Devotions

I have a hymnal called “Hymns of Glorious Praise.”  The Table of Contents for that hymnal tells me it is laid out by theme.  The first section is worship. “O, Worship the King” all glorious above, and gratefully sing His Power and His love. (Franz Joseph Hayden, 1732-1809)

Right after the worship section in this hymnal come songs we hear this time of year, the songs of the Incarnation, songs of Christmas. Yet too soon, following the Christmas songs come songs of the cross.

It was for the cross that Christ came. It was for the cross that He abandoned all the rights and privileges of His divine nature and came to earth as a babe. It was for the cross that He took upon Himself the sins of this world and surrendered Himself to death, even a death on a cross.  [Philippians 2]

And the cross was for us. To fully appreciate the babe born in the manager, we must always do so in sight of the cross. If Jesus was only a great teacher, a good man, or a prophet, celebrating his birth would not be much different than celebrating the birth of other good teachers and good men.

But Jesus was not just a great teacher, a good man, and a prophet, He was and is and always will be God the Son, and He came to Bethlehem that wondrous night for a single purpose, to reconcile man and God. That reconciliation meant the giving of his very life’s blood on a heathen cross, the one true spotless sacrifice offered for the sins of men.

Both the star over the stable and the cross on the hill cast shadows that stretch through all eternity to remind us of what our salvation cost our God.

What a privilege and blessing it is to be a Christian. All the guesswork is taken out of salvation because salvation is given to us at the beginning of our life with the Lord, by His grace, through our faith. We need never worry if the life we are living is good enough to get God’s attention or blessing.

I began life in a religion where I never knew if what I did was going to please God enough to be accepted by Him at the end of my life. I remember the fear that brings into a heart daily.

I am ending my life with a faith that is so different, so comforting, so wondrous. God came to earth as a babe. There is a Christmas song with the phrase, “there were many babies to become a king, but only One King became a baby.” [“One King” by David Phelps)

Isn’t that the most amazing thought? Our King became a baby and lived a singular life unto God, died on a cross and became the atonement for our sins, so that we might be the righteousness of God in Christ. Now the life we live is not to achieve salvation or atonement, since God has given that to us freely; now the life we live reflects His glory in us, a life He has ordained full of good works done from a thankful heart.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8-10: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”  [NLT]

The good works that we do are not to win God’s favor for that has already been granted. The good works we do flow out of the love God gave for all that first Christmas.

I am always happy to see December come. It is my favorite time of the year. I love Christmas music, family gatherings, and all the excitement and fun. I love the anticipation I see in the faces of the children. They know Christmas means good things.

As we age, that anticipation often fades. The holiday season doesn’t always mean good things.  Sometimes it means facing the holidays alone, or without that special someone. Sometimes it means trying to scrape by on minimum wage and still meet the needs of family. Sometimes it means facing the dysfunction of the family in which we were raised, or the one we inherited through marriage.

For me though, Christmas is still a time of anticipation. I find myself reflecting often on that first Christmas. Oh, I know the Christ Child was more than likely not born in December, the stable was probably a cave, and while the shepherds showed up that night, the wise men probably took a bit longer to arrive! But none of that matters to me, what matters is that the Christ Child WAS born, born to a virgin, born in the likeness of man, born with a purpose, and that purpose was the salvation of men.

That is the anticipation I sense at Christmas, a re-kindling of the awareness of why Christ came and what it means to all men. Christmas is when God came to earth to reconcile man unto Himself. Christmas is a time of celebration, a time when we sing with the angels, “Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men.” 

It is a time when we come with the Shepherds and bow down to see this wonder of wonders. It is a time when we bring the only gift we have, a heart in desperate need of salvation, and present it before the Babe in the Manger.

During the Christmas season I often find my heart wavering between sorrow and joy.

There is so much need, so much hurt, so much loneliness and struggles that break my heart. Then I see the manger and the Christ Child Jesus. I see the Magi and the shepherds and hear in my imagination the angelic hosts proclaiming and I am filled with pleasure.

Then I remember the cross, the crown of thorns, the whipping and mocking and spitting and I mourn for a world that rejected its Savior.

The cross gives way to the empty tomb. I see the surprise on the faces of the disciples; I see the delight in a mother who embraces a son that she thought was forever gone from her. I rejoice in a life that death cannot conquer.

And I see a world that still does not know its salvation, a world that abides in turmoil and struggles. I see the homeless man leaning on his cane outside the Dollar Store, fearful even to make eye contact with me as I go by. I see the children who have nothing and expect nothing even during this time of year. And my heart breaks.

But deep inside I hear the prophet remind me. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.” [Isaiah 9:6]

The government—the rule—is on His Shoulders, not mine. I can allow my heart to break with the things that break His and rejoice in the things that give Him delight. My Savior, my LORD, loves me. And He loves you. Today, that is enough.

Isaiah 41:10: “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” [NLT]

I’ve heard that there are 364 references to “Do not fear” in the Bible, one for each day of the year. “Don’t be afraid” is one of God’s primary messages.

In the Christmas story alone, there are four very noticeable “Do not be afraid” announcements. In Luke 1 and 2, the angels that appeared to Zechariah, Mary and then the shepherds told them, “Do not be afraid.” And in Matthew 1, God told Joseph in a dream, “Do not be afraid.”

Jesus warned many times that we are not to be afraid. He told us not to fear those who can kill the body but then have no more they can do to us. He told us not to be afraid because it was our Father’s desire to give us the kingdom. And He told us He was giving us His peace, so we were not to be afraid.

And still, we are afraid. Afraid when our circumstances change, afraid when we lose our jobs or our homes or our health. We sometimes fear what evil others might force upon us, or sometimes even the evil in our own hearts.

God has promised that He is our God. He has promised he will strengthen us and help us. He has promised to uphold us with His victorious right hand. If you notice in His promises, He doesn’t limit them to just some situations and abandon us in others. He will always do what is right, He will always be our Eternal Father. He will always strengthen, help, uphold those who love and honor Him.

Praise Him today for His promises to you – no matter your situation or circumstances.

Joy to the World, the Lord has come! That’s the Reason for the Season. I love how the Christmas carol “Joy to the World” ends … “And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders, of His love.”

My outdoor nativity scene is up. My indoor nativities are out. I am sitting here late at night thinking about that first Christmas and the “wonders of His love.”

It wasn’t the heavenly choir or the brilliant light or the worshipping shepherds, nor was it the star or the caravan of Magi from the east that brought the “wonders of His love.” It was a carpenter, his teenage bride, a dirty place for animals and the birthing of a helpless baby in its midst. The Prince of Peace, the Glorious Son of God, born to the poorest of the poor.

That is how Christianity began. There were no grand cathedrals, no rich robes, no golden bells, or incense. There was dirty, fetid straw, and swaddling cloths that Mary would have brought with her. There was the bleating of animals and the stench of urine and feces.

Jesus came to the poor and the powerless. He still comes to the poor and the powerless. “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” he said to the crowd. [Matthew 5:3]

There could not have been two more poor in spirit than His adopted father and birth mother, Joseph and Mary. There could not be anyone more poor in spirit than He, Himself, who gave up everything to take on our infirmities and limitations.

Let the “wonders of His love” capture your heart this Christmas season.

“Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” [Mark 16:15 NLT]

 “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” [Matthew 28:19-20 NLT]

 “Go! And remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves.” [Luke 10:3 NLT]

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus’ call to obedience is often preceded by the word “Go!”  And isn’t it interesting that our response to Jesus’ “Go” is often, “Who, me?”

Me? How am I supposed to go into all the world? I have responsibilities, and besides not everyone wants to hear the Good News. I don’t deal well with rejection.

Me? To go and make disciples means I must first be a disciple. That requires discipline and I’m sure some training, and maybe I’ll have to pick up my cross daily ….

Me? LORD, have you seen what happens to lambs who hang around with wolves!

Me? And how often His response is, “Yes, you.”

When we think about the birth of Christ Jesus our LORD, we don’t usually think about Joseph. In a way, he’s just there, rounding out the “Holy Family.”  We set his statue out in our nativity sets, but he’s not the center of attention. Even the shepherds that came that night and the wise men who showed up later get more attention than poor Joseph.

Joseph is just the background. Yet, God chose this man to be the protector, the guardian for His Son’s early years on earth. He chose him to teach Him a trade, to raise Him in the admonition of the LORD, to teach Him the Word of God.

The Scriptures describe Joseph as a righteous man. We know he was kind and compassionate. Before God informed him by an angel in a dream that Mary was pregnant not because of infidelity but because of the miraculous working of God’s Holy Spirit, he was going to put her away “quietly” rather than expose her to ridicule or scorn. [Matthew 1:18-22]

We know Joseph was obedient. He did what the LORD commanded him to do. When it became necessary to leave Jerusalem after the visit from the wise men and Herod’s avowed attempt to kill the newborn king, Joseph gathered his wife and child and fled in the middle of the night to Egypt and stayed there until God told him it was safe to return. [Matthew 2]

Read the account of Joseph in Matthew. Matthew must have thought him important for he concentrates on this man in the background more than any other aspect of the birth of our Savior. There were so many ways in which this all could have turned out differently, if Joseph had not been a man of compassion, obedience, and quiet strength.

When I think about examples of obedience in Scripture, I immediately go the obedience of Mary, the mother of Jesus. She was so amazing for someone so young. Historians believe Mary was a young teen when she gave birth to Jesus.

When the angel Gabriel visited her to tell her about God’s plan for the birth of His Son, she was initially disturbed and confused. Unsure of how this would be accomplished, Gabriel told her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.” [Luke 1:35 NLT]

Her immediate response was obedience. “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”  [vs 38]

Mary said yes to a call from God with a purpose beyond what she ever could have imagined. She could not anticipate what the future would hold for her or for her son. She simply said yes to what God’s asked of her.

“I am the LORD’s servant” should be the cry of every heart redeemed through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Mary’s “Son.”

“Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” [Philippians 2:12-13 NLT]

I am still thinking about obedience, something we seldom talk about anymore. One of the results of our salvation, obtained through the absolute obedience of God’s Precious Only Son Jesus is that we too learn obedience. [Philippians 1:6-11]

The promise of Philippians 2:12-13 above is that God is working in us! He works in us through the power of the Holy Spirit given on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit produces a desire in us to do what pleases God – and then He produces the power to carry out that desire.

Isn’t that an amazing thought! We are given the ability to please God through our obedience. I admit that my soul can get so ugly at times I cannot even “please” myself – let alone please God. But God doesn’t give up on me. He doesn’t write me off.

Instead, He provides all I need. He provides a desire to obey Him with deep reverence (not shallow!) and fear. And then gives the power to obey and to please.

Thank you LORD Jesus for your obedience which provided all I need so that I too can be obedient. Amen