Messiah...

The woman (at the well) said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us."  Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."
John 4:25-26

It's sad that Handel's Messiah is usually only heard during the Christmas season.  Did you know that it was first performed in Dublin, Ireland, as a charity concert in April of 1742, conducted by Handel himself?  He used Old Testament passages from Isaiah, Haggai, Malachi, Zechariah, Psalms, Lamentations and Job and New Testament passages from Matthew, Luke, John, Romans, I Corinthians, Hebrews and Revelation as lyrics for the songs to tell about the Messiah - Jesus the Christ. 

And it doesn't end with the Hallelujah Chorus, the most famous of the songs in this oratorio.  It closes with Worthy is the Lamb That Was Slain which ends with six pages of "Amen,"(so be it)!

The Messiah brought and still brings hope and deliverance from sin and oppression.   In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the Christ, which is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah.  In the passage at the top of this post, He told the woman at the well that He is the Christ.  He fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies, which is amazing in itself. 

As I was studying for today's post, I found the following powerful testimony from a Jewish believer in the book Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell:

I read in the Scriptures that God would send a perfect sacrifice to atone for my sins, one called The Messiah.  But, how could I know who this Messiah would be?  Then, in the Jewish Bible, I saw all the prophecies which identified Him; such as, - that He would be born in Bethlehem of Judea, that He would be born of a young maiden who was a virgin, that He would die by crucifixion and that He would arise from the dead!

I knew that only One Person in all of history could seriously be considered - Yeshua, known to the Gentiles as Jesus!  And this Jewish boy, not being very religious, - in the privacy of my own room, I prayed..."Messiah, if you're there, come into my heart and life and cleanse me with your precious blood of atonement!"

It was like being in a dark room and somebody suddenly turned on the lights!  God, who had been a million miles away, all of a sudden came closer than my mother, my sister, my hands or even my breath!  I finally found the peace and the purpose and the joy and the reality for which I had been seeking!!!                                      Manny Brotman

I am definitely only scratching the surface of this topic.  If you would like to know more about Messiah, a great book to read is The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, especially the tenth chapter. If you like more technical information, read Evidence That Demands a Verdict I & II and More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell.  Amazing!!


Christmas Decorations

Several years ago, I wanted to put ornaments on our tree that were "Jesus specific."  I couldn't find any that were nice, so I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some thin wooden ovals and made my own.  It's easy now to find these kind of ornaments, especially in Christian bookstores, and many of them are beautiful.  The other day I was in Hobby Lobby and found ceramic ornaments that you can decorate yourself.  I thought about redoing my Jesus ornaments...for about five seconds!  Nope!  What I have will do just fine.

Here's how I made them:

I sanded the wood ovals so they were smooth after holes for ribbon were drilled.  Then I decoupaged scrapbook paper on one side and used a Psalm 23 rubber stamp with gold ink on the other side.  I printed the different names in a pretty font, tore them apart and decoupaged them onto the sides with the scrapbook paper. Then, the edges were antiqued with a brown ink pad and a pretty ribbon, long enough to tie onto tree branches, was added when it was completely dry.  Easy peasy!

Today's Recipe - Dump Cake
This recipe is perfect for an easy dessert to take to a party.

16 oz cherry pie filling
16 oz. crushed pineapple
1 box white or yellow cake mix
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan. Dump the cherry pie filling and the crushed pineapple into the pan and mix.  Dump the dry cake mix over the top of the fruit and smooth out.  Cut the stick of butter into 1/4 thick pieces and place evenly in rows on top of the cake mix.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Serve with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream with red and green Christmas sprinkles.

Option - If you like pecans, sprinkle 1/2 cup of chopped pecans over the cake mix before baking.