music monday// o holy night

giddy with the Christmas spirit yet? i bet! today's song is one of my favorite Christmas songs of all time. it's emotive, soulful and points to no one else but Jesus, our Savior!

via

o holy night~ kerrie roberts

o holy night, the stars are brightly shining,

it is the night of our dear Savior's birth.

long lay the world in sin and error pining,

'til He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices

for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

fall on your knees, oh, hear the angel voices

o night divine, o night, when Christ was born.

o night divine, o night, o night divine.

chains He shall break, for the slave is our brother

and in His name all oppression shall cease

sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we 

let all within us praise His holy name

Christ is the Lord

then ever, ever praise we

noel, noel, o night, o night divine

noel, noel, o night, o night divine.

o night divine, o night, when Christ was born.

o night divine, o night, o night divine.

there were a number of prophecies that God gave to His people years and years before Jesus was born to fulfill them all. here are some of those prophecies in the old testament:

"therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel." isaiah 7:14

"for to us a child is born, and the government will be on His shoulders. and He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over His Kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. the zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this." isaiah 9:6-7

"a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord- and He will delight in the fear of the Lord.." isaiah 11:1-3

" 'but you, bethlehem ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of judah, out of you will come for Me one who will be ruler over israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.' " micah 5:2

the fulfillment of the prophecies are found in these scriptures in the new testament:

"but after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 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.' " matthew 1:20-21

"while they were there, the time came for the Baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. she wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them." luke 2:6-7

"suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God saying, 'glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.'...so they (shepherds) hurried off and found mary and joseph, and the Baby, who was lying in the manger. when they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about the Child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them." luke 2:13, 14,16-18

"on coming to the house, they(wise men) saw the Child with His mother mary, and they bowed down and worshipped Him. they they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh." matthew 2:11

"on the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the Child, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He was conceived." luke 2:21

"the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. we have seen His glory, the glory of the One and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." john 1:14

just like the wise men and shepherds, we have every reason to worship our Savior and be full of joy and love for Him and people, and celebrate that He was born to save us from our sinful nature, to reconcile us back to God, our Father, and to give us eternal life spent with Him! nothing should hold us back from sharing the truth of Jesus with people, especially in this season.

it's all about Jesus Christ, not the christmas tree or decorations, sparkly gifts or the delicacies. it's all about the most important gift ever!- Jesus and His gift of eternal life, which by the way is totally freeee! simply believe in Him, confess your sins, invite Him into your heart and choose to obey Him each day. 

a merry and meaningful Christmas to you!  :)

xoxo, gen delali.

My baptism and good tidings!

During the weekend, I took a great step of obedience publicly. I got baptised. :)

Well, I was baptised by sprinkling when i was only a baby but on Saturday, i did the real thing Jesus did when He walked this earth. Baptism by full immersion. Lemme share a lil info from my baptism class. ;)

 Inside the baptistry in my church

This is a physical act expressing a spiritual truth. Baptism is derived from the Greek word 'baptizo' which means 'I wash'. 

Baptism has four spiritual significance:

1. Christ died, and I died in Him ''Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.'' Romans 6:6,7 

2. Christ was buried and I was buried with Him ''Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.'' Romans 6:3,4  

**You don't bury by sprinkling dirt on a casket lying on the ground, you bury by putting the casket fully into the belly of the earth. That's the same way real baptism is to be done by fully being immersed in water.**

3. Christ was raised from the dead and I was raised with Him and I have a new life in Him. ''For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.'' Romans 6:5

4. Christ ascended to Heaven and I ascended into Heaven with Him. ''But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.'' Ephesians 2:4-6

So, there you have it. I hope you've learned a thing or two.

 And, have yourself a merry little  meaningful Christmas!!! Remember that it's not about the shiny lights or the trees. Jesus Christ is the reason for our joyous celebration!

 I'm oh, so thankful that my sweet Jesus came to this earth to save me from my sins. :)

 

Merry Christmas!

xoxo

Delali