Thank you Jesus

I have been reading the Old Testament starting from Genesis with the goal to go through the entire Old Testament. In the past, I often skipped the "boring" parts, so I have not read books like Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

So as I was reading a couple of days ago, there is this prophecy that Jacob made to his son Judah:

"The scepter will not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs
    and the obedience of the nations is his." - Genesis 49:10

It is a prophecy about the Messiah, who will come from the line of Judah. This is not the earliest prophecy about Christ, but I still think it is quite awesome that God has planned everything so perfectly according to His good will. There are many prophecies about Christ, that He will be born from a virgin, that He will be born in Bethlehem, that He will take away our sorrows and give up His life for our transgressions. It's just amazing that God planned this with such accuracy, showing that He is truly sovereign, in control, and all-powerful. But, God did not have to go through all this, and it will be ok to leave humans as they are, but God is rich in grace, that He sent Jesus to die for us. God is the one who initiated everything, we didn't do anything to deserve it. Intense.

As I was reading through Exodus, it is kind of disappointing to see the Israelites complaining against Moses (and eventually against God) when they were in the desert without water or food. God has just owned the Egyptians in the most spectacular way possible, and delivered them from the harsh slavery, but they tend to forget God's awesomeness so easily. But that actually reminds me of myself since it is so easy to forget about how good God is, and I start to complain about uncertainties in my life, and act sinfully even though He has just blessed me recently. The more I think about that, the larger God's grace becomes.

Christmas is a good reminder of the grace that is in Christ Jesus. It's definitely a great time to spend joyfully with close relatives and friends. I have chosen to spend some days in solitude because I really need the personal time with God, to ponder and be marveled at His immeasurable grace. It is a good time for me to rest, to get recharged, to reflect about my life, and to set goals for the near future. This is really helpful since work life has been considerably busy and draining. I have also set some time to catch up with family and close friends via skype since life becomes so busy that if one is not intentional, it is really hard to keep up with relationships.

Christmas is such a joyful times. All for the praise of His glory. Thank you Jesus.