On the 20th Day of Christmas –

We must continue to Seek the Lord.

Luke 2:15 “When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

In this Season, we see all the glistening lights, all the brightly decorated Christmas trees, the fun Christmas sweaters and shirts, the cookies full of icing, and the presents piled high.

All of these gifts and glitz should be pointing us to the Lord. Not just a story to remember, but an arrow pointing in the direction to Seek Jesus.

Truly seek His every will, His divine Peace, His love for others, everything He desires of us. We should see all the signs of the season and be drawn closer to Him, deeper in His Word, more faithful in Prayer, and more actively putting His word into action.

After the Angels told the shepherds of the great news of Our Savior being born, they didn’t continue on in the same way, they set out to see the baby, the Messiah, and so should We!

On the 19th Day of Christmas –

There is an army in heaven watching over us, declaring peace, and praising God.

Luke 2:13-14 “Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

God has this same vast army that guards the heavens, watching over you and me. They are following God’s every command. They are fulfilling His desires, whatever they may be. These angels are fully aware of what God is wanting to happen here on this earth.

For all of us that follow The Lord, His desire is Peace.

A Peace that transcends all understanding, that covers us in times of confusion or times of unrest. It’s that reassurance that everything is just as He planned.

It is His desire that we live in Peace. Sometimes that takes a lot of Forgiveness, Grace, and Mercy, AND especially now, at the celebration of His Son’s birth — the giver of Forgiveness, we should seek His Peace.

Do you need this Peace? Do you need to forgive someone? God has delivered this Peace through His Son and the Heavenly Host of angels have declared It as True.

On the 18th Day of Christmas –

We will recognize the Lord.

Luke 2:12 “And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

Sometimes things aren’t as we think they should be. No one seems to be who they say they are, and we may wonder, is the Lord even among us.

The world can be such a dark place, but we will always recognize the Lord. He is the good that we see, He is the in that rainbow that you needed to see, He is in that billboard that speaks directly to you, He is the Word of God that pierces your heart.

The Lord may seem covered by the worries of the world, the darkness that casts shadows on the path, but when we pull all of that away and strip the layers off, He is hidden right there in our hearts. And we WILL recognize Him!

Jeremiah 24:7 “I will give them hearts that recognize me as the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly.”

As you look for the Lord this Christmas…hidden under the headlines, shopping bags, long lines, and frustrated drivers, remember, He’s been hidden in your heart.

He’s not wrapped in the pretty packaging, Jesus is wrapped in the warmth of the Holy Spirit. Be still, you will recognize Him, and find what you’ve really been looking for.

On the 17th Day of Christmas –

The Messiah is BORN.

Luke 2:11 “The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!”

Every time a baby is born, it truly is HUGE news! But no greater child has or will ever be born than our Savior and LORD, Jesus Christ.

Can’t you picture the shepherds as they get this news?! Confused, Excited….Spinning around and around, questioning the Angel, “But where, when, how….can we see Him…why did you choose to tell us?”

It was the biggest and best birth announcement ever!

A sweet baby boy, lay in a manger, no crib for a bed. “And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6b

What wonderful news! News that will eventually travel the Globe and fill the earth. Our Messiah has been born. Through His Life we will be saved.

Thank you God for this baby, Emmanuel, God with Us!

On the 16th Day of Christmas –

We have the assurance of Christ to not be afraid but have Hope in THE GREATEST news.

Luke 2:10 “but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.”

Here were common, lowly shepherds out in the field, minding their own business, when an angel appeared to them. This wasn’t an angel in human form, but one with great magnitude and a bright light shining all about them.

No wonder the shepherds were afraid, they didn’t know what was to come. But the angel sensing their fear, quickly declared, “Do not be Afraid for I bring you some really good news.” This news they brought was long awaited, wonderful news!

We get a ton of news each day, and Quite a bit of the news we receive isn’t great. To top it off, the people that have to deliver the news to us aren’t always angels. Yet, if we depend upon earthly news to get us through the minute, day, month, and year, we will struggle along all the days of our life.

Instead, we need to rest assured in the good news given to the shepherds, the news that is still Good to us TODAY. For we are like the common shepherd, and the birth of Jesus ushered in the Greatest news for all people forever.

It’s at Christmas that we are reminded of this news and that gift every Year.

We can’t be afraid of what news we are going to get from the doctor, on the tv, from the bank, or from the lawyer or judge. We need to focus on the news of the angel and the assurance of Hope that we have in Christ!

Hebrews 11:1 “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”

On the 15th Day of Christmas –

The Radiance of the Lord’s Glory still surrounds those who humbly obey Him.

Luke 2:8-9 “That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified,”

Shepherds, the lowest of the lowly, out in the field doing their job, were the first to be visited after Jesus birth. It wasn’t the perfume seller, the clothing designer, the king or any of his family, it was those who were humbly obedient to the Lord. And when they were visited by the Lord’s Angel the Lord’s Glory shined all around them.

Think about the lowly Christmas tree without its lights. It’s nothing special, just growing in a tree farm somewhere or possibly straight off the mountainside if your lucky enough to go cut one down yourself. It’s branches are green, never exactly perfect, always a hole here or there, but when the lights and bulbs get added and the star or angel is placed on the top, it’s beyond beautiful. It shines with all the Glory of the light it was given, more than any little light should be able to shine. We are like the shepherd and the Christmas tree when we humbly go about our day just staying obedient to the Lord, His Glory will shine about us, but when we are seeking Fame and Fortune and the beauty of the World, only darkness will find us.

2 Corinthians 4:7 “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”

On the 14th Day of Christmas –

We aren’t meant to be comfortable.

Luke 2:7 “She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.”

Of all the places for a King to be born, He was born into the most humble, uncomfortable feeding trough around. Mary had just had a long hard road to travel. When she got to Bethlehem, I know she was hoping to find a comfortable bed to lie her head on, kick her feet up, and deliver the Son of God, the King of Kings. Instead, there was no room for them anywhere, so an inn keeper gave her space in his stable where the animals were.

This by no means was comfortable. Jesus wasn’t born into comfortable, he was born in a stable, wrapped with pieces of cloth that they could scrounge up, and placed in a feeding trough. But the comfort less birth didn’t change who He was, it only made Him more human.

God doesn’t call us to be comfortable, He calls us to stand out when we’re uncomfortable. Our life should be marked with growth, and growth comes in the fire, in the heat and the hard times. He should be our only comfort, the one we seek, the one we follow, the one we praise when we’re at our weakest point.

If Jesus could be born in a manger, we should choose joy in every uncomfortable moment, day, week, year, we find ourselves in. He is our example, He is our comfort, He is our reason to keep moving forward in the hard times, to Glorify His name.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10, 16-17 “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!”

On the 13th Day of Christmas –

God does everything in His perfect timing.

Luke 2:6 “And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.”

Everything is done in God’s perfect timing. We may not be able to comprehend the reason why, but we can’t deny His timing.

Mary probably wanted her mother to be near or at least her relative Elizabeth, but instead, her baby would be born away from everyone. But God knew who He wanted to be there when the time was right for Miracle to be brought into this world (the humble shepherds).

Galatians 4:4 “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.”

God’s timing is truly perfect, exactly when we need it, even though we may tend to think we know better. We must wait, be patient, and trust His Sovereignty. For when the right time comes He will work everything out, perfectly!

Ephesians 1:10 “And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.”

What are you waiting on or what do you think came to soon or at the wrong time? Trust In Him and His timing, in the end you will see the miracle that He had planned all along.

On the 12th Day of Christmas –

The road we travel may be long and hard, but once we get where we’re going it’s completely worth it.

Luke 2:4-5 “And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.”

Mary and Joseph had 70 miles to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem on probably the back of a donkey (our modern day suburban) while pregnant. That road was not paved or clean, but one dusty, rocky road. Poor Mary didn’t have it easy, but she was ready for the road ahead because she knew when she got to where she was going she would have the Son of God. Our road ahead is much like Mary’s, far from easy, but if we keep focused on the end we will be strengthened for the journey.

We can’t let the bumps in the road stop us from continuing on the path, we must forge ahead with joy on the road marked out for us. We have the promise of Heaven waiting for us. What a glorious day it will be when we meet our Savior face to face.

Don’t let someone or something deter you from seeking our Savior, he’s the only one that can help you along the road ahead and he’s the reason to keep going!

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”

On the 11th Day of Christmas –

Sometimes God calls us to be home.

Luke 2:4 “And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee.”

In the busyness of the Christmas season we jump from office party to office party, shopping and shopping and more shopping, to social event to church event to school event, but we tend to neglect the opportunity to sit down and enjoy the season with our own family. With all the going and doing we are a part of we are training our children that this is what Christmas is about.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love all the going and doing more than anyone else in my home. But sometimes, even I know, that God is saying, “Sit. Be still. Stay home and show your children and husband the same love I gave the world through my Son at Christmas.”

See the reason for the season is to be grateful for the Savior being born for us, but if you dig a little deeper, it’s also to recognize and worship the Lord through the same gift He gave us, LOVE. And the best way to show that to our families isn’t being on the go, running from one place to the next, but being Home.

Set a aside certain days this Christmas Season just for your family….read the Story of Christmas or another favorite Christmas story, build a gingerbread house or a village, have a conversation, watch a Christmas movie together, and just enjoy each other, at HOME!