Preparing for Christmas #14: Cornerstone

   What is this part of a building called?  Why is it there?  Today the cornerstone of a building is pretty, and it shows the date when the building was finished or dedicated.  Long ago, it was not just for decoration.  A cornerstone was important in keeping the building strong and safe.  If the cornerstone were ever taken out, then over time, the whole building would crumble and break.

   Not only is Jesus the strong rock, but he also calls himself the cornerstone.  He is the most important part of our lives, and if without him our lives will crumble and break.  When Jesus calls himself the cornerstone, he adds this:

            “The stone the builders rejected as become the cornerstone” (Matthew 21:42)

   When Jesus lived on the earth, many people said that He was worthless because he came from a small village and a family that was not well-known.  He was just a carpenter’s son, they said.  They were so wrong because Jesus is really the most important One of all!

Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

You really are the cornerstone of everything there is.  Help us to let you be the cornerstone of our lives too.  Teach us to know what it means to build our lives on you: our decisions, our goals, and our desires.

Amen.

Preparing for Christmas #13: Strong Rock

   In days long ago, rocks or bricks would be used to make a strong building.  Why would rocks be chosen instead of wood or straw?  They are so strong, and they are hard to destroy.  If you hit a rock with all your strength, what would happen to the rock?  Why would it still look the same?

   In the poems or psalms of King David, it says, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress” (Psalm 18:2a).  Enemies could shoot arrows, but the rocks of the fortress would stop the arrows from hurting the people inside.  In the same way, the Lord Jesus is protection for us.

   As the rock, Jesus is strong, and he keeps us safe from dangers and anything that would destroy us.  We can be happy that Jesus is a rock if we trust Him, but the Bible says that those who do not trust Jesus will trip on this rock and fall down (1 Peter 2:8).

   The baby born at Christmas is not weak and helpless anymore.  He is the strong rock of our lives.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for being a rock-like fortress to protect your people.  We need your strength to live.  Help us to trust you more and more.

Amen.

Needed: One Boot

   At my husband’s workplace, which serves people in need of food assistance, donations of clothing and a variety of other items are also accepted.  These, in turn, are sorted and placed in a sort of waiting room where clients can take whatever they need at no charge.   Yesterday, a man holding a winter boot asked if my husband might be able to find its match in the employees-only warehouse.

   My husband, with little confidence and a whispered prayer, headed to the “corner” where the clothing is usually piled in disarray.  To his surprise, the other boot was on top of a bin of potatoes.

   The man was still waiting and gratefully took the pair of boots.  He had just been hired to drive a tow truck for the busier winter season and would not be paid for two weeks.  Yet the running shoes he was wearing would be inadequate for this job.  He had checked a retail store, but $100 was completely unaffordable.

   These boots were meant for this particular individual!  He had the boldness to ask.  As well, if the two boots had been placed in the waiting room together, they would have been taken long ago.  This is one more story showing that my husband works at a “providence place.”

Preparing for Christmas #12: The Word

   A dictionary is full of words.  What do you do with a word?  You can say it or write to tell about your thoughts. What part of your body says a word?  What part hears it?  What part of your body understands it?  Words are used for talking.  If I couldn't use any words, it would be hard for you to know what I wanted.  When babies are very small, they cry instead of talking because they haven't learned to speak yet.  Mom or Dad has to try to find out why the baby is upset, and sometimes it is not easy to figure it out.

   But God wants to be very clear to us, so he uses our words to tell us about himself; he does this in the Bible.

   The Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word...and the Word was God” (John 1:1).  “The Word” is another name for Jesus.  Jesus is the way God wants to talk to us and tell us how much he loves us.  He also tells us in the things he made, like the trees, rocks, sky, and animals, but his love is shown most clearly in the words Jesus said and the life that he lived.  The most important parts of Jesus' words and life are written down in the Bible.

   God sent Jesus to earth to speak to us, but are we listening?

“O Come All Ye Faithful”, verse 4

            Yea, Lord, we greet thee,

            Born this happy morning;

            Jesus, to thee be all glory given;

            Word of the Father,

            Now in flesh appearing;

            O come let us adore him (3x)

            Christ the Lord.

Preparing for Christmas #11: Bread of Life

   What is this?  When would we normally eat it?  We sometimes have bread for lunch or with our dinner.  There is a prayer in the Bible which Jesus taught to his helpers called “The Lord's Prayer” or the “Our Father.”  In it, we ask for daily bread (Matthew 6:11), and the word bread here means all the food we need to live.  In Bible times people ate bread more often than we do, and they ate it plain without butter or jam.

   Jesus calls Himself “the bread of life” (John 6:48).  That means He is all we need to live.  Bread keeps our bodies alive, but Jesus makes us truly alive, in our spirits too.  Jesus    did more than just say He was the bread of life.  Two times He fed thousands of people with one or two bread-and-fish lunches. (Mark 6:44; 8:8-9).

   Jesus came to earth to satisfy our hunger for God.

           

Prayer:

            Our Father who art in heaven,

            Hallowed be your name

            Your kingdom come

            Your will be done

            On earth as it is in heaven.

            Give us this day our daily bread

            And forgive us our sins

            As we forgive those who sin against us.

            Lead us not into temptation,

            But deliver us from the evil one.

            Amen.

Preparing for Christmas # 10: Balm of Gilead

   What is inside this container and what it it used for?  It is a kind of medicine to help your skin heal.  It has a special name, called “balm.”

   In Bible times, balm came from the sticky sap of certain trees that grew in a place called Gilead.  Gilead was famous for this balm, and it was traded as far away as Egypt (Genesis 37:25).  People wanted this balm to heal sores and wounds.

   Jesus is called the “balm of Gilead” (Jeremiah 8:22) for two reasons.  When He lived on the earth, He showed his power by healing people who thought they could never be cured.  These people were unable to walk or hear or see; some had skin diseases that were very bad.  The other reason is that we are all wounded and sick with the disease of sin.  Only Jesus can heal that wound, but we have to ask Him to do it.

   Jesus is like good medicine that heals our souls.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus

We admit that we have a wound in our lives called sin.  Instead of doing what you want, we go our own way hurting others and you.  We have tried other ways to get rid of the pain, but now we ask you to heal and forgive us.  Thank you for hearing us, Jesus.

Amen

Preparing For Christmas #9: The True Vine

   Yesterday we talked about the roots of a tree.  What do we have to look at today?  It is a branch from a grape vine.  Vines have thin stems that can turn and twist as the branches hook onto whatever they are climbing.  Would a grape vine be useful if in an entire year no grapes grew on it?  Of course not!  We expect a good grape vine to give us fruit.

   Jesus says, “I am the true vine” (John 15:1a), and he says we are the branches.  This branch has been ripped from a grape vine.  Can it stay alive and produce more grapes next year?  No.  In the same way we need to be connected to Jesus in order to fully live.  He wants us to have fruit too.  Not grapes, but good words and kind actions.

   Are you attached to Jesus, the living vine?

Prayer:

Dear Jesus

We need to be part of you in order to grow and live.  Help us to see that you are able to work through us, that only by Your goodness can we do any good.  Forgive us for trying to do things on our own.

Amen.