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Lk 2:7 - And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn (Gk - kataluma). NASU
Mk 14:14 - and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is My guest room (Gk - kataluma) in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"' NASB
I have included the above two passages of scripture that use the same Greek word "kataluma". In the Luke passage it is interpreted "inn" and in the Mark passage it is interpreted "guest room". I believe the best translation would be "guest room" and if I am correct then there wasn't any "heartless innkeeper". So how did we get so far off the track? Kenneth E. Bailey in his book, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, says, "an anonymous Christian wrote an expanded account of the birth of Jesus … and is called The Protoevangelium of James. This book is said to have been written 200 years after the birth of Jesus and is filled with imaginative details surrounding His birth. Much of the incorrect theology of the birth of Jesus and surrounding events has come from this non-canonical work.
In Luke 2:4 - Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,… All Joseph had to do was tell people of his lineage and that he was a descendant of King David and he and Mary would have been immediately welcomed into any person's home in Bethlehem, the city of King David. King David was and is a hero of theirs and to be able to say that one of his relatives is staying in your house would be considered a great honor. Another point is Joseph had been in Bethlehem days before Jesus was born. It didn't happen like the Christmas story when they arrive at night, find no room at the inn and immediately Mary gives birth to Jesus in a barn aka stable. Luke 2:6 says, "While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth". Who is the "they"? The "they" is Joseph and Mary. Where is "there"? The "there" in the above passage is Bethlehem. The culture that could be found in those days would be screaming "stay with us, stay with us". Joseph is a descendant of King David and Mary is pregnant. They would be welcomed in any home because of their ancestors and I believe they were. Houses in this day had a "guest room". The house they went to had a "guest room" and it was taken by someone but that doesn't mean they couldn't stay in the house. Mr. Bailey's book goes on to draw a layout of what a typical first century house would have looked like and how it wasn't uncommon for a house to have a place for their animals stay in as well (pg.29).
It wasn't uncommon for a house to be built so that at one end the livestock could be brought in and kept safe at night from theft or attacks from other wild animals. In the daylight they would be untied and taken outside.
Also, remember that Jesus' birth record we have been discussing is also recorded by Luke. The same man would use the same word if he were referencing a similar place. The Good Samaritan story found in Luke 10:34 - "…and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn,…" (Gk - pandocheion) and took care of him. The Good Samaritan brought the victim to an "inn" but Luke uses a different Greek word for this "inn". He uses the Greek word - "pandocheion". He doesn't use the Greek word "kataluma" that he used in referencing Jesus' birth place, but he uses "pandocheion" for a lodging place. My point is if there were no rooms in the lodging place "pandocheion" with the heartless innkeeper for Jesus to be born in then why didn't Luke use that word?
I am hoping you will see this Pump Up as a tool that says you are never too old to learn something new. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:15 - Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. KJV I hope you will continue to "study" God's Word and "rightly divide the word of truth". Think About These: Truth is not always popular, but it is always right. To hear truth and not accept it doesn't nullify it. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Luke 12:13, 15- Someone in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." …Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." NASU
Instead Jesus warns them and us all about evil that is associated with greed. Jesus didn't come to settle financial matters between two brothers. Jesus came to lead men to God not lead men to wealth. Do you believe Jesus was successful in leading men to God? When we look at all the evil in this world we might have a tendency to believe Jesus wasn't successful in this endeavor as more people are on their way to hell than heaven. We must remember Jesus never said He was going to lead more people to God than satan was going to lead people to hell. In fact, He said just the opposite in Matt. 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Jesus specifically informs us that the way to life is narrow and "FEW" find it. If you are reading this Pump Up and you are on the narrow way you should scream "Hallelujah!" A smile should come on your face because you have found something that many people have missed. You are one of the FEW that has found the way to life.
Here is how it is stated in the book of Luke 19:10 - "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." This was Jesus' purpose and now that we are disciples of Jesus it has to be our purpose as well. We now have the privilege to inform others about what God and Jesus have accomplished for everyone who desires to be with God for all eternity. I like how Jesus wants us to put our life in correct perspective when He says, "for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." Jesus is saying what we all know. Life is more than possessions. You're not going to take your possessions with you. We just watched people in NC lose everything because of the flooding that totally devastated many homes. The ones that survived all seemed to say the same thing. "We lost everything but our lives so we are fine." What will a person give in exchange for his or her life? The answer is every worldly possession. You can have it all. Just let me live to be with my family for another day. I have lived the life of a Christian man in hopes that my life would be an example to my children. I know we are all going to die and I would love for my children and grandchildren to follow me as I have followed Christ to Heaven.
We go to Heaven because we have been forgiven of our sins by God. It can't be made any clearer than in the book of Acts 2:38 - Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins ; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. When people ask me about baptizing them I always read to them this passage of scripture. It informs them that their repenting and be baptized does something for them. It brings them the forgiveness of their sins and the Holy Spirit now resides with in them. This is what Jesus was talking about in the book of John 3:5 when he said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. It is my prayer if you are reading this you will allow Jesus to lead you to a relationship with God the Father. Allow Him to accomplish His purpose of coming to earth by leading you to your Heavenly Father. I know He succeeded when He lead me to the straight and narrow pathway. I know I made the best decision of my life when I believed in Their plan to save mankind and entered through the small gate and on to the narrow way that leads to eternal life where our Heavenly Father resides. Think About This: God cares for people through people. I hope you will allow Him to use you today to care for those who are not on the narrow way. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word 1 Thes. 5:18 -
"…in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." NASU
Tomorrow is the day that has been set aside for us to give thanks for all the blessings we have been given by God. I am sure we do not wait until this one day of the year to give thanks.
When people say to me they want the "Will of God" to be done in their lives I say to them be "thankful" and you will be doing the Will of God. They always get this strange look on their face and say, "I am thankful, but you know, I really want to do the Will of God." I tell them, according to the Apostle Paul, if you are "thankful" in everything you will be doing the Will of God.
Instead of me answering that question since I have never had one of my children die I quote a man who was familiar with the death of a child. In fact, he lost 10 children in one disastrous day. Job's wife even wanted him to curse God for what had happened to their family. Job 2:9-10 - Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!" But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. NASU Job had lost his 10 children, all his animals, his herds or in other words, his wealth, but Job's ATTITUDE guides his BEHAVIOR. He didn't sin by saying things that he would later regret. Job wasn't "thankful" for the death of his children or the loss of his wealth, but his attitude was he would accept good from God, and now that adversity had come into his life he would accept it as well. Many times in life we have to accept things that we don't like.
We must wait upon the Lord and in time once the pain has decreased some we will start to allow God to give us the answers to the trials we face. Job's attitude guided his behavior. The scripture says, "In all of this Job did not sin with his lips." In other words, he didn't curse God and ask to die.
If you do a little inspection of your life you will find you have more to give thanks for than you might realize. Develop an attitude of thankfulness and you will never regret it. Think About This: It isn't what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful, but what you have in your heart. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word I Timothy 6:8-9 - "If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction." NASU
He said the man with the 12 children because he doesn't want anymore. While on the other hand the man with a million dollars would love to have another million dollars. So let me ask a question. Are we more like the man with 12 children or the man with one million dollars? Are we content or do we always want more? We all know this can be a vicious cycle when we always want more. So what can we do to get out of this trap?
I read a book some years ago and the Dr. was saying that you should start now to cut back on your salt intake because if you have a heart attack the Dr. will tell you that you must NOT use salt. Once humans hear that we must NOT do something we want to do it all the more. So the key for us being content is to tell ourselves that we are happy right now with everything that we have and that we don’t need anything else. We will want to repeat this over and over again to ourselves.
What do they all say? If we don't have their product well then there is something wrong with us. We aren't all we could be without the item they are trying to sell us. They are trying to sell us their product. It is their product that is going to make us happy or content or so they say. That is not true. Things are not going to make us happy or content. Happiness and contentment come when we are satisfied with what we already have acquired. What we need is to train ourselves in advance with what is known as "positive self-talk." It is what the athletes use before their events. We must listen to what we are saying to ourselves. If we believe the commercials or advertisements that we have to have their product before we can be happy or content then we are going to sacrifice our peace and contentment because we don't have their product. If we buy the product we will only have temporary contentment until the next article appears telling us that we really need this item in our life. We must learn how to tell ourselves NO to things.
In Philippians 4:11 Paul says it this way, “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be a content in whatever circumstances I am.” How did Paul learn to be content? By telling himself he had all that he needed and if he needed more God would supply it. In Heb.13:5 God’s word says it this way, “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,” So there we have it! We can be content BECAUSE God watches over us and He will NEVER desert or forsake us. If we really need something, ask God for it; and if God believes we need it, He will provide it. How cool is that? Think About This: Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it. - William Feather Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word John 1:19-20 - This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" 20 And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." NASU
If you remember the story John's mom was barren for a long time. Zacharias was in the temple when an angel came to him and informed him that he and Elizabeth were going to have a son and they were to name him, John. The angel had this to say about who John was going to be in Luke 1:14-15 - "You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; … and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit…" How many times do you believe John heard about the angel's visit to his dad in the temple? How many times do you think John would have heard "he will be great in the sight of the Lord and that he was going to be filled with the Holy Spirit"? John believed what his parents taught him. All you have to do is read about him in the gospels and you can see he wasn't afraid to preach the truth. He preached to kings, priests, Levites and the common people. He let them all know they needed to repent for the Kingdom of God was at hand. He was living out what his parents taught him about himself.
Over 3,000 years ago Solomon informed us that our thinking controls our actions. I wonder how many parents, teachers or coaches ruined the children they were in contact with on a daily basis because they filled their heads with untruths? We probably have all heard we weren't good enough, or smart enough or talented enough to achieve our goals. Some people listened and they didn't achieve what was possible because they simply didn't try. They believed the lies that were taught to them.
Num. 13:30-33 - Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it." 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us." … and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." There were two men Joshua and Caleb they came back with a good report that the Israelites could conquer Canaan because they knew God was going to help them. However, the other 10 spies said no it is impossible for us to conquer them because they were much stronger. They even go so far to say that they viewed themselves "as grasshoppers" in their minds. Their thinking was polluted with lies and doubts. They had no faith that God was going to help them. They only looked at their own strength as their source of power. If you don't know what happened I will tell you the Israelites had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years because of the 10 Israelites who were paralyzed with "stinking thinking".
Seriously, "Who Are You"? What do you have to say about yourself? Where did this information come from? Was the person someone who loved you, wanted the best for you or were they negative, had issues themselves and you were the one they dumped their garbage on constantly? If you really want to know who you are then you need to read God's Word and discover what God has to say about you. Do you know you were created in the image of God? Do you know if you have faith in Jesus Christ you have been justified and have peace with God? Do you know that while we were sinners God demonstrated His Love for us by sending Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to atone for our sins? I could keep going on and on about what God has done for us, but it is much better if you just read His Word and find out for yourself. So let me ask you an all important question: Who Are You? Think About These: Put your trust in God, not man. Heavenly Father, into Your hands I place my troubles, into Your Wisdom I place my goals, and into Your Love I place my life. What is important is God knows who we are. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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