Day 4 - Verse 95 - "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a manger." Luke 2:12

This will be our last day on this verse...is it implanted in your brain for future reference?  What is it about this verse that will stick with you?  The fact that God's Son was sent to earth in such meager surroundings showing God's total indifference to earthly wealth?  Or that the angels delivered such a specific sign to the shepherds and that we are also given signs to watch for?  Or that the shepherds had to go and seek to find the promised King just as we are told to seek to find Jesus our Savior? Or maybe you have something different that you have pulled out of this one sentence verse that you will take with you.

This is God's Word, "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in a cloth and lying in a manger."  There is something for every person who reads this verse that God is ready to impart to you.  I am convinced that there is not a word of Scripture that is not intentional and purposeful if we ask God for His insight to see what He wants us to see through His utterances to us.

As we go through the rest of this Scripture memorization, I would remind you not to take lightly the fact that we are putting into our memories God's actual words...these are not helpful hints, or meaningful quotes, Scripture is the sword of the Spirit.  These are words that can slay our enemy. They have divine power and purpose.

Ephesians 6:13-18
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

There's a reason that the Word of God is referred to as a sword---it is our offensive weapon to be used against our enemy, and it is the surgeon's scalpel that can exorcise the malignancies residing in our lives.  Use it as the very effective weapon and tool that has been given us.

Right now, I have to remind myself that I have this sword ready to pick up and take with me into each day.  When I am tempted to be fearful of what may lay ahead in my life and in the lives of my children and grandchildren, I remind myself that God has not left us unarmed.  We have been given His Word to allow us to move forward without fear!

Let's march forward with this tool at our ready disposal.  Not fearful, but ready for battle.

And this most recent verse will go with us---don't let anyone steal it from you---your Savior came, angels announced it, shepherds heard and obeyed, and they sought Him out and found Him...just as they had been promised.  Just as we are promised.  Just as all are promised.  Be like the angels today and PROCLAIM Him to someone who needs to know this beautiful story!

Day 3 - Verse 95 - "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a manger." Luke 2:12

"You will find a baby.."

The angels sent the shepherds out to search for a baby...the baby they had declared was God's gift to mankind..a Savior.  I find it interesting that they didn't deliver the baby to the shepherds (they could have!), and they didn't miraculously transport the shepherds to the manger (they could have!), but they sent them out. Just like the Magi coming from the East, the shepherds had to start their own trek to find this special child...to seek, to find.

When I think about this, I can't help but think of the verses in Deuteronomy 4:29

But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. 

and Jeremiah 29:13

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

and Matthew 7:7

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

The shepherds were promised that they would find the source of their worship IF they set out on their search and looked for the baby that the angels had described.  They would not find Him if they didn't go and look for Him.  They would not be able to testify to the truth of the angels' proclamation if they did not do their part and set out to seek Him.

We are likewise promised that we will find God and His truth...but we have to set out on our own journey and diligently seek it.  God invites us to seek Him, to show our desire for Him, to ask for His wisdom (James 1:5) and He promises that our seeking will not be in vain...He will make Himself known to us.  And for the prodigal, He waits to see us running down the road back to Him, and He is there...with arms open wide, to receive us.

The angels prompted the shepherds to go and find Him...the Spirit prompts us to go and find Him.  If you have never started your journey, it is not too late.  If you have and have gotten sidetracked, it is not too late to return to your trek.

The biggest mistake we can make is to ignore the call, continue to sit in our field and watch our sheep....or TV, or FB, or.....

Day 2 - Verse 95 - "This will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a manger." Luke 2:12

What part of this verse is most important to you?  If you had been one of the shepherds on that dark winter night, hearing the angels proclaim the Messiah's arrival on planet earth, hearing them say, "This will be the sign for you...", what would you have thought?  Would there have been any chance at all that you would have ignored the fact that they have told you "the sign" to find this baby that will change the world?

When we are given signs, do we follow them?  The shepherds did.  They didn't hesitate.  The angels said, "here's the sign to look for" and they went out on their search.  The search for the baby that matched the sign's criteria...wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a manger.  When they found that baby, they knew they had found the object of the angels' divine announcement.

Aren't we glad the shepherds didn't ignore the angels' instructions?  They paid attention.  They obeyed.

Are we still given signs?  Are we paying attention?

The disciples asked Jesus, "What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"  Jesus didn't think their question out of line or unworthy of a very serious and detailed response---the next 30 verses of Matthew 24.  What signs did Jesus relay:
1. Deception
2. False Messiahs
3. Wars & Rumors of Wars
4. Famines & Earthquakes
5. Persecution because of Allegiance to Christ
6. Falling Away from Faith
7. Increase of Wickedness
8. Loss of Love for Others
9. Preaching of the Gospel throughout the World

And what did Jesus tell His followers to do?  To "stand firm to the end."

Here are our signs.  Are we seeing them?  Are we looking?  Jesus told His disciples at the close of this chapter, “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door."

"Near", "right at the door"---relative terms in God's perspective of time.  But when we look at the signs, we cannot ignore that  they speak to our time.  Let us not be caught unaware.  Let us be diligent in our watching, asking for God's wisdom and discernment to see the signs that He sets before us.  But most importantly, to be obedient to Christ's command...to "stand firm to the end."

I am sitting in my home in Amarillo, Texas, on the eve of a Presidential primary election.  I am so thankful for the freedom to vote and I will celebrate in my ability to do that tomorrow. There are many things that I see going on in this election that make me watchful, and wary. My confidence is in no man and in no human's declarations of their power or ability to make all things great again. I pray that we elect a leader who seeks to do God's will; one who prays and humbles himself before God. I pray for that.  I pray that we do not fall into voting out of fear, but out of faith...putting our trust in God, not any man.

I am reminded that as a follower of Christ I am not to be anxious and I am not to fear.  No matter the outcome of our elections, I know that God is sovereign and trustworthy...and I will watch...watch for the signs.  And I pray that I will always, always, stand firm to the end.

For that baby who came wrapped snugly in cloths and lying in a manger, IS coming again!

Watch!