As we approach this time of the year when the festivities of the Holiday Season come upon us once again, it is a joyous time to remember what our Savior did for us in coming to this earth, to a literal place called Israel – to Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem – over 2,000 years ago. As we recently entered the season of the Holy Days on the Hebrew, Biblical calendar (beginning with the New Year Rosh Hashanah), I felt the Lord impressing a word on my heart… I pray it is an encouragement to you. May it serve as a reminder that this season ahead of us is all about Jesus and His coming to the world.
Jesus Christ wasn’t just the answer a couple millennia ago – He is the answer now for a world that is lost in darkness. Though many may try to hide the light of God’s truth, saying that truth is only relative and is merely the sum total of any person’s particular viewpoint or spin on the world, we know that Truth exists and it is found in the person of Jesus Christ. When we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate the Christ who came near to us when we were lost in the sea of our own sinfulness.
Many times these days we hear that it is not politically or socially correct to talk about why we celebrate Christmas. But I am here to tell you today that a remnant that knows God’s truth is arising in the land…
A Remnant is Rising in the Land.
Unseen, unrecognized, they know Whose they are and have died to this present world's ambitions. They want nothing of a consumer Christianity, where God exists for their earthly pleasure. They have caught a whiff of Heaven’s fragrant food, and just the smell has satisfied them more than the sweetest delicacies of this passing age, and motivates them to remember that they are just passing through.
A Remnant is Rising in the Land.
They will not be bought or sold with position or money. They are remembering why they “got into this” in the first place – for the Lamb. For Jesus Christ's honor, for the sake of His worthy name. Their backbones are being steeled in the furnace of affliction, and purified of contemporary dross. They are old-school, hard-core Jesus freaks, and they are not apologizing for it. The remnant is not ashamed!
A Remnant is Rising in the Land.
They are blood-bought, and fiercely committed to the Word – the Logos and the Rhema. Something within them stirs because they know they are here on a kairos assignment. They realize that they may have forgotten that for a moment, been diverted off the path for some years, but like soldiers who remember drills from long ago, they are coming to attention and position and awareness. They are here on purpose. They are necessary to Heaven’s narrative. They are not bystanders. They are the players on the stage of His-story.
A Remnant is Rising in the Land.
This army is realizing they never should have eaten Babylon’s food in the first place, even if it was served in halls decorated to look like a cheap imitation of Zion. They would rather be pilgrims than settle. They would rather be fools for Christ than wise in the world's eyes. They would rather be known in Heaven and feared in Hell than recognized on earth. Whatever happens to them in the world really doesn't matter. They have locked gazes with the Lamb’s eyes,
and locked step with the cadence of Heaven’s march. His remnant understand that this is the Final Act and there is no turning back now.
A Remnant is Rising in the Land.
They are nowhere to be seen and everywhere to be found. There are very few of them chosen, and a great host of them who will emerge. It’s going to be very, very intense, for the sword they carry is stained with the blood of their lesser desires and their crucified carnality. They’ve had their battles, faced their own personal Valleys of Decision, and made their choice. I have Decided. To Follow Jesus. No Turning Back. We have decided. Have you decided?
Ready or not, here they come.
In the hustle and bustle – and even more importantly, in the age of widespread moral relativism that we live in – let’s remember that this season really is all about Jesus. Only His Name has the power to save… He is the reason that we celebrate.
Robert Stearns is the founder and executive director of Eagles' Wings, an international relational network of believers, churches, and ministries committed to the lifestyle of biblical spirituality, the unity of the Body of Christ, and God’s enduring covenant with Israel. Robert’s ministry flows out of deep passion for Jesus characterized by a distinct prophetic edge. He has ministered in 30 nations around the world and maintains a significant burden for the Eastern United States and Israel. Robert also serves as co-chairman of the Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, and Publisher of KAIROS Magazine. Robert and his three sons live in New York, and spend a great deal of time in Jerusalem, Israel.
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