On Earth Peace, Good Will Toward Men – The Saturday Morning Post

Dec 25th, 2021 On Earth Peace, Good Will Toward Men – The Saturday Morning Post

Today’s Passage – 1 John 3 – 3 John 1 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 121 – 125; Proverbs 25)

Read the “1225 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Merry Christmas and good morning. I hope you slept well. Did the kids bust in your room at 1:00 AM exclaiming that Santa came? But we’re not here to chat about Satan Claws. December 25th is the day we celebrate Emmanuel: Jesus coming in the flesh: God with us! And the reason for the season is told in 1John…

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” (1John 4:9-11)

That’s right, beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. This is the Christmas story. The key bringing glad tidings, edifying the brethren, having peace on earth, and good will towards everybody is Jesus: our Emmanuel. Matthew 1:23 quotes Isaiah…

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” (Matthew 1:23)

Emmanuel means God with us. God is with us. He is right here, and everywhere. If we would only realize that God is always with us: He hears and sees what we do. Knowing and believing this may help us not to quench and grieve the Holy Spirit. Maybe then we will love others as ourselves. In the homeless ministry it seams that everyone accepts each other as they are. You may only be one step away from being out on the street.

“My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.” (James 2:1-9)

If Jesus came across someone who was hungry, He fed them. If they were sick, He healed them. If they were naked, He clothed them. Now we may not be able to heal the sick, but we can pray for them. If they are hungry, we can feed them. If the temperature drops, and we see someone shivering in the cold, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, we can give them clothes. If we can’t, we can help those who can. When you come out of a store, and you see a man from the Salvation Army ringing a bell, drop something in the bucket. You can also give an offering to support your church’s food bank, or homeless ministry. What? Don’t have one? You can start one. We carry bags of food with us to give to the homeless as we travel. Pick up a few extra items at the store, remember that any cans should have a ‘pop top’ so they can open them. We also put in tracts, and/or the Gospel of John and Romans. We were able to give five of these out on our way down to Texas. Each day before we start driving, we ask the Lord to open our eyes to any homeless on the way, and He does.

As we close out 2021, let’s strive to be more like Jesus in helping others. And then keep the momentum going in 2022.

Peace on earth, good will to all men!