Preparing for Christmas #21: Immanuel

   What is a house for?  Where does God live?  Does he need a house like we do?  No, he doesn't, but when Jesus became a man and lived on earth, he did stay in houses.

   Perhaps surprisingly, Jesus did not own the nicest house of His day.  Not at all!  He once told some men who wanted to follow Him that even though birds and foxes have homes, Jesus Himself did not have a place to lay His head (Matthew 8:20).

   Jesus was called Immanuel or “God with us” (Matthew 1:23) because he came to live with us—eating, talking, walking, crying, listening—doing all the things that people do from day to day.  He did all this while he was still God.

   Jesus is God who became a human like us in every way except for sin.  That is why he can totally understand our joys and troubles.  Wow!

“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” verse 2

            Christ, by highest heaven adored,

            Christ, the everlasting Lord!

            Late in time behold him come,

            Offspring of the virgin's womb.

            Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

            Hail the incarnate Deity,

            Pleased as man with man to dwell,

            Jesus, our Immanuel.

Preparing for Christmas #20: "Amen"

What are these hands doing?[1]  How do we begin a prayer?  We mention God's name.  How do we usually end it?  We say the little word “Amen.”  Amen tells God that we truly mean what we have just prayed for, and we want God to answer us.

   Jesus is called the Amen (Revelation 3:14).  God made many promises in the Old Testament part of the Bible—to Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, to David, and others; all of those promises have come true in Jesus.  He came as the Amen to the prayers of God's people (2 Corinthians 1:20).  He makes it possible for us to pray to God as Father and to belong to His family even though we are humans.

   Next time we say “Amen” in our prayer, we can remember that Jesus came to earth to be the Amen who makes all our prayers possible.

Prayer:

Thank you that you hear our prayers, O Lord.  Listen to our heart's cry to you.  Please give us your peace. Amen.

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[1] These praying hands carved out of wood originally belonged to my grandmother and were passed on to me.

Preparing for Christmas #19: Lion of Judah

   To which animal did we compare Jesus last time?  What are some things that are true about a lamb?  It is weak and helpless and small.  Jesus did not fight against those who wanted to kill Him, but does that mean He is weak and helpless?  No! He surrendered, but he was not always silent and powerless.

   What animal is this?  Would you be afraid to be alone with a lion?  I think we all would be.  Jesus is called the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5).  The qualities of a lion are very different from the lamb, but both are part of who Jesus is.

   The lion means He is powerful and that he is coming to rule with authority.  We must be in awe of Jesus, the Lion of Judah, because he is truly awesome.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

You are powerful and strong.  Help me not to forget that you hate the evil in the world and the evil that I do.  Give me your strength to fight against it.

Amen

Preparing For Christmas #18: Lamb of God

   What kind of animal is this?  Is it all grown up?  It is called a lamb because it is a young sheep.  In the Old Testament part of the Bible, men called priests sacrificed lambs and other animals to show that sinning against God will lead to death.

   At one time of year called Passover (Exodus 12), all the people had to bring a lamb to be sacrificed.  They used some of the blood to put on the sides and top of their outside doors.  At first, they did this to save the oldest boy in their house, but afterwards, the people kept celebrating this holiday to remember how God protected them (Deuteronomy 16:1).

   It was also Passover time when Jesus was killed (Luke 22:1).  Three years before this event, John the Baptist called Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).  Like a lamb, Jesus did not fight back when the soldiers beat him, and he was quiet when they called him names.

   Jesus was a perfect lamb; he never sinned (1Peter 1:19).  Jesus was the ONE lamb that God sent to earth so that no more animals would have to be sacrificed for our sins.  Whoever believes in this Lamb has all sins forgiven!

Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

You took our sins away when you died for us.  We are amazed.  Help me to live everyday with a thankful heart to you for all your love.

Amen.

Preparing for Christmas #17: Redeemer

   What kinds of things can we buy with money?  Do you think you could buy a person?  Today people cannot be bought or sold in our country because we do not have slavery.  Sadly, though, some places still practice slavery.  People are treated cruelly and can be bought and sold.

   When Jesus lived on the earth, some people were slaves.  There was a way for these slaves to be set free.  If a friend or someone kind wanted to make a slave into a free person, he had to pay the owner a certain price.  This price was called a ransom.  When the ransom was paid, the slave would be free.  The slave would be so happy!

   One time when Jesus was teaching the people, He told them that He had come into the world to serve others and to “give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).  Jesus did not mean He was going to set ordinary slaves free by paying the ransom price for them.  No, He meant that He was going to give his life so that we could be free from being a slave to what sin wants us to do.

   We call Jesus our Redeemer because he bought us from a life of slavery and paid our ransom.  Now we are free to serve him and do what is right.

            “Silent Night”, verse 3

            Silent Night!  Holy night!

            Son of God, love's pure light;

            Radiant beams from Thy holy face,

            With the dawn of redeeming grace.

            Jesus, Lord at Thy birth (2x) 

Preparing for Christmas #16: The Door

   How many doors are there to get into your house? At the time Jesus spoke to his people, the homes of most people had only one door.  This was also true of sheep pens—they had only ONE opening.  During the day, the animals could freely go in and out, but at night the shepherd himself would sleep in this opening and act as a gate to keep the sheep inside of it safe from wolves and other dangers..

   Jesus said, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:9).  Jesus is saying that He is the only way to be saved from our sin and the only way to reach God.

   When we come in through the Jesus-gate, we are forever safe with Him.  Jesus came to earth to be the gateway for us to know God.

“Good Christian Men, Rejoice” verse 2

            Good Christian men, rejoice

            With heart and soul and voice.

            Now ye hear of endless bliss;

            Joy! Joy!

            Jesus Christ was born for this,

            He hath opened heaven's door

            And man is blessed forevermore.

            Christ was born for this!

            Christ was born for this!

Preparing for Christmas #15: Good Shepherd

   What kind of person would use this tool to do his or her work?  A shepherd.  What do shepherds take care of?  Do you think sheep are easy to take care of?  It may surprise you that they are not!  They are easily scared, and they need food and water nearby all the time.  Sheep also like to explore and find any hole in the fence to escape.  Then they might also get lost.

   A shepherd with many sheep needs to watch them carefully so that they will not wander away and so that no wolves or other wild animals will attack them.  He risks his life to chase away the animal that would hurt his sheep.  He needs to lead the sheep to clean water and green grass.  He comes to know each sheep by name.

   Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11).  He never took care of actual sheep, but He is talking about taking care of us.  He knows each of us by name too.  He gave his life to save us from our enemies of sin and Satan.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

You are my shepherd, I have everything that I need.  You lead me.  Protect me in times of danger.  I am as helpless as a sheep without you.

Amen.