Day 2 - Monday - Christmas Daily Devotions - Logos

 Morning, December 25 Go To Evening Reading

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and call his name Immanuel.”

—Isaiah 7:14

Let us today go down to Bethlehem, and in company with wondering shepherds and adoring Magi, let us see him who was born King of the Jews, for we by faith can claim an interest in him, and can sing, “Unto us, a child is born, unto us a son is given.” Jesus is Jehovah incarnate, our Lord and our God, and yet our brother and friend; let us adore and admire. Let us notice his miraculous conception at the very first glance. It was a thing unheard of before, and unparalleled since, that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son. The first promise ran thus, “The seed of the woman,” not the man's offspring. Since a venturous woman led the way in the sin which brought forth Paradise lost, she, and she alone, ushers in the Regainer of Paradise. Our Saviour, although indeed man, was as to his human nature, the Holy One of God. Let us reverently bow before the holy Child whose innocence restores to manhood its ancient glory, and let us pray that he may be formed in us, the hope of glory. Fail not to note his humble parentage. His mother has been described simply as “a virgin,” not a princess, or prophetess, nor a matron of a large estate. True the blood of kings ran in her veins; nor was her mind a weak and untaught one, for she could sing most sweetly a song of praise; but yet how humble her position, how poor the man to whom she stood affianced, and how miserable the accommodation afforded to the new-born King!

Immanuel, God is with us in our nature, sorrow, lifework, punishment, grave, and now with us, or instead, we are with him in the resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendor.

Go To Morning Reading Evening, December 25

“And it was so when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.”

—Job 1:5

What the patriarch did early in the morning, after the family festivities, it will be well for the believer to do for himself ere he rests tonight. Amid the cheerfulness of household gatherings, it is easy to slide into sinful levities and to forget our avowed character as Christians. It ought not to be so, but so it is that our days of feasting are very seldom days of sanctified enjoyment but too frequently degenerate into unhallowed mirth. There is a way of joy as pure and sanctifying as though one bathed in the rivers of Eden: holy gratitude should be quite as purifying an element as grief. Alas! For our poor hearts, those facts prove that the house of mourning is better than the house of feasting. Come, believer, in what have you sinned to-day? Have you been forgetful of your high calling? Have you been even as others in idle words and loose speeches? Then, confess the sin and fly to the sacrifice. The sacrifice sanctifies. The precious blood of the Lamb slain removes the guilt and purges away the defilement of our sins of ignorance and carelessness. This is the best ending to a Christmas day—to wash anew in the cleansing fountain. Believer, come to this sacrifice continually; if it is so good tonight, it is good every night. To live at the altar is the privilege of the royal priesthood; to them, sin, great as it is, is nevertheless no cause for despair since they draw near yet again to the sin-atoning victim, and their conscience is purged from dead works.

Gladly, I close this festive day,

Grasping the altar’s hallow horn,

My slips and faults are washed away,

The Lamb has all my trespass borne.

 Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896. Print.

December 25: Laziness and Lions

Jeremiah 49:1–39; Romans 11:25–12:8; Proverbs 26:12–28

When we consider ourselves wise, we risk losing perspective on the truth and making others feel small. The Proverbs often discuss this problem, remarking, “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Prov 26:12). This foolishness doesn’t just appear when we elevate ourselves or fail to consider others; it also shows up when we fail to consider our own needs.

When we’re lazy or do less than we can, we’re actually sinning—ignoring what God meant us to be and thus holding back His plan, not just our productivity. One of the Proverbs says, “A lazy person says ‘A lion is in the road! A lion among the streets!’ … A lazy person buries his hands in the dish; he is too tired to return it to his mouth. A lazy person is wiser in his eyes than seven who answer discreetly” (Prov 26:13, 15–16). The Bible’s condemnation of laziness makes sense for hyperbolic situations like lions showing up or someone too lazy to eat. Still, it is even more practical when applied to regular situations.

If you consider many of the problems in our world—hunger, water, sanitation, or medical issues—it becomes clear that laziness and funds are often the obstacles preventing us from resolving them. If we stopped ignoring the lions and considered ourselves so wise, we would be able to help many people in need. We would also stop hurting those around us with our arrogance.

God wants to intercede in our world. He wants to use us to do so—we just have to step up.

What type of laziness are you excusing?

John D. Barry

 Barry, John D., and Rebecca Kruyswijk. Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012. Print.

December 25th

His birth and our new birth

Behold, a virgin shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emanuel, interpreted as God with us. Isaiah 7:14 (R.V.).

His Birth in History. “Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not evolve out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being; he is a Being Who cannot be accounted for by the human race. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate, God coming into human flesh, coming into it from outside. His life is the Highest and the Holiest, entering at the lowest door. Our Lord’s birth was an advent.

His Birth in Me. “Of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you” (Gal. 4:19). Just as Our Lord came into human history from outside, so He must come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a ‘Bethlehem’ for the Son of God? I cannot enter into the realm of the Kingdom of God unless I am born from above by birth, totally unlike natural birth. “Ye must be born again.” This is not a command; it is a foundation fact. The characteristic of the new birth is that I yield myself so ultimately to God that Christ is formed in me. Immediately, Christ is formed in me, and His nature begins to work through me.

God manifests in the flesh—that is what the Redemption made profoundly possible for you and me.

 Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986. Print.

December 25

A multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest

Luke 2:13, 14

Angels had been present on many august occasions, and they had joined in many a solemn chorus to the praise of their Almighty Creator. They were present at the creation: “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” They had seen many a planet fashioned between the palms of Jehovah and wheeled by His eternal hands through the infinitude of space. They had sung solemn songs over many a world the Great One had created. We doubt not; they had often chanted, “Blessing and honor, and glory, and majesty, and power, and dominion, and might, be unto him that sitteth on the throne,” manifesting Himself in the work of creation. I doubt not, too, that their songs had gathered force through the ages. When they first created, their first breath was a song, so when they saw God create new worlds, their song received another note; they rose a little higher in the gamut of adoration. But this time, when they saw God stoop from His throne and become a babe hanging upon a woman’s breast, they lifted their notes higher still, and reaching to the uttermost stretch of angelic music, they gained the highest notes of the divine scale of praise, and they sang, “Glory to God in the highest,” for higher in goodness they felt God could not go. Thus, they gave Him the highest praise in His Godhead's highest act.

Spurgeon

 Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.