People need to know that the way to their true destiny is when they follow the star that leads to Jesus! Through Christ, they can learn to hear God’s voice and receive true supernatural knowledge concerning their future and destiny. Why settle for a counterfeit, when you can have the voice of God reveal things to you?! People need to know that their true destiny can only be found in the person of Jesus.
I never cease to be amazed at how many people will look to counterfeit sources to satisfy their spiritual hunger for supernatural knowledge or miracles. They are like the man sitting by the Bethesda Pool, looking to the pool of water in John 5. He was looking to the pool for a miracle, when the Source of all miracles was standing right there in front of him!
In Matthew 2:1-2 The Bible tells us, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
This star was a sign and a wonder and it pointed to Christ. In ministry sometimes you get asked, ‘”What do you think about this sign and wonder or that sign and wonder occurring?” I usually reply, “Well, if it’s not specifically addressed in scripture, we need to consider whether it points us to, or distracts us from Jesus. Every sign and wonder should lead people to Jesus. That’s the whole point of a sign and a wonder!”
And that’s what that star did. It led these wise men to come from the uttermost parts of the earth, bringing their gold and their gifts to lay at the feet of Jesus and to worship Him. Later, in Matthew, Chapter 2:16 ‘When Herod found out that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity, who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.’
This star shone in the midst of all this turmoil, calamity, and a great darkness which fell on the land. It shone in the midst of a city in mourning. Verse 17-18 says, ‘Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”‘ The King and the enemy were furiously at work to snuff out this light that had begun to shine into the world.
When God starts to move like this, the enemy is always showing up to see if he can figure out what is happening, so he can try to snuff it out. The Bible tells us in John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” The word for understood in the Greek is katalaben which has a number of variant meanings: ‘to seize; lay hold of; befall; overtake; seize with the mind; comprehend; overcome; hold down; cover; keep under; repress; check; compel; constrain.”
Let just say, when God moves in a miraculous way like this, the enemy will try anything to stop it, but the Bible is saying, ‘No matter what he tries, there is nothing he can do to stop it!’ Jesus is the light of the world! And this star represented a light that came to shine into the spiritual darkness, chaos and turmoil of our world. If you have Jesus in your heart, you have that light shining on the inside of you. A light that shines into a world full of darkness and emptiness.
The enemy might be at work to snuff that light out in your life, but you need to remember that the light that shines in you is a miracle of God’ and ultimately, whatever the enemy does, he cannot put it out – it is an unstoppable force! That star, which the Magi followed, shone with intensity; That star was different than any other star.
When you encounter the true light of Jesus, everything else; all natural things, become like a shadow in comparison! The wise men came and worshiped this newborn baby; this Jesus who had come into the world, and that star represented all that Jesus was. Jesus said in John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
God wants us to shine like that star that shone in the sky that night. He wants us to be a sign and a wonder that points to the Savior. That our good deeds would be seen by others, that others would see the fruit and love of God in our lives and know that Jesus lives. People want to know what revival is and my view is that, “If revival is not drawing people to Jesus, then it’s not true revival.”
I remember, as a young Christian, I was living at a YWAM hostel, and as I was crying out to God in prayer, I felt a great light come down from heaven and overshadow me. It was one of those encounters with God that you never forget. A while later, I went downstairs and there was a man in the lobby asking questions. He said he had been walking down the street pass the hostel and had seen a great light shining over the building. He wanted to know what the light was. I was able to share with him and lead him to the saving knowledge of Jesus.
The light represents the holiness and purity of God. There is no hiding anything when we are exposed to that holy light. Darkness flees when it is exposed to the light of Jesus. Today, and in this Christmas season, I am believing for a sign and a wonder; for miracles to take place; for people to come and be drawn to Jesus. I am believing that the ‘Brightest Star’ will shine over your life; that people will be drawn to Jesus in you; that you will have supernatural direction; supernatural provision, and that God will use you to draw others to worship Jesus.
We continue to believe, as a ministry, for signs, wonders and miracles in the lives of those who support our ministry. We continue to believe for signs, wonders and miracles, in our meetings, to draw the unsaved. At Christmas time, let’s remember that it was a supernatural miracle that brought Jesus into the world, and it was a supernatural miracle that placed that star in the sky.
There is a place for the presenting of compelling arguments for the gospel, there is also a place for believing for signs and wonders that will draw people into the Kingdom of God. As we gear up for the New Year, we are believing for the nations of the world to be drawn to the light of that star; to be drawn to Jesus, the light of the world! Merry Christmas!
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