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Christmas

Remember

by TerryLema

I love the Christmas music. One of my favorite carols is “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” The opening verses remind us of several truths.

“God rest ye merry, gentlemen, Let nothing you dismay. Remember, Christ, our Saviour Was born on Christmas day. To save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray. O, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, O, tidings of comfort and joy.”

I like how this carol reminds us to “remember.” We are to “remember” that Christmas is all about Christ, our Savior. We are to “remember” that He came to save us from Satan’s power. And, when we “remember” we will find comfort and joy.

It is easy to forget the deep message of Christmas. The world wants to keep us on a superficial level. It wants us to think about gifts and elves on the shelves and Christmas movies and food and Santa Claus. The world wants us to focus on temporary things that will pass away.

The enemy of our soul has his own goal also. He wants us stressed, weakened, hopeless, lonely, and unsatisfied. He wants us dismayed.

It is only when we “remember” that the reason for the season is the birth of our Savior that we overcome the intentions of the world and the devil.

1 Timothy 1:15: “This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…’” [HCSB]

(770) [OFFICIAL VIDEO] God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Pentatonix - YouTube
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In the beginning …

by TerryLema

There are three genealogies of Christ Jesus in the Scriptures.  There is a lot of debate about the differences found in those contained in Matthew’s Gospel and Luke’s Gospel. Many scholars look at Matthew’s Gospel as the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph’s line, and Luke’s Gospel as the genealogy of Jesus through Mary’s lineage. I am not a great scholar so I will let you decide what you think.

There is a third genealogy of Christ Jesus found in Scripture. It is in John’s Gospel. And it is amazing! It is the Divine genealogy of Christ Jesus.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” [John 1:1-4]

The true wonder of Christmas is that it is not the beginning of Christ! Sometimes we think it all started in the manger – it didn’t!  It started before the foundation of the world.

1 Peter 1:18-20: “For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was chosen before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the times for you.” [HCSB]

Before the world was created, God had a plan to redeem fallen mankind. The Word, God’s Son, would come to earth to bring grace and truth, and to open the way for us into the Father’s House.

Long before the manger, the Word embraced the Cross. He agreed to leave the glory of heaven and come to earth to shed His precious blood for us.  The Word became the Lamb of God.

We celebrate our redemption this Christmas Season in light of that wondrous glory of Christmas that the manger was not the beginning!

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Take me into the Holy of Holies …

by TerryLema

When I opened my Facebook page to post the daily devotion the other day, a memory from about five years ago appeared on my page. Sometimes these memories are pictures of fun times, birthdays, or just something silly I might have posted on my personal page.  This recent one reminded me of something far different. It read:

“Sunday we sang the song, “Take Me Into the Holy of Holies.”  I awoke this morning with the opening phrase flowing through me, ‘Take me past the outer courts ….’  I realized that I’ve been spending the last week or so in the outer courts and I need to move.  As the song says, I need to move past even the gates of praise, and past the brazen altar to the place where I see His face. I am determined to keep Christmas simple this year – simply focusing on Him … but it is so hard sometimes.  The world has a grip on the holiday season and it often is louder and stronger than my own determination!”

I was amazed as I read that memory at how much HAS NOT changed this season from that one five years ago. The world still has a grip on the holiday season, and it is still louder and stronger at times than my determination to focus solely on my LORD and Savior. Add in COVID, social distancing, isolation, and masks and this season is screaming for attention.

As I read that, however, I realized that my desire is still there to go past the outer courts—the superficial acknowledgement of Jesus’ birth, and into the Holy of Holies where I can dwell in His presence. I want to experience all that God has for me this season.

Amid the virus-and-fear pandemic, our LORD’s birth is the beacon of hope to a world that can find hope nowhere else.

“Joy to the World” is still true no matter how big a mess the world is!

(770) Chris Tomlin - Joy to the World (unspeakable Joy) - Lyrics - YouTube

 

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