It was an ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. Then the black sky exploded with brightness. Trees that had been shadows jumped into clarity. Sheep that had been silent became a chorus of curiosity. One minute the shepherd was dead asleep, the next he was rubbing his eyes and staring into the face of an angel!
The night was ordinary no more. The angel came in the night because it's when lights are best seen and when they are most needed. It all happened in a most remarkable moment-a moment like no other. God became a man. Divinity arrived. Heaven opened and placed her most precious one in a human womb. God had come near!
In the mystery of Christmas, we find its majesty. The mystery of how God became flesh, why he chose to come at all, and how much he must love his people!
"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men" (Luke 2:13).
From Christmas Stories
Zechariah 7
Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting
7 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev. 2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat the Lord 3 by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: 5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? 7 Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’”
8 And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: 9 “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’
11 “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. 12 They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.
13 “‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty. 14 ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Luke 2:1-14
The Birth of Jesus
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Footnotes:
Luke 2:2 Or This census took place before
One Silent Night
December 24, 2013 — by Cindy Hess Kasper
Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. —Luke 2:10
Simon had emigrated from the Netherlands to the United States. His wife, Kay, and all three of their children had been born in the US. Then Jenny married Roberto from Panama. Bill married Vania from Portugal. And Lucas married Bora from South Korea.
On Christmas Eve, as the family gathered for a celebration, they began singing “Silent Night” in their native tongues—a sweet sound indeed for the Lord of the earth to hear as they celebrated the birth of His Son.
Two thousand years ago, the silence of a quiet night ended abruptly when an angel told the shepherds a baby had been born: “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people” (Luke 2:10). Then a multitude of angels began praising God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (v.14). Christ the Lord, the Savior of the world, was born!
God’s gracious gift, His Son, which was announced on that long-ago silent night, is still available to everyone—“every tribe and nation” (Titus 2:11-14; Rev. 5:9-10). “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Silent night! holy night! Shepherds quake at the sight;
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia—
Christ the Savior is born! Christ the Savior is born! —Mohr
Heaven’s choir came down to sing when heaven’s King came down to save.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 24, 2013
The Hidden Life
. . . your life is hidden with Christ in God —Colossians 3:3
The Spirit of God testifies to and confirms the simple, but almighty, security of the life that “is hidden with Christ in God.” Paul continually brought this out in his New Testament letters. We talk as if living a sanctified life were the most uncertain and insecure thing we could do. Yet it is the most secure thing possible, because it has Almighty God in and behind it. The most dangerous and unsure thing is to try to live without God. For one who is born again, it is easier to live in a right-standing relationship with God than it is to go wrong, provided we heed God’s warnings and “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7).
When we think of being delivered from sin, being “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18), and “walk[ing] in the light,” we picture the peak of a great mountain. We see it as very high and wonderful, but we say, “Oh, I could never live up there!” However, when we do get there through God’s grace, we find it is not a mountain peak at all, but a plateau with plenty of room to live and to grow. “You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip” (Psalm 18:36).
When you really see Jesus, I defy you to doubt Him. If you see Him when He says, “Let not your heart be troubled . . .” (John 14:27), I defy you to worry. It is virtually impossible to doubt when He is there. Every time you are in personal contact with Jesus, His words are real to you. “My peace I give to you . . .” (John 14:27)— a peace which brings an unconstrained confidence and covers you completely, from the top of your head to the soles of your feet. “. . . your life is hidden with Christ in God,” and the peace of Jesus Christ that cannot be disturbed has been imparted to you.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Everything But Jesus - #7032
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
It was our grandson's two-year Christmas, and he was so much fun to watch. One day during the season, his mother unpacked the family Nativity Set for her and her boy to set up, and he loved it. They put up the manger, and Mary and Joseph, and the angels, and the shepherds. They put out everyone except the one figure they couldn't find. They couldn't find baby Jesus. Well, our grandson was pretty concerned about this missing person, so Mommy told him Daddy would look for baby Jesus when he got home from the office. A lot of hours passed. Our grandson heard Daddy coming up the back steps. He ran to the door and greeted his father with an impassioned two-word question, "Where's Jesus?"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Everything But Jesus."
That question from the heart of a two-year-old might be the question God is asking some of us as He looks at our lives this Christmas season, "Where's Jesus?" It's possible to be like our grandson was that day. Spiritually, you have everything except Jesus.
The danger of that deadly deficit is what God addresses in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 13:5. The sobering truth is that these words were, and are, written to church folks; the folks involved in a lot of Christian things - maybe like you. Here's God's challenge: "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test?"
Apparently, you can be into Jesus, but not have Jesus in you! God says here that the deciding factor as to whether or not you belong to Him is whether or not "Christ Jesus is in you." Now He's in you only if there's been a time when you personally have flung open the door of your heart and welcomed Him in as your personal Savior from your personal sin. If you don't know you've done that, you probably haven't. It's like getting married. You know if you've made the commitment or not.
But you can miss the fact that you've missed Jesus when you've got everything else. You've got a Christian vocabulary, Christian beliefs, a Christian image, Christian fellowship, maybe a Christian environment or a Christian family. But it could be that there's never been, though, that deciding transaction with Christ; that deeply personal moment when you talk to Him and give yourself to Him with all the faith you've got. So as God looks at all you've got spiritually, is He asking, "Where's Jesus?"
If you've consciously begun your relationship with Jesus Christ, He is in your life right now. He's clearly said, if you open the door, "I will come in." It is settled. But if you've never really given yourself to Jesus, I know it's hard to admit it to yourself, but it's deadly not to. And be grateful. God has given you another opportunity; He has given you this opportunity this Christmas season to take the step that will finally, really bring Jesus into your life, because some day will be your last opportunity.
Would you tell Him right now you want to know Him for real; not just know about Him? You want to know him for real beginning this very day; not just to have some beliefs about Him, but to belong to Him. It's time for you to tell Him that's what you want; to admit to Him you realize there's never been a time you've really given yourself to Him. But this is the day you open your heart to the man who died for you; who came to this earth to die to pay for your sin. He's alive because of Resurrection Day that first Easter, and He's available to you. He came that first Christmas, and now He's come where you are to come into your life. Are you ready to tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours?"
I would love to help you get started with Him. It would be a great joy of my life to help you do that. Would you join me at ANewStory.com? That's our website, ANewStory.com and let's get this settled.
Today, please make sure that Jesus is in your heart.
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