Dec 26 2024

The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us.

In the eighth chapter of Kings, the Ark of the Covenant has just been brought into the temple. King Solomon is rejoicing and prays with thanksgiving to the Lord for His goodness and faithfulness to them. After kneeling before the altar, he stands and proclaims this verse to the Israelites. He asks the Lord to be with them as He was with their ancestors and that He would never leave or forsake them. King Solomon knew that the success of Israel as a nation depended entirely on the presence of the Lord.

In the same way, our lives depend on the consistent presence of the Lord. We are not able to do anything without His help, and when we begin to make a habit of acknowledging our need for His presence, we will be able to walk in greater communion with Him. Knowing and remembering His nearness will help us to honor at all moments of our lives.

Recognizing His nearness will help us remember to be holy in everything. He sees everything we do, and sin is not enticing when we remember that the Lord is right next to us. The Lord's nearness also reminds us that we can turn to Him when we are struggling with sin. When temptations are too great, we can call out for help and know that He will come to our aid immediately.

His nearness is also a great comfort. When we are upset about something, anything, we can turn to Him and ask Him to remind us of His love. When we need direction or courage or strength, He is quick to provide and to help us see the next step.

Indeed, as we recognize the Lord's nearness to each of us, we begin to realize that we depend on Him for everything. Just as Solomon knew of Israel's need for the Lord, so we recognize our own.

Dear Lord, I thank you for your sweet nearness to me. I thank you for helping me in my moments of need and for guiding me in all of your ways. Your goodness and kindness to me are precious, and I am so grateful that I can call you my God. I love you, Jesus. In your name, amen.

Dec 25 2024

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. :

Isaiah prophesied the birth of Jesus about 700 years before it happened. Even though at the time it was in the distant future, Isaiah knew that the arrival of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would change everything—for the world, and also for the people who believed in Him.

Through His death on the cross, Jesus made it possible for each of us to have a relationship with Him. No longer would animal sacrifices be needed. No longer would there be a veil between God and mankind. Jesus was the perfect and final sacrifice whose death tore the veil. Now, each of us can approach God as if we have never sinned because the blood of Jesus has covered every wrong.

Jesus came to Earth as a baby in a manger. His humble beginnings show us that He is not a distant God repulsed by our own suffering or shame. Much to the contrary, He stepped into a broken world that He knew would one day crucify Him even though He was innocent. He knew that the very people He came to save would nail His wrists to a cross.

But He came anyway. He lived to die because He loved us too much to see us withering in our own failures and following lesser gods. He was willing to leave His heavenly home and take residence in a humble town and work as a carpenter because He knew that through that sacrifice, salvation for the entire world would come.

As we celebrate Jesus' birth, we can rejoice in the reality that our God is not distant. Instead, He's right here with you and me, and all we have to do is reach out to Him to know His love.

Dear Lord, thank you so much for Jesus. Thank you for His goodness and humility and for His willingness to be the perfect sacrifice for each of us. Help me to live every day as if it's Christmas—since every day of my life is forever changed because of His willingness to come down and live among us. I love you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.