Rhema Ehiemere - The Good News About The Bad News

Have you ever noticed that just when you decide to start a major project, important mission or a critical assignment, there seems to be discouragement, opposition, and resistance. Sometimes, this is just the enemy trying to stop you from living your life to the fullest. There is something about births, babies and beginnings that scares the enemy. He loves to terminate destines in infancy before they develop. In Matthew 2, Jesus had an enemy before He even had a ministry. When Jesus was born, Herod was troubled and wanted to kill him because he was scared Jesus would become king. The birth of Jesus was good news for others but was bad news for Herod. You may never know who is against you until you begin to prosper and produce. The bad news is that the enemy is after you, but the good news is that you are already victorious.

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On your way to you, say look at your neighbor and tell them there is good news about the bad news. There is good news about the bad news. The first thing about this text I want to highlight is the fact that this story did not happen in the manger. I know that already just messes with your whole Christian theology; just bear with me. The story did not happen in the manger. Yes, Jesus was born in a manger, but Jesus did not stay in a manger. Jesus was born in the manger, but he did not remain in the manger. Jesus was visited in the manger by the shepherds; remember that—it is still intact. Some might say, «Pastor, you just came to dismantle everything Christmas,» but no, the shepherds met Jesus in the manger, while the wise men met Jesus in a house two years later. It’s important to understand this because sometimes you have to leave where you were born to fulfill why you were born. Some of you have stayed in the manger so long, and you don’t understand that sometimes you have to leave your current position to fulfill your purpose. Just because you were born in a manger doesn’t mean you have to stay or grow in the manger. Could it be possible that you are currently frustrated because you feel and think that you are not growing, when in reality you have outgrown the space and place where you are today? I can recall when my kids were born; they stayed in the hospital for about two to three days, and then they were discharged. We didn’t tell the doctors, «No, doctor, we want to stay in the hospital.» They would look at you like you’re crazy. After two or three days, we left, right? But the challenge here is that a lot of people are attached to where they come from, attached to where they were born, attached to their manger. And listen to me; I’m not saying you should literally pack up and leave where you are, even though sometimes it’s necessary. Talk to me, Joseph. Joseph had the dream in Canaan, and it came to pass in Egypt because there are times when you have to leave where you were born to fulfill why you were born. How you start does not determine how you finish. My kids started out sleeping in a crib and a bassinet, and now they have their own beds. But most of us are trapped, and most of us have adult destinies, yet you’re stuck in crib mentalities. God says, «I have great plans for you,» but most of us are stuck in the crib of life. God is saying, «I want to give you more; I want to pour more into you,» and you are stuck here. The truth about this is that the wise men only came to see Jesus when Jesus was in the house, not the manger. Could it be possible that the reason why only shepherds visit you is because you’re stuck in the manger? As long as Jesus was in the manger, there was no wise person that came to see him. Now, I have nothing against the shepherds; I love the shepherds. But the truth about the shepherds is that when they came, nobody in town even knew they had come. When the shepherds came, they didn’t come with gifts. Two, when the shepherds came, they didn’t come to worship God; they came to just see and observe. So there is a stark difference between the shepherds and the wise men. When the wise men came into town, everybody knew. When the wise men came into town, they came with gifts. You’ve been connected to the wrong people. When the wise men came to see Jesus, all of a sudden, they came to worship. There is a difference between visitors, observers, and worshipers, and some of us come to church just to observe. We have the same information; they come to church just to observe, and God has to send somebody all the way from the East because shepherds will come to observe and not to worship. Could it be possible you’ve been asking God for more, and God says, «I cannot give you more because you are stuck in the manger»? I looked at this text, and it dawned on me that the shepherds didn’t even worship Jesus. Think about that; they didn’t even worship Jesus. They had the first opportunity to worship Jesus, and they did not. And here you see wise men coming two years later, and they come, and by the way, the reason why this text is so important is that the first time we hear the word «worship» in scripture was in Genesis. I talked about it two weeks ago, and it happened to be a man from the East called Abraham who happened to travel, who happened to sacrifice. And here again, you see people from the East, Gentiles, who happen to travel, who happen to sacrifice. Have you ever wondered why worship was one of the temptations? The first temptation was, «If you are the Son of God, turn the stones into bread.» No, Jesus says, «It is written, man shall not live.» We know the scriptures, right? Okay, «If you are the Son of God, you know you can throw yourself down from here, for it is written, he will give you charge.» He says, «No, we don’t do that; that’s not how it works.» The temptation showed him all the beauty of the world, all the power, and said, «I will give you all of this if you would just bow down.»