Christian Reflection and Prayer

December 27, 2013

Scripture:

Read Matthew 3:1-17. TEXT: John bore witness about Him
and cried out, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes
after me ranks before me, because He was before me'"
(John 1:15).

It's been another long Christmas season and you may be
ready to put away the decorations for another year. But
before you pack up the manger scene, first stop and take a
long look at that baby. What did He look like in the flesh?
His divinity was so completely hidden within His human body
most would have passed by without giving Him a second
glance. But encountering John the Baptist would have been
a completely different story.

"John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt
around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey"
(see Matthew 3:4). The fiery wilderness prophet warned the
people of Israel to turn from their sins and be baptized
because the Kingdom of God was at hand. John stirred up
so much excitement that people began wondering if he was
the promised Christ.

John immediately put that question to rest, "He who comes
after me ranks before me, because He was before me"
(see John 1:30). Yes, John may have been born six months
before Jesus and began his ministry first, but Jesus definitely
ranked supreme. John adds, "He ranks before me because
He was before me." 

The Baptist's words line up perfectly with what the apostle
John has been writing all along. Jesus of Nazareth is no
mere human. He is the only-begotten Son of God who has
existed from eternity. Now He dwells among us in human
flesh.

THE PRAYER: 

Heavenly Father, thank You for raising up John the Baptist
to witness to Your Son Jesus, our Savior. Give me courage
and wisdom to share with my friends, family and neighbors
all that Jesus has done for our salvation. In Jesus' Name.
Amen.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)

December 26

Scripture:

Read Numbers 9:15-23. TEXT: And we have seen His glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and
truth (see John 1:14).

How would you like to lift up your eyes any time of day or
night and look upon the glory of God? The Israelites who left
Egypt enjoyed that privilege for 40 years. The Lord revealed
His glory in the pillar that led them across the wilderness to
the Promised Land. By day it was a pillar of cloud, by night
a pillar of fire. After Israel settled into the Promised Land the
pillar disappeared. God was still present in their midst, but
their eyes could no longer perceive His glory.

On that first Christmas God's glory shone briefly around the
shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem. But when they
ran into the little town they saw nothing special, just an
ordinary-looking baby who was "wrapped in swaddling cloths
and lying in a manger" (see Luke 2:12). No halo shone
around His head. The fullness of the deity was concealed
within the tabernacle of Jesus' infant body.

His glory as the Son of God would not be revealed until His
Baptism at age 30. Only then did He begin revealing His
divine glory through His words and His miracles,
demonstrating His power over disease, accidents, nature,
demons ... even death.

Today His glory is hidden in common, ordinary things like
the words of the Bible, the water of Baptism and the bread
and wine of Holy Communion. But we can rest assured that
since Jesus satisfied God's wrath at our sins through His
suffering and death, we will live with him forever, always
looking upon His dazzling glory.

THE PRAYER: 

Lord Jesus, because of all You accomplished in Your first
coming at Bethlehem, I will stand faultless when You come
again in glory. Keep me in this faith so I will always be
ready for that great day. Amen.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)

Christmas Day

Scripture:

Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalms 98:1-6; Hebrews 1:1-6;
(John 1:1-18).

"The Word was made flesh, he lived among us"
(John 1:14).

On this Christmas day, I'd like to share with you a lessor-
known classic from years ago that never made it beyond
the pages of a Tennessee newspaper. The folksy language
and main character may well remind you of the 1940s film,
and for many, like the plot in "It's A Wonderful Life" this
story will "ring true" -- perhaps because it is true. The
article begins:

"On a Saturday night before Christmas, thirteen year-old
David received his weekly salary as usual. But he didn't go
home. He had a special delivery of his own to make.

"First he went down to the lot where the Christmas trees
were being sold. When he'd given a number of the trees his
careful inspection, he bought one and loaded it on his bicycle.
Then he wheeled it over to the home of a steady customer.
She was seventy-one, and she had been blind for
thirty-seven years.

"'It's me, David from Speedway,' he said when she came to
the door. And then David walked in and set up the tree and
talked cheerily as he trimmed it with the lights and
decorations he had brought along.

"The woman could hardly speak. Even as David was leaving
she could only mumble her thanks. But the old lady was
thrilled. She kept reaching out to touch the tree's branches
and to breathe its forest-fresh fragrance. 'I'm seventy-one
years old, she kept saying over and over. 'I'm seventy-one
years old and I've never had a tree.'

The author concludes, "Delivery boys come in all shapes
and sizes and some of them bring more to their jobs than
work."

OUR DELIVERER CAME IN THE SHAPE OF A SMALL BABY
WRAPPED IN SWADELLING CLOTHS LYING IN A HUMBLE
MANGER.  HE BROUGHT MORE TO HIS JOB, FOR HE
CAME TO SAVE THE WORLD!

GOD IS WITH US!

MERRY CHRISTMAS