paul encouraged the believers in Philippi that partnering with him in ministry would definitely result in a blessing.

Dr. Hershey entitled his message, "See the Sign!"  He used Luke 2:12 as his anchor scripture.  It says, "And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."(KJV).  We live in a busy, self-centered, and distracted world.  How many of us wake up and check Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram before doing anything else?  We post things that we want to be seen.  We post things to grab the attention and admiration of others.  Marketers are constantly looking to create attention grabbers!  Some municipalities have had to fight against digital billboards that seek to draw the attention of drivers on busy thoroughfares.  Tech companies are creating games that use virtual reality and require the gamer to relinquish control.  

God has given us a Sign from Heaven!  It is vitally important that we See the Sign and Interpret it's meaning properly!  JESUS is the SIGN!  The shepherds were told where to find the Sign.  The sign would be a baby that was born to die.  The swaddling clothes he was wrapped in represented his death, and the way his body would be prepared for burial.  Matthew 27:57-59 says, "That evening a rich man named Joseph came to Jerusalem. He was a follower of Jesus from the town of Arimathea.  He went to Pilate and asked to have Jesus’ body. Pilate gave orders for the soldiers to give Jesus’ body to him.  Then Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a new linen cloth."(Easy-to-Read Version).  The stone manger that he was laid in represented the tomb he would be buried in.  Matthew 27:60 says, "He put Jesus’ body in a new tomb that he had dug in a wall of rock. Then he closed the tomb by rolling a very large stone to cover the entrance. After he did this, he went away."(Easy-to-Read Version).  

I know what you are thinking, "How can this be a Sign?"  That's a great question!  Signs are used to move us or get us moving!  If you have been on the road to Memphis for a year and have not reached the destination, you are on the wrong road or reading the wrong signs!  The Gospel is Good News to us unless we are living in condemnation!  That's why the Word says, "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."(John 3:17, KJV).  Jesus' death shows that we are valuable to God!  God loves us just as we are, but he loves us too much to leave us just as we are!  

When we see the Sign we receive three things:

Astounding Love - We should be thrilled everyday with God!  2 Corinthians 9:15 says, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift."(KJV).

Abounding Love & Grace - We should be growing in Grace daily, and see others in the finished work of Christ.  2 Peter 3:18 says, "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."(KJV).  

Resounding Love & Grace - When we see the Sign it should bring us Joy!  Luke 2:20 says, "And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them."(KJV).  The shepherds were common everyday people.  They may have been overlooked by others, but God chose to show them a very important sign.  

Love and prayers, Cynthia

 (http://mutualfaith.org/)