One of, if not the most influential people in my life is my dad. I can truly call him my hero. He is everything that I want to be in heart and mind. He is the epitome of what a father should be, and a role model for me and my brother as we strive to raise our children and family in the way he modeled for us. I want to share his Christmas devotion with y’all as it blessed me and my family so much. May the Lord continue to bless you and yours on this amazing Christmas day. Remember, don’t stop at the manger. Celebrate the reason we live forgiven! Merry Christmas!
One of the greatest mysteries that our Heavenly Father performed was the Incarnation of His Son, Jesus Christ! The Almighty Jehovah humbled Himself, and as John so aptly put it, “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” Four verses out of the New Testament stand out in my mind as we approach that glorious day:
#1 – Matthew 3:17, “And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’”
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Mom and I heard a couple of sermons lately on Christmas. One was for us not to take too lightly ‘the virgin birth, and the other one on when we sing our little Christmas carols, never take them for granted. They are about the biggest truth we have as true Christians.
There is true glory in the fact that Jesus, who sat at the right hand of the Father was the same baby in the manger. What a humiliation! He was about to embark on a world and life that He helped create. That’s like the potter becoming the clay. He even created the star that hovered over the Nativity scene that night.
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I am so happy that our children embrace the glory of Christmas and do not take it lightly. Mom and I are so thankful and grateful that our children and their families have come to love and adore Him and honor Him. “Lord help us to be even more intentional with our journey to becoming more like You.”
#2 – I Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.”
God has made Christmas so real by manifesting Himself in the flesh. There can be no doubt! The advent of Christmas is a real, honest to goodness statement to us who are sinners saved by grace and to those who have not yet been saved.
God has made it very clear the He is real and that all human life is essentially spiritual. He also has made it very clear that we are lost but not abandoned. There would have been no need for a Savior if we were all lost and forgotten! Reminds me of a song I use to sing at Montebello First Baptist Church, “this world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through.”
The Virgin Birth? It has impacted our lives and will continue to impact the generations to come.
#3 – Luke 2:10, “Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.’”
Do all you can to not allow Christmas to be degraded into a reason to just shop (although, it is a need). Keep the mystery that we cannot truly explain and the beautiful and the majestic. Focus on God in everything. It’s Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays!
Mom and I used to get so thrilled to watch our kids faces as they lit up and burst into some spontaneous, almost freakish sound as they delighted in the presents. We need that same excitement when we worship the God who came from His throne in heaven 2,000 years ago. We need that same excitement when we worship God. The announcement of “great tidings of great joy” is every bit as important today as it was 2,000 years ago.
Christmas is a day of unequalled wonder!
#4 – Luke 2:11, “For unto to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior.”
Christmas Day should bring a glow on our faces like no other day. Here is a poem by John Milton. Nothing else needs to be said:
This is the month, and this the happy morn,
Wherein the Son of Heaven’s eternal King,
Of wedded maid, and Virgin mother born,
Our great redemption from above did bring.
That glorious form, that Light insufferable,
And that far beaming blaze of majesty,
He laid aside, and here with us to be,
Forsook the courts of everlasting Day,
And chose with us a darksome house of mortal clay.
Oh! Run; present them with thy humble ode,
And lay it lowly at His feet,
Have thou the honor first thy Lord to greet
And join thy voices with the Angel quire,
From out His secret altar touched with hallowed fire!
