Christmas devotional

Merry Christmas!

/ pastorpete51 / 16 Comments 
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 
Luke 2:10-11 ESV

Some of you have followed this blog for a while, and others are new, but I appreciate every one of you who has taken the time to interact. I do read as many of your blogs as I can, and appreciate the encouragement, challenges and even corrections offered. We serve an awesome and wonderful Savior and none of us has all the answers! Now, December 25th is a very unlikely date for the actual story of Bethlehem, but it gives us a unique opportunity to share the wonderful story of our Jesus. This world is far too busy and even radically opposed to His message of repentance, faith and hope most of the time, but on this day, many businesses are closed and much of the western world pauses to catch its breath. Why not use this brief opportunity to share the radical hope, joy and peace we have found in Jesus? Today, I offer to you my final Christmas message, from the Friday service and also offer two free books. The video is just a tad over six minutes, so it won’t eat up much of your time, and these two devotional books will be available for a free download, from Christmas Eve through the day after Christmas. Have a Merry Christmas and may God bless you richly with both a wonderful Silent Night and the great joy we can find only in Jesus Christ!

Here are the links to the two books. The first, Grace for the Road is a 40-day devotional book especially for caregivers. The second is a 30-day Christmas Devotional which I wrote for 2023. I hope that one of these two gifts may serve in place as a little something for your Christmas stocking. Blessings all

In the Silence

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 
Luke 2:8 ESV

Have you ever wondered why God sometimes requires our silence? When I was small, my parents had a dinner table rule, “Children were to be seen and not heard!” Today, I realize that it was because they needed time to talk with each other after a busy day, but at the time I hated it! It felt like my mom and stepdad were only interested in themselves, and that we kids were second class citizens. So, when God asks for our silence, we might feel the same way, but it isn’t true. God is looking for us to be quiet so that He can tell us what is on His heart.

In fat, it was on that first Christmas, that God came in a moment of quietness to shepherds, who were watching their sheep. When God broke their silence, it was with the message of “Good news of great joy, that will be for all people!” In the darkness and the silence, God came to show us all, that He: the Good Shepherd, was watching over us, His sleeping sheep. Today, He invites us to come into His presence, in Heaven, where we will never be silent again, but there we will worship Him with shouts of praise for all eternity!

“In the holy hush of dawn – I hear a voice
I am with you all the day – Rejoice! Rejoice!”
L. B. Cowman - Streams in the Desert November 28

Born Again at Christmas

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 
John 3:3 ESV

This famous verse comes at the start of a conversation between a Jewish teacher, named Nicodemus and Jesus. Interestingly, Nicodemus had just finished saying that he knew that Jesus must have come from God because of the miracles he had seen Him doing. Then Jesus interrupts him, to say, “Unless you are born again, you cannot see who I really am!” Jesus was happy that Nicodemus understood that Jesus came from God, but he wanted Nicodemus to see the whole picture; and for that to happen, Nicodemus needed to be spiritually reborn.

Just as Jesus had to be born, in order to come to earth, we must ask God to change our hearts in order to receive eternal life and go to Heaven. Just as Jesus had to be born as a real human baby, we must be born again to receive the life He came to bring. Jesus came to earth at Christmas. Now God is asking us to receive Him into our hearts as our Savior, so that we can be born again and spend an eternity of Christmases with Him!

Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Pexels.com