What are you waiting for

IOI CHRISTIAN MORNING MEAL

TOPIC: What Are You Waiting For?

Luke 2:25 KJV
And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.

Let me ask you some questions. What are you waiting for this Christmas? Are you longing for anything? What are you expecting to receive? Are you looking forward to anything special this Christmas?

In the Gospel of Luke, we come across two characters who make their appearance in the final acts of the Christmas drama. One is a man named Simeon; the other is a woman named Anna. They dont appear in any nativity scenes or in many Christmas cards, but they are significant players in the first Christmas pageant. Both of these individuals were waiting for something actually, they were waiting for someone.

Luke uses a Greek word of anticipation that identifies them as waiting with expectation for the coming of the Messiah, or Savior. It literally means that they were 揳lert to His appearance, and ready to welcome Him. We see this word in Luke 2:25 in reference to Simeon where we read that he was waiting... and in 2:38 to describe a woman named Anna who was, ...looking forward to...


Simeon Waiting For Comfort
We抮e introduced to Simeon in Luke 2:25. How there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon Him. Simeon was righteous before people, and he was devout in His relationship with God.

Things were not going real well for the nation of Israel. They had not heard from God for many years and were under Roman rule. They had lost their political independence and were living in fear of the capable, crafty, and cruel King Herod, and many were wondering if the Messiah would ever come.

Verse 26 shows us that Simeon had good reason for his hope and anticipation: that had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord Christ.

Simeon expectation focused on the comfort that Christ would bring. Among Jews of Simeon抯 day one of the popular titles of Messiah was Comforter. Like some of the Christmas songs we just sang, they were longing for the Messiah to come and bring His comfort to them.

It strikes me that the desire to be comforted is a universal human need. We all struggle with loneliness, emptiness, insecurity, even desperation. In fact, the Christmas season is one of the major crisis times of the year for depression and suicide.

The Holy Spirit prompted Simeon to go to the temple courts at just the right time on just the right day that Joseph and Mary were bringing their infant to the Temple. When Simeon looked at the baby Jesus, now about 6 weeks old, he knew that God promise had been kept. Here was Immanuel, lord With Us, to make everything right, to provide significance by His presence, and to eliminate rejection, fear, and loneliness.

What are your expectation friends, Jesus is born for you to fulfill your desire,
Firstly to give you salvation, blessing, favour, and your daily bread halleluyah

LET US PRAY
FATHER LORD JESUS LET THIS SEASON BRING US ALL THE DIVINE PACKAGE OUR SOUL DESIRE IN JESUS NAME

HAPPY CHRISTMAS