Christmas devotional

Silent Night – Mary’s Treasure

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

Luke 2:19-20 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Of all the songs that I relate to Christmas I find that Silent Night is the one that brings me closest to that scene with Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds gathering in amazement and awe around the child sent from God, lying in a manger. In that hush (Though I am skeptical about the line “No crying He makes) there is the true worship that God intended when He sent the Good News of great joy. I pray you will have a wonderful Christmas season sharing that joy with neighbors, friends and family. We now have the job the angels have so today consider going out and looking for some shepherds who are out in the fields and invite them to come and worship Christ the new born king! I hope you will like my rendering of this song written 200 years ago in German by Joseph Mohr with music from Franz Gruber. Its simple beauty still stirs my heart every time I sing. Have a blessed week-end everybody!

Mary’s Treasure

/ pastorpete51 / 8 Comments

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  Luke 2:19 NIV

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I fumed in frustration as we sat on the tarmac awaiting clearance for take-off. I could see from my window two mechanics working on the jet engine hanging from the wing on my side of the plane. It wasn’t just the forty-five minutes of waiting that bothered me but also the worry of missing our connecting flight and the feeling of things being out of control in my life.

As Mary pulled the blankets up around her hoping to get some sleep while Jesus dozed in the manger on that first Christmas night, we would certainly have understood if she had felt that way too. After all, she had just traveled 90 miles by donkey while being nine months pregnant. Then, after they arrived in Bethlehem no one had any room for them to stay, so she was forced to give birth in a stable. Finally, just as her newborn baby had settled down and to sleep, a crowd of shepherds stampeded in and began singing and shouting something about angels. Wow what a night! Maybe some of us would have just simply broken down in tears at that point. But the Bible tells us that instead, Mary took time to think about all those things which, were entirely beyond her control. Then instead of complaining, she treasured them in her heart. Mary remembered that everything that had happened that night was because God had promised her a miracle child and on that day she had said, “May it be according to your word.” She knew that even though she wasn’t in control: God was. She knew that regardless of what things looked like from the outside; God was working everything for good. By the way, we had a safe flight; our plane still landed right on time and God taught me that every day is a treasure when we trust in His control.

Mary’s Treasure by Peter Caligiuri 2020 All rights reserved

12 Gifts of Christmas / Day 3- Prayer

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:32 ESV

Can you remember a single time in the life of Jesus when he said, “I’ll be praying for you!”? He prayed when He was woken from sleep in a storm and He prayed in the desert for forty days. He prayed when people were hungry to multiply bread and He prayed for God to forgive His enemies from the cross. Everywhere and always Jesus prayed because He knew that His Father was listening. We probably already knew about those prayers of Jesus but did you ever stop to think that Christmas is in fact, the ultimate answer to every person’s prayer. God heard and He sent us His Son.

Prayer is also the greatest gift we can give to anyone this Christmas, every needs Jesus and anything is possible when we pray. Those who feel alone can experience His presence; He came as Immanuel – God with us. For friends who have lost their way, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem answers their prayers for forgiveness because He came as God’s sacrifice for sin. For the friends or family who feel life is very dark with this pandemic, He is the light of the world.

For those feel week, He came as to be our strength. For those of us who know we have done things wrong and hurt others, Jesus shows Himself as the friend of sinners. no matter our need, Jesus is the answer to our prayers . What greater gift we could give to someone else is there than to be able to honestly say “but I have prayed for you”