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TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Behold, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel--which, when translated, means, God with us. Matthew 1:23, AMP. TODAY'S WORD: In the Bible, Jesus has many names that identify His character. One of those names is Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” Before Jesus came to earth, the Spirit of God resided in the temple. The people had to go through all kinds of rituals to become clean enough to go near to Him. Today, as believers, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He is the one who cleanses us and makes His home in our hearts. He becomes one with us, closer than the air we breathe. Isn’t it good to know that God is always with us? His peace is always with us. His joy is always with us. His power is always with us, and His victory is always with us. The next time you feel alone, think about this scripture. Know that He is near because you serve Emmanuel—the God who is always with you! PRAYER FOR TODAY: Father in heaven, thank You for choosing to make Your home in me. Thank You for filling me with Your peace and joy. I bless You today, knowing that You will never leave me nor forsake me in Jesus’ name. Amen. |
PS...
“The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.” (Luke 19:10 NCV)
If you don’t understand the purpose of Christmas, you might as well skip the Christmas lights and decorations this year. You might as well forget about buying Christmas presents. You might as well forget Christmas dinner.
If you don’t know why we celebrate Christmas, all the festivities are pointless.
To find the purpose of Christmas, you have to fast forward beyond the manger, the Wise Men, and the shepherds. Jesus told us the reason he came to Earth on the first Christmas: “The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them” (Luke 19:10 NCV).
Quite simply, Jesus came because people are lost without God. To be spiritually lost means to be separated from God, disconnected, and out of whack. Without Jesus, every person in the world is lost — no matter how much power, wealth, or fame they have.
And our lostness has immense ramifications on our lives. To know why Jesus came to Earth, we must understand what it means to be lost. Without God, we’ve lost:
- Our direction. We’re bound to have little understanding of where we should go and what we should do in this life.
- His protection. We’re on our own when we’re not under the Lord’s protection. That’s a huge reason many people are stressed out. They’re trying to live under their own care and protection instead of God’s.
- Our potential. We’ll never know half the gifts and talents we have if we’re not in a relationship with him.
- Our happiness. We can have all the money and power in the world, but without God we will never have true joy.
- Our home in Heaven. God allows us to rebel while we’re here on Earth, but there’s no rebellion in Heaven.
But no one who is lost has lost one ounce of value to God. Even if you don’t have a relationship with him, you have immense value to God. Lostness implies value. Whatever someone is willing to spend to recover something that’s lost shows how valuable that item is.
In the most famous verse in the Bible, Jesus clearly explains our value: “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
The Good News is God loved us so much he sent his Son to Earth on the first Christmas to seek and save us.
That’s a reason to celebrate tomorrow.
Talk It Over
- How can you keep a perspective this Christmas that goes beyond the holiday season and helps you remember the meaning of God’s gift of Jesus?
- What changes for you when you understand that Christmas is about God seeking and saving the lost?
- How do your Christmas celebrations reflect the true meaning of the holiday?
- From our family…A Blessed and Happy Christmas! J
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