Ken Winter

It was by faith! Those are four powerful words. Apart from those four words, Noah would have perished with everyone else when the flood waters came. Abram would have been a wealthy landowner who none of us would have ever heard of, living in an obscure village none of us would have ever known. Moses would have lived out his life as the spoiled adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, surrounded by Israelite slaves. And a woman named Rahab would have lived out her days as a prostitute until her days were abruptly cut short.  As a matter of fact, without faith, she would have died in obscurity just like all the rest of the people who were living in Jericho when the walls “came crashing down.”

As i look back over my life, i can clearly see those moments when i was facing major hurdles. It didn’t take me long to realize i needed to bring the matter before God. i knew that if He didn’t go before me, or fight for me, my efforts would most definitely end in defeat.

But i can also recall those times when i believed the path ahead did not require God’s intervention. i believed i could easily handle things on my own. So, i plowed ahead, never consulting the Lord on what He would have me do … and the result was disastrous.

2023 has begun. We have been uniquely prepared and divinely appointed for the journey that lies ahead. We would do well to heed the example of Joshua and not do anything without first seeking and then receiving the counsel of God. If we do, we can proceed boldly and confidently, walking in His Light and His Truth. As the year unfolds, we will find that God has placed people in our path that He intends for us to lead. We will encounter enemies that need to be conquered. And there will be new “lands” for us to possess!

The Israelites had survived generations of enslavement with little hope of rescue. The more they cried out to God, the more their situation appeared to become bleaker. As a matter of fact, when God’s chosen servant to lead them out of Egypt (Moses) arrived on the scene, pharaoh’s treatment of the people became even more severe. The beginning of a new year stood before them.

This is the last of four stories i have posted for this Advent season about the incarnational birth of Jesus. Each one, as you already know if you have been following along, is a fictional first-person account of the events that surrounded our Savior’s birth. Though some of the characters and details contained in each story are fictional, you will find the truth they convey to be very REAL!

Part 1 as told by Jacob the elder (November 30th)

Part 2 as told by Clopas the uncle (December 7th)

Part 3 as told by Eliezer the cousin (December 14th)

Part 4 as told by Annas the scribe (This week - December 21st)

This week you will hear from a scribe named Annas. His name should sound familiar to you. He would eventually become a high priest in Jerusalem, and he, together with his son-in-law Caiaphas, would be instrumental in the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus. At the time of Jesus’s birth, however, he would have been a young man. So, let’s consider the possibility that his first knowledge of the existence of the King of kings was at the time of Christ’s birth. Let’s listen to this young, ambitious scribe as he shares his eyewitness account of this portion of the Advent story.

This is the third of four stories i am posting for this Advent season. These are fictional first-person accounts of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. Though some of the characters and details contained in these stories are fictional, you will find the truth they convey to be very REAL!

Part 1 as told by Jacob the elder (November 30th)

Part 2 as told by Clopas the uncle (December 7th)

Part 3 as told by Eliezer the cousin (This week - December 14th)

Part 4 as told by Annas the scribe (December 21st)

This week you will hear from a fictional character by the name of Eliezer. He is the son of Joseph’s fictional cousin, Achim, who together with his wife Miriam, and all their family reside in Bethlehem. You heard about some of what Mary and Joseph encountered last week from Clopas. Let’s pick the story back up this week from Eliezer’s perspective.

Starting last week and continuing for the next two weeks, i am posting a total of four stories about the incarnational birth of Jesus. They are fictional first-person accounts of the events that surrounded the advent of Jesus. Some of the characters and details contained in each story are fictional, but you will find the truth they convey to be very REAL!

My prayer is that through the stories you are reminded of the Good News of the Advent this Christmas season.

As has become my annual practice, beginning today and for the next three weeks, i will be posting a total of four stories about the incarnational birth of Jesus. They are fictional first-person accounts of the events that surrounded the advent of Jesus. Some of the characters and details contained in each story are fictional, but you will find the truth they convey to be very REAL!

My prayer is that through the stories you are reminded of the Good News of the Advent this Christmas season. To that end, let’s look at each part of this story through the eyes of four very different eyewitnesses:

Part 1 as told by Jacob the elder (This week – November 30th)

Part 2 as told by Clopas the uncle (December 7th)

Part 3 as told by Eliezer the cousin (December 14th)

Part 4 as told by Annas the scribe (December 21st)

Allow me to hastily acknowledge that our thanksgiving to God should never be limited to one day on our calendar, it should be a daily acknowledgement of Him and to Him. But is it? Do we truly stop to give Him thanks? i wonder if i have stopped short of being thankful. I’m grateful for what i have – family, friends, health, strength, possessions and provision (no matter how much or little it might be), and so forth. But am i truly thankful to the One who has provided it all? Or, have i settled for being grateful instead of being thankful?

Jesus never told Simon and Andrew where they would be going as they followed Him. It was never about the place to where He was leading. He simply told them He would make them “fishers of men”. The response required total surrender. And to their credit, they didn’t hesitate. They immediately followed Him! Their lives were never the same after that … and neither will ours.