25 Days of Christmas - Day 1
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Anonymous User
25 Days of Christmas - Day 1 December 05, 2018 09:21AM |
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Dear Saints,
We find ourselves once again at that wonderful time of year with Christmas fast approaching us. So much to do this time of year and often we find it hard to reflect on the true meaning of this holiday season, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
A few years ago Billy and I did a series of devotionals entitled "25 Days of Christmas". Since my heart was stirred to present it again, I hope your heart will become filled with the wondrous and joyful meaning and significance of the birth of that holy child born over 2,000 years ago, the greatest gift given to anyone the whole world over, the gift of God's only begotten Son, given to us that we would not perish but have eternal life with Him. What an incredible gift! What incredible love.
It is my prayer that God's Gift of Love, Mercy and Grace be received by you today. God bless!
25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
Day 1
"I therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to and beg you to walk (lead a life) worthy of the [divine] calling to which you have been called [with a behavior that is a credit to the summons to God's service, living as becomes you] with complete lowliness of mind [humility] and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience, bearing one another and making allowances because you love one another. Be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of [and produced by] the Spirit in the binding power of peace. [There is] one body and one Spirit - just as there is also one hope [that belongs] to the calling you received - [there is] one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of [us] all, Who is above all [Sovereign over all], pervading all and [living] in [us] all. Yet grace [God's unmerited favor] was given to each of us individually [not indiscriminately, but in different ways] in proportion to the measure of Christ's [rich and bounteous] gift." Ephesians 4:1-7
Dear Saints, as you can see, today's devotional is a bit different than others. It is thus because the Holy Spirit is taking us on a little journey and we pray that you will join us. It all started a few days ago while looking for a Scripture for a devotional. While reading the first verse in Ephesians 4 I was led to read the next and then the next. It wasn't long before I understood that the Holy Spirit was showing me something, bringing an answer to pray that I had lifted the week before, asking for something 'special' to present to His people in honor of Him as we head into the holiday season and the celebration of Jesus' birth.
As I was reading the verses a commercial that I have seen on TV. came to my mind. In this commercial a family is celebrating the mom's birthday. The young son gives his mom a present which turns out to be his report card. The mother gets tears in her eyes as she sees that her son has progressed well in his school work - something that he had problems with before (it is a commercial for some type of learning aid) and when the boy sees his mom's joy in the report card he says something to the effect, "I thought you would like it." Well, that is what the Holy Spirit showed me, that we can give our Daddy God a gift of "learning" or "progress" of becoming the family of God and that is what Billy and I are going to focus on in this daily devotional from now until Christmas Day, striving to build the body of Christ to bless our heavenly Father and His Son. We hope that those reading this will join my husband and myself as we endeavor to work towards becoming the kids He has called us to be, knowing we are saved by grace but that it is up to us, individually, to become one with Him, building ourselves in His Spirit and His ways.
An interesting note, I was led to look up the number "25" in the book, "Number In Scripture" by E.W. Bullinger. Now, most of us know that December 25th is not the actual date of our Savior's birth. Studies often place His birth sometime in September. Even so, God can speak to us in many ways if we take the time to look. Let us see what the number "25" represents according to Mr. Bullinger:
TWENTY-FIVE being the square of five (52 or 5 x 5), expresses the essence of the signification of five, i.e. grace, whether used alone or occurring as a factor in larger number..."
Even though the date (December 25) might appear to have been set up by man, God shows us that He can speak to us through it as the date the world celebrates the birth of the Son of God "25" expresses the essence of the signification of five - grace. Truly, what grace has been bestowed upon the earth by our heavenly Father through His Son Jesus Christ!
Today, let us mediate on these seven verses in Ephesians and ask the Holy Spirit to show us how to "walk worthy of the calling to which we have been called".
We find ourselves once again at that wonderful time of year with Christmas fast approaching us. So much to do this time of year and often we find it hard to reflect on the true meaning of this holiday season, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
A few years ago Billy and I did a series of devotionals entitled "25 Days of Christmas". Since my heart was stirred to present it again, I hope your heart will become filled with the wondrous and joyful meaning and significance of the birth of that holy child born over 2,000 years ago, the greatest gift given to anyone the whole world over, the gift of God's only begotten Son, given to us that we would not perish but have eternal life with Him. What an incredible gift! What incredible love.
It is my prayer that God's Gift of Love, Mercy and Grace be received by you today. God bless!
25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
Day 1
"I therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to and beg you to walk (lead a life) worthy of the [divine] calling to which you have been called [with a behavior that is a credit to the summons to God's service, living as becomes you] with complete lowliness of mind [humility] and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience, bearing one another and making allowances because you love one another. Be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of [and produced by] the Spirit in the binding power of peace. [There is] one body and one Spirit - just as there is also one hope [that belongs] to the calling you received - [there is] one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of [us] all, Who is above all [Sovereign over all], pervading all and [living] in [us] all. Yet grace [God's unmerited favor] was given to each of us individually [not indiscriminately, but in different ways] in proportion to the measure of Christ's [rich and bounteous] gift." Ephesians 4:1-7
Dear Saints, as you can see, today's devotional is a bit different than others. It is thus because the Holy Spirit is taking us on a little journey and we pray that you will join us. It all started a few days ago while looking for a Scripture for a devotional. While reading the first verse in Ephesians 4 I was led to read the next and then the next. It wasn't long before I understood that the Holy Spirit was showing me something, bringing an answer to pray that I had lifted the week before, asking for something 'special' to present to His people in honor of Him as we head into the holiday season and the celebration of Jesus' birth.
As I was reading the verses a commercial that I have seen on TV. came to my mind. In this commercial a family is celebrating the mom's birthday. The young son gives his mom a present which turns out to be his report card. The mother gets tears in her eyes as she sees that her son has progressed well in his school work - something that he had problems with before (it is a commercial for some type of learning aid) and when the boy sees his mom's joy in the report card he says something to the effect, "I thought you would like it." Well, that is what the Holy Spirit showed me, that we can give our Daddy God a gift of "learning" or "progress" of becoming the family of God and that is what Billy and I are going to focus on in this daily devotional from now until Christmas Day, striving to build the body of Christ to bless our heavenly Father and His Son. We hope that those reading this will join my husband and myself as we endeavor to work towards becoming the kids He has called us to be, knowing we are saved by grace but that it is up to us, individually, to become one with Him, building ourselves in His Spirit and His ways.
An interesting note, I was led to look up the number "25" in the book, "Number In Scripture" by E.W. Bullinger. Now, most of us know that December 25th is not the actual date of our Savior's birth. Studies often place His birth sometime in September. Even so, God can speak to us in many ways if we take the time to look. Let us see what the number "25" represents according to Mr. Bullinger:
TWENTY-FIVE being the square of five (52 or 5 x 5), expresses the essence of the signification of five, i.e. grace, whether used alone or occurring as a factor in larger number..."
Even though the date (December 25) might appear to have been set up by man, God shows us that He can speak to us through it as the date the world celebrates the birth of the Son of God "25" expresses the essence of the signification of five - grace. Truly, what grace has been bestowed upon the earth by our heavenly Father through His Son Jesus Christ!
Today, let us mediate on these seven verses in Ephesians and ask the Holy Spirit to show us how to "walk worthy of the calling to which we have been called".
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