Past Devotions

I wrote this last year, but I read it again and thought I’d re-post it for today.

I am thinking about the wonder of Christ’s birth.  Merriam-Webster defines wonder as the quality of exciting amazed admiration. We’ve heard the Christmas story so many times, perhaps we’ve lost a bit of that exciting amazed admiration.

God orchestrated through a heathen kingdom (Rome) the arrival of Joseph and Mary to the insignificant village of Bethlehem where 700 years earlier Micah had prophesied the Messiah would be born (Micah 5:2)

It would have been a miserable journey, 80 miles, with Mary full term. It ended up in a place that was more than likely filthy and smelly. Inns in those days were mainly just a series of partially enclosed stalls that opened into a shared area where the animals were kept.  When Luke said there was no room for them in the inn, he meant there was no room for them in those stalls.  They probably ended up in the yard where travelers secured their animals.

Mary had traveled all this way, far from her family, far from the female support system she would have had at home. She was likely around 14 years old. She was alone, except for Joseph. She had no back massages, no birthing coach, no classes, no meds, no clean sheets, no soft music playing, no attendants – just Joseph.  His hands would have been calloused and rough from his work. He was good at working wood, probably not so good at birthing babies.

And into this miserable, wretched, dishonorable scene, the Son of God was born. “She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”  [Luke 2:7]

If that doesn’t take our breath away in exciting amazed admiration, I’m not sure anything will. The King became a pauper. God became a babe, completely dependent upon a young teenager for sustenance and a rough carpenter for protection. Wonder of wonders! 

This is from “Monday Matters and Ron Nelson.” I love this story and wanted to share it with you with his permission.

Once upon a time, there was a man who worked very hard just to keep food on the table for his family. This particular year a few days before Christmas, he punished his little five-year-old daughter after learning that she had used up the family’s only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper.

As money was tight, he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve he saw that the child had used all of the expensive gold paper to decorate one shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree. He also was concerned about where she had gotten money to buy what was in the shoebox.

Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, “This is for you, Daddy!”

As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her. But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. “Don’t you know, young lady,” he said harshly, “when you give someone a present, there’s supposed to be something inside the package!”

The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: “Daddy, it’s not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full.”

The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

An accident took the life of the child only a short time later. It is told that the father kept this little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of this beautiful child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us has been given an invisible golden box filled with unconditional love.  The real reason for this season is because God sent His Son, Jesus, as a gift of love for each and every one of us.  If you have not received this gift yet, why not do it this Christmas.  He wants you to have His gift of love.

Author Unknown

Sync. That word is a shortened version of the word synchronized. I’m becoming more and more familiar with it. For the last several years, every morning I sync my Garmin Vivofit with my computer. What was recorded on my Vivofit (which I wear on my wrist) is now uploaded to my computer. There I can see how much many steps or miles I walked, calories I burned, etc. And once it is uploaded to my computer, I can then compare it with other days to see if I am progressing or not.

With the arrival of my new car, Black Bart, into my life, I also have become more aware of “Sync.” That is a program that is part of Bart’s accessories that syncs with my phone and other things. I can call people by just telling “Sync” to dial …. It also informs me that a text message has come in and will even read it to me!

So, sync is a good word. Have you thought about applying sync to your walk with the Savior? Are you in sync with Him? Are you syncing with Him daily? It has sure given me pause!

It’s made me wonder if I sync more with my Vivofit/computer and Black Bart’s “Sync” program than I do with Jesus. We are almost to the end of 2018, Christmas is a day away. This may be a good time, before the new year begins, to make sure I’m “syncing” daily, perhaps even moment-by-moment with my LORD.

1 Thessalonians 2:12:  “…walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”  [NKJV]

Father, I love you. I want to spend my life in sync with You and Your will. I need Your Spirit! Amen.

“Wonderful Counsellor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace.”

 Jesus came, and He preached peace. He preached peace, Paul says in Ephesians 2, to those who were near (the Jews) and to those who were far away (the Gentiles). He removed the divisions between people.

He brought peace between God and man by removing the barrier caused by sin. “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  [Rom 5:1-2]

And when He left to return to the Father, He left His peace with us. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” [John 14:27]

The world’s peace is temporary, dependent upon the desires and demands of man. It is often an enforced, false peace. It can disappear as fast as it came. How many peace treaties have we seen in the Middle East alone in the last 50 years? While greatly celebrated, they have mostly been broken and are no longer in effect.

The peace of the Lord, however, is so different. It is inside the heart of man. It flows toward God, toward each other and permeates our own hearts, minds, and emotions.  While the world is yearning for peace, we abide in it. He is the Prince, the Son of Peace, and He abides in us.

His name will be called, “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

“Wonderful Counsellor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father.”

This One to come, our Messiah, our Christ, is the One who ushers in Eternal Life. He is “everlasting.”

“For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” [Col 1:16-17]

He is everlasting and the source, purpose and sustainer of all things. And He is Father. A father not only sparks life, a father protects.

I remember once when Bob and I took our kids to Southern California on a fun vacation at all the theme parks and fun places we could fit in our schedule.  While there we went to visit a friend in San Diego. Our friend wanted to take us to the border and into Tijuana. It seemed like a good idea at first. But some things came up and delayed our friend so that by the time we got to the border, parked, and walked across, it was getting dark and late. On the other side we went about two blocks and Bob said, enough. He thought it was too dark, and too dangerous a location and insisted our friend turn around and go back.

A father protects.  Our Everlasting Father is revealed to us in Jesus, His Son. He is our provider of eternal life, and He is our protector.

“Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father.”

Have you noticed the movies and video games that are out now? Notice a theme that runs through almost all of them?  It may be defined by one word – POWER.

Our culture is hungry for someone that has power, real power…the kind of power that makes things right. We don’t have it in our politics. We don’t have it in our educational systems. And sadly, we often don’t have it in our churches. So, what does that leave? Hollywood steps in and provides imaginary, powerful, mighty superheroes on the screen, on television and in video games.

When Isaiah foretold of the character and nature of the Messiah to come, his second title was “Mighty God.” “His name will be called, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God….”

 This one to come will be “mighty.” The shortened version of the word is “gibbor (ghib-bore) and it means powerful. It describes a warrior, champion, or chief who is mighty, strong and valiant.

Not only will He be “mighty,” He will be “God.” The Hebrew word is “El” and it is used only of Jehovah God. The One to come is God Himself, Mighty, Strong, and Valiant.  God is not some impersonal force, He is not distant or uninterested in us. As John says, “The Word was God …. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  [John 1:1, 14]

 Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. The Word, God Himself, came to us in flesh and blood and dwelt with us. He is Mighty God. There is no power like His power. Hollywood can have their make-believe superheroes, I’ll take the real, eternal power – our Mighty God!

“Wonderful counselor, Mighty God.”

I have been thinking a lot about the name given to the Son, the Child, foretold by Isaiah 9:6. “His name shall be called,” the prophet said. Isaiah was giving us not just a name as we think of a name but giving us the character and nature of this One given by God. “His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor.”

The Child, the Son given, was fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth, born to Mary by the miraculous power of God, and entrusted into the care of a simple carpenter. This “Wonderful Counselor” came and imparted the deep things of God to us. Paul wrote to the Colossians, “My purpose is that [you] may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that [you] may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that [you] may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” 

When Paul said that all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge were hidden, he didn’t mean that they remain hidden. He meant that those deep things of God which were a mystery down through the ages are now revealed to us in the nature and character of our Savior and Lord, Jesus the Christ.

Christ Jesus now counsels us about what life is all about, He tells us about true love, love from God, love for God, and love for each other.  It is in this “Wonderful Counselor” that we find the answers to all life’s questions.

What joy it is, not just at this time of year, but throughout all of life, to know that if we but turn to God and listen, He will reveal to us love and life. The problem is not with God’s revelation (He’s done His part), the problem is with us when we fail to ask or fail to heed and obey.

He is Christ Jesus, our “Wonderful Counselor!”

I remember taking a course in psychology in college. I really enjoyed it because the way we humans think and deal with emotions always intrigues me.  I like studying what makes us tick. Anyway, back to that course. At one class the professor showed us a film of a “counselor” counselling. The “counselor” sat with a pen and notebook in hand, leaning in toward a woman. After every few thoughts expressed by her, he would nod his heat up and down while he repeated, “Aha, aha, aha.” Always three “aha’s” in a row. By the end of the film practically everyone in the class was nodding their heads and saying, “Aha, aha, aha” with him.

I can’t remember if that was supposed to be good or bad counselling technique.  To me, it was worthless counselling technique.

The prophet Isaiah told us that God was going to give us a child, a son, and that He would bear many names that would describe His nature and character. The first was “Wonderful Counselor.”

Wonderful means just that, full of wonder, a marvelous thing. Counselors in the Old Testament weren’t like that modern day “Aha” wonder we saw on film. They were men who were wise in the ways of God. They were often older men, experienced in knowing and following God. They would give good counsel to kings and tell them of God’s principles, opening the way of God to them.  1 Chronicles 27:32 describes Jonathan, David’s uncle, as a counselor who was “a man of insight.”

The Son, Jesus, given to us, is our Wonderful Counselor. He opened to us the fullness of God. When we see Him, when we hear Him speak, we gain insight to know our Heavenly Father.  He is “Wonderful Counselor!”

Isaiah 41:10:  “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

I’ve heard that there are 364 references to “Do not fear” in the Bible, so one for each day of the year. I haven’t looked up every one of them, and I do suppose a lot depends on your translation, still I think that message is one of God’s primary ones. “Do not fear.” “Don’t be afraid.” “Fear not.”

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 fear sometimes 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 righteous right hand (He will always do what is right). 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 God. 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.