What do you think of at Christmas?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
(Psalms 42:11 (NIV))

Even when it looks like the world is going to win, look again. God is with us.

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
(Romans 8:31 (NIV))

If we follow after God’s own heart, then God will not dessert us. He is our hope. Through Him we shall overcome. The world may appear to win as we judge things according to the world, but take heart, God IS in control. Knowing this, we must not stop praising God for what He has done and for what He is going to do.

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
(2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV))

Do you still have hope?

Christmas is the time we remember that God sent us hope!

What do you think of at Christmas?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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That is the true meaning of Christmas!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14 (NIV))

He didn’t have to leave heaven!

He didn’t have to become flesh and live among us!

He didn’t have to go to the cross and die!

He didn’t have to take upon Himself the weight of all of the sin of all mankind!

He didn’t have to do any of the things that He did, but I am eternally thankful that He did.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
(John 3:16-18 (NIV))

Christmas is not about family. It is not about Santa. It is not about commercialism. It is not about who can spend the most on presents. It is about the bestowing of the greatest present that could ever be given. It is about the gift of grace that God freely gives and it all started at the manager! It is about the birth of hope that is represented in the birth of our Lord and Savior. It is about the gift of salvation that comes from no other source than Jesus!

No matter what society may say, that is the true meaning of Christmas!

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you fully embrace all of the gifts of Christmas?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
(Galatians 4:7 (NIV))

Christmas is first and foremost a celebration of the birth of Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, but if you actually stop to think about it, Christmas means so much more!

Because of Christmas, we are no longer lost to our sin. We are no longer without hope of redemption. We are no longer without faith in the promises of God being fulfilled. We are no longer slaves to the power of sin and death. We can be redeemed by the sacrifices that Jesus would later make for us.

We are no longer cast away, but are welcome into the very presence of God the Father because Jesus has paid the price for our salvation. We have been promised that faith in Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior makes us heirs to the kingdom. If we are heirs to the kingdom, then we are part of the family, for only family is eligible to be heirs.

I want you to slow down and think about all of this when you are caught up in the middle of the hecticness that we have made Christmas. I honestly think that we need to follow a different passage at this time of year so that we don’t lose sight of what we celebrate.

Be still, and know that I am God
(Psalms 46:10a (NIV))

We must make ourselves stop and reflect on exactly what it is we celebrate. It is a gift beyond measure.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16 (NIV))

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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