{"id":29277,"date":"2015-12-29T00:15:40","date_gmt":"2015-12-29T05:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=29277"},"modified":"2015-12-28T21:40:54","modified_gmt":"2015-12-29T02:40:54","slug":"wise-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2015\/12\/29\/wise-men\/","title":{"rendered":"Wise Men"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16629\" src=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg\" alt=\"psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv\" width=\"341\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg 341w, https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv-300x175.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 341px) 100vw, 341px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">Three believed without a doubt<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Saw a guiding light<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Found Him in a lowly place<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> And knew He was divine<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Wise men, wise men, wise men<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Still look for Him<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Giving gifts of thanks and praise<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> They called Him a king<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Feeling joy that knew no bounds<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> They fell down worshiping<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Wise men, wise men, wise men<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Still look for Him<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em>Surely angels still sing when someone comes so far<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> <em> Traveling the distance from the depths of one\u2019s own heart<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> <em> Searching for salvation, they need not wear a crown<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> <em> He\u2019s still here for all who seek and He wants to be found<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Letting God\u2019s Word be their guide<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> They went home again<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> That\u2019s where their story leaves us<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> And where ours begins<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Wise men, wise men, wise men<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Still look for Him<\/span><\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pppy7thsK08?rel=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p class=\"yt watch-title-container\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><span id=\"eow-title\" class=\"watch-title \" dir=\"ltr\" title=\"Wise Men - Allen Krehbiel (lyric video)\">Allen Krehbiel<br \/>\n<\/span><\/em><span id=\"eow-title\" class=\"watch-title \" dir=\"ltr\" title=\"Wise Men - Allen Krehbiel (lyric video)\">written with Trish Matthews<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\">*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 *<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, \u201cWhere is the newborn King of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.\u201d King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, \u201cWhere is the Messiah supposed to be born?\u201d \u201cIn Bethlehem in Judea,\u201d they said, \u201cfor this is what the prophet wrote:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u2018And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,<br \/>\nare not least among the ruling cities of Judah,<br \/>\nfor a ruler will come from you<br \/>\nwho will be the shepherd for my people Israel.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, \u201cGo to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!\u201d<br \/>\nAfter this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Matthew 2:1-12 NLT<\/p>\n<p>As Christmas has passed and we are all cleaning up and getting back to our routines, it\u2019s possible that we may unintentionally be leaving our focus on Jesus behind.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">We say that we want to keep our minds on Jesus&#8230;but do we?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You,<br \/>\nbecause he trusts in You.<br \/>\nIsaiah 26:3<\/p>\n<p>We don\u2019t know the details of the lives and work of the wise men, but it is fair to say that they studied the stars. They were knowledgeable enough to recognize that something new and important had appeared in the night sky. They were scholarly men who studied various literatures, which included what we refer to as the Old Testament, specifically the prophecies. We could say that they were \u2018full of knowledge.\u2019 What made them <strong><em>wise<\/em><\/strong> was how they accepted that knowledge and used it for good. With their knowledge, they wisely committed to look for&#8230;and find&#8230;the prophesied Messiah. According to the prophecies, the King of the Jews had been born; and not an ordinary king, but one so great that He was worthy of their time, their gifts, and their worship.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">{Here is an interesting article from the Institute for Creation Research&#8230;}<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.icr.org\/home\/resources\/resources_tracts_whentheysawthestar\/\" target=\"_blank\">When They Saw The Star<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>I know some of us are saying, \u201cI took time out from my daily life to focus on Christmas. Now I need to get back to my family and work routines to keep things running smoothly.\u201d God knows all of that is necessary, and He certainly doesn\u2019t condemn that. But He also knows that focusing our hearts and minds on Jesus is important to all aspects of our lives and the lives of our family.<\/p>\n<p>This story of the wise men leaves us with a very good lesson. The wise men used their knowledge to personally seek the king of the Jews, the Messiah. That is wisdom. As we \u201ctravel\u201d into the new year, 2016, let\u2019s make the same commitment that the wise men did. As we daily study God\u2019s Word, we will gain knowledge of God and His plan for us. With God\u2019s Word as our guide, we will wisely seek Jesus in a more personal way, and our very life will reflect Him. \u201c<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em>He\u2019s still here for all who seek and He wants to be found<\/em><\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">You will seek Me and find Me,<br \/>\nwhen you seek Me with all your heart.<br \/>\nJeremiah 29:13<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Wise men\u2014and women\u2014still seek Him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\">*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 *<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Lord, many of us have heads full of knowledge, but we know that doesn\u2019t equate to being wise. \u00a0In this coming year, please help us through Your Holy Spirit to be more committed than ever to study Your Word, and then use it wisely to grow closer to You, more like You, and draw others to You. In the Precious Name of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray. \u00a0Amen, It Is So.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three believed without a doubt Saw a guiding light Found Him in a lowly place And knew He was divine Wise men, wise men, wise men Still look for Him Giving gifts of thanks and praise They called Him a king Feeling joy that knew no bounds They fell down worshiping Wise men, wise men, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":16629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4937],"tags":[9833,3660,246,9711,425,534,1291,9836,9834,4932,9835,1128,8039],"class_list":["post-29277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psalms-hymns-and-spiritual-songs","tag-allen-krehbiel","tag-clella-gilbert-fox","tag-commitment","tag-focus","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-isaiah-263","tag-jeremiah-2913","tag-knowledge","tag-matthew-21-12","tag-psalms-hymns-spiritual-songs","tag-routine","tag-wisdom","tag-wise-men","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-7Cd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29277"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29279,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29277\/revisions\/29279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}