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Christmas Day is only nine days away! Does anyone else feel like time is passing more quickly than ever before? I feel that way! When you are young, time seems to go slowly, but once you get older and start having children and then grandchildren, it is as if time shifts into warp speed. It is important that we enjoy each day, spend it with those we love, and seek to live each day for the glory of God.
I am calling my Christmas sermon series at Great Hills Baptist Church "Christmas Joy", and I want to share a version of it with you here in our daily devotions. My focus in these messages is on the life of Jesus and how He gives joy to all who follow Him. We could use some joy in our world! There are wars in the Middle East and Europe, and the threat of war in Asia. There is much fear, confusion, and even chaos in our nation and all over the world, just like it was on that first Christmas when Jesus came from heaven to earth to be born of the Virgin Mary.
Here is the biblical text for this week's devotions on Christmas Joy: Luke 1:39-45:
"Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord."
I have never preached or written about this passage of Scripture, but I have thoroughly enjoyed studying this text over the last several weeks. It has so much to teach us and is so theologically rich. The context is, Mary has conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:35 says, "And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.'"
She is a virgin, and as prophesied in Scripture, she will as a virgin give birth to a Son. The angel Gabriel told Mary that her cousin, Elizabeth, was six months pregnant. Luke 1:36-37 states, "Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible."
Do you need to be reminded of this promise in God's Word that nothing is too hard for Him?
This biblical text pulsates with joy. May the joy of the Lord encompass you during the Christmas Season and all year long. Do not give up or lose hope. The Lord has a way of showing up at the last moment and working miracles.
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