Christmas devotional

One Silent Night

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Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Luke 2:8 NKJV

When I was growing up, I hated the rule at our dinner table that said, “Children are to be seen and not heard.” Now, today I realize that it wasn’t that our parents didn’t care about my sister and I, but that they wanted to talk with each other after a long busy day. So, as a young Christian, when I read things in the Bible like, “But the Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him.” (Habakkuk 2:20), I just figured that God also was not interested in what His children have to say. But, nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, in the silence of that first Christmas of sleeping sheep and shepherds, God sent them His message of joy. Because of the quiet, they could hear Him tell them that He had sent a Savior, and then that silent night didn’t stay silent for long! Those shepherds hurried to find the baby in the manger and their joyful shouts of praise woke up that whole little town of Bethlehem! Today, you might feel that all God wants is for you to shuffle into church on Sunday, sit silently in the pew and then go home. But the wonderful news is that God cares about every detail of your life. He listens to your heart and cares about your problems. The silence God asks us for is so that we can hear Him calling us to come to Him. He is longing for us to discover that He loves us so much that one day He stood silent before His accusers and then allowed them to nail Him to the cross so that His message of love could be heard around the world!

My Christmas Message

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So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.  Luke 2:6 NKJV

Though God had spoken to them both and they understood that this child that Mary carried in her womb was a miracle, Mary and Joseph, didn’t know what day He would arrive. If they had, don’t you think they would have left a week earlier! In the same way, God often chooses times and methods that we do not expect or understand, and yet through all those days we can trust that every day is the day that the Lord has made…. we can rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24). Today’s video is the massage that the Holy Spirit has put on my heart for this Christmas, and I pray that it might be a tool of His to minister His grace to your hearts, no matter what you are facing this year.

A Christmas Treasury

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After finishing, “A Christmas Star” last season, I thought that beyond a bit of editorial brushing up, it would be the last Christmas devotional that I would write. However; around June,  God began stirring my heart to put pen to paper once again, While at first I inwardly groaned, knowing how much work lay ahead, I nevertheless prayerfully began writing and day by day, page by page, A new book began taking shape.

A Christmas Treasury begins with a week of looking at how our Christmas carols have sung to us the stories of the birth of Jesus over the centuries and from around the world. Week two dives into the Gospel of John. We rarely expect to find stories about the birth of Jesus there yet hidden between its lines lie treasures just waiting to be discovered. Week three follows the journeys of the wise men, the shepherds, and Mary and Joseph as well as Jesus; the one who had come the farthest of all! Finally, in week four I walk with you down memory lane, sharing some of our family’s personal Christmas memories. Now of course, as always, you will find a space at the end of this year’s devotional, to use as a journal for recording your own treasured memories, lessons or Bible stories. Taking just a few minutes to write your stories down will give others the chance to laugh, cry and remember the Christ treasures that God has given you. But the beauty of Christmas, is about more than a cultural extravaganza or even lovely memories of time with our families. It is the timeless story of God’s amazing love to the world. Though it is more ancient than time itself and deeper that the farthest regions of the universe, God packaged his gift in swaddling clothes, so even the simplest of hearts could receive it! 

To Simplest Hearts

God has chosen us to Know
His mystery Of long ago
When He was born
Where shepherds bow
And cattle fed
And roosters crowed
To simplest hearts
His glory Show

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;” Matthew 11:25 ESV

To Simplest Hearts by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright © 2021 All rights reserved

I am deeply grateful for my wife, Nancy, who has shared over fifty treasured Christmases with me and who has tirelessly helped to edit this book. On Amazon, you will find editions available in both Large and regular print, as well as eBook, for those who prefer to read via a tablet. Here is the link to the Large print and eBook editions.