The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:2-7 NIV

Rodney Howard Browne shows us when sin entered the world in the Garden of Eden, so did darkness. The eyes of man’s understanding were darkened and wisdom and knowledge ebbed away. The truth became hidden to everyone except to those who hungered for it. While sin may be pleasurable for a season, it wreaks havoc wherever it is entertained. Sin will kill you. God created you for nothing less than truth and righteousness and therefore your spirit cannot be satisfied while any lie or any unrighteousness exists in your heart. Your heart hungers to be at peace with God, your creator. Jesus is the light we long for. We may look everywhere else, except the right place, for that light, but Almighty God has revealed to us the true light who lights every man – Jesus! When we find Him – we experience His light and we know that He is alive and real.

Rodney Howard Browne teaches us that when you find Jesus, the Light of the world, you find peace and you find joy. Joy follows Him like a shadow. Where He goes, joy goes. Everyone His presence touches is filled with joy. Angels brought the shepherds good tidings of great joy when they announced His birth. The Wise Men rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. The people He touched, healed and delivered were all filled with joy. His disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit, despite severe persecution. In his presence is fullness of joy!

Jesus is our victor. There is no reason for us to fight or shed blood again. There is no battle we face where He has not gone before us and defeated our enemy already. We simply go boldly in to the enemies’ camp to divide the spoil! We need never to fear an enemy again. We need never to be oppressed by an enemy again. We just enforce the enemy’s defeat.

Rodney Howard Browne teaches us that Jesus is the child, born into the earth to conquer our enemy. He is the Son, given generously by the Father, to be a sacrifice and an offering for sin – sent to die as a ransom for many. The government is on His shoulders and His throne is established forever. He will rule and reign eternally in justice and righteousness. He is highly exalted – the King of kings and Lord of lords! He never changes – He is eternally the same.

But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.” He also says,

“In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? Hebrews 1:8-14 NIV

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. Acts 10:38 KJV This is a very important Bible verse. It tells us that the oppression of sin, sickness, disease and torment originate with the devil. He is the author and the perpetuator of all that is bad in the earth and in our lives – not God! This verse says that God was WITH Jesus. He ANOINTED Jesus with the HOLY GHOST and with POWER so that He could do GOOD and heal ALL who were oppressed by the devil. God is the author of all that is good. Healing and deliverance are GOOD! Healing and deliverance bring glory to God!

Jesus was the Son of God, born into the world in human form. He was sent to the earth for a specific purpose – to cut an everlasting, unbreakable covenant between God and man. He was the mediator between God and man – the bridge that allowed man to stand once more in the presence of Almighty God without sin and without fear of judgement. Jesus, as a man, grew up like other men. He spent thirty years studying the Word of God and submitting His life to that Word. He never once performed any miracles before the day that John baptized Him in water and God baptized Him in the Holy Ghost. After He was baptized in the Holy Ghost, He began to preach the Word of God and to perform signs, wonders and miracles. He did not do these things because He was the Son of God. He did them firstly because He was meeting people’s needs and demonstrating the love of God to them and showing them what was available to them if they would keep covenant with God. He came to undo the destruction that the devil had wrought on the earth after the fall of man. Secondly, He was demonstrating to us the power and authority that WE can walk in when WE are baptized in the Holy Ghost.

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; “they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. Mark 16:15-20 NKJ

We are baptized in the Holy Ghost for a purpose – so that we can do the same thing that Jesus did – bring glory to God by delivering all those who are oppressed by the devil, sickness and sin! We are to preach the Gospel, baptizing all those, who receive God’s word, in water and the Holy Ghost. We are to cast out demons, speak with new tongues, operate in the gifts of the Spirit, lay hands on the sick and they will recover. Even accidents involving snakebites and any other poison will not be able to destroy our lives if we believe. (We should not tempt God by deliberately allowing ourselves to be poisoned or we will most likely find ourselves in heaven before our time!)

There are people today who say that only the disciples and apostles did signs and wonders and that it has all passed away now. They do that to explain the lack of power in their lives and the fact that they themselves are not baptized in the Holy Ghost or speaking in tongues! They say that they have the Holy Ghost, but I think maybe that they have as much of the Holy Ghost as some people who have a cup of water poured on them when they are “water baptized.” You can’t have a just a little sprinkle – you need to get dunked – YOU NEED TO BE SOAKED AND SATURATED IN HOLY GHOST POWER! The Holy Ghost is a free gift. Why would you refuse a free gift. “No thank you. I already have enough.” We can NEVER have enough of God. We need all we can get! Some people even credit the devil with healing people. But the last time I checked, God is still our healer and the Bible still says that that God is the SAME yesterday, today and forever! Jesus told His disciples to preach the Gospel AND perform miracles. According to Acts 6:7, as more and more people were added to the church, the number of disciples increased greatly. God did not put a limitation on who could be a disciple, neither was it just for a certain time period. Every one of us who commits to God and submits to His word is a disciple. If signs and wonders followed the original disciples as they preached the word then if we are disciples today, signs and wonders should follow us as we preach the word. Jesus spoke personally to His disciples and to the people who lived at that time in

Israel. Through His word, He is still speaking to us today. If His word about love and forgiveness and repentance, etc. applies to people then and now, then His word pertaining to signs, wonders and miracles applies to people then and now. Jesus gave us our instructions and He has not come back yet to reverse them or change them. Until He says differently, we should be doing the last thing that He told us to do. Preaching the Gospel and performing miracles, healing delivering and setting people free by the power of the Holy Ghost!

Foundation Scripture: Luke 2:8-148 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.

The season is here once again: shopping malls crammed with shoppers, Christmas music playing, candy and cakes for the sweet tooth, while the desperate shopper looks frantically for that bargain stocking stuffer hoping that that gift would put the sparkle in the eye of the one they love. This little ritual is played right up to 10:00pm on Christmas Eve – looking, hoping, and trying to find that perfect gift – a new Tickle Me Elmo or the right dress. However, the day after Christmas, the same mall is jammed once again with the recipients of the gifts trying to return them because they didn’t like them or because it was not the right size or color etc. The credit cards are now maxed out. Its money they did not have to spend. They did not have it so they charged it. Then the pain sets in – they know that the bill is on its way and wonder how in the world they are going to pay it off. Months will go by until that bill is finally settled and then the process begins again – a vain search by people trying to fill their heart with a joy that cannot be bought at any store and a joy that only Jesus can bring.

I think that they are missing a detail. This joy that they are looking for is a joy that only Jesus can bring – this joy is the joy of Salvation – the joy of having your sin’s forgiven and having your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Luke 2:15-2015 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.

Once the shepherds heard about the baby Jesus they wanted to see Him. How will the world ever press in to find Him if they have never heard about Him? It’s important that everywhere we go this Christmas, we don’t just have carols and trees and eggnog and gifts while the real joy is never found. Remember whom the season is really about. Christ has been taken out of Christmas and Xmas has been left as another fairy-tale holiday with meaning. I tell you church family, that this season should be no different than any other time of the year. All year round we should be rejoicing over the fact that “Joy to the World – the Lord has come”! He is alive and has come today to bring joy to you in the form of eternal life that springs up as a well of life and can become a river flowing out of you to touch a lost and dying world with the good news.

Matthew 2:10-1110 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. The Wise Men came and worshipped Jesus and they opened their treasure bags and gave gifts to him – seeing this is His birthday we are reminded to not forget him and lavish Him with our love and our hearts and our gifts this season……………………after all it is His birthday not ours.

Hebrews 11:1-3 (NIV)

Rodney Howard Browne explains about faith. Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Every created thing that we see with our eyes has its origin in God and the things we cannot see. God is a Spirit (John 4:24) and He brought the entire universe into existence by His spoken word. This realm we know existed first in God and He caused it to manifest on this plane of existence of which we are conscious. Just because you cannot see God or the spirit realm with your eye, does not mean that they do not exist.

2 Corinthians 4:5-9 (NIV) For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Just as God, the Creator of the universe, spoke out saying, “Let there be light” and there was light (Genesis 1:3), so has He shone His light into the darkness of our sinful hearts and illuminated our hearts in order that the knowledge of His glory may be revealed in and to us through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rodney Howard Browne teaches us that even though we live in frail, human vessels of earth, this precious treasure of God’s power and grace and glory can even more clearly be seen to be of God and not of us. While our mortal flesh limits us, the unlimitedness of God’s great glory abides on the inside of us. Even though we are persecuted and attacked, we cannot be crushed or destroyed. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).

2 Corinthians 4:13-18 (NIV) It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

We do not lose heart in the midst of our adverse circumstances because we fix our eyes on those things that we cannot see. Rodney Howard Browne explains that even though our outer man (our body) is wasting away, our inner man (our spirit) is everyday growing and being renewed and strengthened. We must realize that this earthly realm and what we see is temporary and subject to change, but the spirit realm is unchanging, deathless and everlasting for all eternity. Therefore we must take our eyes off of what we can see and stop trusting in it because it is unstable and it will not last. The things we cannot see will stand secure. Put your trust in God and in the mighty work that He is doing on the inside of you. Do not just focus on your earthly existence. Change your focus to the everlasting realms of God. Lift up your eyes and see those things that really are important to your spirit life and your eternal existence.

Stop looking at the little clay pot you live in and see the glory of God that shines out from the inside of you. Become more conscious of the great work that God is doing in you and the treasure that is within you. Spend your time becoming acquainted with God and His glory. He wants you to come to know His glory. God is not hiding from you; He is working in you. You have to lay aside the things of the flesh and count them as nothing compared to the great things that God is doing in and through you. You will not live here on this earth, in this body, forever. But you will step out of this body into an eternal body and you will continue to live on in Gods mighty and awesome presence forever!

Joshua 1:6-9 (NKJ) 6 “Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good Success. 9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Rodney Howard Browne teaches us that God has made us many great and precious promises, but we will never see them manifested in our lives unless we gather the courage to act on God’s Word and do those things He commands us to do. Joshua was commanded by God to take the Israelites into the land that God had promised to Abraham. This was not just a case of packing bags and moving to another location. The land was occupied by some other people who had no intention of moving away to make space for Joshua’s people.

Rodney Howard Browne shows us that Joshua was not the first one called to do this task. Moses was supposed to take the people into the land, but they had been so influenced by their captivity in Egypt that they had no vision and no confidence in their God. While they were in captivity God had heard their whining and begging. Because of the promises He had made and because of Moses’ faith and obedience, He was willing and able to bring them out of Egypt. All they had to do was kill the lamb, put the blood on the doorposts, eat and pack to go.

Rodney Howard Browne shows us that God brought them right to the entrance to the Promised Land, but they missed their opportunity to have the manifestation of God’s promises in their lives, because of their fear and their doubt and unbelief.

In Numbers 13:1-33, Moses sent twelve spies, one from every tribe of Israel, into the land to report on it. They came back with a good report on the condition of the land – “it flows with milk and honey” – but ten of the spies also reported negatively on the people who dwelt there. They said that they were huge and strong and that their cities were walled and great. They spoke their fear into the people. Joshua and Caleb tried to get the people focused back onto God and His promises – that they were well able to overcome their enemies and to take the land – but they would hear none of it. Because they were too afraid to trust God, they had to endure 40 years in the desert, living from one miracle to another, until they died. Their children, who had been raised on miracles and on the Word of God, as free men without the influence of Egypt, went on to take the land for their possession.

Again, Joshua had to remind them to be courageous, as God had reminded him, and to have faith in God, so that they could do what God had promised. It doesn’t matter how courageous you are in an area God has not promised – you will not be successful. However, when God speaks, you might as well put your brave clothes on, because you are going to have to obey God. The Israelites were successful in taking possession of the land that God had promised to them and their fathers, as they gathered their courage and their confidence in God’s Word and followed Joshua’s brave leadership. God will be on your side as you obey His command. It is not always easy, but you will always prevail, as you swallow down your fear and allow your courage to lead you.

2 Corinthians 2:14 (KJV)14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. The Word of God is the source of your courage and the antidote to your fear and it is God who always causes you to triumph in Christ Jesus. Don’t speak your fears – speak your courage and your faith.