December 9

O Come All Ye Faithful

Every year on my son’s birthday, we find special ways to celebrate his life.  One of the common things we will do is have a birthday party.  When we have a party, one of the critical questions to answer is “who will we invite to the party?”  Some years, the guest list has consisted of only family.  Other years, we have invited only a couple of friends.  Still other years, we invited all the boys on a team or in his class.

Whatever the determined guest list, the next step is to invite those guests to attend – so an email, phone call, or post card heads in the direction of friends and family.  Those who receive the invite then have a choice, will they attend?  Are they able?

I was thinking about this dynamic as I look over the lyrics of one of my most beloved Christmas Carols, “O Come All Ye Faithful.”  This song recounts the birth day of Jesus Christ.  At His birth, a “party” broke out near the manger.  Of course Mary and Joseph were there, but soon others began to make their way to the gathering.  God the Father went out of His way to invite two very different (and unlikely) groups to attend the party – shepherds and Magi (see Luke 2:8-20, and Matthew 2:1-12).  The shepherds represented common Jewish people – a class of citizens that would normally NEVER have been invited to a religious ceremony or royal birth.  The Magi were Gentiles from a faraway land who would have had no expectation of inclusion in the plans of the God of Israel.  Yet, at Jesus’ birth day party, God sends an angelic invite to the shepherds and a starry message to the Magi inviting them to come.

When these invites come, the shepherds and Magi have a choice.  Will they attend?  Are they able?  Both groups move toward the manger.  Both groups decide that they cannot miss the opportunity to be included in this special moment.  As a result, both are incredibly blessed.  They were not able on their own, but by God’s grace, they find their stories find meaning in Christ.

Now, I want you to think about your own life for a moment.  By virtue of you reading this devotional, knowing these songs, reading the Christmas story, you have received an invitation from your Heavenly Father.  An invite to come to Jesus and find your hope in Him. 

This invitation from God is not based on our performance but on His grace.  It is sinful people like you and me, like the shepherds and wise men, who get the invite to come to Jesus and find our hope and forgiveness and life in Him.  God desires that we open this invitation by faith and trust in Jesus as the Son of God who takes away the penalty of our sins through His death on the cross.  Have you placed your faith in Jesus?  If not, hear the words of today’s song as an invite from God to come and adore Him and place your faith in Jesus.

O Come All Ye Faithful

O come, all ye faithful

Joyful and triumphant

O come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem

Come and behold Him

Born the king of angels

 

Oh come let us adore Him

Oh come let us adore Him

Oh come let us adore Him

 

Christ the Lord

Sing, Choirs of angels

Sing in exultation

Sing all ye citizens of heaven above!

Glory to God

Glory in the highest

 

Oh come let us adore Him

Oh come let us adore Him

Oh come let us adore Him

Christ the Lord

 

Yea, Lord we greet thee

Born this happy morning

Jesus to Thee be all glory given

Word of the Father

Now in flesh appearing

 

Oh come let us adore Him

Oh come let us adore Him

Oh come let us adore Him

Christ the Lord

 

To access all 31 days of “The Christmas Carols” Devotional, click here.

 

To access playlists for all 31 songs, visit:

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December 8

Mary Did You Know?

In 1991 Buddy Greene and Mark Lowry wrote a modern Christmas song that has become a contemporary “classic.”  In its short history, this song has been recorded by many contemporary artists, and sung in many church services. 

The song asks a simple rhetorical question:  Mary, did you know who your Son was?  The question is expanded throughout the song citing both the salvation Jesus would bring and the miracles He would work.  Did Mary know while holding Him in Bethlehem’s barn who Jesus really was?

This song is musically beautiful, but it also shines a spotlight on the paradox of the Sovereign God becoming a dependent baby.  But for all of its beauty, is it accurate?  Did Mary know?  If so, what did Mary know?

From the very beginning, Mary certainly knew that Jesus was not a normal baby.  Take a moment and read Luke 1:26-38.  In these verses, Mary finds out she is pregnant through a conversation with the angel Gabriel.  In this conversation she would come to know:

• She had found favor with God (1:28-30)
• She was pregnant with a Son, even though she was a virgin (1:31)
• Her Son would be the Son of God (1:32a, 35)
• Her Son would be the promised Messiah (1:32b)
• Her Son’s Kingdom would know no end (1:33)

For nine months Mary carried Jesus with the words of the Angel (no doubt) reverberating in her ears and echoing through her heart.  Then, when Jesus was born, angels and shepherds, and Magi show up and remind her of the supernatural nature of her Son.  As He grows up, she continued to know that Jesus was unique.  She even had an expectation that He could do miracles (like turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana – John 2). 

So, based on these verses, did Mary know?  Yes.  I think she knew.

However, let’s not make Mary into more than she was.  She was certainly favored by God, but she was still human.  At one point, she (and Jesus’ half brothers) openly questioned His methods (Matthew 12:46-50).  After Jesus’ crucifixion, Mary was not sitting outside the tomb on the morning fo the third day expecting to see the stone rolled away.  She (like the other disciples) thought the Dream died on the cross. 

So, in one sense Mary knew, but in another sense she didn’t.

So, the question asked in this song reminds us that at times we can KNOW a truth about God, but still have questions about how it looks in our lives.  Can you relate?  Allow this tension to encourage you today in the areas of your life where you know, but in another sense don’t know. 

Mary Did You Know?

Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?

Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God

Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know?

Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know?

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again

The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect lamb?

That sleeping child you’re holding is the great I am

Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know?

Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Oh

Mary did you know?

 

To access all 31 days of “The Christmas Carols” Devotional, click here.

 

To access playlists for all 31 songs, visit:

• Apple Music
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December 7

Manger Throne

I love how our house looks at Christmas time.  Lots of meaningful decorations fill each room.  In our house, we have the great blessing of three nativity scenes.  These nativity scenes are all different, yet the same.  Each set has different characteristics.

One set is a “Willow Tree” nativity.  The characters have no faces, but their long carved bodies evoke emotion like an impressionist painting.  I love the simplicity of this set.

A second set is a “Precious Moments” nativity.  This set was a gift to my wife from her parents as she was growing up  . . . a different piece every year.  Because of that history, this set is a yearly reminder of the “good deposit” Kimberly’s family gave her by telling her the truth about Jesus.

The third set is a “Little People” nativity set that we acquired when our son was only a couple of years old.  It allowed our two year old to play with the pieces in an interactive way, and learn the Christmas story (or at least his version of the Christmas story).  A short time after he got this nativity set, he started to tell me the Christmas story using the angel and Mary.  The angel came to Mary’s house and told her (in his words), “Good news about Jesus.  He came to take away our badness.”  I was so proud.  Then the angel tackled Mary.  We asked him what Mary said to the angel, and he said, “Thank you for coming to my house and tackling me.”  I think that last twist must have come from a Dan Brown novel.

For all the differences between these three nativities, there is one striking similarity.  They all have Jesus as a baby, asleep in a horse trough full of hay.  As I look at that each year, I am awestruck again by the fact that the God of the universe would humble Himself to THAT point.  The independent God coming as a dependent baby.  The One who sits at the right hand of the Father, lying in a cow’s cafeteria.  This just seems so drastic . . . and so odd.  However, there is a plan in it all.  Jesus comes as a baby to fully identify with our experience (Hebrews 4:15).  Jesus came in a mortal Body so that He might be able to die to bring immortality to His people (Romans 5:8).  The baby in the manger looks out of place until we place it in context.

In the Old Testament, the presence of God hovered over the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies.  First this was in the Tabernacle, then it was in the Temple.  The Holy of Holies was a place of great grandeur and formality.  Because of this, it is surprising to find the Savior in the manger in the Christmas story.  I think it is possible that Jesus was born in the stall to announce to the world in a very definitive way that the presence of God would not reside behind a curtain any longer.  The Spirit of God was moving away from a super-protected room inside the Temple that only a few people would ever see, to a public location where lowly Shepherds and foreigners could visit.  This move of the presence of God from private to the public, helps set the stage for the Spirit of God taking up residence in the hearts and lives of those who believe in Jesus Christ today.  The same God who lay in the manger, now resides within us!

This awesome truth is spoken of in today’s song for reflection, Julie Miller’s “Manger Throne” (recorded by Third Day with Derri Daughtery and Julie Miller).  May you be reminded of God’s residence in your life each time you see the baby in the manger in a nativity scene this Christmas.  ”Our heart is a home for God’s Own Son!”

Manger Throne

What kind of King would leave His throne

In Heaven to make this earth His home?

While men seek fame and great renown

In loneliness our King comes down

Jesus, Jesus, precious One

How we thank You that You’ve come

Jesus, Jesus, precious One

A manger throne for God’s own Son

You left the sound of angels’ praise

To come for men with unkind ways

And by this Baby’s helplessness

The power of nations is laid to rest

What kind of King would come so small

From glory to a humble stall?

That dirty manger is my heart, too

I’ll make it a royal throne for You

My heart is a throne

My heart is a throne for God’s own Son

 

To access all 31 days of “The Christmas Carols” Devotional, click here.

 

To access playlists for all 31 songs, visit:

• Apple Music
• Spotify

December 6

Anthem for Christmas

Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem marked the beginning of many things, most notably the beginning of Jesus’ earthly life.  However, Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem was not the beginning of Jesus’ existence.  His “beginning” goes way before that first Christmas.  John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  This verse is absolutely full of meaning:

“In the beginning was the Word.”  In other words, in the time that we know of as the beginning (referring of course to the events of Genesis chapter 1, and the creation of the world), the Word ALREADY “WAS!”  The One known as “the Word” was already in existence when everything was created.

“The Word.”  John 1 lets us know that the “Word” is Jesus.  Words express things.  Jesus as the “Word” expresses to us who God really is.

“The Word was God.”  This verse also lets us know that Jesus is God.  What that means is that Jesus not only did not have His “beginning” in Bethlehem, He has no “beginning” at all!  God exists eternally.  He was not created, has always been, and always will be.

This verse places Jesus in an appropriately eternal context.  At Christmas we celebrate the Eternal God humbling Himself in a human birth . . . God became man so that man can be with God.  Michael W. Smith’s song “The Anthem of Christmas” tells this cosmic story – from creation to the cradle and beyond.  In this song may we all find the words to proclaim His love this Christmas.

Anthem for Christmas

In the space of the beginning

Was the living Word of Light

When this Word was clearly spoken

All that came to be was right

All creation had a language

Words to say what must be said

All day long the heavens whispered

Signing words in scarlet red

Some failed to understand it

So God spoke His final Word

On a silent night in Judah’s

Hills a baby’s cry was heard

“Glory!” sang the angel chorus

“Glory!” echoed back the night

Love has come to walk among us

Christ the Lord is born this night

All creation sing His praises

Earth and heaven praise His name

All who live come join the chorus

Find the words His love proclaim

Find the words His love proclaim

 

To access all 31 days of “The Christmas Carols” Devotional, click here.

 

To access playlists for all 31 songs, visit:

• Apple Music
• Spotify

December 5

All Praise to Thee Eternal Lord

By the beginning of the 16th century, the Church was in desperate need of reform.  The Scriptures, songs, and liturgies that filled the worship services were in languages foreign to most people.  In the “high church,” God was kept distant from the people who were “lowly” and less educated. 

Though this was the pattern of the church in the middle ages, it was not the plan of God.  God does not require that we speak Latin to know Him or read His Word, and Martin Luther knew it.  Luther set out on a mission to strip away the mystery of the church regalia to return the beauty of the Gospel to the people.  Luther translated the liturgy, the Scripture, and the songs of the church from Latin into German — the language of his fellow countrymen.

One song that Luther translated was “All Praise to Thee Eternal Lord” a Christmas song written by Gregory the Great in the sixth century.  One of the lines of this song states, “A little Child, Thou art our guest, That weary ones in Thee may rest; Forlorn and lowly is Thy birth, That we may rise to heaven from earth.”

This line reminds us that God has not stayed distant, speaking foreign languages.  He came us in the lowest common denominator – a human baby – so that ALL of us may know who He was and so that all of us would have a chance to find rest and rise to heaven one day.  As John 1:14-18 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. . .  For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. . .   No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He (Jesus) has made Him known.”

Luther translated “All Praise to Thee Eternal Lord” into German – what a gift!  Jesus “translated” an understanding of who God is to the world – what an unbelievable gift!  Today, sing a really, really old song and be thankful for the translation of God’s glory that Jesus has done for us:  because He came, we can know God.

All Praise to Thee Eternal Lord

All praise to Thee, eternal Lord,

Clothed in a garb of flesh and blood;

Choosing a manger for Thy throne,

While worlds on worlds are Thine alone.

Once did the skies before Thee bow;

A virgin’s arms contain Thee now,

While angels, who in Thee rejoice,

Now listen for Thine infant voice.

A little child, Thou art our guest,

That weary ones in Thee may rest;

Forlorn and lowly is Thy birth;

That we may rise to Heaven from earth.

Thou comest in the darksome night

To make us children of the light;

To make us, in the realms divine,

Like Thine own angels round Thee shine.

All this for us Thy love hath done;

By this to Thee our love is won;

For this we tune our cheerful lays,

And sing our thanks in ceaseless praise

To access all 31 days of “The Christmas Carols” Devotional, click here.

To access playlists for all 31 songs, visit:

• Apple Music
• Spotify

December 4

Light of the World

3,500 years ago, God called His people (the Israelites) out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and into the land that He had promised them.  This is the story of the Exodus, and is recorded for us in the second book of the Bible.  As the Israelites left Egypt God led them at night represented by a fire the people could see.  Like a child is comforted by their night light, so the children of Israel were comforted in their journey by the fire in the sky, reminding them that God was with them.

Fast forward 1,500 years to the time of Jesus.  While the rest of the Israelites were celebrating the Festival of the Tabernacle (remembering when God led them like a fire at night), Jesus makes an amazing assertion.  He says in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  In this statement, Jesus was making a few VERY important points:

• Jesus is the light.  In the time of the Exodus, the people saw a fire cloud in the sky.  That was nice.  But, Jesus is even better!  The fire in the sky was a presence, but it was a presence that did not talk or provide a 3-D example of what God was like.  Jesus is our reminder that God is with us, a Living Light!
• Jesus is the Light of the World! In the time of the Exodus, the fire was only for the people of Israel.  However, by saying that Jesus was the light of the world, Jesus was pointing out that ALL people, regardless of nationality can be encouraged by His presence.
• Jesus invites us to Follow Him. His Light is not just meant to comfort, it is meant to direct. 
• If we follow Him we will not walk in darkness. Jesus will never lead us to sin.  He only leads us towards righteousness.  He is out for our growth, not our destruction.
• If we follow Him, we will have life.  Darkness leads to death.  Don’t believe me?  Put your favorite flower in the dark closet for a week and see if it survives.  Jesus is the Light of Life . . . He came to give us life, not take it from us!

At Christmas time, we often have lights as a part of our decorations:  on trees, on our homes, etc.  This is so appropriate, because Jesus is the Light of the world!  Lauren Daigle’s song “Light of the World” reminds us of that as well.  As we sing this song, or look at Christmas lights, be reminded of God’s presence with us, and His desire that we walk in obedience following Jesus’ commands and example.  If we do, we will have life as God intended!

Light of the World

The world waits for a miracle

The heart longs for a little bit of hope

Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel

A child prays for peace on Earth

And she’s calling out from a sea of hurt

Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel

And can you hear the angels singing

Glory to the light of the world

Glory, the light of the world is here

The drought breaks with the tears of a mother

A baby’s cry is the sound of love

Come down, come down, Emmanuel

He is the song for the suffering

He is Messiah, the Prince of Peace has come

He has come, Emmanuel

Glory to the light of the world

For all who wait

For all who hunger

For all who’ve prayed

For all who wonder

Behold your King

Behold Messiah

Emmanuel, Emmanuel

Glory to the light of the world

Glory to the light of the world

Glory to the light of the world

Behold your King

Behold Messiah

Emmanuel, Emmanuel

The world waits for the miracle

The heart longs for a little bit of hope

Oh come, oh come Emmanuel

 

To access all 31 days of “The Christmas Carols” Devotional, click here.

 

To access playlists for all 31 songs, visit:

• Apple Music
• Spotify

December 3

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

The very first churches I knew were Methodist.  Most every Sunday for the first 18 years of my life you could find me somewhere around East Cross United Methodist Church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.  Of the many blessings I received from that heritage was a knowledge of John and Charles Wesley.  Though the Wesley’s never set out to start “Methodism” God used them to reform the Church of England and call it to both passion and application.  If Luther’s reform in Germany was about orthodoxy, the Wesley’s reform in England 200 years later was about orthopraxy . . . as much about what we do as what we believe.

While John Wesley was the preacher, Charles Wesley is best known for the hymns he wrote.  One of the 18 Christmas carols Wesley wrote was “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.”  This song not only laid out sound theology and Scriptural references, but called followers of Jesus to act in certain ways.

The first verse points out Jesus has released us from our “fears and sins” (Romans 6:5-11).  This is a theological truth . . . but the application of this truth is that we would find “our rest in Thee.”

In the second verse, Jesus is described as “a child, and yet a King (Isaiah 9:6-7).”  Charles takes the next line, though, and drives it home, saying that Jesus was “Born to reign in us forever . . . Rule in all our hearts alone.”  The application is not just to say that Jesus is the “King of Kings,” but to have Him be our King – the ultimate authority in our lives. 

This Christmas, as you sing Wesley’s song, may you have a reformation of your practice.  May you find your rest in Jesus, the ultimate authority in your life!

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, thou long expected Jesus
born to set thy people free
from our fears and sins release us
let us find our rest in thee
Israel’s strength and consolation
hope of all the earth thou art
dear desire of every nation
joy of every longing heart

Born thy people to deliver
born a child and yet a King
born to reign in us forever
now thy gracious kingdom bring
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone
by thine all sufficient merit
raise us to thy glorious throne

You draw the hearts of shepherds
You draw the hearts of kings
Even as a baby
You were changing everything
You called me to Your Kingdom
Before Your lips could speak
And even as a baby
You were reaching out for me

And now we are awaiting
The day of Your return
When every eye will see You
As heaven comes to earth
Until the sky is opened
Until the trumpet sounds
The bride is getting ready
The church is singing out

Come, thou long expected Jesus
born to set thy people free
from our fears and sins release us
let us find our rest in thee
Come Thou long expected King

 

To access all 31 days of “The Christmas Carols” Devotional, click here.

 

To access playlists for all 31 songs, visit:

• Apple Music
• Spotify