Christmas Devotionals 2022 #15 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 Merry Christmas!!!!

O come, all ye faithful,

joyful and triumphant!

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!

Come and behold him,

born the King of angels.

O come, let us adore him,

O come, let us adore him,

O come, let us adore him,

Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels,

sing in exultation,

sing, all ye citizens of heav’n above!

Glory to God, all glory in the highest!

Yea, Lord, we greet thee,

born this happy morning;

Jesus, to thee be all glory giv’n!

Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing!

 

Come one, come all! Poor. Rich. Faithful. Unfaithful. Sick. Well. Near. Far. Holy. Unholy. It matters not. Whatever your soul needs is found in Christ alone. And what our soul truly needs is forgiveness. Forgiveness for our rottenness. For our sinful, selfish ways. Christmas calls us out of ourselves to hope. Hope in the Christ Child. Hope for a new day. A new start. Run to Jesus today!

 

Christmas Devotionals 2022 #14 The Word Became Flesh

 Hark! the herald angels sing,

"Glory to the newborn King:

peace on earth, and mercy mild,

God and sinners reconciled!"

Joyful, all ye nations, rise,

join the triumph of the skies;

with th'angelic hosts proclaim,

"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"

Hark! the herald angels sing,

"Glory to the newborn King"

Christ, by highest heaven adored,

Christ, the everlasting Lord,

late in time behold him come,

offspring of the Virgin's womb:

veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

hail th'incarnate Deity,

pleased with us in flesh to dwell,

Jesus, our Immanuel.

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!

Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Light and life to all he brings,

risen with healing in his wings.

Mild he lays his glory by,

born that we no more may die,

born to raise us from the earth,

born to give us second birth. -Charles Wesley-

 

Important to the Christmas account and more so for us as earthlings needing salvation, is the core theological truth that Jesus became a man; Yet He was still the perfect Savior. He was and is the God-Man. God in the flesh. No human could save us. A perfect sacrificial lamb was necessary to atone for our sins. So, he laid His glory aside, stepped into history, and “veiled in flesh, the Godhead see.” We see God thru Christ. Amazing! Hard to comprehend. But, life giving. He was “born that we no more may die!”

Merry Christmas Eve!

 

Christmas Devotionals 2022 #13 Move Me Closer

When Michael and Shawna Wright and I used to sing together, at Christmas we’d sing this little song and Shawna would do the narration. If we only were closer to Jesus, how blessed we would be!

“Move me closer,

Move me closer,

Move me closer to the Child.

Let me see Him, let me hold His hand,

Move me closer to the Child.”

 

Christmas Devotionals 2022 # 12 The God of the Unusual

 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

Micah 5:2

I love this contrast of thoughts-

The One who has been around for a very long time will be born as a baby in an insignificant town and He will rule Israel. This is how our God works! He does things so differently than our humanity expects.

Christmas Devotionals 2022 #11 Christmas is Joy!

The message of Christmas is joy.  Joy and gladness is what Zachariah was to experience due to the birth of his son John in his old age. The Angel told him,”and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.” While John was not the Messiah, he was the forerunner, the one who would prepare the way for Christ.
What is this joy promised? It is the joy of having our sins gone! Of restoration to our intended state of fellowship with our Crestor.
May this Christmas season be one that is joy filled for us all-Christ is joy!

Let our gladness have no end, alleluia!
For to earth did Christ descend, alleluia!
Refrain:
On this day God gave us
Christ, His Son, to save us;
Christ, His Son to save us.

Prophesied in days of old, alleluia!
God has sent Him as foretold, alleluia!

See, the loveliest blooming rose, alleluia!
From the branch of Jesse grows, alleluia!

Into flesh is made the Word, alleluia!
He, our refuge and our Lord, alleluia!
Bohemian Carol

 

Christmas Devotionals 2022 #10 Wise Men

 As with gladness men of old

did the guiding star behold,

as with joy they hailed its light,

leading onward, beaming bright,

so, most gracious Lord, may we

evermore be led by thee.

As with joyful steps they sped,

Savior, to thy lowly bed,

there to bend the knee before

thee, whom heav’n and earth adore,

so may we with willing feet

ever seek thy mercy seat.

William C. Dix

It’s always a good day to draw nearer to Christ. It’s never too late, either. So many things and distractions conspire to keep us away, so Christmas is a

wonderful time

to draw near. The Wise Men let nothing, including King Herod, keep them away. Be a wise person. Draw near to the Savior today. In Him is all we desire.

 

Christmas Devotionals 2022 #9 Sons of God

 “Sweet little Jesus boy

They made you be born in a manger

Sweet little holy child

We didn't know who you were

Didn't know you'd come to save us Lord

To take our sins away

Our eyes were blind, we could not see

We didn't know who you were”

“He came to His own and His own did not receive Him.” John 1:11.

The heart of Christmas is the understanding of who Jesus is and His purpose in coming. So much more than a baby being born. So much more than the manger. He came to live and to die for me. For you. Because without His death as the perfect lamb we are without hope.

“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” CS Lewis

 

Christmas Devotionals 2022 #8 Jesus, Lunatic or Lord?

 A Child is born in Bethlehem

And joyful is Jerusalem.

He lies within a lowly stall,

The King who reigneth over all.

Sprung from no mortal father, He

Is born of pure virginity.

Unwounded by the serpent’s tooth,

He comes to us a man in sooth.

Like to the flesh man dwelleth in,

But all unlike to man in sin.

That He might bring our mortal race

Back to the image of His face.

A Child is born in Bethlehem,

And joyful is Jerusalem.

Now upon this, His natal day,

Bless we our infant Lord alway.

Possible 14th Century with Czech origins.

A key point of the Gospel is the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. The fact the He was born of a virgin is miraculous and lends credence to His claims to be God. Being born of a virgin made Him sinless and capable of being our sacrifice for sin. Without this reality, Jesus is just as CS Lewis said, “He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a  poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse…. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.”

Christmas Devotionals 2022 #7 A Royal Family Tree

 Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming

From tender stem hath sprung!

Of Jesse's lineage coming

As men of old have sung.

It came, a flower bright,

Amid the cold of winter

When half-gone was the night.

This Flower, whose fragrance tender

With sweetness fills the air,

Dispels with glorious splendor

The darkness everywhere.

True man, yet very God,

From sin and death He saves us

And lightens every load

Jesus had a carefully planned family tree and from it we can learn a lot! A reading of His lineage given in Matthew 1:1-17 will tell the story of 4 women whom were in His family. Tamar, a harlot; Rahab, a woman of Israel’s enemies, Bathsheba who was Uriahs wife and Mary, His mother. The first three mentioned were not women who we would think would be in the family tree of the Savior of the world, but apparently, God, the Father had other plans! By having these three women in the family tree and actually placed in the record, we see a wonderful manifestation of the gospel in the tender plant of Christ. No one is excluded from this message of redemption. All may know His forgiveness. This is the message of Christmas!

 

Christmas Devotionals 2022 #6 "Find Rest in Christ"

 And ye, beneath life's crushing load,

whose forms are bending low,

who toil along the climbing way

with painful steps and slow,

look now! for glad and golden hours

come swiftly on the wing.

O rest beside the weary road,

and hear the angels sing!

Edmund Sears

Rest. It’s something we are not very good at. The press of earthly life keeps us often in a frenzy of trying to please many on multiple fronts and hold many things together! Christmas should be the time when we pause for much needed rest in our minds and bodies, but somehow even during this wonderful time we are frantic! Seek to find a restful spirit this Christmas and “be diligent to enter that rest…”(Hebrews 4:13a) which only comes in Christ.

Christmas Devotionals 2022 #5 "Find Hope in Christ Today!"

 There's a star in the sky!

There's a mother's deep prayer

and a baby's low cry!

And the star rains its fire

while the beautiful sing,

for the manger of Bethlehem

cradles a King!

There's a tumult of joy

o'er the wonderful birth,

for the virgin's sweet boy

is the Lord of the earth.

Ay! the star rains its fire

while the beautiful sing,

for the manger of Bethlehem

Cradles a king! - Josiah Holland

There’s something about the feeling of Christmas that brings hope and joy. Is it the lights, gifts, even the music? Not really. Those things are simply the symptoms of the reality that within the human heart lies eternity-something beyond this earthly veil of sorrow. We were never made to live in brokenness and sorrow. But sins entrance into our world changed what was a perfect reality. Within we know there must be something better. Christmas gives us a glimpse. A solution to the yearning for eternity’s perfection. Hope for a solution to the brokenness we feel. That solution, that hope is none other than the Baby who lies in the manger of Bethlehem, Jesus. Find hope in Him today!

Christmas Devotionals 2022 #4 "Comfort and Joy"

 God rest you merry, gentlemen,

let nothing you dismay;

remember Christ, our Savior

was born on Christmas Day

to save us all from Satan's pow'r

when we were gone astray.

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy,

O tidings of comfort and joy.

“Fear not," then said the angel,

"let nothing you affright;

this day is born a Savior,

the true and radiant light,

to free all those who trust in him

from Satan's pow'r and might.

English Carol

The sin we were born in, the sins done against us and the sins we commit always bring us to despair. But, the message of the Gospel is always one of encouragement. As Corrie ten Boom said many years ago, “There is no pit that He is not deeper still.” No matter what we have done, Jesus came to bring forgiveness! That is “comfort and joy!” He sets us free from our past. True “comfort and joy!”

Christmas Devotionals 2022 #3 "Run to Jesus"

 “Bethlehem! there in manger lying,

Find your Redeemer haste away,

Run ye with eager footsteps vieing!

Worship the Saviour born today.

Bethlehem! there in manger lying,

Find your Redeemer haste away.”

Traditional French Carol

Run quickly! Don’t waste time! “Today is the day of salvation…” “Redeem the time because the days are evil.” We have no assurance of tomorrow. But, we have the here and now to go quickly to the only One who can take away the burden of our sin which causes us so much grief and sorrow. Find Him today!

Christmas Devotionals 2022 #2 "All in Jesus"

The great hymn writer, Charles Wesley, summed up the longing of each heart in these beautiful words—

“Come, thou long expected Jesus,

born to set thy people free;

from our fears and sins release us,

let us find our rest in thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,

hope of all the earth thou art;

dear desire of every nation,

joy of every longing heart.”

Each soul searches for something-we often look for it in the worst of earthly places. GK Chesterton said that the man who knocks on the door of the harlots is really looking for heaven. Friends, just skip that door and all others that lead to ruin. Instead, come to the Manger! All you truly want is there in Jesus.

Christmas Devotionals 2022 #1 "Dispel the Night"

 In these trying and frightening times, I would not want to live without the hope that comes from Jesus. He came to be not only my Savior from sin but my Hope! I love these beautiful words from a very old carol…

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,

Who orders all things mightily;

To us the path of knowledge show,

And teach us in its ways to go.

O come, Thou Bright and Morning Star,

And bring us comfort from afar!

Dispel the shadows of the night

And turn our darkness into light.

From the Latin, 12th Century

Christmas Carols 2022 #2 In a Manger He Is Lying-Polish Carol

1.  In a manger He is lying

Who will greet Him as He sleeps?
Baby Jesus, infant Christ-child,
Who will greet Him as He sleeps?
Wake, ye shepherds, and as ye play
Gladsome songs and carols gay,
Seek the Babe ere break of day;
Seek the Babe ere break of day.

2. Angel hosts have sung their story,
Who will follow the bright star?
Told of Christ in all his glory,
Who will follow the bright star?
Wake, ye shepherds, and sing Noel,
Help the angel chorus swell,
To the earth glad tidings tell;
To the earth glad tidings tell.

3. In a stable, dark and dreary,
Who will be the first to kneel?
At the crib where Christ is sleeping,
Who will be the first to kneel?
Wake, ye shepherds, Seek out your King!
Play your songs and loudly sing,
Till the air with echoes ring;
till the air with echoes ring.

Christmas Carols 2022 #1-Oh How Joyfully! Latin Carol

 

Oh, how joyfully!  Oh, how merrily!

Christmas comes with its grace divine!
Grace again is beaming, Christ the world redeeming,
Hail, ye Christians, hail the joyous Christmas time.

 Day of holiness, Peace and happiness.

Joyful, glorious Christmas Day
Angels tell the story, Of this day of glory;
Praise Christ our Savior, Born this Christmas Day.

 Oh, how joyfully, Oh, how merrily,

Christmas comes with its peace divine!
Peace on earth is reigning, Christ our peace regaining,
Hail, ye Christians, hail the joyous Christmas time!

 Oh, how joyfully, Oh, how merrily!

Christmas comes with its life divine!
Angels high in glory, Chant the Christmas story:
Hail, ye Christians, hail the joyous Christmas time!

Decorating Idea-Using old records

 Rob and I enjoy visiting Flea Markets, and even enjoy visiting a very large one whenever we go to Florida.  On one of our jaunts to a Flea Market, I found this old record set of Bing Crosby singing Christmas songs.  What a find this was, as I love Bing Crosby, and I love vintage things.  I got it for a really good price, and now it adorns my piano at Christmas time.  Yes, it's a little ragged, but that's part of the charm!