Tuesday Devotion
12/13/61
Written by Diane Sutton
The
Spirit of Christmas
Last
weekend I was one of many volunteers at a Christmas outreach for low income families
in Oakland. Following the program which presented the story about the birth of Jesus,
volunteers handed out hundreds of Christmas stockings filled with toys and
candy, and a wrapped gift to each child. It made me happy to see the children
filled with such joy, carefully carrying their precious gifts. Then it saddened me to think that if it wasn’t for the many selfless volunteers who stuffed
stockings and wrapped presents, these children wouldn’t have known the wondrous
joyful Spirit of Christmas.
Later
that evening, my husband and I attended a Christmas party. One of the group
activities was reading parts of the scripture which recorded the events
surrounding Jesus’ birth and singing many of the traditional Christmas carols.
As I
was riding home, I realized that today I had experienced the real and true
Spirit of Christmas – serving others and celebrating the birth of the Son of
God, Our Savior, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
I am
in awe of how God orchestrated every detail to fulfill the prophecies about the
birth of His Son Jesus. I am humbled by
how much God loves us that He gave His Only Son to be Our Savior so we can know
life, peace and joy.
Let
us bless someone we know who is spending this Christmas without a loved one,
suffering financial hardship, or are lonely. Let us BE the Spirit of Christmas to others through selfless acts
of love, kindness, compassion and thoughtfulness.
Let
us rejoice the birth of Our Savior Jesus Christ and celebrate the Spirit of
Christmas, not just this month but all year-round!
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary;
you have
found favor with God.
You will conceive and give birth to a
son, and you are to call him Jesus.
He will be great and
will be called the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him the throne
of his father David,
and he will reign over Jacob’s
descendants forever;
his kingdom will never end.”
Luke 1:30-33
While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for the baby to
be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She
wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest
room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby,
keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the
Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they
were terrified. But the angel said to them,
“Do not be
afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy f
or all the people. Today
in the town of David a Savior has been born
to you; he is the Messiah, the
Lord. This will be a sign to you:
You will find a baby
wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared
with
the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God
in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those
on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them
and gone into heaven, the
shepherds said to one another,
“Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that
has happened,
which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off
and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby,
who was lying in the manger.
When they had seen him, they
spread the word concerning
what had been told them about this child,
and
all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
But
Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The
shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had
heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child,
he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him
before he was conceived.
Luke 2:6-21
Written by
Diane Sutton
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