Get ready to start a journey…a journey through the pages of the Bible and the pages of your life.
The journey to Jesus is seldom free of obstacles. The reality with Jesus is not always a storybook life or a storybook ending. It is often tiring and messy. The believer is not free from disappointment, discouragement, or disillusionment. Sometimes the terrain is rugged and the paths steep. But when we set our hearts on seeing Jesus, nothing will hold us back.
While there are things we don’t know about the wise men, here are the things we know for certain. These men made a great sacrifice to see Jesus. They traveled a great distance. They brought their best to him. They sought Jesus and didn’t stop until they found him. They worshiped him. That is the heart of the magi story. And…that should be the heart of our Christmas story as well.
Have you seen the Lord’s salvation? Have you experienced the peace that Jesus brings? The little baby Simeon held, grew up and went to the cross to die for your sins. It is only through Jesus that we can have peace with God. I invite you to pray the following prayer and trust in Jesus today.
Seeing Jesus transforms our lives. Trusting in him reroutes our direction. An encounter with Jesus changes everything.
They were minding their sheep and minding their business when the angel suddenly appeared. In an instant, the darkness of night turned to brilliant light. The angel, coming from the presence of God, brought with him God’s glory and the place lit up! No wonder the shepherds were terrified. But the angel addressed their fears.
Without any pomp or circumstance, a royal baby was born. In the chaos of the Roman Empire, the Prince of Peace entered the human race. All heaven looked on as God wrote his story of love in living letters. Jesus became, in Paul’s words, “the image of the invisible God.”
In our busy lives, it’s hard for some people to make room for Jesus. They keep him at a distance. The things of life fill their hearts with temporary satisfaction. But sooner or later temporal things fail to satisfy. The heart of the person who makes room for Jesus is filled, changed, and transformed.
When God sent his Son into the world, he did not make it easy for the parents or the child. He stripped the Anointed One of every royal privilege. Already tagged as an illegitimate child, Jesus breathed his first breaths of air in a musty stable. Jesus learned obedience through suffering…all the way to the cross.
Maybe something has changed your plans this Christmas. A job that didn’t go the way you expected. An illness that showed up uninvited. A relocation. A separation. A broken relationship. The loss of a loved one. Sometimes things seem to happen so randomly. But for the believer, God is always in control. Hold on! He is using today to prepare you for tomorrow. He will never waste your time.
The sovereign God used Augustus to move His chosen couple from Nazareth to Bethlehem. As the Proverb says, “In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him” (Proverbs 21:1).
We all need a Savior to save us from the sins that separate us from God. That’s the eternal salvation that Jesus came to give us! Once our eternal salvation is in place, we can trust Him for the other issues. But we must start with first things first.
The Promise was not a politician who came to change the laws of the land. The Promise was not a philosopher who came to teach morality. The Promise did not come as a military leader ready to take troops into battle. The Promise did not appear as a religious leader paving a way for man to work his way to God. The Promise “became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”