No Crib For His Bed

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And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7 KJV

For those whose farming experience comes only from watching “Little House on the Prairie,” the manger scene may sound idyllic. But for those of us who have milked cows, picked up bales of hay and fed the chickens, the words, “The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay” have a completely different meaning. You might not know this, but in a barn when “The cattle are lowing,” they are often doing other unpleasant things not appealing to a mother who has just given birth! But for all these oversights in this children’s carol, the central truth still rings loud and clear: Jesus was a real baby! He was not just an infant with a halo around His head, posing for a portrait, smiling for the wise men and lifting His tiny hands to bless shepherds. God’s Son was born in a barn, His first bed was a feeding trough and the sights and smells around Him were not Frankincense and myrrh. God’s chosen place for the birth of Jesus was so that both children and wise men, shepherds and small town folks, could draw near. It doesn’t make sense. It isn’t dignified. It looked like it would never work. And yet it did. Jesus heard the sounds of chickens, He touched the rough hay, and smelled the barn animals just as we do. Then one day, He was given a crown to wear covered with thorns. Then He was beaten, given vinegar to drink, nailed to a cross and left to die on a cold dark hilltop. He did it all so that anyone who would believe in Him could be forgiven. Today He invites you to come, whether your home is in a barn or a mansion because He loves you and wants to make you His own!

Away in a Manger 1895 Author unknown music by Willaim Kirkpatrick

Caligiuri, Peter. A Christmas Treasury: Large Print Edition (pp. 5-6). Kindle Edition.

Faith Opened the Door

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There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4:18 ESV

Worry wrapped around my hands and caught my feet
Fears chased me through the town down every street
Until I found I had no place to hide
Though I looked still alive inside I died

For I had tried my best with all I could
Yet inside me I knew there was nothing good
And I wondered if there was some other way
Till in the quiet I began to pray

“God I know You’re there, but I can barely see
And I’m grateful for the grace You’ve given me.”
Then I saw in Christ His love just as He said 
And faith opened up the door and out fear fled!

Faith Opened the Door
By Peter Caligiuri
Copyright© 2023
All rights reserved
Photo by Harrison Haines on Pexels.com

Going for a Walk

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By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. Hebrews 11:5 ESV

I love going for walks, whether at the park, along the beach or around our neighborhood. It is my way of not only getting fresh air, but also finding a place to think and talk things out with God. The Bible says that Enoch walked with God. Now we aren’t given the details but maybe his last day on earth went a little like this. He put on his robe and sandals, kissed his wife goodbye and said, “I’m headed out for a walk.” It was just like every other day, except that this time Enoch never came home.

Though Enoch’s disappearance certainly must have seemed strange, what is interesting to me is that no one wondered where he went. People who knew Enoch recognized that he walked so closely with God that if He were missing, then God must have taken Him. The Bible doesn’t explain exactly how this occurred, but it tells us that God was pleased with him and that he did not see death. Did you get that part? “He did not see death!” Now strange or not, the testimony Enoch left for us is both a challenge and a promise. Today Enoch’s life challenges us to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, and yet it also includes the promise that if we do that, God will walk with us and His promise is that He will take us on a path that goes on forever, and that for forever, He will walk with us!