Devotionals Archives

December 19, 2023December 18, 2023

400 Years of Silence

⁸Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, ⁹according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹²And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. ¹³But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ¹⁴And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.¹⁶And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” ~ Luke 1:8-17

The angel Gabriel broke 400 years of silence. God had not spoken to the rebellious Israelites since Malachi uttered his prophecy in Malachi 4:5-6, the last two verses of the Old Testament. God was dealing with the sin issue in Judah. He had already sent Israel, or the Northern Kingdom, into exile because of idolatry, as well as Judah, the Southern Kingdom. God was upset with His people, but He did not leave them without hope.

He warned them over and over about exile and punishment, and because He had no choice but to make good on His threats, He sent them into exile by the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, and now they had returned, but they were still a wayward people, not paying their tithes, nor giving offerings, and the sacrifices were of poor samples and not their best.

But even in all of this, God never leaves His people without hope. He said that He would send them the prophet Elijah before the LORD comes, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and children to their fathers. Then, the voice of God went silent for 400 years.

Now, here, the angel Gabriel is speaking to the future father of the promised forerunner of the Messiah Himself, the LORD Jesus. God makes good on His threats, and God makes good on His promises as well.

So, you may be going through a time of silence. It seems like you are in a period of 400 years of silence, but know this, God has not forgotten you, nor has He forgotten His promises to you. In the fullness of time, the time set by God Himself to visit you and bring with Him all that He has promised.

So, this Christmas, let hope reign in your heart. Do not give up on your promises or on hope itself! Do not give in to doubt or temptation, but stand firm and always remember that God is faithful and will never leave you hopeless but will always bring you hope, and He will always deliver on His promises.

Heavenly Father, thank You for hope. Thank You for the promises that you will fulfill. Help me to hold on to Your every word and believe in Your holy word; in Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Accept His Good Plans

³⁸…Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. ~ Luke 1:38b

Mary accepted the plan of the LORD, come what may. Her only concern was to please her God, and in so doing, she became the recipient of the very first Christmas present.

Make no mistake, Mary needed a savior just like everybody else; even though she was the mother of the Savior, whose name is Immanuel, which means God with us, she still needed saving; she could not save herself. So, it is with each and every one of us that we all need a Savior.

I’m sure this was not the Christmas present Mary had envisioned, thought about, or even considered. Nonetheless, she gracefully accepted her part in God’s eternal plan.

Each and every one of us has a God-given call on our lives. None of us were created without purpose, but all of us were created to follow a plan that God has for our lives. Plans that are for our good and not for evil. But God never forces those plans on us; like Mary, we each have to accept His plan for our lives.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Accept His Good Plans.

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Enjoy The Hope of Jesus

³⁰And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus.” ~ Luke 1:30-31

Mary and Joseph were engaged, but before they were actually married, and before they had any sexual contact to consummate the marriage, Mary was found to be with child from, not by, but from the Holy Spirit.

This is really important to fully understand. Mary was a virgin, and that’s why she wasn’t sure how it would all happen. So, the angel Gabriel described something to her that she, I’m pretty sure, did not fully comprehend, as many of us do today. In fact, we read right over that without noticing the profoundness of what the angel said to Mary. He said:

… you will conceive in your womb and bear a son …

To us, that’s no big deal because we just take it for granted, but it’s a big deal. You see, Gabriel was explaining to Mary that she would become pregnant with a child but not in the ordinary, natural way, but she would conceive in her womb in a miraculous way.

Please understand that women, according to medical science, do not conceive in their wombs but conceive in their fallopian tubes and then move down to the womb, which wasn’t discovered until the 1500s by an Italian physician by the name of Gabriel Fallopius.

And just for the record, isn’t it strange that the angel’s name that first announced it was named Gabriel, and the physician who discovered it was also named Gabriel?

Just an interesting thought.

So, Mary wouldn’t be impregnated the natural way because the baby was not to be conceived the natural way, but supernatural. Therefore, baby Jesus was conceived in the womb because a man was not needed, but it was the seed of the womb who was to make restitution for the whole world.

Therefore, His name shall be called Jesus. Old Testament Joshua or Yeshu’ah. New Testament Jesus or Iēsous. These names mean Salvation or Savior. That in itself means hope. Jesus, or Yeshu’ah, is our Christmas Hope. It’s only that name that gives us hope. Hope of life eternal. Hope of peace that passes all understanding. Hope of joy, unspeakable joy, and full of glory. Hope that the world certainly cannot give, and neither does it try to give.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Enjoy The Hope of Jesus.

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Be Found

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” ²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ²³“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). ²⁴When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called His name Jesus. ~ Matthew 1:18-25

Jesus being born in Bethlehem is literally the Christmas story. He is our real and true Christmas present from Almighty God. You see, Jesus didn’t come into this world because He had to come, well, at least NOT for Himself. He did not come because we loved Him and wanted Him to come. Matter of fact, the Word says that although He made the world, the world did not recognize Him. We did not know who He was, yet He came anyway and was mistreated and abused. Knowing this, He still chose to give His life for us sinners.

So, it was not because of our love for Him that He came. Jesus came because we were separated from God, and He wanted us with Him. So, He left the splendor of Heaven to save us from our sin. We were utterly lost without Him, and if we refuse His gift, we will continue to be utterly lost without Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Found.

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Forgiveness At Christmas Time

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ~ Matthew 1:18-19

The birth of Jesus came with many miracles and controversies. The biggest or greatest one being Mary becoming pregnant of the Holy Spirit. In other words, Mary was still a virgin when she became pregnant.

Now, Joseph, her fiancé, knew that he had never had sexual relations with her, and now she is pregnant. There was only one answer, Mary had been unfaithful to him. She had done what ought not to be done. But even though his pride was hurt, and his heart was broken, even though it felt like his whole world was crashing in on him because of Mary’s promiscuity, he did not lash out.

When people get their feelings hurt, these days, they want the person who is responsible to hurt just as bad, if not more. But not Joseph. Why? Because Joseph was a righteous man. The Scriptures call him a just man; therefore, he was unwilling to shame her as she had seemingly shamed him.

The lesson here is, do not unto them as they have done unto you. Act justly. Act righteously, and God will bless you. So, this Christmas season, forgive those who have sinned against you, and God will see it and bless you for it.

Father, forgive me as I forgive those who have hurt me and said and done all manner of evil against me. Help me to live just and righteous; in Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Let Christmas Come

¹ And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ² She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. ³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. ⁴ His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. ~ Revelation 12:1-4

In CS Lewis’ novel The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, the antagonist (The White Witch) keeps Narnia in a perpetual winter, as winter is always symbolic of trials and tribulations. The other thing she does is keep Christmas from coming because Christmas brings hope. See, if she can keep Narnia in the darkness of winter and never let hope rise within their hearts, she wins.

When Jesus came as a baby 2000 years ago, Satan tried to keep Christmas from coming as well. He used the fear of King Herod in order to try to kill baby Jesus, but his plans didn’t work. Satan can only be successful if he can remove all hope and faith from within us.

This Christmas season, don’t let Satan take away your hope and suppress your faith. Don’t let him manipulate you either, as he did King Herod. This Christmas season, let hope reign through you so much so that you might be a beacon of light for others, pointing them to Christ.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let Christmas Come.

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Accept Your Christmas Gift

¹¹If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! ~ Matthew 7:11

The Father will give good things to those who ask Him. In John 5:19, Jesus said that He does whatever He sees the Father doing, and whatever the Father does, He too does likewise. Therefore, if the Father gives good things to those who ask, the Son, too, will give good things to those who ask. For Jesus said in John 14:13-14 that whatever we ask Him in His name, He will do it for us because in so doing, the Father will be glorified.

Many of us are seeking the gifts of the world and never seeking the gifts of heaven. And on that last day, when we stand before the throne of God, we will be without His seal to allow us into His eternal love and peace. And all of the things that we were chasing the most, such as a good life and personal needs like clothing/apparel, accessories, food, housing, wealth, etc., would have been given to us while on this earth if we would have just accepted Jesus’ free gift.

Why? Because Jesus has paid for all of that. We get even more than a good life; we get eternal life with all the benefits. All of our needs will be supplied by Jesus, who will give us all things. This is why Jesus is the Spirit of Giving. Jesus was our first-ever Christmas gift, but this gift, unlike all other Christmas gifts, can be accessed throughout the year.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Accept Your Christmas Gift.

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Be Christ-Centered

¹⁷And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. ¹⁸And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. ~ Luke 2:17-20

An angel came to the shepherds while they were watching their sheep to give them the news of the birth of Jesus the Christ. Then there was with that one angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God. When the angel and the heavenly host vanished, what did the shepherds do? They went to see what they had just been told.

Many of us hear of great things happening around us, revivals breaking out, healings and miracles taking place, but very few of us get up and go see if what we’ve heard is true or not. We don’t go for ourselves. We don’t have the same desires and drives as the shepherds did 2,000 years ago, and I believe it’s because we no longer have the same focus.

The shepherds were watching their flock by night. They were performing their God-given call. Many, if not the majority, of us don’t even know what our call is. And many of us don’t have a desire to find out what that call or will God has for our life is. Why? Because we’re not Christ-centered. Those shepherds weren’t just chosen at random; they were doing their jobs waiting for the long-awaited Messiah. They were Christ-centered. If we want God to move in our lives, we have to be Christ-centered and willing to go wherever He leads us. We have to be willing to do anything just to get a glimpse of the King of kings and LORD of lords, a glimpse of Jesus, the Messiah.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Christ-Centered.

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Enjoy His Good Gift

⁶For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; ~ Isaiah 9:6a

Christmas is all about giving, but it’s also about receiving. There was a father who gave his son the thing he most desired, but the son, being shortsighted, did not receive the gift and thus took away the father’s privilege to give the one thing to his son that he most desired.

Thus, the Christmas message can be summed up in these words:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;

That is the Christmas message. Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given. It always comes back to that word and its various forms:

Give
Given
Has given
Will give
Gave

Our God is a loving and giving God, who gave the most valuable possession He had, His Son Jesus. He is a kind and compassionate God. He delights in blessing His children with good things because He is a good, good Father, but it’s up to us to accept His good, good gift.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Enjoy His Good Gift.

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Recognize The Ultimate Christmas Present

²But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. ~ Micah 5:2^NIV

Without Christ, there is no Christ-mas. Without the Son, willingly coming to the earth to die for our sins, there would be no salvation, no Christmas, and no presents because we would have nothing to celebrate, and the old devil would have no need to tempt us into sin because we would all be headed straight for the Lake of Fire.

But one glorious day, in the fullness of time, the King of Glory stepped out of eternity and into time, splitting time in two, dividing time by His miraculous birth into B.C. and A.D.

A.D. stands for Anno Domini, which is Latin for “In the Year of Our LORD.”

B.C. means Before Christ or a better understanding is Before the Birth of Jesus Christ. Because, really, there was not a time before Jesus. Jesus did not come into being at His birth. Christmas time is not the celebration of Jesus coming into being. Jesus was from eternity.

We don’t just serve a good prophet who did good things and was a good man. No. We serve the God who was, is, and is to come—the one who was from before the beginning of time. Jesus’ origins did not begin in a manger in Bethlehem Ephrathah; He was from eternity and will be to eternity. He has no beginning and will have no end. This is who we serve, and this is who came to us as the first and ultimate Christmas present.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Recognize The Ultimate Christmas Present.

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Tag: Devotionals

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