Main Point and Overview:
Before Emmanuel took on human flesh and came to dwell among me, there was a lot of discouragement in that day. From hypocritical religious leaders using religion as a tool to manipulate others and Roman authorities forcing Jews to submit to their outrageous economic expectations, people were hopeless. Then, Jesus came and reversed the fortunes of the world! What cannot be lost is how he accomplished his plan. God the Son was not born among popular dignitaries; he was born of a peasant woman. He did not come down a street in a parade; he was born in an animal feeding trough. His birth was not announced among the rich and famous; the message was instead given to the most social outcasts in society of that day…the shepherds. In fact, the King of Glory came without pomp and circumstance, in the lowliest of ways, and that is exactly why Jesus is God’s greatest gift! His birth signified hope…in all of the right ways. Just like then, today we carry a lot of the same kinds of baggage. We struggle to understand our purpose, therefore, we often make wrong decisions. We fear the future, therefore, we live in a constant state of needless anxiety. We live in the failures of the past; therefore, guilt floods our souls keeping us from advancing God’s purpose in us. We live in the shadows of people’s perceptions; therefore, we have no confidence to live by faith. We carry a lot of baggage. Jesus came to take that baggage. Jesus came to set us free from the power of sin and guilt as our GREATEST GIFT!
Before Emmanuel took on human flesh and came to dwell among me, there was a lot of discouragement in that day. From hypocritical religious leaders using religion as a tool to manipulate others and Roman authorities forcing Jews to submit to their outrageous economic expectations, people were hopeless. Then, Jesus came and reversed the fortunes of the world! What cannot be lost is how he accomplished his plan. God the Son was not born among popular dignitaries; he was born of a peasant woman. He did not come down a street in a parade; he was born in an animal feeding trough. His birth was not announced among the rich and famous; the message was instead given to the most social outcasts in society of that day…the shepherds. In fact, the King of Glory came without pomp and circumstance, in the lowliest of ways, and that is exactly why Jesus is God’s greatest gift! His birth signified hope…in all of the right ways. Just like then, today we carry a lot of the same kinds of baggage. We struggle to understand our purpose, therefore, we often make wrong decisions. We fear the future, therefore, we live in a constant state of needless anxiety. We live in the failures of the past; therefore, guilt floods our souls keeping us from advancing God’s purpose in us. We live in the shadows of people’s perceptions; therefore, we have no confidence to live by faith. We carry a lot of baggage. Jesus came to take that baggage. Jesus came to set us free from the power of sin and guilt as our GREATEST GIFT!
Posted in Devotional