Bethlehem is a Place of Privilege
My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19).
What an awesome privilege to be the handpicked city to cradle the Son of God. Why Bethlehem? Why not Jerusalem, the seat of religious power? Or Rome, the center of political power? Or Athens, the center of intellectual power? God was sending a message. The hope of our world is not in religion, politics, or philosophy. God privileged the little village of Bethlehem to send the message – the hope of the world is in a Savior!
This Christmas could become a Bethlehem moment for you. The same Christ born in Bethlehem can be born again in you. Paul puts it this way … "I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you." If you think Bethlehem is privileged to be His birthplace, what a great privilege for Christ to be born in you.
Thinking of Bethlehem Phillips Brooks wrote, "The hopes and fear of all the year are met in thee tonight."
CODE WORD: EXPECTATION One of the code words of Advent is hope – that sense of expectation, the feeling that something good is going to happen. Bethlehem almost missed the moment. But you can awaken to a brand new hope by allowing your life to become a Bethlehem – the great privilege of having Christ born again in you.
Lord, thank You, not just for hope but for the realization that You are truly alive in me, in this moment.
The Christmas Code by O.S. Hawkins
What an awesome privilege to be the handpicked city to cradle the Son of God. Why Bethlehem? Why not Jerusalem, the seat of religious power? Or Rome, the center of political power? Or Athens, the center of intellectual power? God was sending a message. The hope of our world is not in religion, politics, or philosophy. God privileged the little village of Bethlehem to send the message – the hope of the world is in a Savior!
This Christmas could become a Bethlehem moment for you. The same Christ born in Bethlehem can be born again in you. Paul puts it this way … "I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you." If you think Bethlehem is privileged to be His birthplace, what a great privilege for Christ to be born in you.
Thinking of Bethlehem Phillips Brooks wrote, "The hopes and fear of all the year are met in thee tonight."
CODE WORD: EXPECTATION One of the code words of Advent is hope – that sense of expectation, the feeling that something good is going to happen. Bethlehem almost missed the moment. But you can awaken to a brand new hope by allowing your life to become a Bethlehem – the great privilege of having Christ born again in you.
Lord, thank You, not just for hope but for the realization that You are truly alive in me, in this moment.
The Christmas Code by O.S. Hawkins