On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me…Two Turtle Doves – The Old and New Testaments

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Two Turtle Doves
The Old and New Testaments, which together bear witness to God’s self-revelation in history and the creation of a people to tell the Story of God to the world.

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Two Turtle Doves

The Old and New Testaments, which together bear witness to God’s self-revelation in history and the creation of a people to tell the Story of God to the world.
Jesus is God’s greatest gift to us. The “two turtle doves”, the Old Testament and the New Testament, testify to His goodness and mercy and love. In the end He leaves us with Peace and hope, the knowledge that He will return for us, the promise of eternal life with Him. Today, the dove, a small white delicate bird, has become identified with Peace. From the first Peace, when the dove returned to Noah’s ark carrying a freshly plucked olive leaf, a sign that Peace between God and man had returned to the earth, to the new Peace, our redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ.

On the first day of Christmas….A Partridge in a Pear Tree my Savior gave to me

On the first day of Christmas
A Partridge in a Pear Tree my Savior gave to me…A new heart filled with love. Peace on earth: Let it start within your own heart.
Good will to men: Look at your family, or those close by. Look up from this screen. There is a world around you that you are to influence. Let the good will begin in and shine from you. Someone has to start the process.

On the first day of Christmas….A Partridge in a Pear Tree my Savior gave to me
On the first day of Christmas my Savior gave to me…. A new heart filled with love
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Luke 13:34
Family, friends, carols, special gifts, special events, special . . . everything. It all seems so close. So welcome. So wonderful. And, it should. So, this season, this Christmas, what can we do to accomplish whatever is our part of the task that Jesus’ coming was meant to cause to happen?
Peace on earth: Let it start within your own heart.
Good will to men: Look at your family, or those close by. Look up from this screen. There is a world around you that you are to influence. Let the good will begin in and shine from you. Someone has to start the process.
“The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”
You and I, and our neighbors, are His purpose. We always have been. We always will be. He came to so fully change our lives that the angel’s pronouncement to Joseph had been, ” . . . and He SHALL save His people . . ..” Who would ever have thought that such a thing could be put into motion by such a seemingly common occurrence? He was just a baby that day. Helpless, susceptible to danger, small, insignificant. But, OH, how the world was forever changed.
The tinsel, the garland, the lights and ornaments. They are only but a dim reminder of how much glory God ushered into the world that day so very long ago. On their own, they are pretty sights that captivate even a child’s imagination. But, in contrast, only a small candle in comparison to the glory God gave to us that day.
Merry Christmas !! It is but one aspect of God’s wonderful gift!

The Inn Keeper

While there may not be anything directly written about the innkeeper in scripture, he played one of the most important roles in the birth of Christ. If it had not been for his willingness to give Mary and Joseph all he had, there likely would not have been a place for Mary to give birth to Jesus.

Sure, a stable was not the most ideal of places, but it was all the innkeeper had to give. We should model the innkeeper’s response in the way we respond to Christ. When Christ knocks on our heart, our first response should be to invite Him in and give Him all we have. Even if our hearts are not perfect rooms for Him to live in, Christ does not care. He loves us and desires us no matter what.

Don’t ever feel like you don’t have anything to offer Christ because of your past. Just give Him whatever you have just as the innkeeper did. Listen to the words of the innkeeper today as he shares about the small, but pivotal role he played in bringing Christ into the world and changing the rhythm of our hearts for all eternity.