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12/29         Isaiah 40:1-11

1 “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. 2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and that her sins are pardoned. Yes, the LORD has punished her in full for all her sins.” 3 Listen! I hear the voice of someone shouting, “Make a highway for the LORD through the wilderness. Make a straight, smooth road through the desert for our God. 4 Fill the valleys and level the hills. Straighten out the curves and smooth off the rough spots. 5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!” 6 A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are like the grass that dies away. Their beauty fades as quickly as the beauty of flowers in a field. 7 The grass withers, and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD. And so it is with people. 8 The grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.” 9 Messenger of good news, shout to Zion from the mountaintops! Shout louder to Jerusalem — do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, “Your God is coming!” 10 Yes, the Sovereign LORD is coming in all his glorious power. He will rule with awesome strength. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes. 11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.

HERE
Jesus was propheicied to be coming in the Old Testament and now He is here.  God stepped down from Heaven in the form of a helpless baby born into a poor Jewish family in a backwater of the Roman Empire.  He lived a perfect life.  He died on the Cross for you and me-He knew us before the foundation of the world.  He was raised from the dead by the power of the Almighty God.  He is alive today giving us the wisdom, mercy and grace that we so desperately need daily.  Praise God.  Jesus is alive. 

12/28                   Psalm 135:19-21

O Israel, praise the LORD! O priests of Aaron, praise the LORD! 20 O Levites, praise the LORD! All you who fear the LORD, praise the LORD! 21 The LORD be praised from Zion, for he lives here in Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!

PRAISE

Praise the Lord.  He is worthy of all praise.  He is the author and finisher of our faith.  Praise the Lord.  All the good things that happen to us originate with the Lord and everything that comes into our life is under His power and He can take evil and turn it to good-Praise the Lord.

12/27          Matthew 2:19-23

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, 20 “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” 21 So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, 23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

NAZARETH

Jesus lived in Nazareth.  It was a simple town of Galilee.  He grew up there growing in wisdom and grace.  He was the Son of God.  Joseph obeyed God and moved to Nazareth.  Amazing what happens when we obey God.  He knows the end from the beginning.  Praise the Lord. 

12/26          Matthew 2:13-18

13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.” 14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. 15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON.”
Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: 18 “A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH, WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN; AND SHE REFUSED * TO BE COMFORTED, BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE.”    

TRAGEDY

On the way to the Cross the Babe in Bethlehem endured a great deal of tragedy.  The World is an evil place.  The power of God in Christ can change everything in our life.  He makes the weak strong.  He gives the strong humility.  The Lord God Almighty has come and we are celebrating His birth. 

12/25          Matthew 2:9-12

9 After this interview the wise men went their way. Once again the star appeared to them, guiding them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11 They entered the house where the child and his mother, Mary, were, and they fell down before him and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 But when it was time to leave, they went home another way, because God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

CHILD

A child is born.  A world changer.  Born in Bethlehem.  Born to Jewish parents in a backwater town like Bethlehem on the edge of the Roman Empire.  This child would change the world.  He would bring the opportunity for you and me to have a relationship with God.  He would provide forgiveness for our sin and eternal life-life like God’s life.  Jesus has come in the flesh.  He walked among us and saved us from our sin.    

12/24          Matthew 2:1-8

1 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We have seen his star as it arose, and we have come to worship him.” 3 Herod was deeply disturbed by their question, as was all of Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law. “Where did the prophets say the Messiah would be born?” he asked them. 5 “In Bethlehem,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: 6 ‘O Bethlehem of Judah, you are not just a lowly village in Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ ” Then Herod sent a private message to the wise men, asking them to come see him. At this meeting he learned the exact time when they first saw the star. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”

BETHLEHEM

In the little Israeli town of Bethlehem God came in the flesh in the form a baby.  He chose to live as we live, to suffer as we suffer and to show us the way in living a Godly life.  By faith we accept Him and by faith we live by His power.  Jesus is born in Bethlehem-Hallelujah!

12/23          Luke 2:15-20

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Come on, let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 They ran to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 Then the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God for what the angels had told them, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had said.

TELL

The shepherds told everyone what had happened to them.  They glorified God with their message of the birth of the Christ child.  What are you telling?  Are you a child of God.  Be sure that you are putting into your life and heart those things that you can glorify God with.  Glory to God.  Glory to God. 

12/22          Luke 2:1-14

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his fiancé, who was obviously pregnant by this time. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the village inn. 8 That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terribly frightened, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! 11 The Savior — yes, the Messiah, the Lord — has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And this is how you will recognize him: You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!” 13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others — the armies of heaven — praising God: 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors. “

MESSIAH

Messiah is born.  We will celebrate that birth on the 25^th of December.  The truth is that Messiah has come for you.  He brings peace with God.  An active peace that reaches into our lives and equips us for living.  Praise the Lord.  Glory to God in the highest heaven for our Messiah has come. 

12/21          Matthew 1:18-25

Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly. 20 As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All of this happened to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Immanuel (meaning, God is with us).” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded. He brought Mary home to be his wife, 25 but she remained a virgin until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

JOSEPH

Thank the Lord for a Godly man like Joseph.  He believed the angel of God and obeyed.  Think about your life.  Are YOU being obedient to the Lord?  If not you can claim His power and change from a life of disobedience to a life of obedience. 

12/20          Luke 1:67-79

67 Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy: 68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited his people and redeemed them. 69 He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, 70 just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago. 71 Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us. 72 He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant with them, 73 the covenant he gave to our ancestor Abraham. 74 We have been rescued from our enemies, so we can serve God without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness forever. 76 “And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. 77 You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. 78 Because of God’s tender mercy, the light from heaven is about to break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”

COMING

A Savior is coming.  He will save us from our sin.  His name is Jesus.  Nearly 2,000 years ago He was born in Bethlehem.  He paid the price for our sin on the Cross, died and was raised from the dead by the power of God.  That same power is available for you today, this very moment.  Praise the Lord for His salvation for it is able to save us.