Dec. 24th Devotion
The Anticipation of Christmas – Greg Laurie
“The Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’)” (Isaiah 7:14 NLT).
On the first Christmas Eve, there were no brightly colored lights on any homes. There were no stockings that had been hung with care and no visions of sugar plums on anyone’s mind. It was just another night in Bethlehem.
But world history was about to change. When Mary and Joseph arrived in town, there was no room in the inn. So the Son of God entered our world in a stable or, most likely, a cave.
Now when parents have a child, especially their first child, they call their loved ones and tell them the weight and length of the baby and the actual time of birth. On the first Christmas, God the Father also made an announcement that His Son had been born.
Whom did He tell? You would think He would have told Caesar that the Son of God had been born. But instead, God directed His message toward shepherds who were out in the fields at night, watching over their flocks.
The angel told them, “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10-11 NLT).
So the shepherds went to Bethlehem, where they found Joseph and Mary, and the baby in her arms.
There are a lot of good things about Christmas, of course, but as we anticipate its arrival, let’s realize that Christmas cannot deliver on its promises. I think deep down inside, what we’re really longing for is not Christmas but Christ. I think the anticipation we have for Christmas is a longing for God Himself. And that’s the message of Christmas: Immanuel, God is with us.
“The Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’)” (Isaiah 7:14 NLT).
On the first Christmas Eve, there were no brightly colored lights on any homes. There were no stockings that had been hung with care and no visions of sugar plums on anyone’s mind. It was just another night in Bethlehem.
But world history was about to change. When Mary and Joseph arrived in town, there was no room in the inn. So the Son of God entered our world in a stable or, most likely, a cave.
Now when parents have a child, especially their first child, they call their loved ones and tell them the weight and length of the baby and the actual time of birth. On the first Christmas, God the Father also made an announcement that His Son had been born.
Whom did He tell? You would think He would have told Caesar that the Son of God had been born. But instead, God directed His message toward shepherds who were out in the fields at night, watching over their flocks.
The angel told them, “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10-11 NLT).
So the shepherds went to Bethlehem, where they found Joseph and Mary, and the baby in her arms.
There are a lot of good things about Christmas, of course, but as we anticipate its arrival, let’s realize that Christmas cannot deliver on its promises. I think deep down inside, what we’re really longing for is not Christmas but Christ. I think the anticipation we have for Christmas is a longing for God Himself. And that’s the message of Christmas: Immanuel, God is with us.
Posted in Devotions
Recent
Archive
2024
January
January 1st DevotionDecember 31st follow-upJanuary 2nd DevotionJanuary 3rd DevotionJanuary 4th DevotionJanuary 5th DevotionJanuary 8th DevotionJanuary 7th Follow-upJanuary 9th DevotionJanuary 10th DevotionJanuary 11th DevotionJanuary 12th DevotionJanuary 15th DevotionJanuary 14th Follow-upJanuary 16th DevotionJanuary 17th DevotionJanuary 18th DevotionJanuary 19th DevotionJanuary 21st follow-upJanuary 22nd DevotionJanuary 23rd DevotionJanuary 24th DevotionJanuary 25th DevotionJanuary 26th DevotionJanuary 29th Devotion1-28-24 follow-upJanuary 30th DevotionJanuary 31st Devotion
February
February 1st DevotionFebruary 2nd DevotionFebruary 5th DevotionFebruary 6th DevotionFebruary 4th Follow-upFebruary 7th DevotionFebruary 8th DevotionFebrtuary 9th DevotionFebruary 12th DevotionFebruary 11th Follow-upFebruary 13th DevotionFebruary 14th DevotionFebruary 15th DevotionFebruary 16th DevotionFebruary 19th DevotionFebruary 20th DevotionFebruary 21st DevotionFebruary 22nd DevotionFebruary 23rd DevotionFebruary 26th DevotionFebruary 27th DevotionFebruary 28th DevotionFebruary 29th Devotion
March
March 1st DevotionMarch 4th DevotionMarch 3rd follow-upMarch 5th DevotionMarch 6th DevotionMarch 7th, 2024March 8th DevotionMarch 11th DevotionMarch 12th DevotionMarch 13th DevotionMarch 14th DevotionMarch 15th DevotionMarch 18th DevotionMarch 19th DevotionMarch 20th devotionMarch 21st DevotionMarch 22nd DevotionMarch 25th DevotionMarch 26th DevotionMarch 27th DevotionMarch 28th DevotionMarch 29th Devotion
2023
January
January 2nd DevotionFollow-up to January 1st teachingJanuary 3rd DevotionJanuary 4th DevotionJanuary 5th DevotionJanuary 6th DevotionJanuary 9th DevotionFollow-up to January 8th teachingJanuary 10th DevotionJanuary 11th DevotionJanuary 12th DevotionJanuary 13th DevotionJanuary 16th DevotionJanuary 17th Devotion
No Comments