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Reconciliation Outreach,
Paul & Nuala O'Higgins.
paulandnuala@bellsouth.net www.reconciliationoutreach.net
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES
JESUS MAKE?
A Story Of Rescue
A
man is trapped in a blazing fire inside His home.
His neighbors observe the fire from their
windows.
One sighs and says, “What a shame!”
A second neighbor says, “What an idiot to
let the fire start.”
Another
neighbor says,” That’s what happens
to you when ignore the fire code!”
A
fourth neighbor unable to get out of his house
because he is confined to a wheel chair and taken
care of by his son, says: “Son, our neighbor
is in danger. Run in and drag him out before the
flames engulf Him.”
The
son rushes to the house; finds his neighbor
unconscious on the floor; heaves him on to His
shoulders and carries him to his father’s
house.
Christmas
is the celebration of a dramatic rescue operation
to liberate fallen man. Our Heavenly Father
sent His Son to rescue us from the disaster we
ourselves created by separating ourselves from
Him by sin.
Seeing
us in our separation and misery He sent the
Savior to rescue us from our own mistakes and the
oppression of dark, evil and powerful spirits.
All other religions are based on self-righteous
efforts to rescue ourselves and discover the path
to God. As commendable as these are, they are
powerless.
Christianity
is not the product of man’s best efforts. It
succeeds not because of our efforts but in spite
of them. It is as different from religion as a
helicopter is from a staircase. Christianity is
the story of salvation and rescue. Religion and
humanism call for achievement, but Christmas
points to the fact that God stepped into our
world to save us.
The prophets foresaw this event. They heard the
plan from God before it happened so that when it
happened everyone would recognize that this is
indeed the fulfillment of God’s word.
Jesus
Emptied Himself
“For
Unto us a child is born unto us a son is given
and the government shall be upon His shoulder,
and His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isa 9:6) A
Son came to rescue us. Being born as a child, He
grew us to be the Sinless One who died to rescue
us.
A child did not become God; God became a child.
The child grew and became not just an innocent
baby but the first sinless Man. As God’s
sinless Son He rescued us by emptying Himself
further, to die on the Cross and take our shame,
guilt and separation on Himself. In focusing too
much on the Child we obscure the Man and the Son.
The
self-emptying of Jesus is God’s only way to
rescue us. It is also an example how love can
best be expressed - by emptying ourselves
for the good of others. Self-Emptying is what
this season is all about.
When
Jesus declares “I am the way the truth
and the life no one cometh unto the Father, but
by me.” (Joh 14:6) this is neither an
arrogant nor a narrow statement. God does not
need another rescue plan. The religions of the
world cannot take us to the one true God, but
they are an expression of spiritual hunger
God took notice of the prayers and alms of
Cornelius. He saw that he was spiritually hungry
and answered his hunger by sending a disciple
(Peter) with he message of what He had done
through Jesus. No religion can get us to God, God
had to come to us.
Jesus
is the Executor of God’s rescue plan to
restore us to His blessings care and glory. The
Son that God has given is God’s plan. There
is no other. He needs no other.
Jesus
is UNIQUE, INIMITABLE, INDISPENSABLE,
UNAVOIDABLE, IRREPLACEABLE, INEVITABLE AND
TOTALLY NECESSARY.
Let
all acknowledge Him and be saved!
The Hebrew Scriptures
Point To Jesus
- The
Messiah had to be a son Of Adam (Genesis
3:15)
- The
messiah had to be a descendant of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 49:10)
- The
Messiah had to be a descendant of Jesse (Genesis
3:15)
- The
Messiah had to be of the House of David
(Isaiah 9:7; Jeremiah 23:5-6)
- He
will be declared the Son of God (Psalms
2:7)
- He
will heal the blind deaf and lame (Isaiah
35:5-6)
- The
Messiah had to be cut off for the sins of
His people. (Isaiah 53)
- The
Messiah had to be wounded and torn with
stripes (Isaiah 53)
- The
Messiah had to betrayed by one of His
friends (Zechariah 11:12).
- The
Messiah had to die by crucifixion (Psalm
22:14-18).
- Though
he dies by crucifixion none of His bones
will be broken (Psalms
34:20)
- The
Messiah had to rise before His body could
begin corruption (Psalm 16:10)
- The
Messiah had to born and cut off before
the destruction of the Second Temple
Daniel 9-24-27)
- The
Messiah was to be rejected by His people
before he would be accepted ((Isaiah
35:5-6) Isaiah 53- Zechariah 12)
- The
Messiah had to be born in Bethlehem (Micah
5:2)
- The
Messiah had to be a prophet like Moses
(Deuteronomy 18:18-19)
- The
Messiah had to be an eternal priest like
Melchizedek (Psalms 110:4)
- He
is to ascend to God’s Right hand (Psalms
110:1)
He
will be accepted by the Gentiles and later by His
own people (Isaiah 11:10 Zech 12; 2)
Financial
Crisis.
As
believers we live in two words - The world of the
seen and the unseen. The seen world is unstable
changeable uncertain prone to collapse.
In a
time when the financial systems of the world are
shaking we learn to fix our eyes on the
unshakeable kingdom. The government of God is
real, literal and practical. It operates from the
realm of the unseen, and we access it by faith.
The global financial
crisis is a wake up call from God to find our
security in His kingdom and in His ways. Unbelievers
laugh at believers for being impractical and
unreal. They confuse the words “unseen”
and “unreal”. God’s unseen throne
is more real than any human throne or government.
Faith in God is going to emerge as the most
practical and only real way to live.
Rules of Financial
Security
1) Trust and thank the
Lord that He has
placed
you in His providence through the covenant in
Jesus. (Luke 22:20, Mt 6:28-34)
2) Ask Him to supply your
needs (Phil 4:6-7)
3)
Learn to give generously, especially to
the Lord’s work and to the poor, widows and
orphans. (Pv 11:25, James)
4)
Work (or study) steadily, like an ant and
be diligent in your work, and take time to
rest (Pv 6:6, Pv 10:4).
5) Don’t go in debt
or buy what you can’t afford or don’t
need (Romans 13:8)
6)
Save 10% of your income if possible
(Pv 6:7)
7)
Don’t yoke yourself with the ungodly or
cosign. (Pv 6:1-5
8)
Give more as he increases. (2 Cor 10:10;
2 Cor 6:14)
9)
Ask the Holy Spirit to write these laws on
your heart. (Jeremiah 31)
What
Others Say
Disciples Or Leaders
“When
Christ was here he was looking for disciples
… he is still looking for them today man
searches for leaders Jesus seeks for followers.
Man elevates the educated; Christ blesses the
teachable. Man struggles for power; Christ
teaches submission. Man strives for prestige; the
Holy Spirit produces humility. Man labors for
achievement Christ require only obedience.”
Frances Roberts.
The
“I” Must Die
As
the life in the spirit grows in us it is
simultaneously causing death to another part of
ourselves. We see this in nature the growth of
the chicken causes the destruction of the egg.
The sprouting of the seed destroys the husk from
which it sprouts.
Self
realization stunts real growth . . self emptying
increases life. Don’t be afraid of the
things that kill the flesh. The ‘I”
must die, that I might live. – PO’H
News From Iran
The
Iranian Parliament voted in favor of a bill
Tuesday (September 9th 2008) that
would punish apostasy with the death penalty ..
While the government tolerates ethnic Christians,
new converts to Christianity put their lives at
risk and face persecution from families, friends,
employers and authorities when they denounce
Islam.. “In spite of this pressure, the
house church movement has seen spectacular
growth,” Stefan De Groot of open Door
reports. “This is not happening just because
of dreams and miracles …The majority of
people now come to faith through the multimedia,
and especially satellite-TV. Nobody can control
which programs Iranians watch.”
-
Christian Post.com
 Dear Friends,
We trust that all is well with you and that your
faith and joy remain unshaken in the midst of
this time of shaking.
We
look back on another year of blessing.
This
year for us has been packed with the Lord's
goodness and many opportunities to minister and
share the word of life.
 Highlights of our year
were our ministry in Ireland in the Spring,
ministry at Disciplined Order Of Christ Retreat
in North Carolina in July, completing two books
(long overdue) “Life Changing, World
Changing Prayer” & “The
Supernatural Habits Of The Spirit Empowered
Believer”, ministry in Israel and
Finland in October and November. The Feast of
Tabernacles in Jerusalem had a record
registration of 7,000 people, and we ministered
at twenty meetings in Finland thanks to the ICEJ
Finland
Thank
you for your part in helping us continue with the
ministry which God has given us. You help us
share in so many different places and very
diverse kinds of Christian communities.
Certainly
we believe in the objective truth of the word but
we are amazed at the variety of ways the message
of reconciliation through the cross can be
expressed. God is using an extraordinary variety
of methods, human instruments and movements to
accomplish His work on earth. He will not allow
one genre of Christianity have exclusive claim to
His franchise. We are always wary of any
ministry that implies they are the only ones, or
they are the only real move of God, or
communicate that if you are not with them you are
missing God.
The
twin season of Hanukah and Christmas are
reminders that we do not live in a world without
meaning, without hope or without love.
Hanukah
reminds us that the ultimate direction of history
is towards the complete triumph of His kingdom
and plan on earth. It shows us that this plan
(which includes a special purpose for Jerusalem,
Israel and the Jewish people) will never be and
can never be destroyed by any evil (or good!)
political manipulators.
Christmas
(even though we all know is not the literal
anniversary of Jesus birth) reminds us to
celebrate God's rescuing work and the centrality
of messiah Jesus to the execution of His plan.
It is good that even in these highly secular days
the world has an annual “Jesus Day”
which reminds us of God’s self–emptying
to bring us into His loving family
Both
these feasts bring together in one season the
tension between His kingdom being here already
and being still in process of coming more fully
into us and into the world around us- Christmas
expressing the historical nature of His coming
and Hanukah expressing the continuing conflict
over Jerusalem which will remain a problem until
messiah Jesus returns.
God
holds our lives together not just in a mechanical
way as an impersonal Designer but spiritually as
a loving Father. It is to Jesus we owe this
access to the incredible love of God – not
as something vague and impersonal- but as
something real and experiential. It is this
aspect of Christ’s coming that is celebrated
especially at Christmas. Secular commercialism
will neither distract us from this nor cause us
to forget it. That is why (for us) our
relationship with you, our friends, is not just a
wonderful blessing but is a central part of our
life.
Therefore
we really do thank to God for you always, and we
look forward to another year of experiencing His
eternal goodness even in times of great change in
a confused world.
With
every blessing for a fabulous holiday season and
a year ahead full of divine appointments and
increasing favor with God and with man.
One
in His great love and service,
One in His great love and service,
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