The Holy Bible
1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.
(Bible Translation and Location: New Living Translation – Ephesians 4:1-3)
Thoughts:
At this time of the church year I was very tempted to share a few verses with you from Isaiah 7 where the birth of Jesus was prophesied, and which was my Old Testament reading for today. However, when I came to my New Testament reading and meditated on the chosen verses, I believe God revealed to me that there would really be no Christmas celebration this year without the peace and love that this new born King brings to our lives. Friends, in my upbringing I was taught to represent my ancestry well, and to not bring shame on the family. In my work life I was taught to represent my profession well, whether inside the four walls of my institution or out, for I am always representing my profession. Our challenge in today's scripture is that many of you reading this devotional, like me, probably know the same Savior that I do, and we are being challenged to represent Him well. In fact, to be considered worthy of the calling He has made on our lives, we are reminded in these verses to always be humble, gentle, patient with each other and to make allowances for the faults of each other, because of God's perfect love in us. Because of the pressures brought upon us through the commercialization of Christmas, this time of the year often tends to bring out the worst in us, instead of the godly qualities mentioned. How might we overcome and be the people that God ordained for His work? Let's remember that Christmas is all about Jesus, not the gifts we put under the tree or the stresses of insufficient money to buy all that we might want to buy. Succeeding in being a child of the King in every way is far more important than anything our TV advertising might tell us. Humility, gentleness, patience and our love for Jesus is not something we can purchase at the store, yet with Jesus as King of our lives, we can offer lots of these qualities to all that we might wish a Merry Christmas to this year! Let's pray for each other because of Jesus, instead of getting under each others skin because of the world's idea of Christmas!
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I am reminded that there was no money needed for Your birth – not for a hospital, nor a hotel, nor a crib, nor a car to take you home in. Please help us to return the simplicity shown at Your birth to the celebration of Your birth this Christmas. Let us concentrate more on the Christ child that makes up Christmas and the qualities that You brought to our lives when we claimed You as our King. As we enjoy the richness of fellowship one with another and the warmth of remembering the Christ child born to not only rescue Israel (as in Isaiah 7), but to also save mankind for a future and everlasting life with You in glory, may we then truly celebrate 'CHRISTMAS' and be filled with Your presence so that we may go on impacting lives for You in our everyday walk and talk. It's all about You Jesus, may we keep it that way this Christmas! Happy Birthday Jesus! I ask all this in the precious name of Jesus, my Lord, AMEN!
FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to blogger.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day's devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, Sebring, FL! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
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