Christmas Devotion (Day 18) - Wise Men Seek the Star

Read Matthew 2:1-12

Matthew 2:2 - Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.

How did the Wise Men know what to look for in the stars, and how did they know to come to Israel? Though we are not told this in the Bible, we do know Daniel was leader of the wise men and astronomers for most of his life in Babylon. We read about this in Lesson 6. It is now more than 400 years later, and the men who had heard these things from Daniel have long since died. But they passed the information on to those who came after them.

Psalm 19 says the heavens declare the glory of God. The writer, David, had spent many nights under the stars as he kept his father’s sheep. And from this Psalm it is clear he too knew the stories in the stars. This was before writing was widespread, so the common people used other things instead of written words to remember the Bible they had learned. Jewish history today tells us the constellations of stars were stories of each of the Tribes of Israel and the blessings Jacob had given each. So the remembering of the prophecy of the star rising in the house of Judah would have been something the people of Israel would have been able to watch in their night skies.

But the leaders of Israel had not been paying attention to the skies; they were caught by surprise when the wise men came to ask where their King was to be born.

*Are you reading the Bible with the thought of watching for God’s prophesies to be fulfilled?

Advent Devotion (Day 19) - Glory and Peace

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men.” – Luke 2:14

As I read these words, words that angels from Heaven spoke to human beings on earth, I am struck with this thought...Who am I? Who am I to attempt to explain what angels meant? Who am I to add my own commentary to the words of God? I am a mere human being, sinful by nature, equipped with an average mind, trying to comprehend the things of God. So it is with much prayer and humility that I try.

Glory to God in the highest...amazing, stupendous wonder...thankful, honor-filled praise...from the lips of angels who had seen God and knew Him in a way no one on earth ever had. And their words of praise were not just for the shepherds, not just for this earth but to the highest heaven, throughout the universe which He made. All creation, everywhere, was to hear of this glory that was given to God, the Creator.

And on earth, peace, good will to men...peace. It's what the world longs for. It's what each of us, each day, look to find at home, at our jobs, in our thoughts, our heart. Peace with our family members, peace with our friends, peace with our colleagues and ultimately, peace within ourselves.

But that total peace could not be found. It had been destroyed with the fatal choice Adam and Eve made in the Garden. To desire to know evil, to want to be gods unto themselves, to break the intimate relationship they had with their Creator. And ever since then, every person born was born into a broken relationship with the Lord. There was no ultimate peace in their hearts because there was no ultimate peace with the One who made them.

God made each of us to be in a loving, peaceful relationship with Him. But that had been destroyed. Only God Himself could restore that relationship, bring reconciliation, bring ultimate peace. And this is what Jesus did. By His birth, life, death and resurrection He brought peace to each of us if we will accept it.

This is what the angels spoke of...peace on earth, peace in each heart that put Jesus on the throne. And this peace was God's "good will" for each man. It is God's will, His desire, that we live at peace with Him. Just as each of us want peace with those we love, God wants peace with each of us because He loves us.

The words of the angels sum up Jesus' mission on earth...to bring glory to God and peace to us.

Christmas Devotion (Day 17) - Born of a Virgin

Read Isaiah 7:14

Isaiah 7:14 - Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Why was it important that the Messiah, Jesus, was to be born of a virgin? We must understand two very important things.

First, the Messiah, being God, must become human. This was for two important reasons: God as an eternal Spirit could not die. So for Him to be able to die for us He must become human. Also, God as Spirit could not be seen or heard or touched by humans; He needed to become like us so we could understand Him. Therefore, being born of a human woman was the way for Him to become a human being who could be touched and heard and seen, and could die.

Second, it was important He be born of a virgin because of God’s condemnation of sin for Adam and Eve. He had told them sin would result in death. Even though they did not immediately die physically when they sinned, they died spiritually. This spiritual death was passed on to every child through the seed of the man, and without a man’s seed no woman could bear a child. That is, no woman could bear a child without God’s direct miracle. His prophecy, as we saw in our first lesson, was that the Messiah would be born of the woman, a virgin.

*What does Jesus’ virgin birth tell you about God?

Advent Devotion (Day 18) - Right at Home

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. – Luke 2:20

And the shepherds returned...to their sheep, to their normal, daily life, to their duties, their responsibilities. Although they just had a life-changing, world-changing experience, they had to return to their normal lives. Maybe they now yearned for something bigger, some sort of job that would have them doing "more" for God, doing something of more "importance."

But this was not God's plan for His first missionaries. He didn't send them to far away countries to spread this good news. He sent them right back to their jobs, to their same duties they had before, yet now their hearts were changed. Now their outlook was changed. Now they were filled with hope and joy unspeakable. Now they would not look at life around them with the same eyes again.

And as they returned to the fields, to their sheep, to their duties. they glorified and praised God. The fields now became, for them, holy ground. The words they shared with each other were now filled with wonder and praise. The stories they told their children each night, shared with their neighbors at the local well, brimmed with praise for God and what He had done.

These first missionaries learned the truth that you don't need to go to a foreign country, to new surroundings, to a new job, to share Jesus Christ. You can, if God calls you, but He didn't call them to leave their flocks and fields. He called them back to the same place, the same circumstances, but with a changed outlook. He called them to share Jesus and His truth with the same people they saw the day before.

We should do the same. Missionary work, the spreading of the Gospel, is not just for those who have that title next to their name. Not just for those who leave home to go to a foreign land. Not just for those who pastor a church or work for a Christian organization.

Missionary work is for all of us. When God has changed our hearts, has shown us the truth of His Son, has shown us our Savior, we should return to our families, our jobs, our friends, our neighborhoods, glorifying and praising Him. Sharing His love, sharing His truth, sharing Jesus, with everyone we know. This is missionary work...whether in a distant land or right at home.

Christmas Devotion (Day 16) - John the Baptist

Read John 1:19-34

John 1:22-23 - So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.’
The son born to Zechariah and Elizabeth was named John, and was called John the Baptist after he began his God-given ministry. In the society of that day, John the Baptist would have had a greater standing than Jesus, because John was in the High Priestly family; many of these people became the religious rulers of the day. Since there were now hundreds or perhaps even thousands in this direct line from Aaron, however, the choice of who would be the next High Priest was a political decision. So John, when he was old enough to care for himself, went to live in the wilderness. This was often the choice of someone who wanted to spend extraordinary time alone with God (like Paul in Galatians 1:17). 

John turned his back on everything he could have had – power and wealth and influence. He lived off the land, eating locusts and honey, until he was about thirty years old. Then, at the time set for a priest to be old enough to begin serving (Numbers 4:3), he began to preach beside the Jordan River.

Because it had been over four hundred years since the last prophet had been sent to Israel by God (see lesson 12), many people came from all over the country to hear him. He told them he was the fulfillment of God’s prophecy in Malachi 3:1, the one to prepare the way for the Messiah.

*How much do you believe God’s prophecies?