Thursday, December 1, 2011

No ordinary day!

“Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! For God has heard your prayer, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son! And you are to name him John.” Luke 1:13

I cannot believe it has been three years since we began the 25 day journey to Bethlehem. With each New Year the Lord has brought many new faces to join us, and just as He promised, His Word has been sent out and has accomplished all that He has wanted it to. It is Him and Him alone that has led you here, and we are so thrilled you have come and brought new brothers and sisters with you.

So saddle your camels, gather the livestock, and grab the family as we head out on our 25 day journey to Bethlehem.

Let’s get going we have a lot of roads to travel and only 25 days to get there. We don’t want to miss one day of what the Lord has in store for us. I promise our journey and the place of destination will change lives.

Day 1-Our journey begins on the road to Judea. Here we will meet a couple that had a love for the Lord, who were faithful followers and who carefully obeyed the commandments and regulations of the Lord. They were old in age and had no children. Though they desired to raise a family they could not because the woman was barren.

It began as an ordinary day for us. I, Zechariah am a Jewish priest and was on duty for the week serving God in the Temple. My wife Elizabeth was at home fulfilling her duties. I loved my job and never took my calling lightly. But little did I know that this ordinary day would be a day that would change my family’s life forever, and literally leave me speechless.

To God it was NO ordinary day, it was a day He would set His plan of love into motion, and He would begin it in the lives of my wife and me. (Can’t you just hear John as his daddy tells this story; you know that he loves hearing it)

As a part of my duty at the Temple I was to enter the sanctuary and burn incense in the Lord’s presence, so as usual I did what was asked of me and entered the sanctuary and began burning the incense. As I was standing there, an angel of the Lord appeared before me. It was bright and beautiful and left me in fear and complete shock. For a moment I thought I had completely lost it and was seeing things. So there I was standing there with my mouth wide open when the angel said, “Zechariah don’t be afraid the Lord has heard you and Elizabeth’s prayers and today your wife will become pregnant and bear you a son, and you are to name him John.” You can only imagine the thoughts going through my head.

Well that is enough for now. I must get going, but please come back tomorrow, I can’t wait to tell you about my son.

Today might be another ordinary day to you, but to God it is an extraordinary day that He can and will use you to share His love with someone who needs it. 

Oh I hope you will come as we continue our journey to Bethlehem. We will meet wonderful people along the way that will bless us and as we travel this journey together I hope you will see the distinct detail, plan, and love of God.