2019 OPERATION 18-18 (DAY 7) – CELEBRATING THE WORD OF GOD A(I)

We are in the season of celebration (Christmas) and people have come up with a lot of things. Some have even removed the Christ from the Christmas and put instead X before the mass as if the Christ should not be emphasized. The alphabet X stands for bad, nought. This only shows the subtle, serious, dangerous and wicked battle being fought against the name of Jesus. There are people who don’t want that name to be mentioned at all; the devil of course is the mastermind of it all. They don’t want people to celebrate the Christ. The devil is afraid of that name and he so ensures that the name is removed and Christmas has been replaced with Xmas. The argument that the X stands for Christ does not add up. X also stands for incorrect. Don’t join the company of those who want to crucify Jesus the second time by removing his name. Christ is the anointed One so if you remove the anointed from the mass, there is nothing left. Celebrating Christmas without Christ is celebrating superfluity of naughtiness; it is celebrating stupidity, it is celebrating nonsense.

We don’t celebrate Christmas, we celebrate Christ. In Isaiah 5:11-14, the Bible describes those who celebrate Christmas without Christ thus, “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.” We need to constantly remind ourselves that there is a right way to celebrate and a wrong way to celebrate. We also need to ask ourselves what is the essence of our celebration. Are we celebrating the event? Are we celebrating the essence? Are we celebrating the substance? What is the substance of our celebration? Are we celebrating Jesus Christ, the Son of God? The world knows how to celebrate and they celebrate everything most of the time the wrong way. Unfortunately, that tendency has also crept into the Church; the Church has become entertainment minded. What type of Christians are we producing today? How much of Christ is in us? What are we even celebrating? Who are we really celebrating? Are we celebrating the day? Jesus was not born on the 25^th of December, so there is nothing spectacular about the day. We are not celebrating Xmas. But we celebrate Christ we celebrate the Christ of Christmas, the risen One, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Saviour of mankind, Jesus the Healer, Jesus the Saviour, Jesus the baptizer in the Holy Ghost, Jesus the soon coming king. That is what we should celebrate and we need not wait till the 25^th of December to celebrate this; it should be built into our daily life, we should live this.

Jesus is the Incarnate Word according to John 1:1-5. This is the time to celebrate the Word of God and that Word is Jesus; the eternal Son of God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” We celebrate the incarnate Word of God, the One that was made flesh and that lives, God in the form of man, God with us. We celebrate Emmanuel. The greatest gift God has given to the world is the Word of God.

The word of God is the truth and is the source of light and life and that word of God is Jesus personified. If you remove the word from the world what you will have is darkness. If you celebrate Christmas without Christ, the celebration is darkness and that was why the Bible says “… and the darkness comprehended it not”. Darkness does not understand light but light does not shift because of darkness; darkness evaporates because of light. When we carry enough of the word of God in us, one of the things that happens is that the light of God will be so intense in our lives that darkness cannot comprehend us. The world around us is full of darkness. You need not be apologetic about carrying light. You need to be sympathetic about those who are in darkness; and you should let the light of God shine through you to save them. Everyone who has missed light is in darkness and in dire need of salvation, deliverance, restoration and redemption and the only One who can help them is Jesus. Jesus in you will flow to touch lives around you. That is how to celebrate Christmas.We must not be part of those who grope in the dark due to lack of knowledge.

PRAYER –
Jesus I ceLebrate you. I thank you so much for all you have done for me. Amen.

TO BE CONTINUED