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Gleanings From The Word

Tag: Christian living

  • Who were the heavenly host on the first Christmas

    Who were the heavenly host on the first Christmas

    Recently, at our community group, we were discussing the  Advent story in Luke 2, in particular the angelic appearance to the shepherds out in the field near Bethlehem.

    And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”  Luke 2:8-15

    Who or what was this heavenly host that appeared with the angel? They are the army of God.

    One source says this, “The heavenly hosts are angels who dwell in the presence of God. The heavenly host is described as a multitude or army of angels serving God, though the term can also include fallen angels, as seen in 1 Kings 22:19–22. The heavenly host appears at the announcement of Jesus’ birth, where a multitude of angels praise God (Luke 2:13 14). Believers are promised that they will one day dwell with these heavenly hosts in God’s kingdom (Hebrews 12:22–24)…”

    As a group, we chatted about what that scene might have looked like and considered some Old Testament passages.

    Were the hosts dressed as a conventional army of the day? Were they garbed in light? Did they wear anything at all? Were they like the strange beings seen in Ezekiel’s Vision or some of the parts of Revelation? Did they have wings?

    It was pure speculation, because the Bible doesn’t tell us. In at least one passage, a member of the host looked human.

    When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. Joshua 5:13-15

    Whatever they look like, just as they announced the first coming of Jesus, they will accompany Him on His return.

    And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. Revelation 19:14

    The host of Heaven announced His return, and they are returning with the Lord as a conquering army. Are you ready?

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

    Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

    Also a Christmas theme

    Christmas Carol – Saved but not by a trio of ghosts

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    Read the Word. Read the Word. Read the Word.
    Waiting – A Teen Runaway Reminds Me of Mary
  • Called to right beliefs and right living

    Called to right beliefs and right living

    I have spent some time recently on a relatively new (at least to  me) social media platform, reading the “Christian” post section and follow-up comments.

    I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was astounded by the range of error, heresy, and just plain biblically illiterate posts there are. Some of the posts are from people genuinely seeking guidance or information, but most make me shake my head. 

    Like any form of social media, it was filled with plenty of people who hold the view, “my mind is made up, don’t clutter it with facts or truth.”

    Every cliche and trope imaginable is out there.

    The Bible has too many, or too few, books. The church has deliberately hidden books from the Bible. You can only trust that person’s favorite translation. You can’t trust any translation and must read it in the original languages.

    If you don’t belong to a specific denomination, you are going to hell. 

    The cults are out recruiting. The Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Latter-day Saints are trolling for the unwary. Other weird groups I had never even heard of are doing the same.

    The Roman Catholics and Protestants are busy bashing each other. Still, neither side has any understanding of church history, or what their own position actually believes, let alone what the opposition thinks. Now, there is a lot to debate, but it should be done in love and with understanding.

    The God of Islam is the same as the God of Christianity.

    Everyone is going to be saved, or no one needs saving. Hell isn’t real.

    The range of poor understanding and deliberate twisting of Scripture is nothing short of phenomenal. 

    The church worship wars still rage, with only the poster’s personal choice of music being from God, and everything else is from Satan.

    The doctrine of salvation by faith is disputed. You need to add various combinations of church membership, tithing, good works, baptism, and more to be saved, at least according to many posters who claim to be believers.

    Church buildings are too simple, too extravagant, or not needed at all.

    This one hurt my head, “I don’t believe in God, but I’m a Christian because I follow the teachings of Christ.” I think it was George Bernard Shaw who initially said it, but it still boggles my mind.

    I could carry on and list all the heresies that have plagued the church, and every conceivable form of divisiveness, but I think you can get a sense of things from what I have said.

    The apostle Paul would need to be writing corrective letters nonstop and employing a huge ministry team to deal with it all. We’re as messy as the first-century church, and every century since then. The church is messy because it’s filled with redeemed sinners and incomplete knowledge, but it remains God’s church.

    If you ever needed proof that God was loving and patient, look no further than the church. Only God could keep such a messed-up, disparate group of people somehow functioning together despite our flaws and best intentions.

    There isn’t a church group or a Christian alive who hasn’t got at least some part of the picture wrong.

    Now, it isn’t proper theology that saves us. Yet, being saved is just the entry point to becoming all Christ calls us to. We are called to grow in knowledge, understanding, faith, and love.

    We are called to both right beliefs and right living; both orthodoxy and orthopraxy are huge.

    But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:20-24

    I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

    Let’s have the beliefs and lives that Christ calls us to. Let’s strive together to represent the hope and image of Jesus better.

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

    Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

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    You might check out:

    Credo, I believe – Right beliefs and right living are both important

    All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2025 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, Gleanings From The Word. 

    Unless otherwise noted, “Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    From Gleanings From The Word (Kevin Corbin, 2001– ), a Scripture-based devotional work.

    You might want to read:

    # Right Belief Must Become Right Living