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