Today’s weather report from heaven: Sunny and bright with an abundance of light, and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Scripture- “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us.” ) – Matthew 1:23
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”- Revelation 22:12-13
Insight: The Christmas Story is truly amazing on so many levels, but the one thing that is truly life changing is that God chose to come be with His Creation in the form of a baby, born to a Virgin named Mary. But this was no ordinary baby- this was God in the flesh. God incarnate, Jesus, who left His Eternal Home to come down to earth to rescue us from our sin and shame. But what does this really mean for us? How can we apply this miracle to their own lives in order to make it have practical meaning? Well, I was reading a Christmas card that we received from a friend of ours and I think what they wrote summed it up beautifully. It simply said this: Because Jesus came we have joy; Because He is coming again, we have hope. The two Scriptures above echo that sentiment. If I could sum up the Christmas Season using only two words, it would be those two: Joy and Hope. We could all use some joy and hope right about now, in a mega dose, after all the world has been through in the past few years. We need something we can grab hold of that steadies us in the middle of the storms of life, and the seemingly endless stream of bad news, which can set us on stable ground and give us the joy and hope that our soul’s long for. Jesus is that joy and hope.
What did His coming really mean for us? It means that we are loved more than we can ever know or imagine. It means we have a lifeline to Heaven. It means our sins are forgiven for those of us who believe ( John 3:16 ), and it means that we are saved ( John 3:17 ) from the penalty of eternal separation from God that our sins deserved. This life is not the end of us, it is only the beginning. Jesus came to reveal to us that there is an Eternal Kingdom that will never perish, spoil or fade and He has gone back there after his death and resurrection to prepare a room for all who believe in His name, to be with Him forever. ( John 14:2 ) That’s the real miracle of Christmas that brings true joy and hope. Jesus came as Immanuel, God with us, so He could show us just how much God the Father was willing to sacrifice in order to show us the depths of His love for us. That is the truly amazing part of Christmas that can change your life each and every day. We are not alone, we are not a mistake and hope is not lost. In fact real hope is found in the name that is above every other name, Jesus, and He came to show us just how much we mean to Him.
Prayer: Jesus, we are so filled with joy because You came to us here on earth, to draw close to your people. We are so filled with hope because you’re coming back someday soon! Our hope is not circumstantial and cannot be taken away by any event on earth because of who the Bible says You are: The “Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Your Kingdom is Eternal, and if we believe in You, our names are written into the Book of Life that has no end. Amen!
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