December 2nd - The babe of Bethlehem. Immanuel. Remember the promise of the angel? “‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23 NKJV). Immanuel. The name appears in the same Hebrew form as it did two thousand years ago. “Immanu” means “with us.” “El” refers to Elohim, or God. Not an “above us God” or a “somewhere in the neighborhood God.” He came as the “with us God.” God with us. Not with the rich or with the religious. But God with us . All of us. Russians, Germans, Buddhists, Mormons, truck drivers, librarians. God with us . Prophets weren’t enough. Apostles wouldn’t do. Angels won’t suffice. God sent more than miracles and messages. He sent himself; he sent his Son.

December 3rd - The Christmas tree hunt is on. The preferences are different, but the desire is the same: we want the perfect Christmas tree! You search for the right one. You walk the rows. You examine them from all angles. This one is perfect! God does the same. He has picked you. He knows just the place where you’ll be placed. He has a barren living room in desperate need of warmth and joy. A corner of the world needs some color. He selected you with that place in mind. God made you on purpose with a purpose. He interwove calendar and character, circumstance and personality to create the right person for the right corner of the world, and then he paid the price to take you home. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “God bought you with a high price.” The Christmas promise is this: we have a Savior, and his name is Jesus!

December 4th - Hollywood would recast the Christmas story. Joseph’s collar is way too blue. Mary is green from inexperience. The couple’s star power doesn’t match the bill. Too obscure, too simple. The story warrants some headliners. And what about the shepherds? Do they sing? A good public relations firm would move the birth to a big city. The Son of God deserves a royal entry. Less peasant, more pizzaz. But we didn’t design the hour. God did. And God was content to enter the world in the presence of sleepy sheep and a wide-eyed carpenter. No spotlights, just candlelight. No crowns, just cows chewing cud. If God was willing to wrap himself in rags, then all questions about his love for you are off the table. When Christ was born, so was our hope. That’s why I love Christmas!

December 5th - If you want to see people on the edge of insanity, just watch the way families treat their babies at Christmastime. The poor child has no warning. Red furry stocking cap, goofy elfish shoes that curl at the toes. And the pictures we take! Baby snoozing under tree. Baby on Santa’s lap. Santa with wet spot on lap. Is not the Christmas story the story of a baby? The moment that shaped all others? Mary’s eyes falling on the face of her just-born son. The first to whisper, “So this is what God looks like!” Never in mankind’s wildest imaginings did we consider that God would enter the world as an infant. John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Would you like to see God? Well then take a look at the baby Jesus.

December 6th - No day is accidental or incidental. No acts are random or wasted. Look at Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem. A king ordered a census. Joseph was forced to travel. Mary, round as a ladybug, bounced on a donkey’s back. The hotel was full. The hour was late. The event was one big hassle. Yet out of the hassle, hope was born. It still is. I don’t like hassles, but I love Christmas because it reminds us of the heart-shaping promises of Christmas. Long after the guests have left and the carolers have gone home and the lights have come down, these promises endure: God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God. Perhaps you could use some Christmas this Christmas?

December 9th - In Matthew 1:23, God called himself Immanuel, which means “God with us.” Not just “God made us.” Not just “God thinks about us.” Not just “God above us.” But God with us. God where we are. He breathed our air and walked this earth. God…with…us! Bethlehem was just the beginning. Jesus has promised a repeat performance. Bethlehem, Act 2. No silent night this time, however. The skies will open and trumpets will blast and a new kingdom will begin. He will empty the tombs and melt the winter of death. Death, you die! Life, you reign! The manger dares us to believe the best is yet to be. I love Christmas because it reminds us how “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God” (Roman 8:28).

December 10th - Let the sleigh bells ring! I love Christmas. Let the carolers sing. The more Santas the merrier. I don’t complain about the crowded shops. I don’t grumble at the jam-packed grocery store. Well, it’s Christmas. I love it because someone will ask the Christmas questions. “What’s the big deal about the baby in the manger? Who was he? What does his birth have to do with me?” The questioner may be a soldier stationed far from home. She may be a young mom who, for the first time, holds a child on Christmas Eve. The Christmas season prompts Christmas questions—and answers. Because of Bethlehem, God is always near us. Always for us. Always in us. We may forget him, but God will never forget us. He called himself Immanuel—God with us!

December 11th - Christmas cards. Punctuated promises. Can I share words from my favorite Christmas cards? “He became like us, so we could become like Him.” “Angels still sing and the star still beckons.” And from Isaiah 9, verse 6: “God has given a Son to us. His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, and Prince of Peace.” And my favorite: “If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior.” Merry Christmas, everybody.

December 12th - The virgin birth is more, much more than a Christmas story. It’s a story of how close Christ will come to you. The first stop on his itinerary was a womb. Where will God go to touch the world? Look deep inside Mary for an answer. Better still, look deep within yourself. “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” Scripture says (Colossians 1:27). Christ grew in Mary until he had to come out. Christ will grow in you until the same occurs. He will come out in your speech, in your actions, in your decisions. Every place you live will be a Bethlehem. Every day you live will be a Christmas. Deliver Christ into the world—your world.

December 13th - A small cathedral outside Bethlehem marks the supposed birthplace of Jesus. Behind a high altar in the church is a cave, a little cavern lit by silver lamps. You can enter the main edifice and admire the ancient church. You can also enter the quiet cave, where a star embedded in the floor recognizes the birth of the King. There is one stipulation, however – you have to stoop. The door is so low you can’t enter standing up. The same is true of the Christ. You know, you can see the world standing tall, but to witness the Savior you have to get on your knees. So at the birth of Jesus, while the theologians were sleeping and the elite were dreaming and the successful were snoring, the meek were kneeling. They were kneeling before the One only the meek will see. They were kneeling in front of Jesus.

December 16th - “After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18 NKJV). Joseph was perched firmly on his branch in the tree. Predictable and solid, Joseph had no intention of leaving it. That is, until he was told to go out on a limb. Conceived by the Holy Spirit? Come on! Who will believe me? Pride told him not to do it. But God told him to do it. I have a feeling you can relate to Joseph. One foot in your will and one foot in his. His will or yours? Disrupting, isn’t it? You can bet it won’t be easy. Limb-climbing has never been – ask Joseph. Or better yet, ask Jesus. He knows better than anyone the cost of hanging on a tree.

December 17th - Some of the saddest words on earth are: “We don’t have room for you.” Jesus knew the sounds of those words. He was still in Mary’s womb when the innkeeper said, “We don’t have room for you.” And when he hung on the cross, wasn’t the message one of utter rejection? “We don’t have room for you in this world.” Today Jesus is given the same treatment. He goes from heart to heart, asking if he might enter. Every so often, he’s welcomed. Someone throws open the door of his or her heart and invites him to stay. And to that person Jesus gives this great promise: “In my Father’s house are many rooms” (John 14:2). We make room for him in our hearts, and Jesus makes room for us in his house.

December 18th - One’s imagination is kindled thinking about the conversation of the innkeeper and his family. Did anyone mention the arrival of the young couple the night before? Did anyone ask about the pregnancy of the girl on the donkey? The innkeeper and his family were so busy. The day was upon them. The day’s bread had to be made, the morning’s chores had to be done. There was too much to do to imagine that the impossible had occurred. God had entered the world as a baby. Meanwhile the city hummed. Merchants were unaware that God had visited their planet. The innkeeper would never believe that he had just sent God into the cold. Those who missed His Majesty’s arrival missed it not because of evil acts or malice. No, they missed it because they simply weren’t looking. Not much has changed in the last two thousand years, has it?

December 19th - Christianity was born in one big heavenly interruption. Just ask the Bethlehem shepherds. They had no expectations of excitement. These are sheep they’re watching. We count sheep to go to sleep! Shepherds, however, treasured the predictable. This was the night shift. Any excitement was bad excitement—wolves, lions, poachers. Just because they wanted a calm night, didn’t mean they would get it. Luke says, “Then an angel of the Lord stood before them. The glory of the Lord shining around them, and they became very frightened.” We always assume the worst before we look for the best. Good thing the shepherds lingered. Otherwise they might have missed the second verse: “Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ the Lord.” I hope you’ll do what the shepherds did—linger near the manger!

December 20th - On the night when Jesus was born, I wonder if Joseph prayed, “Father, this all seems so…bizarre. The angel you sent? Any chance you could send another?” You’ve stood where Joseph stood. Each of us knows what it’s like to search the night for a light. Not outside a stable, but perhaps outside an emergency room or the manicured grass of a cemetery. We’ve asked our questions. We’ve wondered why God does what he does. If you’re asking what Joseph asked, let me urge you to do what Joseph did: obey. He didn’t let his confusion disrupt his obedience. What about you? You have a choice: to obey or disobey. Because Joseph obeyed, God used him to change the world. Can he do the same with you? Will you be that kind of person? Will you serve…even when you don’t understand?

December 23rd - It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment. God became a man. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb. Jesus came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. The hands that first held him were un-manicured, calloused, and dirty. For thirty-three years he would feel everything you and I have ever felt. Weak and weary and afraid of failure. His feelings got hurt. To think of Jesus in such a light seems almost irreverent. There’s something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant, predictable. But don’t do it. For heaven’s sake, don’t! Let him be as human as he intended to be. For only if we let him in can he pull us out.

December 24th - In Bethlehem, the human being who best understood who God was and what he was doing was a teenage girl in a smelly stable. As Mary looked into the face of the baby—her son, her Lord, his majesty—she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Somehow Mary knew she was holding God. So this is he. And she remembered the words of the angel when he said, “His kingdom will never end.” He looked like anything but a king. His cry, though strong and healthy, was still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager, and in the presence of a carpenter. God came near! Luke 1:33 says, “His kingdom will never end.” May you be a part of it.

December 25th - When Christ was born, so was our hope. This is why I love Christmas. The event invites us to believe the wildest of promises. He did away with every barrier, fence, sin, bent, debt, and grave. Anything that might keep us from him was demolished. He only awaits our word to walk through the door. Invite him in. Escort him to the seat of honor, and pull out his chair. Clear the table; clear the calendar. Call the kids and neighbors. Christmas is here. Christ is here. One request from you, and God will do again what he did then: scatter the night with everlasting light. He’ll be born in you. Let “Silent Night” be sung! Every heart can be a manger. Every day can be a Christmas. The Christmas miracle—a yearlong celebration! 

December 26th - “We have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him” (Matthew 2:2 NKJV). You know, people see signs of God every day. Sunsets that steal the breath. Newborns that bring tears. But do all who see the signs draw near to God? No. The wise men, however, understood the purpose of the sign. And they followed it to Jerusalem, where they heard about the scripture. The prophecy told them where to find Christ. It is interesting to note that the star reappeared after they learned about the prophecy. The star “came and stood shining right over the place where the Child was” (Matthew 2:9). It is as if the sign and word worked together to bring the wise men to Jesus. The ultimate aim of all God’s messages, both miraculous and written, is to shed the light of heaven on Jesus.