In A Small Town Named Nazareth…..

Hey there BCU Fam!

For this post, because of the informal format, please tune into the podcast recording (click here or on the BCU avatar below) and refer to the written post for the highlights. We pray the rebroadcast blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the post!

Podcast highlights:

  • As December 25th approaches, many Christians anticipate the celebrating the birth of Jesus.
  • For years, there have been great debates on the “appropriateness” of celebrating—-citing not knowing the date of His birth, the commercialism, and pagan origins of Christmas (all valid points).
  • For those who know Jesus in the pardoning of their sins, we understand and celebrate the biblical and life-changing momentousness of His birth.
  • This post looks at a few of the lesser-studied, yet significant highlights around the birth of Jesus Christ.

KJV Scripture References

Luke 1:26-38

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Luke 2:7-21

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

BCUFam, how awesome is that we do not have to come from a long line of fame, fortune, mega-ministries, popular towns, or anything else to be used by the Lord. In fact, I Corinthians 1:26-27 reminds us that, God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence. So no——-God did not make a mistake in choosing you——-when He works through you, it’s for His glory! For with God, nothing shall be impossible! Amen? Amen! Let’s pray!

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for Your goodness, grace, mercy, power, love, and of course, for today’s study. Thank You for reminding us about certain aspect around Your birth that we may not always pay close attention to, yet, we see You in these important details. We want to thank You, Lord, for sending Your Son, Jesus to save us! And as the song says “Manger-born/ but on a tree/ You died to save humanity” and so we THANK YOU Jesus, for giving us a right to the Tree of Life, we thank You, Jesus for the Comforter—the Holy Ghost down on the inside, that leads and guides us into all truth.

The people of God understand the commercialism and paganism that is around this time of year. While we see it, we choose to celebrate Your birth, Jesus, not just this month, but all year long as we live our lives so that You are glorified, honored and praised, and people will ask, “what must I do to be saved?” Please help us to remember all the things You taught us in this study, and bless each listener in a special way. It’s in the name of Jesus we thank and praise You for all things, Amen!

Also, if you so inclined, join us for our Thursday Night Bible Study––-we are LIVE on Facebook, at 8:05EST/7:05CST. You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on whatever platform BCU is available on. Some of those mediums include  Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, and many more of your favorite podcast platforms!

Thank you SO much for stopping by. God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

BlenCouragesULeave a comment

A Small Town Named Nazareth…..

Hey there BCU Fam!

For this post, because of the informal format, please tune into the podcast recording (click here or on the BCU avatar below) and refer to the written post for the highlights. We pray the rebroadcast blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the post!

Podcast highlights:

  • As December 25th approaches, many Christians anticipate the celebrating the birth of Jesus.
  • For years, there have been great debates on the “appropriateness” of celebrating—-citing not knowing the date of His birth, the commercialism, and pagan origins of Christmas (all valid points).
  • For those who know Jesus in the pardoning of their sins, we understand and celebrate the biblical and life-changing momentousness of His birth.
  • This post looks at a few of the lesser-studied, yet significant highlights around the birth of Jesus Christ.

KJV Scripture References

Luke 1:26-38

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Luke 2:7-21

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

BCUFam, how awesome is that we do not have to come from a long line of fame, fortune, mega-ministries, popular towns, or anything else to be used by the Lord. In fact, I Corinthians 1:26-27 reminds us that, God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence. So no——-God did not make a mistake in choosing you——-when He works through you, it’s for His glory! For with God, nothing shall be impossible! Amen? Amen! Let’s pray!

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for Your goodness, grace, mercy, power, love, and of course, for today’s study. Thank You for reminding us about certain aspect around Your birth that we may not always pay close attention to, yet, we see You in these important details. We want to thank You, Lord, for sending Your Son, Jesus to save us! And as the song says “Manger-born/ but on a tree/ You died to save humanity” and so we THANK YOU Jesus, for giving us a right to the Tree of Life, we thank You, Jesus for the Comforter—the Holy Ghost down on the inside, that leads and guides us into all truth.

The people of God understand the commercialism and paganism that is around this time of year. While we see it, we choose to celebrate Your birth, Jesus, not just this month, but all year long as we live our lives so that You are glorified, honored and praised, and people will ask, “what must I do to be saved?” Please help us to remember all the things You taught us in this study, and bless each listener in a special way. It’s in the name of Jesus we thank and praise You for all things, Amen!

As a reminder, if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Also, if you so inclined, join us Thursday nights––we are LIVE on YouTube 8:05EST/7:05CST. You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcasts, You Tube Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify or whatever podcast platform you like best!

Thank you SO much for stopping by. God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

BlenCouragesULeave a comment

A small town named Nazareth..

Hey there BCU Fam!

For this post, because of the informal format, please tune into the podcast recording (click here or on the BCU avatar below) and refer to the written post for the highlights. We pray the post blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the post!

Podcast highlights:

  • As December 25th approaches, many Christians anticipate the celebrating the birth of Jesus.
  • For years, there have been great debates on the “appropriateness” of celebrating—-citing not knowing the date of His birth, the commercialism, and pagan origins of Christmas (all valid points).
  • For those who know Jesus in the pardoning of their sins, we understand and celebrate the biblical and life-changing momentousness of His birth.
  • This post looks at a few of the lesser-studied, yet significant highlights around the birth of Jesus Christ.

Scripture references

Luke 1:26-38

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Luke 2:7-21

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

BCUFam, how awesome is that we do not have to come from a long line of fame, fortune, mega-ministries, popular towns, or anything else to be used by the Lord. In fact, I Corinthians 1:26-27 reminds us that, God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence. So no——-God did not make a mistake in choosing you——-when He works through you, it’s for His glory. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. Amen? Amen! Let’s pray!

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for Your goodness, grace, mercy, power, love, and of course, for today’s study. Thank You for reminding us about certain aspect around Your birth that we may not always pay close attention to, yet, we see You in these important details. We want to thank You, Lord, for sending Your Son, Jesus to save us! And as the song says “Manger-born/ but on a tree/ You died to save humanity” and so we THANK YOU Jesus, for giving us a right to the Tree of Life, we thank You, Jesus for the Comforter—the Holy Ghost down on the inside, that leads and guides us into all truth.

The people of God understand the commercialism and paganism that is around this time of year. While we see it, we choose to celebrate Your birth, Jesus, not just this month, but all year long as we live our lives so that You are glorified, honored and praised, and people will ask, “what must I do to be saved?” Please help us to remember all the things You taught us in this study, and bless each listener in a special way. It’s in the name of Jesus we thank and praise You for all things, Amen!

As a reminder, if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Also, if you so inclined, join us Thursday nights––we are LIVE on YouTube 8:05EST/7:05CST. You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Pandora, Spotify or whatever podcast platform you like best!

Thank you SO much for stopping by. God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

BlenCouragesULeave a comment

Singles chalkboard: 10 reminders for single Christian women!

Hello my singles sisters!!

I ran across the post below and HAD to share this simple, yet AWESOME reminder–please read it and be ENCOURAGED!  And with God’s grace, keep praying, trusting God, avoid any decoys and #StayOnTheWall!

God bless and love you all!

BCU

10 things to remind yourself EVERYDAY as a single Christian woman!

Source: 10 Things To Remind Yourself Everyday As A Single Christian Woman Top

 

BlenCouragesU

Do you act like a Christian?

 

Hey there Family,

Recently, my mom was telling me about someone who was trying to erroneously “get her way” by telling my mom she was not acting like a Christian. Mom quipped, “I’m not supposed to ACT like a Christian, I’m supposed to BE one!” We laughed, but she makes a good point.

Let’s define the meaning of a Christian from the Word of God. People were called Christians or followers of Christ in Antioch after Saul and other assembled together for a year and taught many people (Acts 11:26). Besides the necessity of water baptism in Jesus name and the gift of the Holy Ghost for salvation (Acts 2:38-39), and other important areas, the disciples also lived what Christ taught them–among other things, having a prayer life, using gifts/talents to God’s glory, and how to love and treat others. Notice they LIVED what Christ taught them, rather than ACTING what Christ taught them.

When you act like something or someone, it’s a role. You are the character for a certain amount of time, in certain circumstances, at a convenient time or place, when people are watching or listening. When we act like a Christian, we do things out of fear of the lack of/reaction we will receive. Thus, we risk being an enabler (like always giving money to that able-bodied, non-motivated to work relative or worse—-boy/girlfriend), or you interfere with the law of sowing and reaping. So if Junie keeps getting speeding tickets and you pay them, when will he learn to drive carefully? He needs to learn there is a consequence to bad behavior. HE pays the tickets.

Conversely, when you are/being something, it’s part of who you naturally. So in the case of Jesus living down on the inside via the Holy Ghost, He shows up on the outside consistently. Sure, we will have our days where we are not perfect, but in our desire to please Christ and live more like Him, we will not practice willful sin.

Moreover, while Jesus taught us how to love and treat others, this does not give the general population carte blanche to get whatever-they-want-when-they-want-no-matter-what-and-you-better-like-it-because-that-is-what-Jesus-would-have-you-to do. Seriously? Not so, Family!

In Matthew 4:1-11, the enemy temped Jesus three times, did our Awesome God do what the devil told Him? NO. Jesus did not answer the Pharisees regarding the authority He had, because they demanded it of Him (Matthew 21:23-27). Need an “earthly” example?  What about Simon who offered the apostles money in exchange for the being able to lay hands on people for them to be filled with the Holy Ghost? (Acts 8:12-21). Rather than give in to Simon, Peter rebuked him so sharply that Simon requested prayer for protection! (verses 22-24). See what I mean now?

Bottom line: With the help of the Lord, we cannot allow any and everyone to take advantage of our Christ-like nature to “keep the peace” or be “humble”. Now when the Lord tells you to do something, you of course follow His command. But be sure it’s the Lord talking and not guilt or fear–this is where prayer and being in tune with God’s voice will come in—remember HE wants us to make the right choices. This is where we start to BE more like Him.

Thanks for reading and God bless you MUCHO!

BCU

Spiritual PSA: What is in you comes out of you, any act has a limited shelf life,  will eventually who you are will surface. It is better to get Jesus down on the inside and let His spirit direct your paths.

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