Tag: Devotionals

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Do More Than Ask

9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. ~ Matthew 2:9

Everyone, at some point in time, lives in a world of darkness without Christ. Whether we’re born into that darkness or we choose to willingly leave the light for that darkness, it doesn’t matter because we’ve all been in that darkness. This includes the wise men.

But not all of us are like the wise men because the majority of mankind doesn’t know about the star of Jesus. We don’t know how to find it. We don’t know which star it is. We don’t recognize it when it rises.

The majority of us are like King Herod. We ask about the prophecies and the star, but we still don’t recognize them or understand them. So, we try to destroy the Messiah out of fear of losing what we have in the darkness, not realizing that what He has in store for us in the light is worth more than silver, frankincense, or even gold.

Christ has so much in store for you. Don’t miss out on Him. Do more than ask about the signs that lead to Him; seek Him. Because when you seek Him, you will find Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do More Than Ask.

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Go With Haste

10 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. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. ~ Luke 2:10-16

The angel was, in fact, telling the shepherds, you need to go to Bethlehem and see this thing. This is the event you all have been waiting for your entire lives, and your parents before you, and their parents before them. The Messiah has been born. The shepherds could have missed the very event they were looking for their whole lives. Fear could have held them back. Disobedience and holding on to their earthly job could have kept them from seeing the birth of the Messiah. Instead, they left their posts and ran to find the Messiah.

So many of us today have been told of the Messiah. In fact, the Messiah Himself is knocking at the door of our hearts, but we refuse to leave behind the world. We refuse to leave behind the comfortable to get up and seek out the new. The shepherds had to go seek out the Messiah, but today, the Messiah comes to us. And yet, we still refuse to meet Him at the door. We’re so used to the many strongholds that keep us in chains that we don’t even realize we are imprisoned and that Christ has come to free us.

This Christmas, take a pause. Look around and assess your life. Is your life filled with the Joy and Hope of the LORD? Are you encouraged day by day? Is the love of the LORD perfecting you into a new Christian through the redeeming blood of Christ Jesus? Do you know the Messiah personally? Don’t let another Christmas come and go without being able to answer yes to all of these questions. Don’t let anything keep you from the Messiah.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Go With Haste.

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Walk Boldly In The Light

16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ~ John 3:16

The story of Christmas is about love; it’s about giving; it’s about hope. God Himself gave us our hope through His only begotten Son, Jesus. Why? Because we, all of humanity, have been filled with sin ever since Adam ate from the forbidden tree. We were hopeless until Christ Jesus came. We were stuck in utter darkness until Jesus, the Light of the World, came 2000 years ago. His one reason for coming was to be a sacrifice for anyone that would be willing to believe in Him and follow Him. This was, is, and always will be the ultimate Christmas gift. An unaffordable, excessive Christmas gift. You CANNOT buy this Christmas gift, but you can receive it for free.

This is why the Christmas story boils down to this one word, hope.

H  –  He
O  –  Offers
P  –  Peace
E  –  Eternally

He Offers Peace Eternally. Because even though we are sinful and corrupt, we have the hope of eternal life with Christ Jesus. We have the hope of salvation. We no longer have to walk around in the darkness; instead, we can walk boldly in the Light of God Himself.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Walk Boldly In The Light.

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Follow His Spirit

9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. ~ Matthew 2:9-12

The wise men were diligently seeking a sign for the birth of the Jewish Messiah. When they saw it, they packed up and traveled a long distance to where He was. Bearing gifts, they fell down before Him and worshipped Him, even though He was only a young child. He wasn’t what you would expect. He didn’t come in His Heavenly form but in the form of a helpless child. If the wise men didn’t know who they were looking for, they would have missed the Messiah altogether.

Today, so many people miss out on Christ Jesus because they don’t know who they’re looking for. They’re strayed away by false teachings and prophecies about a man that the world doesn’t know nor could ever understand. The wise men weren’t distracted by the world or even the kings of the world. The wise men held tightly to the prophecies told of the Messiah and followed His star. This is the only way we will find the one true Messiah. We’ve been given an entire book from God filled with His Word describing who He is and how to recognize Him. And He’s sent us something greater than a star in the sky to guide us to Him. He sent His very Spirit to not only guide us but to dwell in us.

The Messiah has come. We have His Spirit dwelling among us. What more are we waiting for?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Follow His Spirit.

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Flee To Egypt

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” ~ Matthew 2:16-18

2,000 years ago, God had a plan, but if you notice, the devil had a counterplan to thwart or frustrate the plan of God. Today is no different. God’s plan was for Jesus to be born the king of the Jews; to be born in Bethlehem to a virgin named Mary; to grow up and usher in the kingdom of God; to give sight to the blind; to heal the sick; to make the lame walk; to cure the leper; but most of all, to purchase salvation for all mankind. Satan’s plan was to destroy the Christ. His plan was to destroy the hope and salvation of mankind.

Yet the world tries to deceive all into believing that God isn’t for us but against us. But look at God’s plan. God’s plan is to bless us and not to cause us harm, to give us hope and a future. There is nothing that our God will not do for us, and there is nothing good that He will withhold from us, His beloved. We have to put our trust in Him so that we might be delivered out of the hands of the enemy because the enemy tried to steal Christmas 2000 years ago by trying to kill the Light of the World. Today is no different. The enemy still tries to steal our joy and hope so that he can squash out the last bit of light so that the world might be left in darkness. This may be the plan of the enemy, but the plan of God is for our good and not evil. It’s to bring us hope and a future. Therefore, if we keep our eyes on Christ and we put our trust in Him, then we will always have an escape from the enemy’s plan to destroy us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Flee To Egypt.

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Focus On His Star

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. ~ Matthew 2:7

I used to think that the magi went to king Herod to inquire about where the promised Messiah was to be born, but they did not. Herod had to summon them. The lesson here is, do not seek the righteous among the unrighteous. All of those progressive churches that teach that you can live any old way, and Jesus is fine with it because, after all, God understands.

I’m here to tell you, Do Not seek the righteous among those who say there is nothing you can do to fall out of grace with their savior. It simply isn’t true. There is a right way to live, and there is a wrong way to live.

Jesus said that if you love Him, you will do what He said. And He left us a perfect example, Himself; therefore, there is no excuse. Yet there are those who try to corrupt the Gospel and lead others astray, but you don’t have to be deceived by them. The wise men knew the prophecy, they were focused on only the Messiah, so when they were warned of King Herod, they were able to withstand and see through the deceit of King Herod.

Therefore, if we know the Word of God and we keep our focus on the Christ, when the LORD warns us and gives us a spirit of discernment, we will be able to see through the traps of the enemy. We will be able to withstand the attacks against us and our God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Focus On His Star.

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Plan For Eternity

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.” ~ Matthew 2:1-2

These wise men, or astrologers, packed up and made over a 1600-mile trip following a star. A trip this distance would take the travel somewhere around eight months or more one way. And that is, if they were coming from the Babylon area, it would be even longer if it was from Susa.

Now, they just didn’t jump in the car or call a transport service and drive to the airport, they had to walk or ride some type of animal, and usually, it was camels for such long distances. Camels were preferred because they didn’t need watering as often as horses.

So, these men as soon as they saw the star and began packing and preparing for a year-and-a-half round trip journey, it would take them a while to organize all of that. They would have probably taken their meat on the hoof. Their milk on the hoof, whether it was cow milk or goat’s milk. Then they had to make sure they had enough water and enough food to sustain all of those animals and themselves. They probably had to bring workers to care for the animals and to pack and unpack. And they probably had some type of bodyguard with them as well. I mean, they were carrying gold, frankincense, and myrrh. This was a huge entourage. This wasn’t just some weekend getaway.

There was a lot of pre-trip planning and preparation that went into preparing for this journey. Today, people have no plans for eternity. Christmas has come and gone. Jesus has been born in Bethlehem. He was crucified, He has risen from the dead, and He has ascended into Heaven.

In other words, His star has risen; are you now seeking “Him who is born the King of the Jews?” Don’t let the pressures of life distract you. Don’t let the lure of wealth divert your attention. Don’t let the length of the journey intimidate you. Don’t let the treacherous and perilous road keep you from starting.

I admit serving Jesus is not always fun and games. It isn’t always blessings and mountain tops, sunshine, and cool breezes. It will have ups and downs, valleys and rain, dark clouds, and persecution. God didn’t promise us a happy-go-lucky life. We are called to do His will, whatever that will is, because His will for us is good and perfect. Then if we endure to the end, He has promised us a perfect eternity, which is by far, much, much better than anything we could ever imagine or think.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Plan For Eternity.

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Love With Perfect Love

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. ~ Genesis 3:15

Isaiah prophesied about the coming Messiah 7 centuries before His birth, that’s some 700 years. He saw with clarity where He would be born and when He would be born. And how He would be born. Isaiah was only echoing the prophecy first announced by God Himself to the serpent in the Garden of Eden.

God said the woman’s offspring, and not the man’s offspring; therefore, it had to be a virgin birth. And let me just throw this in real quick. The reason it had to be a virgin birth is because sin is passed down from generation to generation through the man. Therefore, our sacrifice had to be a sinless one; thus, a virgin birth was necessary.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. A child is born, but the son is given. 16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). From the very beginning, God knew that the only way to save His creation was to give us His only Son as our perfect, sinless sacrifice, and He was willing to do so.

God gave us His only Son, but we struggle to give Him a moment of our time. From the moment that His creation sinned and chose to leave Him, God could’ve written us off and told us to fend for ourselves, but He didn’t. He gave us a prophecy. He gave us a promise. That at the perfect time, He would send His only Son to take our place on the cross and bear our punishment for our sins. This is the definition of perfect love. This is the kind of love that we should strive to have for God. A selfless love that’s willing to give up everything to be with Him because we love Him. We love because He first loved us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Love With Perfect Love.

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Can You Recognize God?

7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. ~ Luke 2:7

Imagine if the Christ was born in our time. Would you be able to recognize Him? Let’s put this into perspective. Approximately 385,000 babies are born every day around the world. That’s approximately 140 million every year. Would you be able to recognize which child was the promised Messiah out of 140 million? The majority of people missed the birth of Christ. They missed the promised Messiah when He was born. Matter of fact, the innkeeper had the opportunity to give the Messiah a room to be born in, but instead gave Him a stable to be born in.

The birth of a tiny baby in the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, and laid in a manger sounds so insignificant. What is that in the scheme of things? 140 million babies are born every year; what’s the significance of this one? This one just so happened to be the promised Messiah. The importance was that without the birth, we couldn’t have the death. Without the death, we could not have eternal life. Just because it doesn’t seem significant to us doesn’t mean it’s not significant to God and His plan.

If the Messiah was born in our world today, would you be able to recognize Him? Here’s the point of that question. Things don’t always seem important to us, but if we knew the heart of God, then we’d see the importance in the little things we overlook. The Messiah already came 2000 years ago, but He’s coming back again. Do you know God enough to recognize the Messiah and the little things that makeup God’s plan?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Know God To Recognize Him.

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Do You Have Room For Him?

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. ~ Galatians 4:4-5

Jesus gave us the first Christmas present. It is the gift that keeps on giving because it’s the free gift of life. From the very beginning, God had in mind what He would do to redeem mankind. Though it was dark and gloomy, though it was hopeless and without light, and yet a light shone in the darkness. The light of Jesus Christ.

In the words of the old beloved Christmas carol “O Holy Night”:

Long lay the world in sin and error pining
‘Til He appeared, and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees; O hear the Angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born

That is the true meaning of the promise of Christmas. The salvation of the world was born. God Himself came to redeem all of mankind. He came at the perfect time. He wasn’t late. He wasn’t early. He came at the exact perfect time. But the world wasn’t prepared for Him. So on that night when Jesus the Christ came as a little helpless baby, born in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

The same is true today. Jesus is knocking at the door of our hearts, but there’s no room for Him in our busy lives. There’s no room for prayer or for devotions. There’s no room for Bible reading or meditations. There’s no room for church. In other words, there is no room for Him in the inn of our lives. Little do we realize that without the Light of the World, our world will remain in sin, error, and darkness.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Make Room For Him.

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