December 22: 1 Samuel 1:24-28

Key Verse: 1 Samuel 1:27
I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.

Devotion:
What has the birth of Samuel got to do with Christmas? Well, it’s not the birth but the actions of his mother we are looking at here. This is the same women who was crying in the temple begging God to give her a son and promising she would bring him to the temple to serve with the priests if God allowed her to become pregnant.

God answered Hannah’s prayers and she delivered on her promise to God. This is what we are looking at today. Elizabeth brought up her son to be the one who would prepare the way for Jesus. Mary brought up her son knowing he was the Messiah, and did her best to make sure he was ready for his ministry. Each of these woman had no issue with submitting to God!

I don’t know about you, but I have asked God to do things for me in the past and said I would do my best to remain loyal to Him. I know He has answered my prayers and I know I have done what I can to remain loyal; but I have fallen short because I was not strong enough at certain times. Samuel remained strong. John remained strong. Jesus was the episteme of strength!

We should be more than willing to stand firm and praise God all the time. We should be more than willing to stand by our bibles and continue to share the gospel. Jesus has done so much for us and because of that we should be more than willing to do more for Him. This Christmas why not try and do something to show people you love God & all of His people!

Points to Ponder:
Do you ask things of God?

Is He asking something of you?

December 21: Luke 1:39-45

Key Verse: Luke 1:44
As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

Devotion:
As we draw closer to celebrating Christmas, how are you going to mark the memory of the time of our Saviour’s birth? I have done different things over the years from doing absolutely nothing to spending most of the day with other like-minded people enjoying worship and prayers and feasts… but none of this is any good unless we do know this is all about celebrating the birth of our Saviour!

When a pregnant Mary visited Elizabeth, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb kicked with excitement when she heard Mary’s greeting! I can remember watching my wife’s belly as the baby (my son) kicked when I talked to him; the joy that brings you is incredible. Elizabeth must have been very happy to hear the voice of Mary, but the baby was even more thrilled!

What am I getting at here – we really do need to remember Christmas is all about the birth of Christ as well as being with family. Some of us do not have family to go to, or we are separated from family by great distances, but we can still be with them in thought and love. We have the luxury of being able to call people far away using telephones with cameras! Back then you jumped on a mule (if you were lucky) and road for a full day to see someone!

But remember Christ in all of this and give Him thanks for starting this all off in the beginning. He knew we were going to mess things up so He came in person to make sure we could be forgiven by God the Father despite all we have done in our lives!

Points to Ponder:
How are you celebrating Christmas?

Will you stop and thank Christ for being here for you?

December 20: Isaiah 7:10-14

Key Verse: Isaiah 7:13
Then Isaiah said, ‘Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also?

Devotion:
How full of faith do you think you are? How many times have you asked God to do something? How many times have you continued to ask God to do that same thing? How many times have you given up? How many times have you asked God to show you a sign to prove He is there?

If we are honest then I think we will find the answers to these question can be a little concerning when we look back on our prayer life. When the Lord spoke to Ahaz and told him to ask God for a sign he refused to do so because he did not want to put God to the test – he knew his faith had to be strong enough for him to trust God and not to tempt God into proving Himself!

Often we do ask people to prove themselves before we will trust them – unfortunately this comes from a long history of asking people to do things and them never getting round to doing anything! This is a human trait and not one which God subscribes to! When He says something we can take it as a promise and the truth, no matter what!

Many years before Jesus was born, the prophets foretold of His coming and how He would be born to a virgin and how He would overcome all sin debt on earth. These are now things we can look back on as happening a couple of thousand years ago… but we still have to have faith these facts are real and have faith to continue to rely on Christ because of all He has done for us – even though it is all historical...

Points to Ponder:
How do you describe your faith?

How often do you hide you faith?