Sunday Reading: John 8 12-16
 
Key Verse: John 8 15
15  You judge after the flesh, I judge no one.

Devotion:
How many times do we look at others and make up our mind about them before we even get to know them? I know that I still do and remind myself that Christ has told us not to every time I do. A good lesson to learn is to try and see yourself as others may see you and then compare that with what you actually know about yourself – how then do we have the right to judge others if we know what we do get up to. Simply put, we don’t! Jesus was without sin and yet He Himself said that He does not judge others for what they are.

If we are willing to bring our faults forward to God and admit to Him that we are the sinners that we are, then He is willing and just to forgive us of those faults. He wants us to be able to live with Him and not to be eternally separated from Him. He wants us to be able to live our lives as an open book with Him, not trying to hide things (because that is impossible anyway) and not trying to cover things up (again impossible). And yet, even though He continues to see and know what we do, He is still willing to put that all behind us when we come to Him in faith.

We are not going to get a certificate to show others that we have been forgiven. We are not going to get a prize for being the most forgiven. We cannot compare ourselves with others because we do not know what others are like inside. What we can do is get to know ourselves better and get to know God better. Getting to know Him better will allow us to be able to be more willing to come forward with more confidence and know that He is on our side, He is behind us, He is in front of us and He will forever be with us as we continue to come to Him in faith. How can we not love our Saviour knowing that He knows us and yet He still wants to know us!

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you can hide things?

Do you bring things forward to Christ?

Saturday Reading: John 3 16-17
 
Key Verse: John 3 17
17  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.

Devotion:
As our pastor reminded us in our service on Christmas day, we celebrate Christ’s birth every year but the real reason why He came to live amongst men was so that He could save us from our sins. We do celebrate His birth because it was the day that our Saviour arrived on earth for is 30 odd years ministry to us all. Every day we hear from God through just about everything in life that He does for us and yet how often do we remember to thank Him for all He does? Every year we celebrate Christmas by giving presents to others just as God gave us the most wonderful gift that we could ever imagine. Every year we thank those that give us gifts for all that they give us and all that they do for us – yet how often do we thank Christ for what He personally came to do?

God sent His only begotten Son into this world so that He would be able to save us from the sin death that we face. This is not saving us from a physical & earthly death but from an everlasting spiritual death. What would you think of having Christmas every day – not the extravagant consumption of just about anything and everything but rather the love that is shared through companionship; that hug you may get once a year; that present to say “I was thinking of you”. Imagine being able to enjoy that every day for the rest of your life. That cannot compare to the joy that we will receive in Heaven with Christ but it will allow us to stop and think...

That is what God has done for us and continues to remind us of all the time. He has made our eternal security absolute! He demonstrates His absolute love all the time. Let us therefore aim to do something different this coming year. Let us aim to live for Christ. Let us aim to remember what He does for us. Let us aim to thank Him every day for all that He has accomplished for each one of us.

Points to Ponder:
Did you have a special Christmas?
 
Are you keeping God in your life?

Friday Reading: Luke 2 1-21

Key Verse: Luke 2 21
21  And when eight days were fulfilled to circumcise the child, His name was called JESUS, the name called by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

Devotion:
And it happened in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.  (This taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)  And all went to be registered, each to his own city.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee to be taxed (out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David).  And he took Mary his betrothed wife, being with child.  And while they were there, the days for her deliverance were fulfilled.  And she brought forth her son, the First-born, and wrapped Him, and laid Him in a manger-- because there was no room for them in the inn.  
And in the same country there were shepherds living in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And lo, the angel of the Lord came on them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were grievously afraid.  And the angel said to them, Do not fear. For behold, I give to you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For to you is born today, in the city of David, a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this is a sign to you. You will find the babe wrapped, lying in a manger.  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.  And it happened as the angels departed from them into Heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Indeed, let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing which has happened, which the Lord made known to us.  And hurrying they came and sought out both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger.  And seeing, they publicly told about the word spoken to them concerning this Child.  And all those who heard marvelled about the things spoken to them by the shepherds.  But Mary kept all these sayings, meditating in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as was spoken to them.  And when eight days were fulfilled to circumcise the child, His name was called JESUS, the name called by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

What better way can we celebrate other than by reading the Christmas story to remind ourselves that we do have a Saviour born today!

Thursday Reading: Luke 1 26-38
 
Key Verse: Luke 1 31
31  And behold! You shall conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name JESUS.

Devotion:
We can only look upon the Christmas story in wonder. How could such an awesome God come up with anything more perfect to show us just how much He really does love us? How could such a God lower Himself to such as position just to convince us of His love?

In a time where governments and leaders around the world are bowing down and giving in to religions that do not bear God’s truth people up and down the land are being forced to change or ignore the truth just to keep those others happy. Well, now is not the time to bury the truth and let things slide. Now is the time to stand up for Christ and give everyone the truth. Let people up and down the land remember the real Christmas story, the one where Christ is King, the one where He is Lord, the one where we celebrate the birth of our Dear Lord Jesus.

As much as we would like to know the exact day and even hour of Christ’s birth, it is not those facts that are important. The fact that Jesus was born of a virgin as was prophesied and the fact that God continues to allow us to find out that truth is what counts. The more the politicians and leaders try to lift themselves up, the more they let down God. Just like Pilot they will try to hide Christ so that they can remain in power... When will they wake up to the fact that if they supported Christ then little things like that would not matter! When will they let go of their self importance and let God in. God came in as a mere human so that He could show us the way. Jesus Christ was born! We have a Saviour. Let all people rejoice!

Points to Ponder:
Are you ready for Christmas?

Is Christ at the centre of your celebrations?