Advent-ure 2020 December 4: CHRIST (Seek Him)

We are called to honor Christ, who came to earth from heaven so that we might be lifted from earth to heaven, and He is currently seated at the right hand of God's throne, interceding for us.  Romans 6 talks 
about the power of Christ:
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

As it has been stated, as we'll talk about later today, the term "Christ," today's name of Jesus in the Faith Radio Advent Guide, is a position of authority, and when we come to know Him, we acknowledge that He is the Lord of our lives.  He is worthy of our honor and adoration, and we are called to submit ourselves to Him so that He might express Himself through us, to the glory of His name. We come before Him in reverence and awe, confessing His Lordship.

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Jesus is the Son of God, sent to earth from our Heavenly Father, and has come to earth to reconcile humanity to Himself.  He did this by becoming a man, being born of flesh, living in an earthly body, so He could give Himself as a perfect sacrifice for us.  On this Day 4, we focus on that name, Christ.  As it's been said, that is not His last name.  In Matthew 16, Jesus shared insight into the representation of 
who He is. He commended Peter after this exchange:
15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

In Luke 2:11, we read a portion of the angels' proclamation: "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

BibleStudyTools.com, which I use to reference Scripture verses and passages, offers this from Easton's Bible Dictionary about the title, Christ:

...anointed, the Greek translation of the Hebrew word rendered "Messiah" (q.v.), the official title of our Lord, occurring five hundred and fourteen times in the New Testament. It denotes that he was anointed or consecrated to his great redemptive work as Prophet, Priest, and King of his people.

So, when we say or reflect on Jesus "Christ," we are referring to His title, a title of honor and majesty, that conveys to us that He is One who is to be worshiped and adored.  We are called to bow our hearts and lives before Him - our Christ.

Keith Hudson is someone who has traveled extensively with his wife, Mary, to deliver the good news about Christ.  He received a special dedication recently from his daughter, who performed at the American Music Awards.  The Christian Post reported that: "Ahead of the awards show, the singer took to Instagram to reveal that her performance was a tribute to her dad. 'Tonight's @amas performance is for my father...'"  Having just become a mother herself, his daughter Katheryn performed the classic worship song, As the Deer.  The Post related:

Pop star Katy Perry delivered a moving rendition of the popular hymn “As the Deer” along with her single "Only Love" in her first performance since giving birth to her first child, Daisy Dove.

The artist performed the worship song and her single at the 2020 American Music Awards Sunday night and was joined by former Hootie & the Blowfish frontman turned country soloist Darius Rucker.

"As the Deer" is a well-known praise song written by Martin J. Nystrom in 1984, and has now become a classic. The song is based on Psalm 42:1, which reads, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God."

The report adds that Perry "belted out" these words: "You alone are my heart’s desire/And I long to worship You."

Perry, who does not embrace or seemingly practice the faith of her parents, nevertheless seems to be comfortable talking about faith-related matters, even though her lifestyle choices don't line up - for instance, she is not married to her baby's father, actor Orlando Bloom. The article states that, in an interview with Apple Music's Zane Lowe: "She called herself 'a complete seeker of anything faith-based, of God, a lot of different religions.'"  She also shared that even though she doesn't share her parents' faith: “Relationships with your parents change inevitably, doesn't matter who you are, what amount of success you have or don't, it shifts as your parents get older, you become a little bit more of the parent...I guess I had to make a choice a while back, I had to agree to disagree with my parents or not have parents."

But, Katy has apparently been back to church; The Christian Post reported:

She also shared in a previous post that her duet came about after attending church. “Went back to church, met a new friend @dariusrucker and found #OnlyLove,” she wrote.

A sample of the lyrics on Google yields this morsel:

If I had one day left to live
And if the stars went out on me, the truth is
Yeah, there's so much I'd say and do
If I had nothing to lose, nah, nothing to lose 

In the song which actually has objectionable lyrical content, she speaks of taking steps to make right the relationship with her parents.

Well, on the "Famous Friday" commentary, I will highlight how either God has been publicly exalted or how He has been exalted through His work in a person's life.  A point I like to make is that you never know how God is working in a person's heart.  You can get discouraged when someone who knows better walks in a manner that does not reflect Christ - but you don't know what's happening inside a person's heart, where God is working, especially in someone who has been exposed to the truth of Christ. 

We recognize the power of the Word.  The Bible says that His Word will not return void, and that His Word is like a seed.

This story can also challenge us to pray for those who don't know Him or are not walking with Him.  In a 2016 ChristianHeadlines.com story her father, Keith, is quoted, saying: "I want you to pray for my daughter," adding, "Don't judge her, pray for her."  In our own lives, we can make sure that we are honoring Christ as our Lord and showing Him the reverence and respect due His name.