Touched by an Angel? 2 Peter 2:4

What do we know about angels? From our Bible we know that there are 3 basic groups of angels. Gabriel (messenger angels), Michael (war angels), Lucifer (praise angel), who became Satan! We know that angels are created beings just like humans! We know we are not to worship angels. We know we were created just a little lower than the angels. We know Lucifer was the disobedient angel that rebelled against God and 1/3 of these angels were cast out of Heaven down to earth! We know angels can dwell in flesh. We know Christ was not a created being but was pre-existent and always was is and forever will be! What has all this to do with Christmas? A lot! Everything! Did you ever notice 1/3 of the earth’s population is Christian! One third of the disobedient angels were cast down out of Heaven to earth! Yet 1/3 of the earth’s population has been redeemed! We know that Satan can never be redeemed! However Satan dwelling in flesh or humans is his effort to destroy them! Remember Jesus has authority over demons and cast them out of people! At the mention of His name demons tremble! Jesus God’s Son incarnated into the earth was God’s plan to defeat Satan! Those that reject Christ continue to live under the control of Satan! The Christmas story is a lot bigger than tinsel, gifts and food! It is all about the defeat of the fallen angel in your life and the deliverance of your soul from the same plight that awaits Satan! The small baby in Bethlehem is God’s plan to deliver us from evil. Merry Christmas! Praise God and Christ for our praise replaces the praise in Heaven lost by Lucifer’s removal from Heaven! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Signs in the Heavens! Matthew 24:29-31

Contrary to what is commonly believed, the magi did not arrive at the manger on the night of Christ’s birth; rather, they found the young Jesus and His parents living in a house (Matthew 2:11). This could have been nearly two years after Christ’s birth, since Herod–afraid of his own position as King was threatened–tried to have Jesus eliminated by killing all male children under the age of two (Matthew 2:16). It may be that the star first appeared over Bethlehem when the magi were in the East (Persia). From that distance, they would have not been able to distinguish the exact location but would have certainly have known to head west. They went to Israel’s capital city Jerusalem, a likely place to begin their search for the King of the Jews. It seems that the star may have disappeared by the time the magi reached Jerusalem but then reappeared when they began their (much shorter) journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, approximately 6 miles away. This view is supported by the fact that first, the magi had asked King Herod where the King of the Jews was born, which means the star wasn’t guiding them at that time (Matthew 2:2). And second, they rejoiced exceedingly when they saw the star (again) as they began their journey to Bethlehem (Matthew 2:10). After the magi had met Herod, the star went on before them to Bethlehem and stood over the location of Jesus. It seems to have led them to the very house that Jesus was in–not just the city. The magi already knew that Christ was in Bethlehem. This they had learned from Herod, who had learned it from the priests and scribes (Matthew 2:4-5,8). For a normal star, it would be impossible to determine which house is directly beneath it. The star over Christ may have been relatively near the surface of the earth so that the magi could discern the precise location of Christ. Whatever the exact mechanism, the fact that the star led the magi to Christ is evidence that the star was uniquely designed, made by God for a very special purpose. God can use extraordinary means for extraordinary purposes. Certainly the birth of our Lord was deserving of honor in the Heavens. It is fitting that God used a celestial object to announce the birth of Christ since “the heavens declare glory of God”___(Psalms 19:1). Source: Answers in Genesis. Comment: In verse 29 of Matthew was Jesus talking about the 7 year tribulation? Here are some signs listed in the Heavens at His second coming! The rapture has probably already happened before this event and these are the redeemed people that came to Christ during the tribulation period! The sun is darkened and the moon shall lose it’s light and the stars shall fall from Heaven! When the unbelievers shall see Him they shall mourn! The believers shall rejoice! Two different responses with two different outcomes! Then Christ shall gather the elect from the ends of the Heavens! Help us to shine His light into the earth before the opportunity for Salvation closes for men! Merry Christmas! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Herod’s Defensive Letter to Caesar!

Letter form Herod Antipas to Tiberius Caesar and the Senate of Rome: “My Noble Lords, Greeting, As to what Pontius Pilate says in regard to my cowardice and disobedience in the case of Jesus of Nazareth, I will say in my own defense: I was informed by all the Jews that this was the same Jesus that my father aimed to destroy in his infancy; for I have it in my father’s private writings and accounts of his life, showing that when the report was circulated of three men inquiring where was he that was born King of the Jews, he called together the Hillel and Shammai schools, and demanded the reading of the sacred scrolls; that it was decided he was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea, as read and interpreted that night by Hillel. So when my father learned that there was a birth of a male child in Bethlehem under very strange circumstances, and he could not learn where or who the child was, he sent and had all the male children slain that were near his age. Afterward he learned that his mother had taken him and fled into the wilderness. For this attempt to uphold the Roman authority in the land of Judea the world has not ceased to curse him to this day; and yet the Caesar’s have done a thousand worse things, and done them a thousand times, and it was all well. Just think how many lives have been lost to save the Roman Empire; while those infants were only removed in their innocence from the evil to come. The proper way to judge of action is to let the actor judge, or the one with whom the action terminates. If this should be done, and there is a life of happiness beyond for innocence to dwell in, those infants as well as Rachels should be thankful to my father for the change. Again my Lord’s, Pilate is a higher officer than I; and you know in our law the lower court always has the right to appeal to the higher. As to Pilate’s saying that Jesus was a Galilean, he is mistaken. Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, as the records show. And as for his citizenship, he had none. He wandered about from place to place, having no home, making his abode principally with the poor. He was a wild fanatic, who had taken up the doctrines of John (but not his baptism), and was quite an enthusiast. He had learned sooth-saying, while in Egypt, to perfection. I tried to get him to perform some miracle while in my court, but he was too sharp to be caught in a trap; like all necromancers, he was afraid to show off before the intelligent. From what I could learn he had reprimanded some of the rich Jews for their meanness, and his reproaches were not out of the way, from what I heard they would have much better men if they had practiced what they preached.” Herod Antipas