December 19: Luke 1:5-25

Key Verse: Luke 1:7
But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

Devotion:
One of the things which encourages me most is reading about all the people in our bibles who never gave up hope; yes it is hard to keep on hoping when it seems like the world is falling apart and your life with it… But here, Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth still continued to show everyone that God was the centre of their lives even though they were old and had not had any children.

But far beyond the point where most of us would have given up and retired, the Lord sent an angel to come to Zechariah and tell him of some astonishing news: his prayers were going to be answered and they would finally have a son! The angel gave instructions to Zechariah and, like us, Zechariah had to ask…

So the angel Gabriel told him he would not be able to speak until the day Elizabeth gave birth and he was going to say the name of his son which the angel had told of! So, not only do we have a Zechariah who is utterly human and doubts, but we have an angel who gave specific instructions for him to follow from that moment onward!

God made sure everything went according to the way the angel spoke and both Zechariah and Elizabeth knew it came directly from God; they continued to wait patiently, now filled with even more hope that before!

Points to Ponder:
How soon do you give up waiting for God?

What do you do when God answers your prayers?

December 18: Matthew 1:18-24

Key Verse: Matthew 1:24
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

Devotion:
Sometimes God may ask you to do something which you will not be proud of or something which may make others look down on you… These things can be difficult to take on board when we are not fully trusting in God for everything in our lives. Joseph had no problems with following what God was asking of Him even though it would mean many people may turn their backs on him for taking on a wife who was already pregnant.

God is not going to ask things of us which we cannot do; sometimes they may seem like that, but with Him walking wit us we should be able to do anything! We may not understand fully what God is up to when He asks us to do something, but we can be sure it is the right thing. When God asked me to come back to the village I live in now it was a difficult decision because I had just started to get fully involved with the people where I was living at the time.

Three years on and I am still working toward what God was asking me to do. It has been a struggle and I have met more than my fair share of people who seem to want to disrupt things. I also landed up back in hospital, but I knew God put me here so went with the flow. As it turned out the surgeon looking after me went the extra mile and performed a life saving operation on me.

Trusting God does not always seem like the logical thing to do, but you can rest assured it is the right things to do. He will take care of things when you fully rely on Him!

Points to Ponder:
How far are you willing to trust God?

Will you take that extra step if He asks?

December 17: John 1:29-23

Key Verse: John 1:23
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Make straight the way for the Lord.”’

Devotion:
As we get closer to Christmas our thoughts continually turn to the live of Jesus and all it means to us. We see all the glitter and decorations and may wonder what it is all about since we should be celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! But sometimes we need to go forward and do something which will make people stop and take notice.

Some of us may not feel like it is a festive time of year because we don’t seem to have much to celebrate ourselves, or we may be remembering sad times from previous years; John sets us an example for us to stop and think about and check our own lives to see if we are heading in the right direction.

I know many of the things we see around this time of year are commercial bulldozers or even pagan rights or habits; but let us not forget the reason why this holiday is celebrated all the world round. I know it is not on the actual birth of our Saviour, or at least we don’t think it is, but it is a celebration none the less.

John came forward to “Make straight the way of the Lord.” This means he stepped up and obeyed God to do what he had been asked to do. He set aside his own life and did something out of the ordinary. He was not the Messiah, nor was he Elijah, not even a prophets, just a man who listened to God and did what was asked of him...

Points to Ponder:
How often do you do something someone asks you to do?

How often do you do what God asks of you?