Sharing Christmas Joy

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit Luke 1:41 ESV

In some ways Mary was unlike anyone else on earth. Who else can say that God entrusted to them the baby Jesus? But in some ways Mary was just like every one of us. She did not have any special standing or ability that caused God to choose her. We in some ways are all given the same opportunity that Mary had to surrender to God so that His Son can be born in us.

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When Mary went to visit her cousin she did not preach a sermon, or bring expensive gifts to impress Elizabeth. But the difference that the life of Jesus within her had already made brought joy to into their meeting!

 

So that has me wondering and asking the question: Does the presence of Jesus in my life give joy to the lives of others?” If God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son for me, then what have I given to others today as an expression of that gift?

Christmas Devotional

“O tidings of comfort and joy” goes the end of the chorus of the 18th century English carol. Hearing the strains of this melody stirs in many of us the picture of shepherds surrounding Bethlehem’s manger with wise men just over the horizon bearing gold, frankincense and Myrrh. While all of these images are true to the lyrics and the season, our own journey on this telling will begin in Nazareth. These glad tidings given came to Mary, then Joseph, the shepherds, wise men and now for anyone who will be willing to listen. This year I am offering two 30 day devotionals for advent reading. The Path to Bethlehem contains some content from last year’s reader with some updating and several additional daily readings. 30 Days of Comfort and Joy is entirely new for this year. I hope that one that one of these will be a blessing to my readers this year. You could follow the links I have inserted to find these or search yourself on Amazon. These are each in both e-book and paperback format.

The Path to Bethlehem

30 Days of Comfort and Joy

 

10th gift of Christmas

MERCY – The 10 Christmas Gift 

Luke 15:10 …But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him

Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy!

Mercy may seem plain and ordinary, to the outside observer; but to the one who receives it Mercy is the most astonishingly beautiful thing on earth!

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Mercy Is –

A life-saving pint of blood from a stranger

A handful of tissues when our tears start to flow

A silent embrace when our world fell apart

The light at the door when we come home after dark

A kiss of acceptance from someone we’ve hurt

A check in the mail when we’ve been out of work

Angel songs in the night when we’re out in the field

And a Babe in the manger who’s the Savior of the world!