Verses: Luke 2:6-21
6 While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to have the baby, 7 and she gave birth to her first son. Because there were no rooms left in the inn, she wrapped the baby with pieces of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough.
8 That night, some shepherds were in the fields nearby watching their sheep. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them. The glory of the Lord was shining around them, and they became very frightened. 10 The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all the people. 11 Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord. 12 This is how you will know him: You will find a baby wrapped in pieces of cloth and lying in a feeding box.”
13 Then a very large group of angels from heaven joined the first angel, praising God and saying:
14 “Give glory to God in heaven,
and on earth let there be peace among the people who please God.”[a]
15 When the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem. Let’s see this thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So the shepherds went quickly and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in a feeding trough. 17 When they had seen him, they told what the angels had said about this child.18 Everyone was amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured these things and continued to think about them. 20 Then the shepherds went back to their sheep, praising God and thanking him for everything they had seen and heard. It had been just as the angel had told them.
21 When the baby was eight days old, he was circumcised and was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before the baby began to grow inside Mary.
- Priase the Lord our God!!! Because of Jesus’s birth 2,013 year ago, our world is never the same again! Can you feel the joy and the excitement in your heart, because of what this gift means to each and every one of us? All because of this little baby, the world has hope! All the poverty, hunger, injustice, sins … will be wiped away and we can live in harmony with God and all His creations again – eternally!!
- The angels told the good news to the shepherds in the field, and when they saw the baby they were ‘amazed’. They were filled with joy and thanked God, and their lives were never the same again. Today we are still called to pass on the good news of Christ! Do you have any special person on your mind when you read this? Is this who God wants you to spread the good news to, so that their lives can be different? Take a minute to pray for that special someone, and follow up with a message or a phone call!
- Jesus’ birth rocked this world, yet He came so quietly to this world that he created. Similarly, Jesus coming to our life should change our lives, even though the way we get to know him and accept him may not be dramatic or eventful. On this day – Christmas day, spend a few minutes to reflect on your spiritual life as a Christian. Christian means “little Christ” or “followers of Christ”. How are we doing as “little Christ”? Do others see Christ in us through our daily lives? Are we changing lives with our lives? In what ways can we be more like Jesus? Reflect on theses and say a prayer to Jesus!
And that concludes the PGC Advent devotions of 2013! I sincerely hope you have enjoyed the journey over the past 12 devotions as much as I did as I was preparing it. Reading through God’s fingerprints from the Old Testament to the New Testament, it makes me understand more than ever what’s so great about Christmas – it’s not the gifts, it’s not the shopping, it’s not even the family gatherings – all those are great, but they’re nothing compared to the greatest gift from God – a new hope, a new beginning – where we’ll no longer be hungry, no longer have injustice, no longer be sick, no longer die – to know everything in this world will past and in the end we will be re-united with our loving Father, this time eternally! All because of Jesus coming among us. Thank you Jesus, and Merry Christmas to you all!!!