December-Branches-Blank_Production-Master

Advent Devotionals from
Classic Christmas Passages
3
Galatians 4:4-5 — But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the
law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
I’m thankful for many ministries that allow us to provide
Christmas presents for children who don’t have parents
to do that for them. But imagine the difference if such an
orphan were to receive – rather than candy, a toy, or a game –
a father, adoption into a new family! Now there’s an ongoing
source of relationship as well as provision year round – not
merely for one day but for every day.
This is indeed the glory of Christmas. God doesn’t send
his Son into the world merely with a few one-time gifts:
forgiveness for a single sin, a second chance at life, a meal to
fill your stomach for a day. No, Jesus comes to invite us into
a family, to seat us at the King’s table forever, to invite us into
an eternal relationship as sons of a Heavenly Father.
Our adoption means that we have access to God whenever
we want to talk with him, promised provision of daily bread
and whatever needs we may encounter, loving discipline that
molds our hearts and never rejects us, an eternal inheritance
that can never perish, spoil, or fade. Praise the Lord!
The first Christmas gift – God sending his Son to us to
adopt us into his family – is the gift that keeps on giving. We
celebrate it to this day, and we will never stop living in the
good care of our Father as we dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Respond
Reflect on what it means to you to have God as your Father. How does that impact the relationship you feel
with Him? How does it impact the way you live? Share your reflection with someone who doesn’t know the
Father’s love for him/her.
4
Philippians 2:5-7 — Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the
form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of
a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
I
love movies where someone travels great distances and
overcomes many obstacles to make it to his loved ones for
Christmas. Has someone ever journeyed hours to be with
you? Doesn’t that communicate something about their love
for you?
Now consider the great distance Jesus traveled in the
incarnation, the first Christmas journey. In the words of the
great Christmas hymn, he went from thrones to a manger,
sapphire-paved courts to stable floor. He journeyed from glory
and comfort into a world of humility and pain. He refused to
let anything keep him from us as he literally moved heaven
and earth to enter our mess, to take on our infirmities, to be
familiar with our suffering.
If we are to love others as Jesus has loved us (and we are),
if we are to have his mind among ourselves (and we are), if
we are to walk in his steps (and we are), then our footsteps
will carry us toward pain, brokenness, and suffering. There
is plenty of mess, sin, and hurt in our world these days, but I
find that I’m usually seeking to move away from it rather than
toward it. Christmas reminds me this is not the path my Savior
chose. The footprints of the incarnation are traveling a long
way in the other direction.
Like a firefighter rushing into a burning building while others
are rushing out, Jesus calls us to enter the mess of others’
lives even at great cost to ourselves. Recall that it would
cost him his very life. So in calling us to live “incarnationally”
and “sacrificially,” he doesn’t call us to go anywhere we can’t
already see his footprints.
Respond
Where would “incarnational” living take you? Whose pain or mess are you avoiding that Jesus would call
you to engage? Pray God would give you courage and perseverance to walk a long journey in the direction
of your Savior’s footprints.
BRANCHES 5 DECEMBER 2019