Devotions

Christmas really is simple; despite all we have done to complicate it. It’s a simple story, a simple message. God’s gift of salvation had arrived in the form of a helpless baby, completely dependent upon simple parents who welcomed Him and loved Him.

Oh sure, there were angels appearing to shepherds and a caravan of Magi from the east who arrived later with gifts, but before all that there were simply a humble man, a trusting young woman, and God’s child.

Joseph had been told by an angel in a dream that the child conceived in Mary was from the Holy Spirit. The angel in the dream had instructed him: “Joseph, son of David do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.” [Matt 1:20-21 NLT]

“When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.” [Matt 1:24-25 NLT]

Now, about six months later, all that had come to pass. Before too long the shepherds would arrive with the most wonderful of confirmations … an angel had appeared to them to announce the birth of God’s Child. They had come to worship Him.

What began in travail must have turned to joy before that night was over. “Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.” [Ps 30:5 NKJV]

Wonder of wonders!

This time of the year it is dark most of the day. We are heading toward the longest night of the year in late December. It is dark when I eat dinner, dark when I go to bed, dark when I wake up in the morning.

As I sat in the dark this morning, I could not stop thinking about the wonder of that first Christmas. What it must have been like that dark night before the shepherds arrived with the news of the angel’s message.

What was it like for Joseph? He must have felt a bit helpless, perhaps even like a failure. He’d taken Mary on a long trip during her last trimester of pregnancy, when she was the most uncomfortable. They’d ended up in the lowliest of places. He must have been humiliated. Perhaps he was also a bit angry that those who had more sheltered areas in the “inn” would not relinquish them even to a young girl in labor with her firstborn.

What was it like for Mary?  I imagine she was scared. I know I was scared with my firstborn, and I had a lot of help around. Had she seen other women in her family give birth? Did she know what to expect? She knew this was God’s child – if anyone knew that, she did. Did that same faith that she had when the angel first appeared to her to announce that she would be the Messiah’s mother rise again as she faced the travail of labor?

Whatever it was like for them, before that dark night was over Jesus was born. Mary would have been like all mothers, counting his little fingers and toes, kissing his cheek, placing him at her breast.

God’s Son had arrived on earth and for the next 33 years he would share in the limitations of our mortal flesh.

John 1:9:  The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. [NLT]

I am heading over to St. Luke’s Imaging this morning so that they can take a peek inside. They are trying to figure out why I have a pain in my middle. The Emergency Department did a C-Scan a few Sundays ago. That did not show anything that would explain the pain. It did show that much of my inside is in pretty good shape for my age. Lungs clear, aorta fine, kidneys, adrenal glands, liver, pancreas, etc., all looking good.

This morning, I am having a special type of MRI. (MRCP with/without contrast). They are focusing on my bile duct. I had my gallbladder out in my 40’s – where, as the surgeon explained, I was 4F (Fair, Female, Fat & 40).

My internist thinks I have a small stone or some “sludge” in the bile duct that didn’t show up on the C-Scan. Funny to think that a small stone or some “sludge” would cause such a giant pain!

Isn’t amazing what medicine can do now. They have machines that can see inside me and locate a small stone or some “sludge” rolling around in a small piece of duct work.

Even more amazing is what my God can do. By the power of His Holy Spirit in me, He can locate the smallest inkling that isn’t right and warn me. He can encourage the briefest flame of fidelity into a roaring fire. He takes the desires of God’s heart and makes them mine.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” [Psalm 139:23-24 NLT]

One of my favorite NT books is Colossians. There is something about that letter that delights and uplifts my soul when I’m tired or discouraged or battling that unseen enemy of our soul. And I always read it kind of funky.  I begin with Chapter 3, verses 1 to 4. Then after I have that deep in my mind and heart, I go back and start reading from the beginning.

 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” [Col 3:1-4 NIV]

Now that really gets me energized. Paraphrased.

Realize beloved, it’s very true, you have already been raised to life with Christ.  Your life is now, in the present, hidden and secure with Christ in God. And there is coming that unbelievable day … when Christ returns to set up His eternal kingdom, you will be with Him, sharing in His glory as King of kings and Lord of lords.  So quit worrying about the things of this present time and present place, those earthly things that will soon pass away. Focus your mind, your heart, your energies on eternal things.

Perhaps nothing ministers to my soul more than knowing that I am already raised with Christ.  Yes, my physical self is still subject to the decay found in the present, but my life, my real life, is already seated with Christ in the heavenlies. Paul reaffirmed that truth in Ephesians 2:6: “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” [NIV]

Father, remind me to look at my life not with my physical eyes, which can only behold my physical self. Help me to see with spiritual eyes and know that I am safe, secure, and hidden with Christ. Amen.

I have been thinking about repentance. Peter on the Day of Pentecost told his listeners that “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” [Acts 2:38 NLT]

According to Strongs Lexicon the Greek word translated “repent” means “I repent, change my mind, change the inner man (particularly with reference to acceptance of the will of God).”

To repent is to change our minds. How we think always governs how we act. True repentance also means we change our actions.

Too often we think that repentance is limited to AFTER we sin. I think that repentance is a way of life for the Christian. It is changing our minds BEFORE we sin … when we first entertain those thoughts that will lead us away from God.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t wait until AFTER we sin to warn us. He warns us at that first inkling of temptation. If we heed His warning, we can avoid heading down the wrong path.

To glorify God, we must live a lifestyle of repentance – constantly changing our minds as soon as a thought of sin enters.

It is early morning as I sit here writing. Bob has the news on the television. He starts with the local morning show on NBC. Then he changes to a national morning show on ABC. And then he watches another national show on Fox network. At night he’ll even it out and watch a local and national CBS broadcast.

From what I can tell, it doesn’t matter what station he chooses, the news is all bad. It is draining to the soul. I thought about that aspect this morning – the way the world drains our soul. The world’s main goal is to drain us of the awareness of God’s “unfailing love and faithfulness.”  

John declared in the very first chapter of His Gospel that “…God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.” [1:17 NLT]

I think about and write a lot about “God’s unfailing love and faithfulness” to us. I think we must be reminded constantly about “God’s unfailing love and faithfulness” because the world has a loud voice and a lot of allies in its goal to drain our soul.

Our lives become extremely difficult when our souls (our minds, our will, our emotions) lose the awareness of just how much God loves us. Struggles become unmanageable. Grief abounds minus hope. Loneliness seems absolute.

But when we remember “God’s unfailing love and faithfulness” our hearts rejoice each day with the Joy of the LORD, our song drowns out the world’s voice, and our souls are nourished in Him.

Ah, another one. Seems like I just had one. They roll around quicker and quicker each year. They used to be FUN! Now I am just glad to see another one arrive. And hope for a few more at the same time. I turned 78 years old today. Not nearly as much fun as when I turned 18 in 1964! But still thankful that I can celebrate another year.

I have seen a lot in 78 years. I went to work for the State of California shortly before I turned 18. I had to have my father co-sign for a checking account, to buy a car, to rent a home. Credit cards were a rarity. No one imagined having a “home” computer and it would be almost 30 more years before something called the “World Wide Web” would be launched.

Neil Armstrong would walk on the moon in 1969, and I remember sitting in front of the television and listening to Walter Cronkite report on what the world was witnessing.

Bob and I married when I turned 20 and I had my first child when I was 23. It was not until I turned 26 that I surrendered my life to my Savior Christ Jesus in a little interdenominational prayer meeting. I had known about God all my life, but now I began to realize how much He loved me and how much I needed a personal, life-altering relationship with Him.

More than five decades have passed and I am still learning how much He loves me and how much I need Him every moment. I have never regretted that commitment to Him. I treasure it more and more every year.

“I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.” [1Timothy 1:12 NLT]

Our family decided that this Christmas we would forego gifts and create memories instead. I was thinking about that decision, and it brought up a memory.

Each Christmas our church would ask the Middleton school for families that needed a little help with Christmas gifts. Our congregation loved buying toys and clothing for the children. We would shop and then spend an evening wrapping all the gifts. It was a time of great joy.

One family touched my heart in ways I cannot even explain. The school advocate vetted each family, took down the children’s genders, ages, and requests. She would ask each mother or father if they needed anything also.

She told me of one mother who insisted she was “fine,” and we should just buy for the children. (If I remember correctly, there were 5 or 6 children.) The advocate kept asking and finally the mom made a request … she asked for enough towels that each family member could have their own. That request broke my heart. I have struggled at times, but I have never been so poor that I had to share a bath towel.

The more I thought about that though, the more I realized I was wrong. I have been so very poor. I stood before a cross acknowledging that I had nothing I could give, nothing I could do to restore a right relationship with my Creator. I was far more destitute than just not having enough towels. But…

“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners….God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” [Romans 5:6-8 NLT]

I was praying my “daily” prayer out of my precious little book, “The Valley of Vision,” [A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett]

I usually pray through this book once a year, always finding something that resounds within my soul. That was the case today. The prayer ended: “Help me to guide my affections with discretion, to owe no man anything, to be able to give to him that needeth, to feel it is my duty and pleasure to be merciful and forgiving, to show to the world the likeness of Jesus.”

I was struck by the request, “Help me … to feel it is my duty and pleasure to be merciful and forgiving ….”

Duty and pleasure are words we usually do not find in the same thought. Duty, according to Merriam-Webster means “obligatory tasks, conduct, service, or functions that arise from one’s position (as in life or in a group), a moral or legal obligation.”

That doesn’t sound very pleasant. As Christians we do have a duty to be merciful and forgiving, as God was merciful and forgiving with us. (Freely we received, now freely we give.) But, often the people that need mercy and forgiveness are not “pleasant” people.

There have been times when I have given mercy grudgingly and granted forgiveness simply because I am supposed to do so. But I believe the one who wrote that prayer understood that it is God’s desire that we look at that “duty” with pleasure. Because freely we received mercy and forgiveness from God’s good pleasure (when we were not very “pleasant” people) and now we are to take pleasure in granting the same to others.

“Joy to the World the LORD has come…. And wonders of His Love.”

Romans 5:8 – But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

“Joy to the World the LORD has come…. And wonders of His Love.”

Romans 8:37-39 – No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 John 3:1 – See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

“Joy to the World the LORD has come…. And wonders of His Love.”

Zephaniah 3:17 – The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Ephesians 2:4-5 – But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved

“Joy to the World the LORD has come…. And wonders of His Love.”

His Love, Oh His Love! How it echoes within our souls!