Names of Jesus Christmas Devotion

Tomorrow, December 1, marks the first day in Advent...a time when we prepare our hearts and minds for the upcoming celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Many families read a weekly devotion and sing Christmas carols. Others may use an advent wreath or an advent calendar to anticipate Christmas.

This year for our Christmas devotion my family will be learning about the different names of Jesus and what they tell us about God.

I am using two different resources for this Advent Devotion: Names of Jesus Unit Study  by Karen Caroe and the book Praying the Names of Jesus by Ann Spangler. Each daily devotion will contain Scripture references, devotion material, two Christmas songs and Christmas craft ideas for your children. Below is a brief introduction of the study:

"In every age and every culture names are important. Parents often struggle to select just the right name to give their child. It is more than just a label of identification.

In Biblical times, a name had a significant meaning--often denoting a characteristic or something related to the history of the person or his time. Sometimes a new name was given to indicate a change of character or a major event in one's history.

To begin this Christmas Devotion you may want to look up some of the Biblical people who had their names changed. Why did they change? Did they change names on their own or were they given a new name by someone else? Was their new name a good one? Did they live up to their name?

When it comes to Jesus, it is possible to find more than 100 names and titles for Him. No other person in history has had as many names or titles.

We can experience God more deeply by focusing on the names and titles of the man who was known by His contemporaries as Yeshua. His many titles, including such rich descriptions as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Alpha and Omega and Lamb of God reveal who Jesus is and why He came into this world. They also show us something about God's intentions and plans for our own lives."

My prayer is that this devotion will help you and your family experience more of Christ this Christmas!

For your children, there is a wonderful website with Christmas ornaments for each name of Jesus. They can be colored and put on a Christmas tree or Jesse tree. Here is the website Names-of-Jesus-advent 

God is Truly a Colorful God

Isabell Ides was 101 years old when she died in June, 2001. A Makah Indian, a member of a whale-hunting people, she lived in the last house on the last road on the farthest northwest tip of the United States.

Isabell was known far and wide because she loved and taught Makah culture and language. Hundreds of people learned to weave baskets under her hands. Several generations learned words in their language from her lips.

Young mothers brought her their alder-smoked salmon. After chewing a bit, she could tell whether their wood was too dry. Archaeologists brought her newly excavated 3,000-year-old baskets, and she could identify what the baskets were, how they were made, and how they had been used. "It's like losing a library," an anthropologist said at her funeral.

Isabell also taught Sunday School at the Assembly of God church on the reservation. She attributed her long life to her Christian faith.

Did Isabell's basketry matter to God, as well as her Sunday school teaching? How important was her ethnic heritage in the Kingdom's big picture?

These questions get at the heart of what culture is and whether or not it is an important part of the Kingdom of God. While on earth, we live in distinct cultures with different languages, foods, costumes, dances, songs and achievements. But what about when we get to Heaven? Will everyone be exactly alike? Will all of our cultural qualities, distinctions and achievements be lost or will they be celebrated and showcased?

Revelation 21:24-26 speaks of the Heavenly city saying:
the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it...
The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

Isaiah 60:11, speaking of the Heavenly city, says:
Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, 
so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations-- their kings led in triumphal procession.

From these passages it is clear that there will still be some sort of distinction between nations/people groups. Their "splendor," "glory," "honor," and "wealth" is believed to be referring to each nations' cultural achievements that bring glory to God.

Imagine what we will see: people from African tribes, Scottish clans, Chinese dynasties, American towns, South American pueblos, bringing their distinctive songs of praise to the Lord, works of art that glorify Him, dances that give Him praise...all to honor and worship the Lord who made them. Each culture with its unique and beautiful characteristics that shed light on God’s own, multi-dimensional character, will cause Him great delight as He watches the various ways that people express their love and worship of Him!

Our God, the God of creation, has an incredible capacity for variety, beauty and wonder. "Our Creator delights in colors. He generates smells, from onion to rose. He shapes every fresh snowflake. He births billions of unique personalities," (Miriam Adeney).

But what about the human world? Are we endowed with as much creative variety as the animal world? Yes! While it may not be as apparent in our appearances (we all look pretty similar compared to the variations seen in the animal world) God’s amazing creativity comes through in the culture of each people group. From different languages and dress to different forms of music, dance, writing, inventions, etc., the capacity for variety in culture is truly amazing.

This variety in culture was created by God. It delights Him to see all that man has made; to see the creative capacity of each people group which comes from being created in His image. When this creativity is used to worship God, through music, art, dance, science, inventions, etc., God is glorified and honored.

God put a bit of His incredible character qualities into each people group. Different cultures are known for their different characteristics: Filipinos are family oriented, Koreans industrious, Japanese technically savvy, Mexicans hardworking, African cultures colorful in dance and music...the list goes on and on. Each culture that God created has unique characteristics all its own, characteristics which showcase a creative and loving God. As these cultures use these unique qualities in the worship of God, they are  bringing the “glory and honor” of every people into the heavenly city (Rev 21:26).

This pleases God immensely. He does not desire that we all worship Him in the same way, just as He did not make an animal world of only giraffes. He loves variety and is truly glorified when that variety is used in the worship of Him.

This appreciation of each culture must be understood and embraced by the Church of today. Sadly, in the past, many Christians have tried to enforce their culture’s way of worshipping God on the people they were sharing the Gospel with. This lack of appreciation for cultural differences resulted in many viewing Christianity as a “Western” religion or a religion of the “white man.” Nothing could be further from the truth!

I believe that modern technology is helping to change this. With the advent of television, the computer, movies, and widespread access to books, people of today can learn all about the cultures of other people. As they learn about them, God places an appreciation for and love of each culture into His followers’ hearts.

Thus, when Christians, especially missionaries, encounter new cultures today, they are much more likely to find the good aspects of that culture which can be used to bring worship and honor to God, rather than try to recreate the culture to resemble the personal culture of that missionary. “Mission work can be seen as helping people begin to bring God a measure of the ‘glory and the honor of the nations,” (Miriam Adeney). God is truly a colorful God!

Why the Jews?

As a Christian, I've often wondered "why the Jews?" What made them so special that they were called God's chosen people? Are not all people chosen by and loved by God? What did they do to deserve this distinction?

It has only been recently that I have begun to recognize that they really didn't do anything to be called God's chosen people. God did the choosing...not them. God spoke to Abraham first. And God chose them for a very specific purpose. To illustrate this, I would like to share the words of Ralph Winter:

"We were created to glorify God and to worship and love Him forever. The first man and woman did this for an unspecified length of time. But, given the gift of a perfectly free will, they chose to know evil and thus caused a curse to fall on all creation.

From that point on, tremendous evil flooded humanity (murder, worship of stars and created things, etc.) to the point that God, looking at all He had made, was grieved and filled with pain (Gen 6:6). Noah, alone, was fulfilling his purpose and found favor with God. He became the forefather of the human race.  

After the flood, men again chose to worship themselves and created things which culminated in the building of the Tower of Babel. God intervened, once again, and scattered them, forming the different nations at this time. One man, Abraham, was singled out and called by God. 

Abraham obeyed and he was blessed by God in the covenant promises of Genesis 12:2-3. 

        "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; 

          I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

          I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; 

          and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

This intervention by God highlights His desire to draw men back to Himself. It is “the grace of God intervening in a ‘world which lies in the power of the Evil One’ (1 Jn 5:19), contesting an enemy who temporarily is ‘the god of this world’ (2 Cor 4:4) so that the nations will praise God’s name.” 

It is at this point that God has been showing me something...this covenant promise to Abraham was not just for him and his children but for every nation “and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:3). God was intervening and calling Abraham out from the rest of the nations, not just to bless Abraham and his descendants alone, but to extend His blessing, through Abraham and the Jewish nation, to all nations. 

God was never strictly for the Jews. Instead, following Genesis 12, God gradually and indirectly draws people from other nations to Himself through His miraculous interventions on Israel’s behalf and through His show of power to bring them the promises of the covenant (land, children, His presence). In the process, some people of other nations (Rahab, Ninevah, Egyptians, Ruth, ...) are drawn to Him as well.                                                                                                          

Throughout the rest of the Old Testament, God is seen countering Satan’s evil reign with His presence, blessings and intervention on behalf of Israel, for the nations. Israel is given the primary blessing but they are then expected to give that blessing to the nations around them. 

When Israel stopped sharing God with the nations around them but instead worshipped the gods of the nations around them, God caused them to be scattered in the diaspora. This scattering of the Hebrews resulted in their living in various nations, thus bringing to these nations the message of one, sovereign God, a message foreign to the polytheistic cultures around them.                    

This counter-attack to Satan’s kingdom on earth culminated in the birth of Jesus Christ. The arrival of God, in human flesh, his life among people, his atoning death and triumphant resurrection resulted in victory for God and for the human race. Jesus was the ultimate blessing to the nations. It is through belief in Him that all nations can be grafted into Abraham’s family tree and thus receive the free gift of salvation.                                                                        

As believers in Christ witnessed His return to Heaven, Jesus assured them of the blessing of His continued presence with them through the Holy Spirit, but He also charged them with a responsibility that went along with the blessing. Like the Hebrews, they were blessed to be a blessing to all nations. 

In the “Great Commission” they, and all Christians since them, are directed to go into all the world, past Jerusalem, Judea, Syria and even the Roman Empire and preach the good news of Jesus to everyone. And for each person that receives Christ as Savior, Satan loses a bit of ground.                                                                                                                    

Thus, God's singling out of the Jewish nation as His chosen people was not only for Abraham and his blood descendants, but for all of us and for the nations. The same holds true today for those nations, like America, Korea, England and others, who have been greatly blessed by God both in prosperity but more importantly, in Christian growth. 

We are blessed, not so that we can keep it to ourselves, enjoying our prosperity and blessings from God, but failing to bring those blessings to the nations of the earth.  No, we are blessed to be a blessing. We are to take the Gospel to the far corners of the world..to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 2:14). We have been grafted into God's chosen people, not because of anything we have done to earn this but because He has chosen us to be a blessing to others. May we not keep Jesus to ourselves but share Him with the world. 

In the words of famous Olympian and Christian missionary to China, Eric Liddel: "Christ for the world; for the world needs Christ."

Loving the Orphan

"Imagine, for a moment, the plight of an orphan somewhere out there (there are more than 

143 million in the world today...143,000,000!). With every passing year, she will become less "cute," thus less adoptable. In a few years, on her eighteenth birthday (or thirteenth if she lives in China), she will be expelled from the system. She might join the military or find job training. Maybe she'll stare at a tile on the ceiling above her as her body is violated—alone or before a camera crew of strangers—by a man who's willing to pay enough for her to eat for one day. Maybe she'll place a revolver in her mouth or tie a rope around her neck, knowing no one will notice except the ones who have to clean up afterward. This story could just as well describe a boy who is orphaned. Can you feel the desperation of what it means to be an orphan? Jesus can. Orphans are his little sisters and brothers. He hears them.

In saying that orphan care is missional, I do not mean that every Christian is called to adopt or foster a child. But every Christian is called to care for orphans. As with every aspect of Christ's mission, a diversity of gifts abounds. Some have room at their table and in their hearts for another stocking on the mantle by this coming Christmas. Others are gifted financially to help families who would like to adopt but cannot figure out how to make ends meet. Others can babysit while families with children make their court dates and complete home-study papers.

Still others can lead mission trips to rock and hug and sing to orphans who may never be adopted. Pastors can simply ask whether anyone in their congregation might be called to adopt or foster parent, or to empower someone who is. And all of us can pray—specifically and urgently—for orphans the world over." Christianity Today

You see, the girl described above could have been my daughter Grace. We adopted Grace when she was 10 1/2 months old from one of the thousands of orphanages in China. God led us to adopt her just as surely as He allowed our other children to be conceived in my womb. He chose Grace for our family from the beginning of time, but what if we hadn't listened to His call? What if we had longed and desired for a baby born to us instead or thought it was too expensive or figured someone else would adopt them? 

Our precious daughter Grace would not be a part of our family. I would not have gotten to spend the last sixteen years of my life with one of my best friends. I would not have experienced the moment at our breakfast table, when she was four, when she invited Jesus to live in her heart or have read her many heartfelt letters to Jesus, since then, or witnessed the love she showers on her siblings and her parents. You see, Grace has just as much potential in her life to do great things for God, to touch the lives of countless people with the love of Christ, as our other children have. 

And no...we did not save her...no, she should never feel that she needs to be somehow grateful (above and beyond the normal gratitude any child should feel for their parents' care of them). It is Jeff and I who are grateful. Grateful to God that we listened when He called us to adoption. Grateful to God that we have been given the privilege of sharing our lives with this precious little girl. Grateful to God that through Grace, God began breaking our hearts for the "least of these." 

Adoption is God's heart for us. We are all adopted into His family...see Romans 8:23, 9:4. Numerous times in His Word God tells us to take care of the orphans (Deut. 10:18, 14:29, 16:11, 24:17, 24:19, 27:19; Job 29:12; Ps. 10:14, 68:5, 146:9; Isa. 1:17; Jer. 22:3; Zech. 7:10).

So, do we pray for, support and perhaps take in the orphan out of guilt or condemnation? No. We care about them because in "What you do for the least of these, you do for Me," Matt. 25:45. Jesus asks us, time and again, to care for the orphans. As we step out in obedience, we not only care for them, we are caring for our precious Jesus. And I promise you, from very personal experience, there is great reward! I only have to look into the eyes of my precious daughter Grace to see that truth! 

I saw the face of Jesus in a little orphan girl

She was standing in the corner on the other side of the world

And I heard the voice of Jesus gently whisper to my heart

Didn't you say you wanted to find me?

Well, here I am, here you are

So, What now?

What will you do now that you found Me?

What now?

What will you do with this treasure you've found?

I know I may not look like what you expected

But if you'll remember this is right where I said I would be

You've found me

What now?

Lyrics from Steven Curtis Chapman's song "What Now?"