Daily Devotionals
Monday, December 2, 2024 (Mary Ann)
All I want for Christmas …
So last week we focused on giving thanks to God for all his blessings… as we should every day of our lives.
Ah but we forget. Just like the Israelites. I remember wondering what on earth was wrong with those people. God performed miracle after miracle for them — plagues to convince Pharaoh to release them from slavery, parting the Red Sea, providing food like clockwork every day for years in their wandering, etc. — but then like in 2 seconds, they forgot and worshiped a tacky calf made out of gold. Dummies!
My idols look different. But the memory problem is the same.
So this year I’d like to switch it up in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and I was challenged to do that by a sermon I heard on the radio this past week. Basically, the challenge was to go beyond praising God for what he has done, to praising him simply for WHO HE IS.
… to know him
By only praising God for what he has done, isn’t our view of God being formed at the expense of why he has done it? Does it make us like those ancient Israelites asking, “So what have you done for us lately, Lord?” That’s why my challenge goal this Christmas is to know God better by taking one facet of God at a time, studying it, meditating on it, maybe even memorizing Scriptures on that facet until I’m overwhelmed by it.
Take love for instance. God does what he does because God is love. It is his very nature and the Word of God is packed with proof. Check out these verses. (But they’re only for starters):
Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved.
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
… to praise him
Remember these lines from an old hymn? I think the author had been brought to his knees by trying to grasp the love of God:
The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell;
it goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell….
Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made;
were ev’ry stalk on earth a quill, and everyone a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry;
nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.
Our search to know God will show us that his love has no limits. He can never stop loving us; his love is unconditional. God’s love is holy.
And this love is just one characteristic of our Heavenly Father. So dear Sisters, we will never ever run out of reasons to praise God, and here are other facets to choose from: He is faithful. He is merciful. He is perfect grace. He is holy. He is all-knowing. He is all-powerful. He is omnipresent. He is infinite and has always existed. He never changes. He is wise. He is good. He is just. He is unchangeable. He is gracious. He is holy. He is glorious.
Granted, digging into who our God is will take time. All of Eternity, in fact, but there’s no time like this Christmas season to get started!
Mary Ann
So last week we focused on giving thanks to God for all his blessings… as we should every day of our lives.
Ah but we forget. Just like the Israelites. I remember wondering what on earth was wrong with those people. God performed miracle after miracle for them — plagues to convince Pharaoh to release them from slavery, parting the Red Sea, providing food like clockwork every day for years in their wandering, etc. — but then like in 2 seconds, they forgot and worshiped a tacky calf made out of gold. Dummies!
My idols look different. But the memory problem is the same.
So this year I’d like to switch it up in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and I was challenged to do that by a sermon I heard on the radio this past week. Basically, the challenge was to go beyond praising God for what he has done, to praising him simply for WHO HE IS.
… to know him
By only praising God for what he has done, isn’t our view of God being formed at the expense of why he has done it? Does it make us like those ancient Israelites asking, “So what have you done for us lately, Lord?” That’s why my challenge goal this Christmas is to know God better by taking one facet of God at a time, studying it, meditating on it, maybe even memorizing Scriptures on that facet until I’m overwhelmed by it.
Take love for instance. God does what he does because God is love. It is his very nature and the Word of God is packed with proof. Check out these verses. (But they’re only for starters):
Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved.
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
… to praise him
Remember these lines from an old hymn? I think the author had been brought to his knees by trying to grasp the love of God:
The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell;
it goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell….
Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made;
were ev’ry stalk on earth a quill, and everyone a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry;
nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.
Our search to know God will show us that his love has no limits. He can never stop loving us; his love is unconditional. God’s love is holy.
And this love is just one characteristic of our Heavenly Father. So dear Sisters, we will never ever run out of reasons to praise God, and here are other facets to choose from: He is faithful. He is merciful. He is perfect grace. He is holy. He is all-knowing. He is all-powerful. He is omnipresent. He is infinite and has always existed. He never changes. He is wise. He is good. He is just. He is unchangeable. He is gracious. He is holy. He is glorious.
Granted, digging into who our God is will take time. All of Eternity, in fact, but there’s no time like this Christmas season to get started!
Mary Ann
