جارٍ تحميل الأرشيف الحي.
Christmas at The Well
واصِل الاستكشاف
مرتبطة بالمقطع الكتابي أو بموضوعات مشتركة.
لم تُترجم هذه الصفحة بالكامل بعد. يظهر بعض النص أدناه أو كله بلغة English، وهي لغته الأصلية.
Today we're looking at Daniel 7:13-14 and Isaiah 9:6-7. As we prepare to hear God's Word, let me share something I discovered while preparing this message.
This week, I was struggling to describe the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I realized that my acknowledgment of God's sovereignty had become so familiar that I'd lost the ability to truly celebrate it. I had become casual in my approach to His awesomeness.
But Lamentations 3:21 reminds us: "This I recall to my mind"—we must intentionally remember that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords is worthy to be praised forever and ever.
How do you describe a God who is immutable, who has no beginning and no ending? Daniel 7:14 calls Him "the Ancient of Days." When you call someone the Ancient of Days, it means you cannot quantify a birth date—He existed before the foundations of the world.
Let me describe the characteristics of this eternal King found in Daniel 7:13-14 and Isaiah 9:6-7:
His Authority Is Inherent
His Dominion Is Absolute
His Kingdom Is Present Through His Citizens
His Wealth and Prosperity
He Always Works in the Background
Every King has a way of operation, and God sets the example. The first characteristic of His operation is that He is always working in the background.
Consider chess: it's a game of strategy where players must think about the end with each move. From Genesis to Revelation, God is playing a game of strategy. He is never caught by surprise; He is aware of how things will end before He begins.
Look at His strategic moves throughout history:
Before the foundations of the Earth were laid, God made a plan for a Savior. Ephesians 1:5-8 says God decided in advance—there was a master strategy happening. He made His decision in advance to adopt us. He was not just thinking about the children of Israel; He was thinking about us here in this room. He decided before the foundations of this world to adopt each of us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.
God looked in 2024 and saw you and said, "That looks good. I want them in My family."
God will cause a young virgin to be with child at the exact moment the world was under forced peace, so that the world can experience real peace.
God makes it His prerogative to choose how He is going to orchestrate things. He is always—not sometimes, not usually, but always—working behind the scenes. He is always working His strategy. He is always aware of all situations occurring in your life, and He is moving the chess pieces of your life around so that at the end of the day it works for your good.
This is why worry and anxiety are an offensive strategy the enemy uses against the Master Strategist. The enemy has to contend with your trust; he has to steal your faith. But because God is faithful, He knows how to dress the flowers of the field and still keep His hand in your business. While you are busy being anxious, He is busy making things work for you.
Your situation may look like it's not changing. You may feel stagnated, moving in circles in the same directional flow, saying, "God, I don't understand." But God is saying, "Hold on. I'm the Master Strategist. I will move chess pieces around simply for you."
Your situation may have gotten worse. You may have received a call that put you in a place you can't seem to pull yourself out of. He's saying, "I got this. I'm minding your business. Go ahead and go to sleep. Some of you need a good nap—a solid two hours of sleep." Why? Because God is minding your business for you.
God will move people from one country to another because He knows the assignment on the region requires their grace. He will pause, accelerate, motivate, and condition things just at the right time for the state of your condition to align to His perfect will.
Notice: I'm not referring to your preferred outcome. I'm not talking about your best plan. I'm not talking about the things you would like to see. I'm referring to His preferred outcome.
Tell your neighbor: God is always working in the background. He never stops minding your business. So why don't you give Him an opportunity to mind your business for you? You're not doing such a good job. Let Him mind your business for you.
He Uses Unlikely Methods
One of my favorite Christmas songs is "Mary, Did You Know?" The lyrics ask questions about Mary watching her Divine Son:
Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water? Did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new? This child that you delivered will soon deliver you.
A mother was watching her Divine Son outpace her spiritually. She knew her responsibility was to care for and nurture this child. She was a young mother given a great responsibility and inherently knew that to keep this child alive was her duty. But the power contained within her child's body created her.
See the Creator and the created—the intentional orchestration of Mary's life to carry and hold her own Savior.
Matthew 1:21 says: "She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins."
She was contending with the great responsibility of caring naturally for her Son while He was caring supernaturally for her soul.
Isaiah 9:6-7 says:
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.
In that manger, the government rested upon His shoulders. And while these things were happening, Mary was pondering—holding things inside, considering the weightiness of her responsibility.
I had several questions for God:
Many of us despise our jobs and know there is more inside us, but nobody gives us the opportunity. But God allowed His Son to be a carpenter. He learned to work with His hands. He was a skilled laborer. He grew up in obscurity, unknown for the first thirty years of His life.
What I've come to realize is this: Sometimes God chooses to use the things in our lives that do not represent what we think we need in order to bring about His purpose. God will use things you despise. He will use people you don't necessarily like. He will put you in places you don't want to be so that He can cause you to align to His will. He uses unusual methods to get you just in the right place.
After four hundred years of silence, you get to hear His pronouncement. So do not despise the obscurity. Do not despise the seasons where God wants you to be hidden for just a little bit longer. When He makes the pronouncement, it will be joyous.
I settled two things in my spirit:
First: God was looking for an opportunity to reconcile with Humanity.
He was willing to subject Himself to being a vulnerable baby for you. He was willing to have no power in His little body as a baby for you. He was looking for an opportunity to have a conversation and relationship with you. So He would do whatever it takes to get at you.
Luke 2:10-11 says:
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born."
Pause. Today a Savior has been born. Today your vulnerable moment has been eclipsed by the Savior of your vulnerable moment. Your Messiah has been born. What you've been running away from—rescue has been born.
In one instant we got a baby. But in another instant we got a Messiah. In one instant we got a child. But in another instant we got a King. Today He has been born.
God has been looking for you. God was looking so much to reunite with Humanity that He was willing to break protocol. He was willing to break physiological and biological processes by supernatural means to get at you. He was willing to impregnate Mary—the Bible says Mary received inspiration, meaning she was breathed upon. When she was breathed upon, every physiological and biological necessity to become pregnant vanished.
God was willing to interrupt His own process for you. God was willing to change the laws of biology and science for you. God was willing to change how a baby is born for you—just for you. He will break His own laws of physiology just for you.
Galatians 4:4-5 says:
But when the set time had fully come, God sent His son. Jesus was born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.
In that moment, He wasn't just considering the children of Israel. He was considering you and me. He saw you and me in this world, having this conversation, dialoguing about what He was doing. The Master Strategist was on the move.
Second: He was restoring Dominion to us as originally intended.
Genesis talks about Adam and Eve and how they gave away their birthright—their dominion. That was not God's intention. He intended for us to have dominion on this Earth and to live and operate in a certain way.
God was saying, "No, no, no, devil. You can't take their dominion. What I have given to them is settled for them." So God said, "I want to restore dominion to the people that I love. I want to give them the authority back into their hands—the authority of this Earth realm to govern it according to how I want them to govern it."
But here's the thing about restoration of dominion: It's only possible in the realm in which the dominion was given. Dominion was not given in heaven; dominion was given on Earth. So God needed to come to Earth to restore the dominion that was given in the realm in which it was given.
Dominion needed to be returned to man by a man. It could not be by the supernatural being of God. Dominion was lost as a man, so God needed to come as a man to restore dominion to man.
Restoration of dominion also required the shedding of permanent blood. The first Adam had been given dominion in a sinless state. When he sinned, God killed an animal to cover their nakedness. Only a sacrifice equally as holy could permanently redeem man.
So God brought Jesus Christ, who was sinless. The Bible says He knew no sin, to be the perfect sacrifice for us. According to the laws of Moses, nearly everything was purified by blood. Without the shedding of blood, there cannot be forgiveness of sin.
So God had to do what He did so that we can have what we have. Tell your neighbor: God don't play about me. God don't play about me. He is always working in the background, and He uses the most unlikely methods to get us reconciled to Him.
He Doesn't Play It Safe
In chess, there's something called controlling the center—a type of gameplay where you place all your pieces in the center of the board. This gives you a competitive advantage over your opponents. It limits their ability to move while opening you and your pieces to new opportunities.
God does not play it safe. He sends out an alert to the enemy from Genesis. He has been announcing His strategy. He wasn't hiding it. What the enemy does is guess where God is going to show up. The enemy will guess and cause the Israelites to be in bondage. He will guess and try to kill a deliverer. All the enemy does is a guessing game on His Master's strategy—because God isn't hiding what He's doing. He is not shy about His intentions. He makes it pure and plain.
God announced Himself. Jesus was born in a manger, but He announced Himself with the Stars. He made a proclamation. Yes, He had been silent for four hundred years, and the enemy thought he had Him boxed. But God said, "No, you don't. I will announce Myself. I'm not scared of you. I will show up on the scene just so that you know I'm in charge."
Some of us react to the devil the wrong way. God and the enemy are not equal opponents. Let's be clear: God set up the chessboard itself and He moves pieces according to how He wants them. He's already predetermined Satan's future. How much more yours?
In Matthew 2:1-2:
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."
God will make pronouncements and announcements in the face of your enemies. He will cause those who are troubling you to seek you out. "Where is the one that is favored? Where is the one that is gifted? Where is the one whose light has been shown?"
God wasn't hiding. Let's get that away from our minds.
Isaiah 7:14 says:
Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Emmanuel.
God is giving His Church a sign. An unlikely source—a virgin. God is giving you a sign; it's for you to look. She shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Emmanuel—God with us. The answer to your problem is God with us. You're looking for a solution? It's God with us.
Zechariah 9:9 says:
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O Daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Your response to what you have witnessed—to the unlikely source, to God being with you—is to Rejoice. Not just small rejoicing. Rejoice greatly. Why? Because Emmanuel is with you. Rejoice! Emmanuel has made His appearance on the scene. God did not hide Himself.
Because He doesn't play it safe, there are benefits that we get to enjoy from His kingship.
First: I Am Secure
Emmanuel—just that name alone—means "God with me." This secures my position in Him. God with me secures my position.
Romans 8:28 says:
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
When you get to that revelation of security—God with me—then you've got to get to the revelation of Emmanuel: God is with me. Then every other thing can resolve itself. And I know. I am convinced. You cannot be convinced until you know who is with you. Don't go into battle without knowing who is with you.
We know that all things—that means the things that didn't quite work out in 2024. All things—that means the tears you cried in the late night hours. All things—the things you have been grieving. All things work together. That means when you are not sure, He is sure. And because He's sure and He's with you, then I know.
Sometimes you've got to face the things you are looking at, the things you were struggling with. And I know that He's making all things to work together for my good. Why? Because I love Him. Because I am called according to His purpose. Just because I am living and breathing, He's going to make everything work together for my good.
I know what you were anticipating at the beginning of the year. I know the list you wrote for God. Sometimes we create lists for the Master Strategist to respond to. And God is saying, "I understand your list because you are human and you think you need to plan. But what I want to tell you is I will make your list work out with what I'm doing so that it benefits you. I will make all things—everything—work together for good."
Second: I Am Safe
Some of us need to settle in our minds that His kingship means I am safe. I want to speak to the person who has racing thoughts, to whom fear chases you down, precedes you, and sticks with you. Emmanuel is with you.
Psalms 91 says:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
Let me give you this picture: We cannot quantify or know how big God is until we realize that when He says the Earth is His footstool, He casts a natural shadow over the Earth.
The Bible says: "Where can I go from Your presence? Where can I hide from You? If I go up, You are there. If I go down, You are there."
But He who dwells—he who dwells is a decision you make. Some of us are casting our own little shadows, thinking they're sufficient. Here's the thing about your shadow: at some point the sun moves and that shadow is no longer sufficient to cover you. You are coming up short with your shadow. At some point, you've got to realize that your shadow is no longer sufficient.
It happens when you begin to decide for yourself what your next move is. But the Bible says he who chooses to stay in the sanctuary of the Most High and abide. Abiding means that come what may, storms will blow, things will go back and forth, your mood will change, your circumstance will change, people will like you one day and the next day they will not. But he who dwells—Emmanuel, God is with me—it's only in those places of dwelling that you recognize Emmanuel.
He who dwells, he who settles, he who makes his abode, he who lives, he who does not move regardless of what he's being told—then I will say, "Oh the Lord, He is my refuge and my Fortress."
You can't say that unless you dwell. Do not speak words that are not real. You cannot say that He is your refuge and Fortress until He's actually your refuge and Fortress.
We quote this scripture in times of trouble, not realizing it's your Shadow that's covering you in times of trouble. How do you know you are settled? Your spirit does not move. It is a strong spirit of a man that sustains him in the days of adversity. Then you can declare out of your mouth: "He is my refuge. My Fortress. My God. He is my refuge. My Fortress. My God."
Do not make those claims until you dwell in the secret place of the Most High, in whom I will trust.
If you read further down in the scripture, He gives things to those who dwell. What does He give? He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. You're easily identifiable. Your GPS system has not been shut off. You have not redirected yourself. He will command His angels. You're going out and you're coming in. He will speak on your behalf because you have made Him your Fortress.
They will lift you up in their hands. I am the one whom God has helped. I don't need you to see the helping hand of God physically. There's a supernatural helping of my life. I can't explain favor. It doesn't make sense.
You will not strike your foot. Some of us strike our foot and say, "God, help me!" But God is saying, "I'll even prevent it. I will make what you could possibly kick your foot against disappear because you dwell. Because you dwell, you will tread on the lion and the cobra."
The things that took out your previous generation—the curses your aunties and uncles want to levy against you, the things that were made in secret against you—He will trample it. That means He will cause generational blessings to catch up to you. That means He will cause curses to fall on deaf ears. A curse cannot stand because He loves me.
Earlier He says, "If you love God, He makes all things work together for good." Psalms 91 says, "Because He loves me, says the Lord, I will rescue. I will protect. For He acknowledges my name—my name Emmanuel, my name God with me. My name stands with Him in the shadow because He dwells."
Third: I Have a Future
Finally, His kingship means that I have a future.
Some of you don't believe you have a future. I don't know who gave you breath—it certainly wasn't you. But if you're drawing breath, you have a future.
The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11:
For I know the plans I have for you. The Master Strategist is talking back to you. He's reassuring you. I'm the one that brought you here in the beginning, so I know what I have intended for you to occupy the days of your life. Your life was written in My books.
Hebrews 10:7 says, "For I know the plans, the thoughts, the decisions, the protection that I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future."
Let me help you with this: It's not just in this life. There is still a hope and a future beyond this life. The God that we follow gives us a plan and a future for this present life and in the life to come.
So God took care of it all. In all, with His Son coming on the scene, you will call and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
