Tag Archives: Christmas

Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men – Luke 2:8-20

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This is a re-post of one of my favorite Christmas devotionals.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:13-14, NKJV)

We often sing or say or write this angelic announcement of the Incarnation in our Christmas songs and greetings as if the angels declared the birth of the Messiah brought new conditions to the earth–peace and good will.

We think of “peace” as meaning nations not at war with one another and “good will” as people being kind to one another. Yet we know that on earth nations are at war with one another and human beings showing kindness to other human beings is often lacking.

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Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men – Luke 2:8-20

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And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:13-14, NKJV)

We often sing or say or write this angelic announcement of the Incarnation in our Christmas songs and greetings as if the angels declared the birth of the Messiah brought new conditions to the earth–peace and good will.

We think of “peace” as meaning nations not at war with one another and “good will” as people being kind to one another. Yet we know that on earth nations are at war with one another and human beings showing kindness to other human beings is often lacking.

Continue reading →

An Effective, Fervent Christmas Prayer – James 5:16

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fervent_group_prayer-sm“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16, KJV).

Recently I was asked to give the invocation at a public gathering for a Christmas event. I had time to reflect on what I might say for this Christmas prayer. As I considered the words and thoughts most commonly expressed in public prayers, I began to realize that our public prayers are often uttered so as to offend no one in the gathering.

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Small Beginnings, Enormous Endings – Zechariah 4:10

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baby_jesus“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand” (Zechariah 4:10, NLT).

When the first wave of Jewish exiles returned to Judea, they were enthusiastic about rebuilding the Temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians nearly fifty years earlier. But when their efforts to start rebuilding the Temple were opposed and resisted by neighboring nations and internally by the current inhabitants of the land, the repatriated Jews became discouraged and the Temple continued to lie in ruins for almost twenty more years.

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