Your Word Without Contradiction 12-28-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Before interceding, I want to enter in to the intimacy of the communion of prayer in the silence of surrender before You. Before thinking of myself or others, I want to begin my day thinking only of You. Before listening to voices of my family, I want to listen for Your voice alone. I give You first place in my day and in my life, by Your grace. ... In reading the stories about Your birth again this year, I see three different prophecies about three different places relating to Your earthly origin. According to the prophet, You were to be born "in Bethlehem of Judea" (Matthew 2:4-6). After Your birth, Your earthly father, Joseph, carried You away to Egypt until Herod's murderous threats passed with his death. "This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, 'Out of Egypt I have called My Son' " (v. 2:15). When Joseph was guided by a dream to return to Israel, "he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, 'He will be called a Nazorean' " (v. 2:22-23). Each of these places -- Bethlehem of Judea, Egypt, and Nazareth of Galilee -- appeared in the earlier Scriptures as prophetic declarations relating to Your birth and early life. Any one of these prophecies taken alone would tend to exclude the others. They could have been seen by some as contradictions within the Word of God. Denominations and sects could have formed around the beliefs of the place of Your birth. But by the moving of Your Spirit in accordance with Your will, the prophecy of each place was fulfilled without contradiction, only highlighting in another way the uniqueness of the identity of this Child, the details of whose birth were prophesied hundreds of years before His birth. Forgive me, Lord, when I have let the things that seem to be contradictions in Your Word cause me to stumble with doubt and unbelief. Forgive me for the times when my lack of faith has let me fail to see that there are no contradictions -- only seeming contradictions that I do not yet understand. As You said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished" (Matthew 5:17-18). Give me faith to believe every word of Your Scripture is true and can be trusted -- without contradiction and without fail. And every written word is perfectly fulfilled in You, the Living Word. Give me courage to stand against the doubts of others and perseverance to not waiver in the stand I take by Your grace. On this side of heaven, it may not all make sense to me. So, on this side of heaven, the gift of faith is required and received. By Your grace, I choose to receive Your gift of faith afresh again today. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's on personal transformation through inner healing and deliverance, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address is 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month at 7 pm for our citywide gathering for prayer and worship in the chapel. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com