Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I am enjoying my Christmas break with my family and friends. I hope you are too!

I will take this Monday off from writing, but will be back the first Monday of the New Year!

God bless you!

~Rachel

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Why Christmas is so important: Week 4

Reading for today: Luke 2:15-20 (Click on the passage to read online.)

“The shepherd returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” ~ Luke 2:20

Why is Christmas so important? During week one, we discussed that Christmas is important because it was the day that Jesus, the incarnate promise, was born. Giving us…

HOPE.

In week two, we studied that Christmas is important because Jesus was God’s greatest gift to us. Showing us God’s abundant…

LOVE.

Last week, we understood Christmas as important because this promised child born was God’s ultimate peace offering to our broken world. Bringing us back to God and granting us…

PEACE.

This week, take some time to ponder the final answer in our series: Why is Christmas so important? It is important because it is a story of hope, love, peace, and finally…

JOY.

You see, the Christmas story is still being written. Christmas is the day that God’s long awaited action plan was set in motion. God’s plan to bring us back to himself started in the promise of a Savior. When that Savior Jesus was born, his very existence on earth set into motion a series of events, each strategically leading up to his necessary death and resurrection.

But the Christmas story doesn’t end there. Jesus said, “I will come back.” In Jesus, we have hope. We have his love. We have his peace, but we have yet to find full relief from the sin and death that pulls us away from God and from those around us. When Jesus returns to finish his story, when he returns to bring us fully back to God, the final result, the final ending to his story will be perfect, unending joy. And on that day, our hope will be fully realized. Our love will be complete. Peace will be permanent. And no one will take our joy away from us.

Merry Christmas.

Come, Lord Jesus.

Dear God, Thank you for Christmas. Thank you for your hope, love, and peace. Please give us glimpses of joy as we patiently await your return. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.

This week, spend some time understanding God’s plan. (Click on the passages to read online.)

Day 2: Isaiah 25:6-9

Day 3: Philippians 3:12-14; 20-21

Day 4: Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 12:1-3

Day 5: John 14:1-7

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Why Christmas is so important: Week 3

Reading for today: Luke 2:4-14 (Click on the passage to read online.)

“Glory to God in the highest, and earth peace among those whom he is pleased!” ~ Luke 2:14

“And on earth peace, good will to all, and to all a good night!” or something like that. Peace on earth. All disagreements, conflicts, and war suspended for a still and silent night. Peace on earth, the whole world quieting their souls to hold hands and get along. That’s what Christmas is all about. Right?

We have come to think of the angels’ declaration of peace on earth as a coveted earthly condition, one where self-contentment reigns and war and sadness is vanquished. A peace that we try to drum up for ourselves every 25^th of December, using all of our Christmas spirit.

Yet, peace from Jesus is not simply a happy feeling, or getting along with our neighbors, or the solution to war. Peace, as defined by scripture, is the result of a connection – or re-connection with God. And this brand of peace runs right alongside turmoil and struggle, it is not necessarily an antidote for it. Although harmony with ourselves or the people and things around us may occasionally be a wonderful outcome, it isn’t a guarantee.

The Prince of Peace was sent first and foremost to address the deep, deep disconnection between God and us. This disconnection is the root of all struggles and turmoil, both inside our hearts and in the world around us. Jesus came so that we might finally be reconciled to God. So that we could have peace with God. God’s peace is at work in us to fill us, to bless us, to guard us, and to use us to continue to reconcile the world to himself. And that reuniting peace, is not finished yet.

Why is Christmas so important? It is the day God sent his peace offering to earth. Jesus was born to rejoin us to God. When we through faith in the Prince of Peace are rejoined with our Creator, we have peace. Peace is reconciliation. Peace is justification.

Peace is also the assurance and hope that Jesus will come once again and his peace will this time completely flood our existence, consuming the struggles, the turmoil, and the darkness. On that day, peace will be our new existence, both inside and out.

Dear God, Thank you for Christmas, the day you redefined peace. Please give us your peace. Amen.

This week, spend some time understanding God’s definition of peace. (Click on the passages to read online.)

Day 2: Isaiah 26:3-4, 53:5

Day 3: Romans 5:1-5

Day 4: John 14:27, 16:33

Day 5: Psalm 46

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Why Christmas is so important: Week 2

Reading for today: Matthew 1:18-25 (Click on the passage to read online.)

“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ~ Matthew 1:21

Joseph sat sadly resolved. Sweet, sweet Mary. The penalty for her surprising betrayal was death by stoning. Joseph had his rights, but he couldn’t allow for that. Yet marriage to her was out of the question. She belonged to somebody else now. As he wrestled with what to do, Joseph determined the only way to save Mary would be to quietly divorce her. Quickly let her go to her lover, saving her from shame. But what of his own shame?

Joseph is visited by an angel by Sadao Watanabe

Joseph considered these things as fell asleep.

God knew exactly how Joseph felt. And he blessed Joseph with a little insight. He spoke to him in a dream, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Like Joseph, God had also been deeply hurt. We, who had once belonged to God, now belonged dangerously to another. And God had every right to divorce us. He had every right to call for the death penalty. But like Joseph, God was not going to allow for that. Out of deep love for us, God had resolved from the very beginning to win us back in a most powerful and loving way.

Why is Christmas so important? It is the day the extent of God’s resolve was made known. The person of Jesus took on flesh and became one of us in order to save us from our broken affair.

God simply would not allow for us to be eternally lost. So he rolled up his sleeves, literally entered into our filthy darkness, and began intentionally working out his plan for our salvation. It is the world’s greatest love story.

Dear God, Thank you for Christmas, the day you personally broke into our darkness to rescue us from our sins. Amen.

This week, spend some time meditating on why Jesus came. (Click on the passages to read online.)

Day 2: Isaiah 7:14, 9:7

Day 3: Hebrews 2:9-11

Day 4: Acts 13:23, 26, 38-39

Day 5: John 3:16-17

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