Twelve Days for Christmas: Day 4

Reference: Warren, Rick (2008). The Purpose of Christmas. Howard Books, pp. 29-37.

In today’s reading, we continue to ask, “What, exactly, are we celebrating at Christmas?” Using the angel’s pronouncement to the shepherds, Rick Warren focuses on the eternal Truth that God is for us. “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

For many years, I pictured God as a giant man with a flowing white beard and a ready supply of punishments for those who did not toe the line. Satan uses our guilty conscience and a wrong understanding of God to make us forget that God is on our side. At Christmas, we celebrate that God is rooting for each of us with all the love and power that heaven holds.

The apostle Paul, writing to the church at Rome, posed the question we must daily ask ourselves: If God is for us, who can be against us? Our reading points out that God plus one is always a majority! We do well to follow Moses’ advice to the children of Israel, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today . . . the Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Take time today to remember that God is for you, that Christ came not to condemn the world but to save it.

May you feel His grace today,
Gail W.

The last Word:
The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.
Psalm 27: 1, 5, NIV.