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Christmas Devotionals
Not Much To Say
Luke 2:19
But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Through the years of my early adult life I always read at least one passage of scripture once a year. I knew of God, believed in Him, believed He had saved me, but kind of let it all end there. I really didn't make much of an effort to gain more knowledge of Him, grow any closer to Him, or grow anymore like Him. At Christmas each year I would get out the family Bible, dust it off, put it on display on the coffee table,and open it to Luke Chapter 2 which I always considered to be the Christmas story. I would read it aloud starting with verse one and ending with verse nineteen. Those nineteen verses were all the story I ever really knew by heart. I always ended with the verse that said Mary just kept all these things in her heart. I thought of Mary as a young, very quite girl who was scared to speak. I thought her fear to speak might have been something to do with the customs of the day, no women's lib back then, but I really always leaned toward the idea of her being hopelessly shy. I always thought she probably had so many things she could have said that would have made such an impact on those around her who were coming to visit Baby Jesus, but there was just a fear in her to open her mouth and speak. With myself being so hopelessly shy, not much to say, this was one way I related to Mary.
Today I once again read the Christmas story. I am thankful I didn't have to dust off a Bible. I do read and study His Word now and do try to grow closer to Him and be more like Him everyday, not just at Christmas time. I know the story doesn't just begin, nor does it end, with those nineteen verses. I hope I speak just a little more than I once did. I hope I don't keep everything pondering it within my heart that I can share that might make an impact on someone else.
Today as you read Luke Chapter Two, think about Mary and think about yourself. Are you keeping things, pondering things, in your heart that God has placed there? Open your mouth and speak. Perhaps what you have been keeping to yourself can forever change someone's life. Perhaps you are the one person who can lead that one certain person to come to know the Baby who was born to that young quite virgin so long ago. There are people who still come and visit Jesus. They might just glance His way and go on about their journey. Tell them what you know, give them a reason to want to stay with Him. Don't keep what you know about Jesus Christ to yourself. Tell someone this story, that is so much more than a story. Tell someone about the truth,love, joy, peace, mercy, compassion, and mighty miracles of your Savior.
Luke 2:7
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Luke 2:20 And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told them. A Shepherd's Story When the Baby first came, not too many took notice. Even when in the sky a bright star showed us, His location in a stall for all of us to see. Not many even cared that He had came to be, The Salvation of the whole world set in motion that day, The Light of the whole world pointing the way, To eternal life, peace, hope, and glory. The Baby was the beginning of the world's greatest story. I remember the night, I remember it so well. An angel came and on my knees I fell. My heart was racing, as every bit of courage did fade. The angel told me not to be afraid. The angel chose me, for what reason I will never know, To spread the news of this glorious heavenly show. I was just a poor shepherd, no worldly wealth or fame. The angel decided to choose me just the same. The light so bright, the beauty so glowing, The Hope of the whole world, the angel was showing. Promises and prophecies, that night were fulfilled. The fate of mankind was forever being sealed. I know my life was forever changed that night. I, just a poor shepherd, just couldn't keep quite. I went far and wide spreading the good news. God gave me this job, who was I to refuse? . Someday I hope to meet you in heaven above the star's and sun's rays. You will know me by my exuberant joy and praise. I never grow tired of praising and glorifying my King. The little Baby who had the power to make my heart forever sing. It wasn't what His little body was clothed with that mattered, it was the body itself, the glory that surrounded it, and permeated from it. The next time we hear of what manner of clothing Jesus wore was in Mark 15:17 before He was crucified. He was clothed in purple and once again something was wrapped around Jesus, this time about his head, a crown of thorns And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. The linen is described by John Gill. linen cloth, esp. that which was fine and costly, in which the bodies of the dead were wrapped John Gill "Commentary on Luke 23:53" Since the quality of this linen was fine and costly and the swaddling clothes in the beginning of his life were probably just made from rags, He went from rags to riches, figuratively and literally. In Revelation we read what He will be wearing . He will be girt, wrapped, with a golden girdle. As we strive to be more like him everyday, we are reminded we will never be good enough, righteous enough, to see Him in that golden girdle. Our righteousness is as filthy rags. Our only hope of seeing Him face to face is accepting Him humbly, believing that by His grace alone, by His blood that was shed, through our faith in Him we are saved. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. There is one more verse with a great promise in I John. It reminds us that it doesn't really matter what we wear or what He wears, because one day we shall be like Him and we shall see Him as He is. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
A requested devotional Last week I received the following mail. Hi Judy, I was thinking that you should write a devotional about what you see on most Web sites nowadays. When you sign in, there is usually and option, "remember me." I was thinking that I bet you could make a beautiful devotion from those two words about how Jesus wants us to remember Him and we want Him to "remember me." Love always, Jo Luke 23:42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom Remember Me I thought of how I could write the requested devotional. I thought of songs and poems already written with the title "Remember Me." So what could possibly be said that hasn't already been said about Jesus wanting us to remember Him and His sacrifice He made for each of us? We know we are supposed to always remember and be amazed at the fact that He gave His life so that we may live. Who else will ,or would have done that for us ? I can't think of anyone. If there were someone I am sure I would remember them always. We often ask ourselves "What would Jesus do?' How often do we remember and ask ourselves,"Wow! What did Jesus do?" It is amazing that sometime in our everyday busy lives, which He gave to us by the way, we often do leave Him out and forget Him. Where would we all be if Jesus hadn't remembered us? What if He had gotten down from the cross? What if He had asked Himself "Now who was it I am doing this for? Who am I dying for? I can't remember." I am sure the thief who was hanging beside Jesus on another cross was thankful that Jesus did choose to hang there and did remember him. As the Christmas season approaches we should daily remember Him. God Himself left all of heaven's glory and came down to earth as a mere mortal humble man. Why did He do that? He loved each of us. He lived as man for us. He died as man for us. He remembered you. He remembered me. We should remember Him always. Matthew 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn Last weekend I went to the horse sale with my family. I don't care that much for it, which they knew, but it's always good to have a baby sitter along for a trip when you have four young boys. Before the sale begins everyone always goes out back to the stalls to get a first look at the horses that will be coming up for sale at the auction that night. The stalls are hot and smelly in the summer months. I thought the winter might be better, but I found the stalls are just as smelly in the winter and very cold. Even though the conditions are less than desirable there is always beauty and some joy to be found in those stalls. When you see a two year old smiling from ear to ear, all excited about seeing their first pretty little Shetland pony, the joy and beauty outweigh the displeasures found there. As I walked through those cold smelly stalls, I looked up and saw what I always call the Christmas star shining brightly, lighting up the night sky. It is officially the Christmas season I suppose, so I began to think about the significance of the stall in the Christmas story. Jesus was born in a stall, a place for animals. I don't know if horses were there, but I know for sure the donkey was there that Mary rode on. I gave birth to two children, a lifetime ago it seems, but I can still remember just about every detail. I can't imagine having my children in a smelly stall like the one I was walking through that night. Even in a nice , clean, comfortable hospital, giving birth is not a comfortable pleasurable thing for most people. Mary should be considered a hero, not just for giving birth to the Savior of the whole world, but more simply just for the fact she gave birth to a baby in a cattle stall. Have you ever thought about how long Mary stayed in that stall after Jesus was born? Most mothers today stay in the hospital a couple of days and receive the best of care. Was there room at the inn the next day or the next? Probably not, Mary most likely stayed in that stall until she was able to travel home. Even so, I am sure after she had Jesus, the beauty and joy outweighed the discomfort and ugliness of that place. His smile lit up the barn, His smile lit up the entire world. Jesus is still doing that today, bringing beauty to the ugliest of situations, bringing joy to impossible displeasureable situations. His smile lights up the entire world. Allow His beauty to shine in your life this Christmas Season. Romans 7:21 It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. THE MESSAGE
CRASH If a tree crashes in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If a Christmas tree crashes in the snow and there is no electricity, do the lights go out? Crazy crashes and crazy questions without answers is the kind of week I experienced last week. Yes, there was a crash, not of a tree. but of this computer. With a simple power outage that lasted all of two minutes, everything just kind of did a disappearing act and I mean everything. No electricity, one big crash, not a sound. I was stunned for awhile to think of all the work that just vanished in the blink of an eye. After it soaked in real good I cried for awhile, just a very little while, because I realized if any of this is that important to me, it is too important. I dried the tears and decided if God wanted it fixed it would be fixed, if not it would sit on this desk crashed and never make another sound. After I exhausted all my expertise, I called in the experts, my son and my brother in law. The experts began to work on getting the computer computing once again. During the process one screen after another would pop up that asked, "Are you sure you want to permanently delete this file and all of it's components?" I would tell them to wait and let me think about it for awhile. How did I know what I should answer? How could I know if I was sure? They didn't wait on my opinion. They obviously clicked yes every time because even though it computes once more, all my files are gone, deleted very permanently. As I thought of crazy questions, I begin to see that the question, 'Are you sure you want to delete this file and all of it's components permanently?' is not always a crazy one. There are times that question would have a very obvious answer. Our brains are sometime thought of as computers. Can you think of any files in your brain that you would like to permanently delete? I can think of several. If I had the chance to delete them nobody would have to ask twice if I were sure. I would click yes and the bad memory files would happily vanish from my brain without making a single sound. Anything else you would like to delete out of your brain? How about sin? When God saves us wouldn't it be nice if we hit a button and all sin and all of it's components were permanently deleted? Of course God automatically forgets our past sins. As far as He is concerned they are deleted. They are no more, forgotten by God, but it is sometime hard for us to forget. It is also hard to avoid some of those sins' little components that are sometime left behind to sometime begin to grow and grow in our brains and sometime even to start to compute once more. Of course there is no easy answer to the question of how to delete sin completely from our lives. There is no delete button. As Paul said, sin is always present with us even when we attempt to do good. To avoid major crashes coming in our spiritual lives, we must stay in the Word and in prayer. We must keep our eyes focused on Jesus. When our eyes are on Jesus and we are tempted with sin, it is so much easier to know how we should answer crazy questions. Are you sure you want to delete this temptation and all of it's components from your life? Just hit the YES button, you don't have to make a sound. Jesus will hear you and help you avoid a major crash. Hebrews 2:18 For because He Himself [in His humanity] has suffered in being tempted (tested and tried), He is able [immediately] to run to the cry of (assist, relieve) those who are being tempted and tested and tried [and who therefore are being exposed to suffering]. Amplified Bible
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I often write poems and devotionals that kind of go together. I seem to have done that this week. Below is a poem I wrote about an unopened gift. I spoke about this gift at the nursing home last week. The idea seemed to stay with me and I wrote a short devotion with it for the church bulletin this week. Now I end with this poem I send out to these prayer chains today.
An Unopened Gift
There was a little box at the very back of my tree.
It was a gift someone left just for me.
Somehow I overlooked it in all my haste.
For it to never to be opened would be such a waste.
I picked it up and shook it around.
Whatever was inside didn't make a sound.
I untied the ribbon and removed the bow.
Next the pretty red paper had to go.
Inside the box was a little piece of paper folded tight.
I unfolded the paper on which someone did write.
A beautiful message printed in red.
This is what the message said:
This package was wrapped with you in mind,
In hopes it would be the last one you would find.
This Christmas you have given and received,
In goodness and hope you have believed.
Have you taken the time to say Happy Birthday to your King?
To the Savior of the whole world, His praises did you sing?
Have you looked to the manger and on to the cross?
That great price He paid, have you counted the cost?
Receive the message of forgiveness written with His blood of red
Receive the Gift, for you His blood was shed.
Remember the greatest Gift ever given is available.
Open the Gift of His love that is unshakeable,
I fell to my knees beneath my tree.
What a wonderful Gift was given to me.
I had overlooked the Gift in all my haste.
For the Gift to remain unopened would have been such a waste.
The Gift, born long ago in a cattle stall
The Gift, available when on His name we call
The unopened Gift is waiting on to be opened this very day.
Open your heart and listen to the message, listen to what the Gift has to say.
During the month of December I usually try to send only Christmas devotionals. However. this year it hasn't worked out that way. I began to write this one of the hustle and bustle and the hurry we seem to always be in around this time of year. You can see from the graphic above the story I had in my mind to tell.. God took that story and changed it, kind of took the Christmas right out of it, but I feel this is what God wants me to share on this final week before Christmas arrives.
Amplified Bible
The Noise Doesn't Produce Any Heat
A couple of weeks ago it got really cold here for the first time this winter. Every morning I go out and crank my car and everyone else's car that is leaving from my house. I usually crank three or four cars total. On the third very cold day I waited about fifteen minutes after the initial crank before I attempted to leave. I walked to my car and all the ice that was on my windshield fifteen minutes earlier was still there. The windshields on the other vehicles I cranked were all clear, but not mine. I thought I had failed to turn on the defrost. I got in my car and heard the noise of the fan motor of the heater blowing with the same humming noise I hear every day. The thing is the heater was only blowing cold air. The heater was producing only noise, no heat.
Heat or no heat I had places to go and people to see. As the cold day continued the heater continued to only make noise and blow cold air. Later in the day my friend was riding with me. I explained the heater problem. I told her it was only blowing cold air. She responded, "Well, turn it off." It wasn't until then I realized I had let the heater stay on blowing cold air all day. I told my friend the noise made me think it was working. I turned off the heater as I realized the noise didn't really produce any heat.
Later in the week I finally got the heater fixed. Each time I turn it on now and hear the humming noise I still remember the power the sound had to make me belive it was working when it wasn't. People are prone to believe things are a certain way even when they really aren't. If something appears a certain way we belive it for real. If we hear a noise we think it's genuinely working.
Today in that same car with the heater that was on the fritz last week I listened to a Christian music station. Sometime I sing or hum along with the music. I got to thinking as I made a humming noise, was there anything backing up the noise? Was I producing what was supposed to be produced in my praise? Was I just singing the familiar words, or was I truly praising God? Did the praise warm God's heart?
I don't know all the answers to all those questions really, just like I didn't know why the heater just made a humming noise and didn't produce any heat. All I really knew about the heater was it needed to be fixed to do what it was made to do in the first place which was to warm me. All I knew about my praise was it needs to always be in proper working order to do what God created it to do, warm His heart.
This whole event with the heater that made noise and didn't produce heat made me realize when I praise I want to make sure I am not just making a noise. When God hears noise that doesn't produce any heat, any warmth to His heart, He probably wants to say, "Turn it off, it's not working." I think He does tell us that sometime, but we don't hear Him. We get so used to the noise, we don't even realize
when it's not working.