Devotions

The first time I heard the song "Mary, Did You Know," written by Mark Lowry (1984), Kenny Rogers was performing, and it made me cry and ponder what it must have been like for Mary. It's been one of my favorite Christmas songs ever since. Recently I heard/saw a CeeLo Green rendition put to video in 2012 (using clips from a mini-series on the History Channel). This time it didn't make me cry but, rather, provoked me to passionately love Jesus more, to want everyone to know Him, and to praise God for all He's done.

We are called to focus on and believe in the impossible when we believe in Christ and the events surrounding His first coming. The story here in Luke covers the facts, but between the lines we read the glorious news of God’s redemption, and the power of His love for us. It is His love that raises a humble girl, Mary, and an elderly woman, Elizabeth, into pivotal roles through which come both the Messiah and one in the spirit and power of Elijah. It is His love for us that sent Gabriel on this holy mission to tell a virgin that the Messiah is coming, and through her.

“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast,” said the mad Queen of Hearts, from Lewis Carroll’s book, Alice in Wonderland. I would not like to emulate this character in other ways; after all, “Off with his head!” is really not a good coping mechanism for stress. But I do believe that we are called to focus on and believe in the impossible, when we believe in Christ and the events surrounding His first coming. And starting before breakfast certainly sets a trend for a faith-filled day!

The depth of God's Word is amazing—that one small passage of Scripture could convey so much about ourselves and about the Savior whose birth we prepare to celebrate in just seven days!

If you walk down a typical neighborhood street tonight, you’ll see artificial lights everywhere: streetlights, porch lights, headlights, solar lights, floodlights...and, of course, Christmas lights rambling up trees and railings like jungle vines. Thanks to Thomas Edison, making and possessing artificial light is easy and cheap. We can be careless with it, play with it....But have you ever been in complete darkness?

A spoken word poem by Sarah Bosse.

​God's love on display:​ He gave his only begotten Son to be our ransom. This is why we can sing, “Why lies he in such mean estate, Where ox and ass are feeding? Good Christian fear: for sinners here, The silent Word is pleading.”​ In all of Christ's life, we see what God is willing to give for those who are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

How well do you know the prophecies of the Old Testament? Do you read them? Study them? Do you search for Christ in them? There are still many prophecies in the Bible I don’t fully understand, so I really appreciate when the New Testament writers help us with the meaning of Old Testament texts. Today, we’re considering the prophecy in Micah 5:2 that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. Initially, the main significance of Bethlehem is its insignificance, a small town of no great importance. But, then comes King David and the messianic promises that come through him.

Today's reading moves us from one of the prophets of old, Isaiah, unto these last days of Christ's appearing. In these verses, we mark the notable importance involved in the naming of a child. Sometimes, the name of a person in Scripture gives us a glimpse into the character or calling of that individual.