12 Days of Christmas is‪…‬ Cypress Church

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped Him snugly in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. - Luke 2:6-7 (NLT)

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Merry Christmas! I hope your Christmas Day is off to a great start, and even though it looks and feels different this year, I pray that you and your family are able to take time to pause and reflect on the significance of today.

Many of us received gifts today, and I genuinely hope you received what you asked for this year. In fact, I want you to think about your favorite gift ever. Everyone has one! Maybe it was your first iPhone, or the comfiest pair of slippers ever made, or was it the Red Ryder BB Gun? Whatever it was for you that made that Christmas the best one ever, there’s a good chance that you’re not quite as excited about it today. The truth is all material gifts provide us with short-term joy. Think about it. The Good News is that the gift wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in the manger is not of this world. The gift of Jesus isn’t going to go stale and you’ll never outgrow Him like you did last year’s Christmas sweater. I mean, name a gift given over 2000 years ago that is still changing the world today.

Before or after you open presents, take some time either by yourself or as a family to pause and read the Christmas story together in Luke 2:1-20. Talk about what makes this gift different. In a year where the word “different” has characterized nearly every aspect of our lives, let’s lean into it. Christmas 2020 is different, and Jesus coming to earth is different. However, that “different” gift given long ago ended up being the greatest gift the world has ever seen.

Thank you so much to everyone that joined us on this 12-Day Christmas Devotional journey. Have a wonderful Christmas day and we’ll see you online for our family worship experience this weekend!

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. - John 16:33 (NLT)

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It’s Christmas Eve! Now before you jump back into your to-do list for the day, I want to pause for just a minute and talk about the one thing that all people want to possess. Regardless of your upbringing, or even your religious affiliation, I believe all people seek a calming sense of peace in their life. And yet, year after year, the holiday season and Christmas Eve plans, expectations, and schedules tend to stir up more harried hassle and hustle than calming cocoa and wassail. This might surprise you, but this hurried commotion is probably a lot like what the day before the first Christmas was like. Think of a peaceful situation.

I imagine you’re probably not envisioning a mad dash back to your hometown with your pregnant wife on a donkey, only to find out that there’s nowhere for you to stay or even a place for her to give birth. As if that weren’t enough, there’s also a foreign king who wants to kill your baby.

Not exactly the picture of peace, am I right?

But this changes. As you go on to read about the moments that follow Jesus’s birth, you can’t help but pick up on the peaceful reality that the King of Kings and Savior of the world had been delivered. Although this moment didn’t change the outward circumstances, or the fact that this lower-class family still had plenty of challenges down the road, they were still able to find peace in the moment.

The next two days are going to be busy. There are so many distractions surrounding us, and if your family is anything like mine, then the annual Christmas family fight is coming soon! But I challenge you to intentionally carve out these peaceful moments. Take some time today to pause and appreciate the peace that comes in knowing the value of the true gift that we celebrate tomorrow.

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those He called—His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance. - Ephesians 1:18 (NLT)

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Hope.

Hope is the secret to hanging on even in the midst of life’s craziest circumstances. It’s the light at the end of the tunnel that propels us onward when all we want to do is give up, and I think we can all admit that 2020 has been a tunnel unlike any other we’ve ever seen. The political turmoil, racial tensions, economic instability, not to mention the virus that has stuck around far longer than any of us expected. Though these worldly events can certainly disappoint and frustrate us, they are unable to cripple us because of this powerful four-letter word that we possess as believers: Hope.

Hope transcends whatever current realities we are facing because its prize is of eternal significance. We know that the anchor of our hope is not rooted in a political party or vaccine, and it also isn’t something we have to muster up or create for ourselves. The hope we hold is a free gift for all who believe, and it was made available when Jesus entered into our fallen world in order to free us from sin and allow us to enter into a personal relationship with Him.

The good news that I want to share with you today is that by accepting that personal relationship, you have enrolled yourself in the benefit of hope which has the ability to transform every aspect of your life. You can lift your eyes and fix them on the light at the end of the tunnel that will never fade or disappear. Because of this hope, we can think differently, grieve differently, believe differently, and live differently. Oh, what a precious gift!

I remember the days of old. I ponder all Your great works and think about what You have done. I lift my hands to You in prayer. I thirst for You as parched land thirsts for rain. - Psalm 143:5-6 (NLT)

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Christmas is nostalgic. Everyone feels it, but it can be difficult to express. Now, you probably haven’t used this word since your 5th-grade spelling test, so I’ll give you the definition.

Nostalgia is a sentimental longing or affection for the past, typically for a place with happy personal memories.

Christmas has the ability to bring us back in time unlike any other time of the year. Whether it’s walking through grandma and grandpa’s small town and seeing the little shops decorated in lights or smelling sugar cookies baking in the oven with a crackling fire in the fireplace, there are certain elements of the Christmas season that strike a chord with past emotions.

Nostalgia isn’t necessarily good or bad, but it is important to consider the potential effect it can have on you. The Bible is clear that when it comes to dealing with the past, it’s important to find a balance. The truth is you can wreck your life by neglecting the past but living exclusively in the past can cause you to disregard the joys of life today.

It’s all about finding that balance between appreciation for what was and hopeful anticipation for what is to come.

So today, I’m asking you to spend 60 seconds thinking about a person who had a significant impact on your Christmas experience growing up. Write their name down and spend time thanking God for their presence in your life. Then, spend 60 seconds thinking about a person that you could positively impact this Christmas season and commit to praying for them over the next four days. Write their name down too and put both names where you can see them. Over the coming days, pray that God begins to create a healthy balance within you of admiring the past and hoping for the future.

So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised. - Hebrews 10:35-36 (NLT)

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Every Christmas tree begins as a seed, and I can’t be the only one amazed at how something so small can grow over time to something so magnificent! There’s a lesson here: we all have to start somewhere small and be willing to trust God and dream big!

Isn’t it ironic that the man who came to rescue the entire world started His journey in a stable designed for farm animals? He wasn’t raised in the home of a wealthy or royal family, but rather, He grew up being known around town as “the carpenter’s kid.” Yet Jesus and Mary and Joseph didn’t question the process God had laid out before them. They understood that this was just the beginning.

It is often these humble beginnings that allow us to develop the trust and the fortitude required to accomplish the goals God has set before us.

So today, whatever goal or dream God has put on your heart to chase, I want to remind you that it’s important to recognize that you have to start somewhere. Instead of dreading the beginning stages of saving for that house, or looking for that new job, we can enjoy these seasons of new beginnings as they often teach us things that prepare us for the future. My challenge for you today is to take on whatever may seem to be a small task with a long road ahead. Start now and be faithful to trust the process because there’s no limit to what God can do! As exciting and important as Christmas is to our relationship with God, it was just the first step that set His glorious plan to save all of humanity into motion. Start today!

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen! - Isaiah 9:6-7 (NLT)

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Hey there! My name is Jackson and welcome to day seven of our “Christmas is” AdventDevotional. There are probably several of you out there who have been following our journey so far and would say to yourself, “You know, these daily thoughts have been encouraging and inspiring, but to be completely honest, this Christmas doesn’t feel like the most wonderful time of the year.” If that’s you, you’re not alone!

I thought it would be helpful to pause today and acknowledge the fact that Christmas can be and is difficult. Maybe this is going to be the first Christmas without mom or dad, or maybe it’s the first year of not being able to see family because of COVID restrictions. Whatever your reason is, it’s okay to recognize and admit the fact that Christmas 2020 is different and it’s difficult. Knowing that, I also want to encourage you with the reminder that the baby born in a manger all those years ago turned into a King over all people, all nations, and yes, even all circumstances.

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

These aren’t just names; they’re declarations describing the kind of God we serve! So today, don’t shove aside or sweep whatever difficult emotions you might be feeling under a rug. The Bible doesn’t teach us that we have to hide or mask our emotions. But I do want to remind you that you don’t have to stay there. Don’t allow the difficulties of today to overshadow the truth of what it means that Jesus is King over all people for all seasons.