Dear Followers,Don’t you hate it when people try to make religion into something that’s always somber, serious, and joyless. Yes, I came for serious reasons and paid a horrible price to redeem you. But please, never ever forget why I paid that price! I wanted you to come home to The Father with Me and to share in the great celebration at my coming and the great wedding celebration that will follow.You may think you have seen huge celebrations of joy, but wait till you experience all of heaven’s joy when you come home to share in heaven’s glory! So when I was born into your world, the angels — God’s messengers and heaven’s grand choir — burst into songs of great joy because they knew my entrance into your world would guarantee that you could enter into our world — triumphant over the sin and death that has held your tiny little blue planet in bondage since that fateful day of rebellion in the Garden.So, on this day as you celebrate My birth, join with the angels and celebrate with joy! Anticipate the greater victories that lie ahead. Yes, when I was born, the cross was ahead of me just as soon as I was placed into that feed trough wrapped in strips of cloth. But remember, as hard as the Garden of Gethsemane and the cross would be for me, I ultimately set aside My time of anguish to focus on the joy set before Me (Hebrews 12:2). I could look forward to the time when My earthly journey would be finished and I could begin to prepare to bring you home to the great wedding celebration of heaven (John 14:1-4; Revelation 19:6-10).

So sing! Shout! Rejoice! Join the angels in celebration. As my half-brother James so powerfully put it: Are any in your community suffering? They should pray. Are any celebrating? They should sing praises to God (James 5:13).

O magnificent God Who defies my limited human imagination to praise, please enter into my heart and fill it with the incredible joy and praise of the angels that filled the sky for the shepherds on the night of Your Son’s birth into our world. I pray and seek this joy in the name and on the promises of Jesus. Amen.

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Dear Disciples,Have you really made room in your heart for Me?I’m not talking about thinking about Me during Christmas season. I’m asking if you have given your heart to Me so that I can speak truth into your uncertainty, peace into your worry, hope into your discouragement, and joy into your sadness. To be My disciple means that you follow Me — you do what I’ve commanded, you follow My example, and you place Me above all other claims on your heart. So, have you made room in your heart for Me?You see, I’m sure if folks had known Who I was before I was born that there would have been many people in Bethlehem who would have made room for Me and My little family. However, most were busy with guests in town for the census or working to make a little coin off the out-of-town folks that were crowding their streets. I came to town in the womb of a simple young Jewish woman and no one noticed — at least not till the angels alerted the shepherds and they began to tell their story. So there was no room for these two simple God-fearing people expecting their first child. There was no room for Me!

Today, however, I am asking if there is room in your heart for Me? I’m not wanting a quick visit to fill your Decembers with a touch of Christmas. I’m wanting to take up permanent residency so My character and compassion can permeate your heart. I want your heart to be My home until I can bring you home to the Father and you can be at home with Us.

I’m here. I’m near. So, will you make room for Me?

O Father, I regret the many times I have let the busy-ness of my life and the burdens of my heart and the distractions of my selfishness crowd Jesus out of my heart. I intentionally open my heart and I invite You into every part of my heart, Lord Jesus. I don’t want You to be a temporary Christmas decoration in my life, but for You to have Your way with my will and for Your life to be seen through what I do and say. I pray this to the Father, through the intercession of the Spirit, and in the mighty name of Jesus, the Son and my Savior. Amen.

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Dear Beloved,The Father loves you so much that He sent Me to your world to show you that love. One of the primary goals of God’s love is your salvation — salvation FROM sin and death, as well as salvation FOR a life of blessing, purpose, meaning as well as our ultimate eternal salvation.I know it’s hard to believe that a little child in a manger could be the Savior of the world. Yet that is Who I AM. I was born to a Jewish family, with Jewish ancestry, and in fulfillment of Jewish hopes and dreams. I came to bring God’s blessings to God’s Chosen People, the Jews. But, I also came for you, whether you are Jew or non-Jew. God’s love is for all the people of the world, no matter their race, culture, language, or ethnicity. This was said about Me right before My birth:

He is the light who reveals Your [God’s] message to the other nations, and He is the shining glory of Your covenant people, Israel (Luke 2:32). So when you think of Me in the manger and celebrate my coming, remember that my coming to be Savior of the world includes My coming to be your personal Savior!”

The Father didn’t just say He loves you; He showed it, by sending Me to be your Savior!

For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life. Here’s the point. God didn’t send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction (John 3:16-17).

I am your Savior, the sinless sacrifice who is your Defender and Advocate in heaven. Yet remember, as important as you are to Me, I made this sacrifice for others, even those who don’t know me. So please let them in on My story of grace!

You are my little children, so I am writing these things to help you avoid sin. If, however, any believer does sin, we have a high-powered defense lawyer — Jesus the Anointed, the righteous — arguing on our behalf before the Father. It was through His sacrificial death that our sins were atoned. But He did not stop there — He died for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:1-2).

LORD God, Your greatness and majesty are beyond my comprehension. Having held a small child, having felt a child’s small fingers curl around my own, and having that child snuggle closely to me makes Your coming to us in baby Jesus real… personal… accessible. Thank you for loving us — loving me — so much that You came so near that we could touch you, hold you, and know you as our Savior as well as Savior of the world. In Jesus’ name I thank you! Amen.