171. Jesus Christ series 2023, Part 2

Let's delve into the miraculous birth of Jesus, where we explore the supernatural ways God communicates with us. From the angelic announcement to young Mary, to the fulfillment of ancient prophecies, we dive into the significance of Mary's purity and God's choice of her as a vessel for Jesus. We also reflect on the crucial role children play in faith, their potential to draw their parents closer to God, and the special place they hold in Jesus's heart.

Together, we'll explore Jesus's early years, drawing intriguing parallels between Jesus and Moses and reflecting on these stories as snapshots of God's overarching plan for humanity. We examine the transformative shift in worship paradigms, the importance of giving God our best, and the importance of daily devotion. Additionally, we highlight the importance of discipling children well, helping them understand their purpose and remain firm in their faith. So, gear up for a thought-provoking conversation that will inspire you to deepen your faith and relationship with God. Let's venture this journey together, shall we?


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Plan of Salvation:

• Hear: Romans 10:17
• Believe: Hebrews 11:6
• Repent: Acts 17:30-31
• Confess: Matthew 10:32
• Be Baptized: Mark 16:15-16
• Be faithful unto death: Revelation 2:10

A Call to Salvation

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

You know, folks don't want to worship God like that, especially. We live in a world today where so much is pulling folks away from God, there's so much distraction. So God desires our. God has designed our attention. God has designed relationship with Him. God has designed worship and God is designed us to give Him. Give Him our best. But when I say give Him our best, it's not just about tangible things. God wants to use us. Yes, of course God wants to present and be able to support those in need, support the local congregations. But also God wants to use us. God want us to present ourselves as a living sacrifice.

Speaker 1: 0:49

Welcome to the Call by God podcast with Adne Godin and myself, nixon Sylvain. This show is about dialogues of biblical characters and testimonies of Christians who submitted to the will of God. Each week we bring on one guest so that they can share their story of how they were called by God. I hope this show inspires you. Enjoy All right. Hello and welcome world to the Call by God podcast. I'm yours truly, brother Nick, and I'm here with Sister Adne Godin. Sister Godin, how are you doing on this blessed day?

Speaker 2: 1:23

I am. How amazing, brother Nick. Yeah, honestly, I can't complain. I took some time to sit in silence. I need to finish the book, so I needed to take some time to just sit at the feet of Jesus and sit in some silence and let out the noise of work and doing the day to day things, to sit at his feet and it's so amazing that sitting at his feet, we're having a discussion about him. So I think that's the most powerful and fulfilling part about it. How are you doing?

Speaker 1: 2:02

I am blessed I can't even complain Kind of like what you said. Whenever anyone or any saint have an opportunity to talk about Jesus Christ, it is definitely a blessing. It's also humbling, especially when you come to the knowledge and you understand what the Savior did for you and did for me and did for the, what he did for the world. It is humbling. I think who that was, who that was that got crucified upside down because he wasn't even worthy Peter. It was Peter because he wasn't even worthy to be crucified as his Lord. So I take the same disposition.

Speaker 1: 2:50

It is a humbling position to just to talk about our sacred and just to. It's like we're going back. It's a bittersweet moment because you see the things that he went through, but when you, the celebratory moment, when we celebrate, is when he rose on a third day. Right, we didn't get to that episode yet. That's when we get to celebrate when he rose, and then, not only that, we have salvation in him. So it is definitely a blessing to talk about the Lord but, I, want to dive right into it, and so this episode is special.

Speaker 1: 3:32

I mean, all the episodes are special. But we read about the prophecies in episode one. We talked about Deuteronomy 18. We talked about Isaiah 714, isaiah 9-6, isaiah 53, one through 12. And that's when you had oh, adne, you almost broke down when you read that passage. I had a moment as well. I had a speeches moment after you read that. And we also talked about Hebrews, chapter one, verses eight through 10.

Speaker 1: 4:07

But, adne, I don't know if you're a big fan of baby showers. You know, when a woman about to give birth, you're supposed to be excited. Now, well, some people be excited, some, right, some. You know some husbands. They be like another one, that's. They say they call that the oops baby. That's the oops baby, oops.

Speaker 1: 4:31

But children are a blessing. Children are definitely a blessing. That's one of the things that God told Adam and Eve to do to be fruitful and multiply. And I like how you pointed that out. And episode number one being fruitful is not only predicated on just having children, but it just pretty much is about everything, cause God is about life. Anything that's dead, that's not of God. Dead, that's not of God, it's just that we have all have to suffer death because of the consequences of the fall of humanity, but still, when Jesus Christ came, jesus Christ is like a reminder that death is not the end, because Jesus Christ stared death right in his face that you can't hold me down. So the same spirit that raised up Christ, that's the same spirit that will raise us up, raises up in the last day. So I'm thankful for this episode.

Speaker 1: 5:22

So this episode we're going to be talking about baby Jesus. Baby Jesus from when he was a baby until when he was 12 years old. So we talked about the prophecy. So now the prophecy is coming into fruition. You never been in a position where God mentioned something to you and then later you start to see it come to pass. People are like wait a minute, wait a minute. God, you told me this, you told me that I was going to do this way back over there yonder, and now I could see it come in the past. So now we got the ball rolling. So all the Old Testament, god was preparing a way for the Son of God to come onto earth. So this is what we're going to read. So in Luke, chapter one, verse 30 to 31,. Adi, what version Bible you're reading today?

Speaker 2: 6:18

I have the NLT up.

Speaker 1: 6:20

The NLT. Okay, cool, okay, so go ahead and read it. So, luke, chapter one, verses 30 through 31. Go ahead.

Speaker 2: 6:33

And it reads don't be afraid. It says don't be afraid, Mary. The angel told her, for you have found favor with God, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.

Speaker 1: 6:50

Amen. So when I read passages like this right, because my mind I like to visualize things I try to picture things in my mind. Imagine you have a heavenly being. The Bible describes this is an angel, an angel, a messenger, a messenger from God. Imagine if you have a heavenly being. So you're a woman, right, you're a virgin woman and a heavenly being walk up to you and said to fear not. You know, us folks, when we see things unnatural, we shake out of our boobs, like because that's not normal to the human eye. So when we see this is an angel, a heavenly being from heaven came down and told Mary to fear not. And he said God has found favor with you.

Speaker 1: 7:52

You know a lot of times that I heard favor and grace. That was through Noah. When before God destroyed the earth, that was the same thing. Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord and then God spared Noah and his family. So when God looked down at because you know God, god sits high and he looks low. So when God, god is all powerful, he's everywhere, all knowing, he's just omnipotent. He's everywhere, all powerful, omniscient, he's sovereign and he's omnipresent everywhere. But we know he's a God, he sits high and he look low when God sits high and he look low at Mary. Mary found favor in God's sight. Now I say to myself what's so special about Mary? I think you said it before. I think we did an episode about Mary, mary, I don't know if we did. We do an episode about Mary. Yeah, we sure did. Yeah, so we did episode about Mary.

Speaker 1: 8:59

So you said that Mary was called to carry Jesus. That's a blessing, because you know that's a blessing when God created you to carry him. God created you to carry him. That's amazing, right? That's some amazing stuff right there. So in verse 31, he says and behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son. He didn't say a girl, he gave a specific instruction. He said you will bring forth a son and you shall call him Jesus, jesus. Now, this is the miracle within itself, because we know what the angel said. But we're gonna talk about the miracle. The miracle is found in Luke 135 and in Matthew 1, 18.

Speaker 1: 9:56

Now adding, before we talk about the miracle, this anything you got to say about how the angel appeared in Mary. Because you're a female, because you know when. Okay, God talked to us through his word. Now. So, god, you know, yeah, god could talk to us through dreams. God could talk to us through his word, but I know that God is all powerful too. God is so, he's so unique. God will catch humans off guard Whenever we try to put God in a box. God would do the supernatural right, because some people will say, oh God, don't do that no more. Yeah, I said it. Some people will put God in the box and they'll say, no God, no, god is just in a box. He they not gonna say that he's in a box, but that's pretty much what they're putting them in. They trying to limit the power of God. So a supernatural being. Mary got a revelation from God, from favoring God's sight. What are your thoughts on that from a woman perspective?

Speaker 2: 11:50

I see the honor in this angel coming to Mary. Like I said in the previous, of a recording, god knows our heart and you just said it. God knew how he created Mary. God knew the heart that Mary had to think because think about she had to be at least age 13, 14. You know these teenagers nowadays. They doing all this reckless stuff and you thinking about a 13 year old young woman who found favor in the sight of God. I think that is so powerful. Why? Because teenagers are rebellious. Teenagers don't want to do what their parents tell them to do, because they know what's best.

Speaker 2: 12:36

But here it is Mary finds favor in the sight of God. Her heart must have been so pure. She must have been one of those most obedient children to her parents. You understand what I'm saying. Like when her parents talk yes, mom, or you know I don't know the Hebrew term, but I know father, probably you know. Yeah, abba, you know whatever you say, I'll do.

Speaker 2: 13:00

And even when the angel, you know, lets her know that this is going to happen, her response to it was whatever the Lord says, I am his servant. So she had a servant's heart. She knew that God chose her for something so special. It's not that she was special, it was the assignment that he placed upon her that was special, and that was carrying the savior of the world, the Messiah, the Messiah right.

Speaker 2: 13:29

And I think that's extremely powerful, because how many of us will God send an angel to come and talk to us and say, hey, I have the specific assignment for you. A lot of us gotta be like yo. I guess I'm gonna have to look for somebody else. You know, and that's what comes to mind. And as a woman for me, I had my first child at 14 and I was scared, scared, like, oh my gosh, what am I gonna do? But she accepts the fact that God chose her to carry his son and she just says I'm your humble servant, let it be unto me. And I think that's the heart and the attitude and the posture every single Christian must have when it comes to an assignment that God gives them as I'm your humble servant, let it be unto me.

Speaker 1: 14:26

The thing is, I think, that God knows us, god knows his children, Kind of like what I said in the first episode we know our children, we know the child that's going to give us a hard time. You'd be like, yep, that one right there. Yep, you know what I mean. So we know our children and that's the same way that God is. You know, god knows us. God knows each and every one of his children. He knows what we can handle and what we cannot. He knows what we're capable of doing, although some of us don't know what we're capable of doing. Some people belittle them so they're not capable of doing anything. But God knows us and that's not normal. So that's why, when I think about what God did with Mary, he had that same favor with Noah, because this was a time, this was a trying time in Noah's time, where people thought about evil continuously. But yeah, he found favor with Noah and his family and Noah had that call to build the ark.

Speaker 1: 15:27

Noah had the call to build the ark and then Noah followed through and it wasn't a small task. I just put it this way, that any task that God gave us is not small. It is one of those things. It's intimidating because we could read through history of the Bible where individuals that had calls. They were intimidated but yet they trusted in God enough to follow through on that call, and even with their purpose, moses. Moses said well, he had a speech impediment, he stutters right and Jonah didn't want to go out there and tell them people to repent. Jonah went on a cruise ship. So the call, whenever God calls us that task or whatever the purpose, is, it's huge. It's huge beyond even our imagination. So I think he, I believe he chose the perfect vessel for it in Mary. So this is where the miracle kicks in Adne. You could read it in Luke, chapter one, verse 35, and then you could transition over to Matthew, chapter one, verses 18.

Speaker 2: 16:37

Luke, chapter one, verses 35, says the angel answered, and I'm in the message. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the highest hovers over you. Therefore, the child you bring to you, bring to birth, will be called holy son of God. And of course, this is the angel answering to, like Mary's question, like, okay, so you said I'm going to get pregnant, but how does it only happen? I'm a virgin, right? I don't know what you're talking about because I ain't never been with a man. And then in Matthew one 18, it says the birth of Jesus took place like this His mother, mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, joseph discovered she was pregnant. It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.

Speaker 1: 17:33

So that's, that's what I wanted to highlight is that number one she got pregnant by the way of the Holy Spirit. That's not. That's not something that that we can, in our human mind, could comprehend. We can't. So when we talk about God parted the Red Sea, God opened up the Jordan River. When Jesus came, he was healing the blind and healing the sick, the deaf, the lame, seeing folks being miraculously healed, people without demon possessed being healed, and even to this day you know God could do wonders. But to us it's in our human mind. We can't, we can't contain that. It's so deeper than we think.

Speaker 1: 18:20

So when we say, see that God is using a vessel, as Mary, a virgin, so so virgins are pure, I'm gonna repeat that again If you're a virgin, keep yourself. Virgins are pure, they are pure. It's a reason why God want folks to wait until they get married. So virgins are pure. So God used a pure vessel that haven't been touched and impregnated, impregnated her by way of the Holy Spirit. So this is what the angel told her and it actually came to pass in Matthew's chapter one, verse 18. So in Matthew, verses one, 18, says and on following all the way down, it says now the birth of Jesus was on the wise wind, as his mother Mary was in spounce to Joseph. Before they came together, she found with child of the Holy Spirit. So now she's together with Joseph and she pregnant.

Speaker 1: 19:26

Now we did a whole episode about Joseph. I am not going to talk about Joseph, we talked about Joseph. Y'all just have to just go back and listen to the episode on all the platforms, all the media platforms podcasts, Spotify, whatever, Apple Podcast rather. But uh, Adne she's, she is pregnant with the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 2: 19:48

You said. You said something so profound and I want to interject here because a lot of times just be just because a person is not sexually active, that's not necessarily make them pure right, because they could be doing other stuff, reading books that are contaminating their minds, doing things to themselves. So when we think about being a virgin, it is literally consuming the word of God. It is feeding your spirit and not your flesh. It is not reading Zayn, it's not reading Mary B Morrison, it's not looking at porn. It is really allowing the word of God to keep you in a state and a mind of purity Because you could. You couldn't still be a virgin and still be contaminated.

Speaker 2: 20:42

You understand what I'm saying Because I was reading this book and this young woman. Her thing was reading romance novels. She never had sex, but she was doing things for to herself. And that's the thing that people have to understand when you think about purity. Mary was so pure. She was pure in heart and she was pure in mind. She was chosen as this vessel to carry Jesus because of the purity of her heart and mind. And that's what I would say to a virgin If you're gonna, if you're gonna keep your virginity, keep it. And that means not reading the filthy stuff, not engaging in self gratification, but realizing that there is a purpose and a plan that God has for you. And when God brings forth the spouse that he has for you, then you can enjoy that scene, that intimacy between you and that person. That's number one. Number two so Holy Spirit just literally placed this on my heart while you were talking is how Jesus is pure.

Speaker 2: 21:49

Jesus doesn't have the man's semen and the mother's egg. It's like God did that thing right. So, in the purest form, jesus enters into Mary's womb. There was no man interaction in that pregnancy. It was all God. That was all God, like deity, coming inside of a human being. It was not her eggs, it was not you know, just it was God, all God. And I, ooh, it's like, when you think about the Holies of Holies, mary, mary's purity. It just shows that there was something about her, like, like I said, when you think of the Holies of Holies, her womb was acceptable to carry the baby Jesus. There was something about her, and that's what. That's how we have to look at our assignment. There is something about us that God chose us for these specific assignments. They're heavy, they're uncomfortable, they're big, but he chose us to bear and carry these assignments. The goal, the key, is to say here in my Lord, send me. And that's what I was thinking about when you were talking.

Speaker 1: 23:16

No, that's profound, and even to validate what you just said. So in Matthews 1.25, said that her husband, joseph. He said, and this is what it said about Joseph, so let me go to verse 24 and 25. It says then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him and he took unto him his wife and knew her not. He didn't even touch her. He knew her not till she had brought forth her first son and called his name Jesus. So that y'all just got out to go back and listen to that Joseph episode. This was his wife and he didn't even. You know what husband and wife do, right? Husband and wife, you get married, you going to, you know American way, you going to go to a honeymoon. And you know, right, dude didn't even, dude didn't even touch her. He said, nah, cause, god revealed it to him. God revealed it to him that what is in her is from him. It's not from another dude, not from another dude, don't get it twisted. Ain't from another dude. She wasn't going around doing the dude. She, uh-uh, this is from me.

Speaker 1: 24:35

And that was powerful because we're talking about baby Jesus, right? So baby Jesus is in Mary's womb. So picture this right. God is in a human's womb. Baby Jesus was 100% flesh, human baby and God at the same time in Mary's womb. How about that? You see how God. You see how God is so all powerful, all known, all sight, that he could do whatever he want.

Speaker 1: 25:15

God says through prophecy that I'm going to come here on earth through my son and I'm going to be a baby. And you know, I like how we're talking about baby Jesus because God, being born as a human, he had to experience humanity from all phases of life. God can, god, could have just said you know what? I'm going to go ahead and redeem humanity. I'm just going to appear as a human. Then people would have been saying they were like well, god, you only been here as an adult. You don't know how it feels to be a teenager, you don't know how it feels to be an elementary school, you don't know how it feels to be in high school.

Speaker 1: 26:07

But God came as a baby because he wanted to experience all of humanity. See, cause, when folks are old, god give us longevity, cause he's hoping you'll get it to that point. He's hoping, by the time you're born, by the time you're 10 years old, or 12, or 16, 18, 20 to 30, that you will get it. So when you're old you're supposed to gain a little wisdom. By then You're supposed to come to the knowledge of Christ being here on earth. For that long you trying to tell me, you people been talking to you about Jesus Christ and you missed it all along. Jesus Christ, he could have just appeared at the age of 30 and say here, I'm the king and I'm here, I'm your savior and I'm here to redeem all of humanity.

Speaker 1: 26:52

But God, through his sovereignty, he understands the little ones. He understand the ones that are babies one year old, two year old, three year old, four year old, five year old, six years old. Oh, addy, let me even go back, cause you have a butterfly kisses ministry. He understands when parents are pregnant, they want to commit an abortion. He understands that Cause. Guess what Joseph could have said hey, you know, let's say mine, get rid of it, get rid of it. So God is so sovereign that he goes back into the womb. That's why we believe that life is, it starts, in the womb. Life, any inklet of life, right, whenever a woman, that's where life begins. So Jesus Christ understands that process, from when you're in your mother's womb to your little baby, to you're a young boy, to you're a teenager, to you're a young adult until you're 30. And God is hoping, through his sovereignty, that you get it.

Speaker 2: 27:57

When you think about talking to people, sometimes you'll hear them say you can't tell me anything until you've walked a mile in my shoes. Right, jesus is the perfect example of walking a mile in man's shoes. The only differences he didn't sin, he didn't let the cares of life get to him. He knew he was about his father's business and he stayed the course. He didn't allow nothing to distract him. He didn't allow nothing to sway him. He ain't allowed no woman to get into his ear. He look, I'm here about my daddy's business, like all of this foolishness that y'all got going on ain't got nothing to do with me, I'm here to fulfill his plan. So I'm gonna reiterate, even for me, even for you we all have an assignment. We gotta get to the point where we are like Jesus and we say I'm about my father's business, I'm about that assignment that God has given me.

Speaker 2: 28:57

It may be heavy, but sometimes you just gotta get into the trenches, get on your knees and the words of Yolande, your knees need to get ashy and stay on your knees and pray and fast and ask God to help you, because sometimes you can be pregnant in that pregnancy and I'm speaking in a metaphorical term and that is to say, you can be pregnant with a purpose and it's breached, and you need God to spiritually go and turn that pregnancy around so that you can push what he's given you out right. Mary's baby wasn't breached. Mary's baby was healthy Mary's. And I love that song that says Mary did you know? Like?

Speaker 2: 29:40

Sometimes we gotta understand there's a purpose that God choose us for that supersedes our own comprehension and understanding, and to know that Jesus walked where we walked. Jesus was tested with all the things we were tested with. Jesus was tempted with the things that we were tempted with. So when a person asks you the question like, did you walk a mile in my shoes? No, I didn't, but Jesus did. Right, jesus did. You're not going through nothing that Jesus has not encountered. And that's the reason the redemption story is so beautiful. We are a part of the greatest story of all time, and that is man being redeemed to God, and that, to me, is the most beautiful story we can ever be a part of.

Speaker 1: 30:29

So now we're gonna talk about the birth of Jesus. So, adne, this is where I mean it's exciting. You know it was exciting for me in episode one when God already made a plan for humanity. But I think I said on the top of this episode, you know they probably went through their baby shower. That's how we do it in modern turn. We like when folks having a baby, you gotta have a baby shower and you gotta do the baby. I think the baby reveal is something new. Is it gonna be a boy and a girl? But Mary already knew that she would have a son because it was told hey, you're gonna have a son and you're gonna name him Jesus. So Mary already got her sky blue, what they call that baby reveal. She got early baby reveal. She was gonna have a son, baby Jesus. So in Matthew, chapter two, verse one, what does your Bible say, adne?

Speaker 2: 31:27

Okay. So the NLT reads Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from the Eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem asking I gotta go to verse two. Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We saw the star in as it rose and we have come to worship him.

Speaker 1: 31:53

Wow. So people, folks, jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. That is important. Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea and you see how I highlight, in the days of Herod the King, but that's important too. That's important too because we're gonna talk about that. We're gonna talk about that just briefly. So, adne, I like how you pointed out you immediately went into verse number two about the wise men. Right, the wise men. They called them the magi's, the wise men. So continue reading that. I'm gonna continue to read that in Matthew, chapter two, verses nine through 11. We're gonna see what the wise men did, because the Bible has the wise men in there, for the Bible has the wise men in there. It's for a reason, okay, it's for a reason. Go ahead, adne.

Speaker 2: 32:47

Verse nine reads. After this interview, the wise men went their way and the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. They entered the house and saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures, their treasure chest, and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Speaker 1: 33:22

They worshiped, they worshiped, they worshiped him. Yes, and so when we say worship y'all, we're talking about someone or something that a person shows reverence and adoration to Appropriate to pretty much a deity like, such as God. You know, there are people that worship false gods, there are people little G gods, people worship their idols and things, but these magi I think I said this in the past the magi had had some insight for them to see the star and to know where God, baby God, baby God, baby Jesus, was located at and worshiped him. They man, addy, I don't know, I'm just cause. The thing is, we worship God, right, I don't know? You know we don't worship God only one day out of the week. Some people think that people go to a church to sing to God or worship. No, we worship God seven days a week. Your worship to God has to be seven days a week. So these magi worship, and also they presented gifts. They gave their best to God, don't you see? So let me share with you how powerful this is. Right, addy, you remember doing the fall of man? So God wanted Cain and Abel to present sacrifices before him. Abel gave his best, cain, kind of like, gave God whatever, whatever.

Speaker 1: 35:20

And we see here how the paradigm everything is shifting now when it comes to worship. Now these magi's are is an example of how God desires worship. And they came before and he's a baby too. He's a baby, this is baby Jesus, but at the same time, he's not just a baby, he's Jesus, and we talked about it in episode one. He is God. So I said all that to say this that when it comes to worshiping God and I know we see here the magi's we got to worship God and we can worship God and we got to give God our best, not the leftovers, not what we see happen with Cain back in a book of Genesis. Give God whatever. And that's where most people get in trouble since the Addy, because, number one, folks don't want to worship God like that, especially. We live in a world today where so much is pulling folks away from God. There's so much distraction. So God desires God is designed our attention, god is designed relationship with Him. God is designed worship and God is designed us to give Him our best. But when I say give Him our best, it's not just about tangible things. God wants to use us. Yes, of course God wants to present and be able to support those in need, support the local congregations, but also, god wants to use us. God wants us to present ourselves as a living sacrifice unto Him. So, when we think about worship, no, this is not like.

Speaker 1: 37:22

Oh, I went to church today. After church, I went to grandma's house and I had Sunday what do you call that? Sunday dinner, sunday lunch I had Sunday lunch. No, no, no, no. God want to see what you're going to do on Monday. Are you going to worship Him and present the best to Him? God going to see what you're going to do on Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday and even Friday. So God want to see if we're going to worship Him throughout the week because, like I said, as I alluded to earlier, there are so many things that's striving to pull people away from God social media, the news, the wars that's going on, our jobs and even family y'all, even family. But God is designed to have relationship with us and that's why I like how and I'm not going to go into in depth of the magi's, but I like how the author pointed out the magi's, how they seen.

Speaker 1: 38:23

They seen a sign. They seen a sign and I believe that they had some insight, but they seen a sign and they knew what baby Jesus was and they worship. I don't think people understand what I'm saying. They worship, because some people could worship their cars. I done seen folks get a brand new car, idolize and worship their cars or whatever it could be, whatever it could be, a home, whatever the case may be, but for this example I'm just going to use a car.

Speaker 1: 38:49

I done seen folks just get good cars too, look good, clean cars, and they just idolize it Like as though they're worshiping it. They clean it. I'd be like, dude, you just cleaned it yesterday. Now I got to clean it again like, oh man, this is my baby. I believe that's what the magi's, that's what they did to baby Jesus. They honored, they worshiped him Because we could. The way that most of us could understand, especially if you're currently minded, is the things that people that currently minded do already. With the things that they have, such as a car or a home, even jobs, people could honor and worship their bosses, their jobs, then worship God. So I like how the magi's were highlighted in this past.

Speaker 2: 39:39

When I think of worship, I think of our breath. Our breath is a form of worship, because the moment we get up, if we are truly in tune with God, the first thing we do is praise and worship God and thank Him for giving us another opportunity. When I think of worship, I think of our posture, the way we submit ourselves before our father, before our big brother, and even the Holy Spirit that dwells inside of us. When I think of worship, I think of our hearts and how in tuned and aligned we are with God, because to worship God, like you said, is seven days a week, 365 days, 52 weeks, right. We have to understand that it's an everyday process and we're not gonna always get it right. When these men came to worship, they didn't worship Mary, they worshiped Jesus and they went to Bethlehem to find where baby Jesus is at. So, as I was doing some research for our recording, I wanted to understand some things and to bring some things to light. Many people look at the birth of Jesus as Christmas. First and foremost, if we do our research, birthing takes place in the springtime, because that's when you see the baby lambs and all these different things. Jesus was not born in December. We gotta really do our research and look at that right. So to know that springtime, like God, is so strategic, right, the sun comes in the era of birthing, which is spring. Spring represents new life, new beginnings, like our father is so strategic man. Like, when I tell you I'm, every time I look at and read and see it's like wow, to bring the Messiah in a new era, a new beginning, a new life. Like this is what it's all about. And then the place where he is born is known as the House of Bread. Bethlehem is known as the House of Bread and of course we're going to discuss this, but Jesus is known as what? The Bread of Life. We take for granted, the things that the Lord affords us to see when we start reading his word and really studying his word and desiring to know more and to know that this innocent child came into the world to incite change and start something afresh.

Speaker 2: 42:54

Jesus, you want to talk about revolutionary. Jesus is the epitome of a revolutionary. He revolutionized the mindset of so many people that were stuck in bondage to the law of Moses, to help them see, this is what it is. This is what true love is. Not following the law of Moses. True love is being in alignment and surrenderance to God and God alone.

Speaker 2: 43:27

Like you said, people buying cars not realizing you can get into an accident and there goes the car that you were idolizing. People idolize marriage. So you get married and your husband or your wife gets sick and they get cancer and then they die. There goes your idol right.

Speaker 2: 43:45

Sometimes we need to understand. We need to put God in the place where God needs to be. We idolized Michael Jackson for years and it took a man with some medicine to literally put him to sleep and he never woke up. People are idolizing Beyonce, like we have to understand there is only one person that we must worship and that is Jesus Christ and Christ alone. Through Christ Jesus do we have eternal life, and that's what I really wanted to focus on and I wanted to let people know. Stop calling Christmas Christ's birthday. That is not his birthday. It's just a season for you to go and spend a whole lot of money and put yourself in debt. There is no God on this green earth that's going to create a season where you're putting yourself in debt. Now you become a slave to the lender. We need to get our minds right. We really truly need to get our minds right and understand that God is a God of love and not a God of bondage.

Speaker 1: 44:55

Amen.

Speaker 1: 44:57

No that was a good take. So we're just going to continue to tiptoe on Jesus' young adult, baby young adult stages. So, real quick, I want to talk about how baby Jesus was in danger so we knew what was going on. Yeah, the magi has got insight, but also there's a spiritual part of it too. Because baby Jesus was in danger, herod. Herod desired to kill all the two-year-olds, young, and two years old and younger, and baby Jesus was included in that number. So apparently God in his wisdom and you can read it in Matthew, chapter 2, verses 13 through 15. Because Jesus' mom and dad, baby Jesus, had to flee and go somewhere else because of fear.

Speaker 2: 45:52

Okay, so I'm going to start at 12, because it says when it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod 13,. After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, flee to Egypt with the child and his mother. The angel said stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. That night, joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod's death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet. I called my son out of Egypt.

Speaker 2: 46:41

Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men's report of the stars first appearance. Herod's brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah. A cry was heard in Rama weeping in great mourning Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.

Speaker 1: 47:22

This is not the first time that this has happened before.

Speaker 1: 47:26

We know back in Moses' time that this occurred as well. There was a time that babies were being killed too, back in Moses' day, and Moses was put in a basket. This has happened before. Moses is like a type shadow of Christ. Moses and Jesus Christ's life are somewhat parallel. Moses was just a man. Jesus was just like God. When we read the Old Testament, the Old Testament is like a preview. It's not the full picture. It's like God was giving us snapshots.

Speaker 1: 48:11

You ever seen a movie? They always get us all the time on television. They say you want to see this movie. They show us the good parts. They say I gotta go watch this movie. This movie looks real good. We gotta go watch this movie.

Speaker 1: 48:24

That's what God was doing when we read about Moses and we talked about Moses and the Ten Commandments, the Children of Israel. God used the Children of Israel, the Israelites. That's the genealogy which is Judah. Jesus will come through the lineage of Judah. Jesus Christ will come through the lineage of Judah for the sake of the whole world. Back then it was limited to four sojourners. We know the people of God was the Israelites. You got Abraham, isaac, jacob, then Jacob's name God changed to Israel. Jacob had the 12 sons. That's where you get the Israelites. Then, of course, they had the land. We know that Christ came from the lineage of Judah. They also were intermingling with other nations. Other nations were where it should fall as God's people in Atlanta came in.

Speaker 1: 49:24

There's a whole history behind that I'm not going to dive into. God is so sovereign that God has given us a preview of what's to come. When we fast forward to the New Testament, god is like I'm not going to only save Israel, I'm not going to only save Jews. I didn't only come for white people. I didn't only come for peach people. I didn't only come for black people. I've come to conquer death in sin. I came to conquer what has entered into this world. That's why I like how you pointed out in episode one, man, jesus Christ stared death right in the face. Jesus Christ did what was next. We're going to get to that. That's an episode four. We're going to get into that. But Jesus Christ died for all. It's not limited to only one set of people, it's for everybody.

Speaker 1: 50:20

But we see here, baby Jesus is in trouble. This is not the first time. As a result. It's amazing because Jesus Christ had to flee to Egypt. Ain't that something? Born in Bethlehem fled to Egypt? Then I just talk about that. The children were in bondage to the Israelites, and here's Jesus doing the opposite. Baby Jesus is going to Egypt. And now you're going to talk about the significance of Egypt.

Speaker 1: 50:49

But what I do want to say, because we got to talk about when he was 12 years old, it's going to skip from this to that. So Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem, went to Egypt and he came back. He went to Nazareth, he returned to Nazareth. So those were Jesus Christ's journeys when he was a baby Born in Bethlehem, fled to Egypt because of Herod, killing all the little babies, all the little young boys. And then he returned to Nazareth and verse Matthew, chapter 2, verse 23, and says and it came, and he dwelt in the city of Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets he shall be called a Nazarene.

Speaker 1: 51:29

So now the Bible skips. And again he lived his young. He's an elementary school y'all. We ain't going to talk about him in elementary school, because there's nothing written about him in elementary school and I'm just putting it like in a modern way. So it skipped from baby Jesus to now. Here's Jesus as a 12 year old boy and Adne, I believe that kids as young as 12, they could comprehend, they could understand the good news, the gospel of our Lord and our Savior, jesus Christ. So kids should not think that, oh, I'm too young, I don't want to know about eternal life, because here we see a depiction, we see a picture here of Jesus Christ. Oh, you know what? Let me not be a spoiler. Adne, go ahead and read Luke, chapter 2, verse 41 and 52. So I know you go ahead and read and we'll just have a conversation about it.

Speaker 2: 52:28

All right, I'm reading it in the message. It says every year Jesus' parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. When he was 12 years old, they went up, as they always did for the feast when it was over, and they left for home. The child Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents didn't know it when he was somewhere in the company of pilgrims. They journeyed for a whole day and then they began looking for him among relatives and neighbors. When they didn't find him, they went back to Jerusalem looking for him.

Speaker 2: 53:06

The next day they found him in the temple, seated among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. The teachers were all quite taken with him, impressed with the sharpness of his answers. But his parents were not impressed. They were upset and hurt. His mother said young man, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been half out of our minds looking for you. He said why are you looking for me? Didn't you know that I had to be here dealing with the things of my father? But they had no idea what he was talking about. So he went back to Nazareth with them and lived obediently with them. His mother held these things dearly deep within herself and Jesus matured, growing up in both body and spirit, blessed by both God and people.

Speaker 1: 54:07

Wow, so it's yeah, okay. So I'm going to just talk about this briefly, because I know time is well spent. But baby, well, he's not. I can't call him baby anymore. How do I say baby Jesus, he's a preteen now?

Speaker 2: 54:25

Yeah, he's a preteen.

Speaker 1: 54:27

You know what they say about them, preteens, adne, I remember when I was 12. Rebellion, yeah, I remember when I was 12, man, but you know what's crazy? When I was 12, before I even talk about Jesus, let me just talk about this. Before I was 12, that's when I was living with my. No, when I was 12 years old, I was living with my uncle. So when I was 12, that's when I was going to the place. That's when I was going to church faithfully, around that, around that same age. What were you doing around age of 12, adne?

Speaker 2: 55:01

The age of 12,. What was I doing at the age of 12? I was living with my aunt, so I was an abusive home. Honestly, at the age of 12. We sit in other people's children and being abused in all honesty.

Speaker 1: 55:21

So yeah, preteen, Jesus was found in the temple, and what I like about it's so many things you read that I could tackle. The point is that his parents went to Jerusalem to the feast of the Passover and at 12 years old he was among those teaching the word, In other words, the word. He was gravitated by. The word is the word that got his attention and he was there for a few days, three days. He was there for a while. His parents thought they would have had to put him on a milk cart. Adne, His parents thought they had to put him on a milk cart. I'm just trying to put it in modern terms, not to make fun of anybody that's missing. I made my prayers go to those families that have missing loved ones. But Jesus' parents thought he was missing. But Jesus was found among the leaders asking questions. He was talking, he was in his temple.

Speaker 1: 56:37

And what really got to me? The interesting point that really got to me is found in Luke, chapter 2, verse 49, when Jesus Christ said how is it that you sought me Like? Why are you looking for me? He says which ye, not that I must be about my father's business. So right there, at the age of 12, Jesus Christ is trying to convey with his parents that the calling that I have or the purpose that I have, I must abide by that. It's like he couldn't even control it. He couldn't even control it. So when you have a calling, when you have a purpose, when God is calling you to do something, you're going to have that mindset. You're going to be like, look, I'm going to be about my father's business. I got to do whatever it takes in order to fulfill the calling that God has on my life.

Speaker 1: 57:42

And here this is the early stages of Jesus Christ being gravitated towards the Word, Because that's the thing that it's like any child of God had. So when we hear sermons or when we hear music that's Godly music our spirits automatically gravitate towards it. So I'm going to give you an example. So if I'm at work and I hear somebody say Jesus, my antennas go up Like hold up who didn't call Jesus? Automatically my spirit going to gravitate towards that.

Speaker 1: 58:13

Or it could be like a sermon or a teaching lesson my spirit going to automatically be heightened and I'm like man, I want to engage in that conversation. I want to listen into what's going on in that conversation. So it's in you, it's the spirit, man, Because we don't really know the flesh. The flesh is the opposition of God, so the flesh wars against the spirit. The flesh does not desire the things of the spirit. So our flesh tells us that we want to do fleshly things, what fleshly things do. But the spirit, because we know that God is spirit and those that or them that worship God must worship God and spirit in the truth, Because God is spirit. But we're looking at preteen Jesus, which is 100% preteen and 100% God. So it's the spirit in him, it's the God in him that's gravitating towards the Galilee Temple.

Speaker 2: 59:11

I think it's beautiful that, at the age of 12, he already understood his assignment, and the beauty of understanding that assignment is what he says to his mom. Why were you looking for me? Like you already knew this, the angels told you that you were going to be carrying the Son of God, so your expectations for me should not be any different from what the angels revealed to you. So, anywhere you're going to look for me, you need to look for me in my father's house. You need to look for me sitting at the feet of teachers wanting to know more, wanting to even impart my wisdom on them, because, of course, the wisdom that he was sharing comes directly from God. And that's the thing I want to talk to parents about, especially those that are married. Yes, two-parent households are beautiful, but sometimes there's a sacrifice that's going to have to be made on both parts so that way you can raise your children in the wisdom and admonition of the Lord. Sometimes it's going to take one of the parents to say, hey, you know what, For the next three years, I'm going to have to stay and nurture our child at home while you work, so that way we can put Jesus in this child, because when they go out into the world. The world is going to eat them up and spit them out.

Speaker 2: 1:00:40

And the reason I'm sharing this is because, of course, last month we had two people that we interviewed and both of them were discipled well and they didn't waver on when they made the decision to follow Jesus. They knew when the time was right because they were discipled well, they were in love with Jesus before making the decision. Jesus understood the assignment. He was in love with God and knew that.

Speaker 2: 1:01:06

I don't care what my mom and my daddy says. I have to follow what my daddy in heaven tells me. But what I love is when it says that he humbled himself and walked in obedience until his adulthood. He had to be in subjection to his parents. So as parents, yes, y'all probably saying she crazy, you know it's expensive out here, but think about your children's maturity in Christ because at the end of the day, these old bodies eventually are going to go to the ground and the spirit is going to go back to God, and what you don't want is for you to have a child that doesn't reverence or fear God because you didn't put it in him, because you were too busy working for the world versus working for God by stewarding your child well.

Speaker 1: 1:01:53

Yeah, that's well said. But you know, just briefly I'm going to talk about Mary. So Mary even kept all those things in her heart. So when your child says something like that like you know I'm a Bible father's business and all that good stuff Mary kept that stuff in her heart. They does something. So I'm going to just close out with that. But the Bible did mention that Jesus grew with wisdom and stature and favor in favor with God and man. So that's the conclusion of episode two.

Speaker 1: 1:02:27

This episode was definitely a blessing to me, and I'm sure it was to you, adne, and I'm sure our listeners are going to enjoy it. Just remember to continue to let God use you and the God given the assignment that he has you on, because, as we see here, baby, like even the things that we go through as kids, sometimes we don't understand what we go through. You know I got countless of stories of things that I went through when I was young and I make sense. So we see, jesus Christ was in that same danger, where Jesus Christ was on a verge of dying, but I know it wasn't going to happen because of God's sovereignty and through God's power. But even through it all, jesus Christ grew, he grew in the wisdom of God and even being found in the temple and Adne.

Speaker 1: 1:03:08

I believe that kids have the authority and power to draw their parents closer to God. So, even though we know that Mary and Joseph, that they were right before God, but sometimes children can be elevated spiritually and to help their parents to see what they don't see and what they need to see as it relates to God. So I believe that children are important. You know Jesus, you just love the kids. You know Jesus Christ, love the kids. So remember, world, that Jesus Christ, he is the King of Kings and he's the Lord of Lord. That's it for now, but before we go, please continue to listen, subscribe, share our podcast. Also, if you want to support our show, please scroll down to the bottom of the show notes and click on the link that says buy me a coffee. We were greatly appreciated. Thank you for listening and remember God is good all the time and all the time God is good and also Jesus Christ loves you. Thank you.