stars – James G. Owen, Author

The December Chanukah

It is called the feast of the dedication in the New Testament in the book of John. Chanukah is about the celebration of the victory of the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and its leader Antiochus IV Epiphanes. A seven year revolt because the Jewish people refused to worship the Greek pagan gods. It is also called the Feast of Lights.

And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
John 10:22-23 KJV

The December Chanukah is a time that is honored by nine lights on the Chanukah menorah. Each light being lit for each of the 9 days celebrated. This is the celebration of the Jewish people. However, how can Chanukah relate to the Christians who believe the Light of the World is the Messiah Jesus? Jesus came to the world for all people of all ethnic groups, that is Jew and Gentile to bring salvation to all. He brought light into the world when he was born, as the angels sang of his birth, and the stars declared. The message of his birth written in the stars and the shepherds watching could read this part of the gospel story. Jesus brought light into the world by turning water into wine and began his ministry, and continued to bring light and hope to all the people of Israel, and to the Gentiles as well. He brought the light in teaching of the law, healing the sick, lame, deaf, and the blind. He also delivered people from darkness and brought them into the light by casting demons out of them. He brought light into the families when their loved ones died and he raised them from the dead. He brings us light because he has authority over all, even death.

Light into the world can be viewed as victory over death, and Jesus brought us this victory by being the final sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice in that he never sinned, was a man but was not born of man’s seed. He was born of the Holy Ghost, and his father is the God of Israel. Only God can deliver man because mankind has been defiled by sin. Jesus declared that he is the Light of the World, by beginning the phrase I AM. The two words I AM in Hebrew is yah and that is one of the many names for God—the God of Israel, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the God of all of us who believe in his son Jesus.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 KJV

Christians and Messianic Jews celebrate Jesus’s birth at this time of year and honor him as the light. The Chanukah menorah has nine lights. The number nine has a biblical significance in gematria. That is, the nine fruits of the Spirit, and the completeness of the Lord. God laid his plan out in the Old Testament by establishing the law so that all of mankind, and the Hebrews would know how to live moral lives in righteousness, govern themselves, and also how to worship the Lord through sacrifices, psalms, dancing, and praise. The burnt offerings of the animals, and the grains were just a covering, especially the blood that was presented before God. To finalize God’s plan of salvation he had to send his son Jesus to be the sacrifice for mankind, and undefiled sacrifice. His character can be seen in the fruits of the spirit in which the nine candles can represent, and these fruits Jesus displays to man in his time on earth, and in our current eras. For Jesus is the December Chanukah.

Notes: All scripture used is from the King James Version Public Domain Biblegateway.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maccabean_Revolt

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah

Biblical Mathematics: Keys to Scripture Numerics, Evangelist Ed. F. Vallowe, page 88.

The Mighty Power of God

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is all powerful. His power is shown in the trichotomy, that is in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. God is ever sitting on his throne continuously creating. We know he is creating because we see new galaxies, new stars, and planets by the telescopes we have in space, and those powerful telescopes on mountains throughout the world. The Father is in control of everything, the Master of all, omniscient, and omnipotent.

God is in the business of answering the prayers of man who need salvation, deliverance, and healing. His power is great because he is the creator of everything, which is the universe, man, angels, earth, the planets and everything we know, and don’t know. His power is evident, and is invisible. He has the power over life and death, meaning he can create life, sustain, and have power over death through resurrection, and the power to save from death of those who believe in him. He has all power to destroy his enemies, which is Lucifer, who other name is Helel, Satan’s army, and those of men who are rebellious. God is all powerful, his power is infinite.

When man studies the invisible things that we witness and discover through physics, we cannot help to see the mighty power of God. All creation witnesses of him. The invisible things which are made from nothing are the building blocks of the physical and biological creations we see around us and beyond us. As we discover the invisible elements, we find that these invisible elements are composed of elements more minute than what we see through the analysis of physics. Knowing all of this is the reason I stand in awe of God because he is intelligent, wonderful, and beautiful! It makes me want to know more about him, to discover all that he is, and to have the hopes of seeing him and his third heaven. How beautiful it must be!

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Romans 1:20

His power reaches us from his throne, and his authority is in Jesus who worked among men, teaching, and then providing redemption through his sacrifice so that we could have eternal life. His Son Jesus conquered death through his death on the cross and resurrection, and this made available to us the Holy Ghost to be with man working the ministry of Jesus through us by giving us all power and authority to minister to people as Jesus did. This would be the authority to minister, teach, cast out demons, healing by the laying on of hands, and defeating our enemies through the name of Jesus.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

There is no other God but Yahweh, Jesus, and his Spirit. He is in trinity, but he is One. His way is the only way to eternal life beyond the life we have on earth. Discover his power by the reading of God’s word—the Bible. If you do, he will show you wonderful and mighty things.

Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
Psalm 150: 1

God’s Infinite Love

God’s love is infinite. His love is measureless and boundless, like the stars in space, and his love is directed to mankind because he has made special provision for us because we were created innocent, and not having seen the third heaven in which he resides, and where his eternal temple and courtroom are located. The special provision was existence at the thought of man, earth, and the universe because God knew that man would fall into sin having been given a free will. The angels were given a free will and one third of them rebelled and had to be cast out of heaven.

How great is God’s love? His love can be measured, but is demonstrated by his Son Jesus who died on the cross. This was to bring back the creation into line after the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. I know God’s love is great because he has forgiven me of many mistakes and stupid things I have done in my life. His love can be described as grace and mercy because his patience is long with us. None of us deserve to be loved because of the sin state we were born in relating backward to the first sin of Eve and Adam, but God chose to love every one of us, even those we consider the worst of the worst in history.

The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Jeremiah 31:3

God’s love is perfect. His love is not tainted with sin because there is no sin with him. Sin taints, defiles, and destroys everything. The love we are to express with each other gets tainted with emotions like fear and hate, while originally we were to created to love one another, yet God has to command and remind of to love one another in his word. God’s love drives out all fear when his love comes into our heart’s and life because God’s love is light and fear is darkness, and darkness has to flee when light comes into its presence.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:18

If we do have fear in our hearts then our hearts are not perfect in love, and we do not know the father because we have not asked for his forgiveness to walk in his love. So, to know what love really is, and to understand God’s infinite love we need to create a relationship with him, to come to him, and lay all of our sins at his feet. When we do he will produce a light within you that others will recognize, and that light that shines in the darkness you walk through here on earth is the light of God and his infinite love.

Notes: All scripture used is from the King James Version Public Domain Biblegateway