Tag Archives: Christmas

December 25, 2025 · 5:30 AM

The Christmas Story

Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Genesis 3:14-15 NLT

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.

Micah 5:2 NLT

All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

Isaiah 7:14 NLT

Desert nomads will bow before him (Shepherds); his enemies will fall before him in the dust. The western kings of Tarshish and other distant lands will bring him tribute. The eastern kings of Sheba and Seba will bring him gifts.

Psalms 72:9-10 NLT

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!

Isaiah 9:6-7 NLT

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 1:18 NLT

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, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.

Luke 2:4-5 NLT

She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

Luke 2:7 NLT

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.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.

Luke 2:15-16 NLT

After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Matthew 2:9-11 NLT

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 NLT

Merry Christmas! God is with us.

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December 23, 2025 · 6:02 AM

Gifts For Tomorrow

In Matthew 2, we find the story of the wise men who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. I’ve always heard about how they represented Jesus’s roles: gold for His kingship, frankincense for His divinity and myrrh for his sacrificial death. That’s probably true, but practically they were for the next season. The family was going to be uprooted in the middle of the night in the next few days and have to live in a foreign country. These gifts more than likely provided for their needs while living in Egypt. Remember they were poor based on their offering in the Temple at Jesus’s dedication. God sent them provision ahead of their need.

A similar thing happened to the Israelites as they left Egypt in the middle of the night. After the tenth plague in Exodus 12, the Israelites were kicked out quickly which is why they were told to eat the Passover meal quickly with their sandals on and staff in hand. Having been slaves, they had little to no money to provide for their journey to the Promised Land to become an established nation in their own land. Verses 35-36 says, “And the people of Israel did as Moses had instructed; they asked the Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold. The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!” (NLT) God again sent their provision ahead of their need.

In Matthew 7:11 Jesus said, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” God is not reactive. He equips His people with gifts before their next season. He doesn’t let us walk into our next season empty handed. He provides gifts of relationships, resources and encouragement at just the right time. When I think of the wise men during Christmas, I think of how God gives before we know to ask, prepares us before we see and provides for us at just the right time with what we need. He is never late, never unprepared and He provides us with gifts before we know we need them. His pattern is that He gives good gifts for tomorrow.

Photo by Google Gemini

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December 18, 2025 · 5:30 AM

The Gift Of Christmas

From the time you’re a child, there’s something special about receiving gifts. The anticipation of Christmas was sometimes overwhelming as you waited to open the gifts. I remember wanting to peek to see if I got what I really wanted. Some years I did, and other years I got what I needed. While gifts are always for the receiver, the giver gets something special out of it too. As an adult, there’s nothing better than to see my child’s reaction when he gets just the right gift. The excitement. The smile. The raised voice. The desire to take it out of the box even when there’s more under the tree. The right gift at the right time is priceless.

Christmas is the time we celebrate how some 2,000 years ago God gave us the perfect gift at just the right time. The sky was lit up by a special star. The gift was wrapped in a stable and placed in a manger. The angels announced a His birth. The right time had come to give the world the greatest treasure it would ever know. With the birth of the baby Jesus, God gave us the gift of a right relationship with a Him. There was (and is) nothing we could ever give Him that is so great a gift, but what we can give Him is our heart and life in return with gratitude for giving us His Son.

Romans 8:32 says, “For God has proved his love by giving us his greatest treasure, the gift of his Son. And since God freely offered him up as the sacrifice for us all, he certainly won’t withhold from us anything else he has to give” (TPT). God loved you and I so much that He gave everything He had to restore a relationship we never could. As you open gifts and spend time with those you love this Christmas, don’t forget why we celebrate. You’ve been given a greater gift than you can ever purchase or receive. The gift you have received from Him though is one that can be shared with others. It is the true gift of Christmas.

Photo by Google Gemini

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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December 11, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Emmanuel

Around Christmas time, I remember an old song we used to sing at church by Don Moen. “Emmanuel. Emmanuel. His name is called Emmanuel. Emmanuel. God with us. Revealed in us. His name is Emmanuel.” Simple, yet powerful as it reminds us of God’s plan to save the world. I thought about the meaning of it the other night when we, as a family, sat down, looked at our nativity and talked through all the people in it. By doing this activity, we each gained more insight and perspective into what has become a common Christmas symbol, but is truly the greatest display of love the world has ever seen.

Since the Garden of Eden, sin had reigned on the earth. It brought death and decay with it. Man had no ability to conquer it. When God looked on our helpless estate, He didn’t condemn us to an eternity In hell. Rather, He displayed His love by sending His one and only Son into the world, not to condemn it, but that through Him the world might be saved (John 3:16-17). He became one of us in order to reach us, to break the curse of sin and to end its rule. If you remember, while He was in the tomb, He took the keys of death, hell and the grace removing its power over our lives. He ushered in a wave of grace to do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves.

Romans 8:3 says, “Yet God sent us his Son in human form to identify with human weakness. Clothed with humanity, God’s Son gave his body to be the sin-offering so that God could once and for all condemn the guilt and power of sin” (TPT). Jesus, coming to earth as depicted in the manger scene, is God reaching out, identifying with us and ultimately sacrificing Himself so we could be together. Emmanuel is a powerful word that concisely tells the story of Christmas. You are loved immensely by your creator. He didn’t come to condemn you. He came to save you because there is no way to save yourself.

Photo by Jon Carlson on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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December 26, 2024 · 5:30 AM

God With Us

There’s a story of how the Cherokee would perform a right of passage for all boys before they were considered men. To become a man, the boy would be led into the woods at night. His father would sit him on a stump, blindfold Him and then leave him. He was told that he had to sit there all night, but he couldn’t make a sound. When he saw the sun rays through the blindfold, he could take it off and find his way back to camp.

It was tough to sit there silently. With their eyes covered, their sense of hearing was enhanced. They heard ever twig break as an animal stepped on it. They could hear the sounds of all the animals in the forest that were out at night. I’m sure they could hear the sound of their own heartbeat as they wondered whether they would be attacked. In the morning when he removed his blindfold, he would see that his father was sitting beside him the whole night watching over him.

I love that story because it’s so much like what our Heavenly Father does for us. We often feel blind and alone as we go through this world. Our fears can get the better of us if we aren’t careful, but God is right there with us through it all even though we can’t see Him. Isaiah 7:14 says, “All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’)” (NLT).

Immanuel is one of my favorite names for God. It gives me hope when I feel blindfolded as I go through this life. When I’m unsure of how things are going to turn out, and I feel vulnerable and open to attack, I remind myself that God is right there with me. He’s watching over me, protecting me and caring for me. He has never left my side no matter how dark the night has been. He remains true to His name Immanuel. He is God with us.

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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December 25, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Merry Christmas

”During the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent from God’s presence to an unmarried girl named Mary, living in Nazareth, a village in Galilee. She was engaged to a man named Joseph, a true descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Rejoice, beloved young woman, for the Lord is with you and you are anointed with great favor.” Mary was deeply troubled over the words of the angel and bewildered over what this may mean for her. But the angel reassured her, saying, “Do not yield to your fear, Mary, for the Lord has found delight in you and has chosen to surprise you with a wonderful gift. You will become pregnant with a baby boy, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be supreme and will be known as the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God will enthrone him as King on the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign as King of Israel forever, and his reign will have no limit.” Mary said, “But how could this happen? I am still a virgin!” Gabriel answered, “The Spirit of Holiness will fall upon you and almighty God will spread his shadow of power over you in a cloud of glory! This is why the child born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your aged aunt, Elizabeth, has also become pregnant with a son. The ‘barren one’ is now in her sixth month. Not one promise from God is empty of power. Nothing is impossible with God!” Then Mary responded, saying, “Yes! I will be a mother for the Lord! As his servant, I accept whatever he has for me. May everything you have told me come to pass.” And the angel left her.“
‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭26‬-‭38‬ ‭TPT‬‬

”During those days, the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, ordered that the first census be taken throughout his empire. (Quirinius was the governor of Syria at that time.) Everyone had to travel to the hometown of their family to complete the mandatory census. So Joseph and his wife, Mary, left Nazareth, a village in Galilee, and journeyed to their hometown in Judea, to the village of Bethlehem, King David’s ancient home. They were required to register there, since they were both direct descendants of David. Mary was pregnant and nearly ready to give birth. When they arrived in Bethlehem, Mary went into labor, and there she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped the newborn baby in strips of cloth, and Mary and Joseph laid him in a feeding trough since there was no available space in any upper room in the village.“
‭‭Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭TPT‬‬

”That night, in a field near Bethlehem, shepherds were watching over their flocks. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared in radiant splendor before them, lighting up the field with the blazing glory of God, and the shepherds were terrified! But the angel reassured them, saying, “Don’t be afraid, for I have come to bring you good news, the most joyous news the world has ever heard! And it is for everyone everywhere! For today in Bethlehem a rescuer was born for you. He is the Lord Yahweh, the Messiah. You will recognize him by this miraculous sign: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in the feeding trough!” Then all at once in the night sky, a vast number of glorious angels appeared, the very armies of heaven! And they all praised God, singing: “Glory to God in the highest realms of heaven! For there is peace and a good hope given to the sons of men.” When the choir of angels disappeared and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go! Let’s hurry and find this Word who is born in Bethlehem and see for ourselves what the Lord has revealed to us.” So they hurried off and found their way to Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in a feeding trough.“
‭‭Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬-‭16‬ ‭TPT‬‬

”And on their way to Bethlehem, the same star they had seen in the East suddenly reappeared! Amazed, they watched as it went ahead of them and stopped directly over the place where the child was. And when they saw the star, they were so ecstatic that they shouted and celebrated with unrestrained joy. When they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, they fell to the ground at his feet and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests full of gifts and presented him with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Afterward they returned to their own country by another route because God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.“
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬-‭12‬ ‭TPT‬‬

Merry Christmas! Let’s remember why we celebrate today.

Thanks to Michael Payne on Unsplash for the photo

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December 22, 2023 · 5:45 AM

Open Doors

When Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem, I’m sure they went to family members first looking for a place to stay. Everywhere they went though, they were met with closed doors. I don’t know how many inns they tried, but we know that the one mentioned in the Bible had no room for them. Just when they thought it was another closed door, they opened the door to the stable. It wasn’t much, but that open door became the place where the Messiah was born. Like the inn, our lives have a lot of compartments or rooms. How many of those doors do you have closed to Him? When we open the doors of our life to Him, He opens doors for us. Don’t just give Jesus a room or even a few rooms in your life. Open all the doors to every part so He can have His way and give you everything He has for you.

Here are some Bible verses on open doors.

1. Be like servants anticipating their master’s return from a wedding celebration. They are ready at a moment’s notice to unlock and open the door for him.

Luke 12:36 TPT

2. To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: “This is the message from the one who is holy and true. He has the key that belonged to David, and when he opens a door, no one can close it, and when he closes it, no one can open it.”

Revelation 3:7 GNT

3. I am the Door; anyone who enters through Me will be saved [and will live forever], and will go in and out [freely], and find pasture (spiritual security).

John 10:9 AMP

4. Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7 NLT

5. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:20 ESV

Photo by Roberto Huczek on Unsplash

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December 20, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Receiving Immanuel

Have you ever said, “It’s too much! I couldn’t accept this gift”? Why do we have such a hard time receiving gifts? We like giving them, but push back when someone tries to give us a gift. It could have something to do with pride because when we give, we get credit and recognition. It puts us in the driver’s seat of the relationship. However, when we receive a gift, it opens the door to intimacy in the relationship. The extent to which we fear intimacy is the extent to which we reject gifts. While it is more blessed to give than to receive, it’s often an act of obedience and humility to receive.

We all know John 3:16 and how God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only son. We usually don’t connect that verse with Christmas, but it is the quintessential Christmas verse. God demonstrated His love for you and me by giving the most extravagant gift ever: salvation through His son. It’s a free gift, but it’s one that we must receive along with the other gifts that He gives us. There’s a tendency in all of us to push back on this free gift because we fear intimacy with God. We like the idea of keeping Him at arms length knowing that receiving the gift of His son requires our soul, our life, our all. Intimacy is what He is looking for from us.

John 1:11 says, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (NKJV). When God gave us the gift of Christmas, the world’s initial reaction was to not receive it. The prophesy in Isaiah 7:14 said that His gift would be called Immanuel which translates to God with us. Since the beginning God has desired an intimate relationship with each of us. It begins when we receive His free gift, but is grown through our spiritual disciplines. We must open our hands and hearts to receive the gift of Immanuel that God gives. Your level of intimacy with Him is in proportion to the amount you receive Immanuel and trust Him with your heart and life.

Photo by Mel Poole on Unsplash

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December 19, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Perfectly Wrapped

Like most guys, I’m not a very good wrapper when it comes to presents. If you get a gift from me, it’s going to come in a bag. My wife isn’t that way. She prides herself on her wrapping ability. At Christmas each family gets a certain color coordinated wrapping paper and bow. So one Christmas we had an assembly line going where I put the gifts in boxes and got tape ready while she wrapped. She would then ask who it belonged to and she would write their name on it. About eight presents in, I snuck her gift into the assembly line. When she asked who it was for, I told her it was hers. She hadn’t paid attention to what she was wrapping and laughed. I told her I wanted her to have a gift that was as beautifully wrapped as all the other ones.

At Christmas we can stress about getting the right gift and also the need to wrap it. However, about 2,000 years ago God sent His only son into the world as His gift to us. John 1 says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. At His birth, angels appeared in the fields near Bethlehem to announce to shepherds that the Messiah had come. They were told to go find Him. Luke 2:12 says, ”And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger“ (NLT). God’s greatest gift was wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a feeding trough rather than in kingly garments in a palace. His gift was to all people who would receive Him.

Jesus was God’s gift to us. What we do with Him is our gift to God. We can leave Him as a baby lying in a manager, but His birth isn’t what saves us. His birth was so God could be with us and identify with us. He knows our pains, our struggles and our temptations. His gift to God and us was His death on the cross which opened a way for us to be with God. He was born to die so that we may truly live. In response, our gift to God is a life wrapped in His grace, filled with His love and sharing His message to a world in need. When we unwrap the story of His life and what He did for us, we should desire to live a life that reflects that kind of love. The wrapping doesn’t have to be pretty and perfect because God doesn’t look on the outside like we do. He looks at our heart.

Photo by Jon Carlson on Unsplash

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December 18, 2023 · 5:46 AM

The Right Time

One thing I’ve learned is that God operates on His own time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve reached out in desperation praying to get an answer on my time. There have been times when He’s come through right at the deadline. There have been other times when my deadline has come and gone while I was waiting for Him to answer. I think of Lazarus who was sick when his sisters sent word for Jesus to come and heal him. While Jesus was waiting, Lazarus died. Four days after that, Jesus showed up and raised him from the dead. No matter what our deadline is, His answer will come at the right time. He sees a bigger picture than what we see.

For 400 years before Jesus was born, God was silent. Famine had struck the land a generation before Jesus that threatened to wipe out the country. The Romans took over the world, including Israel. Yet God didn’t answer their cries. However, it was the Roman’s who called for a census that would send Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem in order to fulfill the prophecy that the Messiah would be born there. It was because of the Romans that the known world had a unified language which allowed the Gospel to spread quickly. While people cried out for deliverance, God waited for the right moment to bring salvation to us.

Galatians 4:4 says, ”But when the right time came, God sent his Son“ (NLT). Looking back, you can always see that God answers when the right time came. I don’t know what you’re praying for, but don’t stop. Your deadline May have come and gone, but keep praying. There is nothing impossible for God. He can do what seems impossible to us. He won’t be early with His answer, but when the right time comes, He will bring you the answer that is in accordance with His plan. Don’t give up if you’re still waiting or if God seems silent. Keep asking. Keep knocking. Keep seeking. Keep believing too because God is at work and setting things in motion. He will send His son to answer at the right time.

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

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