From: Beverly French [frenchb@vcss.k12.ca.us]
Sent: Sunday, December 19, 2004 5:33 AM
To: Heritage
Subject: December 19th Greetings

Of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ we sing,
"He is the King of kings,
 He is the Lord of lords.
 He is the Master of everything;
 Let Him be adored."
He is our King of kings and Lord of lords and it His birth we are preparing to celebrate in a few days.  His coming was planned in eternity past, before the foundation of the world. Omniscient God knew before hand of our great need for a Savior!

"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
 Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
 From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler of Israel.
 His goings forth are from long ago,
 From the days of eternity.  Micah 5:2

'One will go forth from Me to be RULER'  (My emphasis)

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
 And the government will rest on His shoulders;
 And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,  Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.  There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,  On the throne of David and over his kingdom,  To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness  From then on and forevermore..."  Isaiah 9:6-7

"'Behold, the days are coming,' declares the Lord,
 'When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch;
 And He will reign as king and act wisely
 And do justice and righteousness in the land.'"  Jeremiah 23:5

"And to Him was given dominion,
 Glory and a kingdom,
 That all the peoples, nations and men of every language
 Might serve Him.
 His dominion is an everlasting dominion
 Which will not pass away;
 And His kingdom is one
 Which will not be destroyed."  Daniel 7:14

"But when the fullness of time had came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman..."  Galations 4:4

Read again Luke 1:26-35 concerning what is called the Annunciation.  I will note only a few verses from the account. The angel Gabriel speaking to Mary: "...Hail, favored one!  The Lord is with you."  Vs. 28 "But she was greatly troubled at this statement..."  Vs. 29 "And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end."  Vs.30-33

Now let us look ahead to the time Jesus was gathering His twelve disciples and see one who recognized Jesus as King of Israel.

Read the whole account in John 1:43-51 of Nathanael's recognition of who the King of Israel is.  I will only note a few verses of this conversation: "Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."  Vs. 45 "And Nathanael said to him, 'Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?' Philip said to him, 'Come and see.'" Vs. 46

As the account goes on Nathanael did come and he did see that Jesus was and is the King of Israel (and we know He is the King of all). Verse 49 tells us, "Nathanael answered Him, 'Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.'"

I appreciate Nathanael because his heart was open and prepared to receive truth, to be lead to and to learn from the King of kings and Lord of lords. As we continue to prepare to celebrate His birth, let us be yielded to our Lord for in all things it is He alone with whom we have to do.

So come let us adore Him and enjoy Him forever!