Christmas is the Story of Hope
The Christmas story is the story of hope — hope in the face of all that is contrary. Christmas time is a great time to use for the purpose of remembering, memorializing the fact, that when God says, “I will….”, then God will. He will move mountains, seas and people. In Josh. 2:11 the fact and realization is that our God is able to move anything or anyone in heaven or in earth to accomplish His purposes. He is able to move in the life of an obscure girl who had no credentials or evident reason for expecting to be part of an earth-shaking, history-shaping event. Her qualities and integrity (evidenced in the writings of both Matthew and Doctor Luke) helped to place her in the middle of the road 
where an unprecedented moving of God was progressing like a steamroller and changing history as man had known it. That change was taking place through a small handful of individuals and not through some large and varied political or military movement. From all that we can find concerning this person called Mary, precious few people even knew of her qualities and integrity. It would seem that Jehovah was about the only One who saw and might very well have been the only One who noticed. And by the time she was discovered to be with child, she would have been disqualified by any who did happen to notice. Had it not been for dreams and angels intervening by Divine directive, her own husband would have done away with her.
When God promised Abraham a son it would appear that it was long deferred. Abraham most likely thought that the son which was promised was his immediate son. However, that promised Son was the One through whom the world would be blessed, the One who would be called the Christ. This Son of promise proved to be coming at the great distance of some 42 generations and about 2,000 years. Though it be long and arduous by our standards, God Jehovah is faithful in all and brings about detail for detail that which was foretold long before it was realized in this realm which we call reality. Delays do nothing to weaken the promise of God; for in what seem to us to be delays, our all-wise and provisional Father is preparing a people who will walk out His fulfillment rather than being caught unawares and overcome by His fulfillment. As we learn in the New Testament teaching of our Lord, the new wineskin must be prepared for the new wine or it shall burst and the wine and its value lost.
It is interesting to note M. Henry’s observation on this one point: “This son of David, and son of Abraham, who was to be the glory of his Father’s house, was born when the seed of Abraham was a despised people, recently become tributary to the Roman yoke, and when the house of David was buried in obscurity; for Christ was to be a root out of a dry ground.” From such a studious observation we could readily come to the conclusion that the performance and provision of our God comes when circumstances would place upon it the heaviest it has to offer. Ease and convenience are not the components or the ambiance of fulfillment. The Christmas story is the story of hope — hope in the face of all that is contrary.
God is With Us
Emmanuel, “God is with us”, is the God-Man who was born of a virgin that God might dwell among men. Not only did Jesus, Emmanuel, live among men but He lived redemptively among men. He didn’t come to bring merely a message or a creed but He lived out redemptive acts through His life on earth. His disciples, those whom He has redeemed by His redemptive act of His shed blood on the cross must, in turn, live redemptively among men. There are too many and too much to redeem to simply live to go to heaven. “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” (Matt.1:23, NKJV)
He has Provided us a King
As the people of God assemble today, may they rejoice in the God of their salvation for He has provided us a King who rules in righteousness (Isa.32:1). May they practice the wisdom of seeking Him. “…Three wise men came from country far; To seek for a king was their intent…” “Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Born is the King of Israel.”
“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O Daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you; He is [uncompromisingly] just and having salvation [triumphant and victorious], patient, meek, lowly, and riding on a donkey, upon a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zech.9:9, Amp)
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Kathy, Melissa and I invite you to join us live on Christmas Eve at 8:15pm Central Time for our annual family Christmas Eve Communion. We will be streaming live from our living room on Marty Gabler’s Facebook page reading the Word, singing, worshipping and taking communion. Join us live on Christmas Eve.
Leaving it in Capable Hands
(Melissa Gabler) Yesterday I was praying over a situation for which I have no answers and can do nothing about. As soon as I prayed I heard, “Now, let go of all of your ideas of how this thing needs to be worked out and let Me have it.” As we head into Christmas and a new year may we lay down every weight, worry, and preconceived idea of what the will of God should look like in our current situations, and leave it in the capable hands of the One Whose birth we are celebrating! Have a very Merry Christmas and may you find peace unspeakable in the decision to trust the One who already set us free.
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Kathy, Melissa and I invite you to join us live on Christmas Eve at 8:15pm Central Time for our annual family Christmas Eve Communion. We will be streaming live from our living room on Marty Gabler’s Facebook page reading the Word, singing Christmas songs, worshipping and taking communion. Join us live on Christmas Eve.
Praying for Miracles This Christmas Season
(Kathy Gabler)— Miracles are begun in grace and perfected in glory. They start with God’s supernatural enabling and come to complete manifestation through His intent and purpose and timing. As I wait on God, I shall continue to pray for miracles this Christmas season because the coming of the Christ is still in effect as well as God’s goodwill toward men. May His presence and power and purpose and timing change your life as His goodwill touches the earth again.
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Kathy, Melissa and I invite you to join us at Kingdom Congress 2020. It will be March 4-6, 2020 at Grace International Willis,TX. CLICK HERE for all information for KC2020.
Quiet Within the Clamor
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Celebrating a Date or a Person?
About this time of the year zealous religious folks seem to come out of the woodwork and attempt to rebuke others for “celebrating Christmas”, stating that it is a pagan holiday. After I posted a “Have a BlessedChristmas” message a couple of years ago on Facebook, one such person contacted me and presumptuously proceeded to lecture me on the subject. Well, the short version is that I don’t celebrate holidays, I celebrate Jesus Christ and His birth, life, words, death and resurrection each and every day of the calendar—I enjoy 365 celebrations each year! A person who attends church on Saturday once tried to lecture me that the rest of us worship on the wrong day. I allowed him to 
know that I worship seven days a week and wondered why he only emphasized one day of worship a week when Jesus is worthy of worship every day, all day long. Our Lord had problems with people in His days on earth who legalistically observed days and calendar events, yet their lives, morals and values were no better than the pagans who also carefully observed days and calendar events. The hope of the church is not a calendar event. The hope of the church, of all mankind and of all history is a Person, Jesus Christ. Have our calendar dates and observances made us more into the image of Christ, doing the redemptive works of Christ or has our daily personal relationship and devotion/prayer to Him benefited those we come in contact with 24/7/365? After that mean-spirited person finished attacking me, I sorta felt like I would rather spend the holiday season with those pagans who culturally celebrated the Christmas season than with them and their mean disposition (and their sad family). It is, after all, the season of lights and the season of good cheer and giving—all of which may be found in the Bible, especially giving: “For unto us a child is born, unto us A SON IS GIVEN.” (Isa.9:6); “For God so loved the world THAT HE GAVE His only begotten son’ (Jn.3:16). It would seem that loving and giving go hand in hand as exemplified by our heavenly Father.
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Kathy, Melissa and I invite you to join us on Christmas Eve at 8:15pm Central Time for our annual family Christmas Eve Communion. We will be streaming live from our living room on Marty Gabler’s Facebook page reading the Word, singing, worshipping and taking communion. Join us live on Christmas Eve.
Our Stance — Standing
(Melissa Gabler)—Our stance in this season is standing—standing on the truth that our magnificent God is doing something BIG. He is establishing His plan for 2019 and beyond. Again, we GET to be a part of this. We GET to be a 
change agent simply by standing. Yes, YOU have what is needed for this moment. Now is not the time to throw your hands up. Now is the time to take a deep breath and watch the glorious show unfolding in the days ahead. Yes, there will be shockers. BUT all we need to know is that those shockers are proof that God is shaking what can be shaken (Heb. 12:27-28)! Thankful to be Your daughter, my King. “The kingdom of God doesn’t come by counting the days on the calendar. Nor when someone says, ‘Look here!’ or, ‘There it is!’ And why? Because God’s kingdom is already among you.” (Luke 17:21 MSG) It’s time to wake up, and be who we were born to be. Let’s win this war, as God has intended.
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SEEC Magazine Latest Issue ** Our 22nd Year of Publication! **
Marty and Kathy Gabler invite you to read SEEC Magazine Volume 22 Issue 6.
CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO READ:
https://martygabler.com/magazine/
Christmas joy and blessings to you,
Marty and Kathy
More Than a Band-aid
We are in an era of history when nothing less than the extraordinary of Heaven is required in the earth. We cannot and will not look for those things offered by mere religious sentiment that serve as nothing more than band-aids covering the unresolved issues and fruitless programs of western religion. We must lift up our heads from where we are and look to where there are Transforming Power and radical answers that change individuals and grip them with an insatiable vision for the Kingdom of Heaven in the earth.
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MARTY GABLER may be viewed on Beside Still Waters – an evening devotion.
All segments of Beside Still Waters are archived on YouTube.
CLICK HERE to view “He Heard My Cry”
Understand The Makeup Of Others
A blow dryer is not wired like a drill even though there are some similarities in shape and size. If you put a blow dryer to work drying and styling hair, you will get great results and the dryer will likely last a long time. But if you 
try to force it to operate like a drill and force drill bits down inside it and press it up against a piece of wood or metal and turn it all the way up, the blow dryer will be damaged beyond repair and the one forcing the dryer will be injured, if not fatally injured. People are “wired” the way our Lord has in mind for them to operate in the Kingdom of God (1Cor.12:18). If they are coerced through immediate need that demands “the wheel that squeaks the loudest gets the grease” or through guilt or through an unscriptural ministry paradigm, they and their environment will both be damaged and may never function again. Not only do we need to understand our own makeup but the makeup of others so that we may work together efficiently and bring forth the glory of the Father and not that of religious demands or mere sentiment (1Cor.12:14-27).
(This is the twelfth excerpt from Marty’s article “Don’t Stop Short” which was published in SEEC Magazine. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Previous excerpts may be read by scrolling down this page.)
Attaining Things Which Are Before
“Those things which are behind” must be laid aside in order that “those things which are before” may be attained. A prophecy can be a part of what makes up that “Divine Gravity Pull.” When we receive a prophecy, the word which we receive begins to propel us forward. When we are propelled forward we are truly being propelled toward something but we are also being propelled away from something. Prophecies should serve to help get our minds and emotions off those unfruitful things of the past. There are attitudes and mindsets, traditions and sentiments, failures and rejection that we must set aside in order to go on. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Heb 12:1).
(This is the seventh excerpt from Marty’s article “Black Holes, Planets And Gravity” which was published in SEEC Magazine. Excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Previous excerpts may be read by scrolling down this page.)
Marty & Kathy Gabler invite you to read their
articles in the latest issue of SEEC Magazine. Volume 18 Issue 5
CLICK HERE to read SEEC Magazine
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