This season of the year, plenty of good-hearted folks go from one holiday stress to another.  Hurry online.  Hurry in traffic.  Hurry in the stores.  Hurry in the supermarkets and farmers markets.  The clock is ticking down … stress, stress, stress.

Frankly, that is no way to go about the holiday season, but I’ll admit, I’m guilty as much as the next guy or gal.

I’ve got to believe that Mary of Nazareth probably felt a bit stressed.  Telling Joseph?  Yeah, that’s a biggie.  What she was going to say when she began showing?  She probably began steeling herself for the whispered comments and sideways glances.  How she was going to tell her parents?  Even if she’d been truthful and perfect every day of her life, I wonder if they’d still find reasons not to believe her than to believe her story.  Just too far-fetched.

I’d imagine Mary had to develop an insular self.  A place in her heart where she could go to turn off all the outside noise and find strength when everything of the world outside her disbelieved, ridiculed, rejected, and maybe even taunted or threatened her.  If her song is any indication, she knew her place of strength:  The Lord.  He is the One she turned to and He strengthened her inwardly for the task at hand.

Think about it:

• Psalm 105:4 reminds us to “Seek the Lord and His strength.”  When your strength is failing, is He where you turn?  Why would this be on God’s Christmas List for us?
• Who layers all the stressors on at Christmas?  God?  Self? Or perhaps others?
• When we care about all the world’s problems all the time and worry ourselves sick about it all, Who are we ignoring? Who actually has the power to resolve these problems?
• Imagine creating an insular self, not a place of apathy, but an inner retreat of the heart where you can de-stress at the throne of God.  You’ll be glad you did.

What God wants for Christmas is…you to seek Him and His strength to get you through.

Dear Lord, I don’t know why I take on more than I ought to and worry about tomorrow when Jesus told us today has enough.  Help me to find a place of silence and peace, to unburden myself at this time of year, to allow the ministry of the Holy Spirit to draw me close to the Father, and to receive His strength and His peace in true wisdom.  I cannot do this on my own.  I need You, Lord Jesus.  Amen.

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Join me beginning December 1, 2019 by signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page to receive these daily devotionals. Let’s enjoy exploring what might be on God’s Christmas list.

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series (2018) Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

How wonderful that the Messiah was born long ago!  That He lived back then and not now…in a culture far more respectful of life in general–and life in the Lord specifically–than we know today. 

Ages prior to the pro-life community’s appealing to God’s Word to choose life, the Lord held out His hands to His people, and offered life to any who would seek it, see it, value it, and choose it.  They didn’t have to climb mountains or swim oceans to find it.  It was right in front of their eyes.

“Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 30:11-20)

Think about it:

• Do you welcome the life the Lord gives, the true life worth living found by listening to God and obeying Him?
• Think about Mary (a virgin) and her cousin Elizabeth (old and barren) now pregnant with John the Baptist. How did they choose life?  Was persevering in pregnancy the only way they experienced choosing life?
• What types of things stand in the way of our finding that life?  How does rejection of true life, maybe following some of those things instead, ultimately lead to our destruction? 
• How does finding life begin with a choice, followed by setting our compass on God, and leading to life?

If God had a Christmas List, what His Word says He wants (not just for Christmas) is
… for us to choose life.

Dear Lord, please help me to see the life in You which You have set before me.  Help me to reject all other pretenders and poor substitutes.  Please give me eyes to see my bad choices and how they led to bad outcomes so that I might learn and not repeat them.  And forgive me, Lord.  I am prone to wander and don’t intend to break Your heart.  I’m sorry, Lord, for any ways I’ve grieved You.  Show me the meaning of life in You and how to live it.  In Jesus’ precious Name.  Amen.

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Join me beginning December 1, 2019 by signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page to receive these daily devotionals. Let’s enjoy exploring what might be on God’s Christmas list.

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series (2018) Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

If God’s Christmas List contains what He wants, not just at Christmas, but always, then fearing the Lord instead of man would be a big-ticket item.  Joseph knew that. 

In the Christmas story, Joseph heard that Mary was pregnant and that meant shame.  In their culture, Mary would be stoned to death for being pregnant out of wedlock. Joseph would have remained ashamed of her pregnancy, fearing what other people would think, and in the end, it would destroy his lifetime achievement of righteousness.  He could divorce her publicly and put it all on her.  Or the other option would be to marry her anyway and be the father of a child who was not his… with a lifetime of pretending.  No good alternatives.  Only different levels of fear and ruin.

Enter an angel of the Lord.

“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:20-25).

Think about it:

• How did Joseph’s encounter with the angel change his heart and conquer his fear of men?
• How is fearing the Lord different from fearing people?
• Did his following the angel’s encouragement and command take away his fear of how people would view him since Mary was pregnant?
• Why does Scripture state clearly that he didn’t consummate the marriage?  What might some men in that situation do, masking the reality, to save their reputation in the eyes of man?

What God wants for Christmas is… for us to fear the Lord and serve Him.

Dear Lord, Remind me why fearing You is always good and fearing man a far lesser concern.  You are faithful and we praise You.  You are all goodness and light!  There is no darkness, hiding, or pretense in You.  Help us to live authentic lives in the full freedom Jesus died to give us.  Grant that we would never forget the miracles You alone can work and the redemption and freedom You give when we fear rightly and serve wholeheartedly.  Amen.  

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Join me beginning December 1, 2019 by signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page to receive these daily devotionals. Let’s enjoy exploring what might be on God’s Christmas list.

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series (2018) Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

At the Annunciation—the angel’s proclamation from God to Mary about her becoming the mother of the Messiah—have you ever stopped to think about how Mary was reflecting back to God the beautiful Image of God in her?  “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled” (Luke 1:38). Mary displayed immediate humility, but when fully expounded in her song, it is clear that Mary understood what God wants from us all in terms of justice, mercy, and humility.

“And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me– holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” (Luke 1:46-55)

Think about it:

• Read back over Mary’s song.  How does she reflect back to God His Image in her?  Why does reflecting God’s Image bring glory to Him?
• Read Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
• How can you reflect God’s Image in you back to Him today?  What actions can you take?

What God wants for Christmas is… Justice, Mercy, and Our Humility

Dear Lord, We thank You for being a just and merciful God, for Your forgiveness and grace, and for not giving us what we deserve, but instead sending us a Savior.  We honor You, Lord Jesus, as our Messiah and Savior, born in Bethlehem, for a Cross, and rising victorious to live forever in Your rightful Kingdom upon the throne You have planned as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Grant that we would always remember our lowly place and have hearts of gratitude as we reflect back to You what You want: justice, mercy, and our displaying the humility of Christ.  We are forever grateful, Lord, and glorify You this day and always.  Amen.

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Join me beginning December 1, 2019 by signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page to receive these daily devotionals. Let’s enjoy exploring what might be on God’s Christmas list.

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series (2018) Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

In the song “God’s Christmas List” which inspired this year’s Advent Devotional series, the second verse goes “As children we believed/ The grandest sight to see/ Was something lovely wrapped beneath the tree/ Well heaven surely knows/ That packages and bows/ Can never heal a hurting human soul” and then launches into what grown-ups would want for Christmas. 

God’s Christmas reminder about gifts is in James. 

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created…Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says…whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it– not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it– they will be blessed in what they do.”  (James 1:17, 22, and 25).

Yes, God’s Christmas List would include doing what His Word says.  But amplifying that, we are reminded to aim for purity and freedom from fault by… looking out for others.  It’s not a matter of every man for himself, doing God’s Word, and checking off boxes of personal righteousness.  That’s what Pharisees did.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world

God wants us to do what His Word says, by looking out for others.

Think about it:

• How do you practice an “other-person-centered” life? 
• If you’re already looking out for others as a daily practice, that’s great!  If not, what actions and mindsets need to change?  What does procrastination say?  When one says, “I’ll help them later” what are they really saying?
• When Mary was approached by the angel Gabriel, she said “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me– holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation” (Luke 1:46-50).  How does this display both gratitude for the gift of the Father and a larger view to others?

What God wants for Christmas is… to do what His Word says, looking out for others

Dear Lord, Thank You that You are the Giver of the best gift beyond our imagining:  Yourself– in the person of Your Son Jesus Christ.  Thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit to guide me.  Help me to be grateful for what You have done and never take Jesus and His salvation for granted.  Give me confidence to share Him with others, looking out not just for myself but for the eternal welfare of others as I should.  Amen.

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Join me beginning December 1, 2019 by signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page to receive these daily devotionals. Let’s enjoy exploring what might be on God’s Christmas list.

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series (2018) Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

In 2 Peter 3:9, we read that God wants everyone to come to repentance.  It doesn’t matter if we’re a butcher, baker, candlestick maker, or even a priest.  Since we all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), there’s repentance God wants from each and every one of us…individually.  And sometimes, the means He uses to get us there are surprising.

Consider poor Zechariah who is falling far short of the faith
one might expect from a priest. 

Luke 1:18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” 19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

God wasn’t angry enough to withdraw the blessing of the birth of Messiah’s forerunner, John the Baptist, and give that blessing to someone else.  The bigger picture required Elizabeth giving birth.  But the lack of faith Zechariah exhibited in asking for a sign revealed something far deeper.  A few months of silence, God’s time-out-corner, was what was necessary for Zechariah to repent of his pride and come to humble acknowledgment of his failures to believe God when it mattered most.

Think about it:

• When you experience difficult times, do you ever ask yourself what God is attempting to teach you…about faith in Christ … and repentance?
• God takes repentance so seriously that He sent His Son Jesus, born at this Christmas season to die for our sins.  He’s being patient.  But someday that patience will be exhausted and Jesus will return for those who came to repentance and His forgiveness will cover them.  Have you repented?

What God wants for Christmas is…everyone to come to repentance.

Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am blind to my own sinfulness.  Too often, I imagine that I am a pretty good person by comparing myself with others and in doing so, I ignore how my sin looks in Your eyes.  I echo the words of the psalmist who asked You “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).  Please show me where I need to repent and how the circumstances I’m viewing as bad may be Your given means to open my eyes.  I need You and Your forgiveness.  Thank you, Lord.  I praise You for Your goodness and patience.  In Jesus’ mighty Name, I pray.  Amen.

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Join me beginning December 1, 2019 by signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page to receive these daily devotionals. Let’s enjoy exploring what might be on God’s Christmas list.

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series (2018) Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

Perhaps since I announced this year’s theme “God’s Christmas List” you’ve been thinking it’s mighty presumptuous to imagine God’s Christmas “Wish” List, especially since He doesn’t need anything.

There are plenty of Scriptures that lay out clear as a Christmas bell what God wants.
  From you.  From me.  From us.

He wants willing shepherds and followers.

Scripture tells us “Zechariah was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.  When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.  But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.”

(This is an answer to prayer and all Zechariah the priest needs to do is be happy about it, go home to Elizabeth, share the good news, and hubba-hubba-hubba, do his part to make it happen.  The angel explains a bit more.) 

“He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.  He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.  And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their God“ (Luke 1:8-17).

Think about it:

• Whether you’re a priest like Zechariah, a wife like Elizabeth, a blogging nobody like me, or you have another circle of influence, God wants your willingness.  What is your circle in which God calls you to be willing? 
• In 1 Peter 5:2 it says that God wants us to be willing, to be role models in our community of onlookers, and to be motivated by desire to serve, not by money.  Who looks at you as a role model?  How’s that working?  What are they seeing?  Are you punching the clock and plodding through the day?  Maybe hitting the ground running and stressing everyone out 8-5?  Or are you a role model for those who are your co-workers, displaying Christlikeness to those observing?

What God wants for Christmas is…your willing, faithful service and your commitment to bloom where you’re planted

Dear Lord, please help me to willingly serve You no matter where that place might be.  Uncover my eyes so that I might see where You are at work and unbind my prejudices so I might eagerly join You.  Thank You for giving us the ability to serve and the skills and talents You’ve given us for the good of the Church and for Your glory.  Now and forevermore.  Amen

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Join me beginning December 1, 2019 by signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page to receive these daily devotionals. Let’s enjoy exploring what might be on God’s Christmas list.

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series (2018) Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

As we conclude our look at the life of Joseph: A Life With Many Colors as well as the book of Genesis, we can see God’s story of timeless love and forgiveness.  Bad stuff happens in this life.  People harm us.  Mistakes occur.  Intentional misdeeds are uncovered.  And sometimes grudges are kept.  But not always.

Genesis 50:15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?”

This was a very natural worry, in a natural world,
with a person of a different nature than Joseph’s

Genesis 50:16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

Didn’t they get it?  It hadn’t been an act.  His forgiveness had not only been complete, it was thoroughly genuine.  No wonder Joseph wept.  He wept at their repentance and sorrow.  He wept at their lack of trust in his forgiveness.

Genesis 50:18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. 19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

Think about it:

• Does it take convincing sometimes to help us understand complete forgiveness?  Do you ever feel like your faults, failures, and sins are beyond forgiveness?  Who tells you that lie?
• Who tells you that “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John. 8:36)?
• Joseph stayed in Egypt until his death (Genesis 50:22-26).  But before he died, he extracted a promise from them that would be generations in the fulfilling.  “ 24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” 25 And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.” 26 So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt. “  Why do you think Joseph wanted his bones carried out of Egypt?

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This concludes the Joseph: A Life With Many Colors series.  Please stay tuned for Advent 2019 which begins December 1, 2019.  If you’re already receiving these by email, you don’t need to do anything.  But if you’ve recently popped by to read, you too can receive Christmas devotionals by signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page to receive these daily devotionals.

Let’s enjoy exploring together what might be on God’s Christmas list.

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows: 

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series (2018) Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
  
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
  
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
  
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
  
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
  
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

Jacob’s life on earth is nearing its conclusion… in Egypt. In Egypt? Reading on in our series Joseph: A Life With Many Colors,  

Genesis 48:1 Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him.  2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed. 3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me 4 and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’

5 “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers.

7 As I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?” 9 “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father. Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them. 11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”

Jacob had left behind the grave of his dead but beloved wife.  Leaving what was dead, he was blessed to see not just Joseph, but his grandchildren through Joseph.  Double blessing.

Genesis 48:12 Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground.  13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him.  14 But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.15 Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm– may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.”

And now history repeats itself. 
The younger one greater than the firstborn, just like with Jacob and Esau (Genesis 27). 

17 When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.  18 Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.” 

20 He blessed them that day and said, “In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh. ‘” So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.  21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers.  22 And to you I give one more ridge of land than to your brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

Think about it:

• Why would God break with tradition twice, placing the younger ones ahead of the older in terms of blessing?  What does that say about how God does things?
• Read Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
• Jacob and Rebekah used trickery to have the younger blessed.  Jacob and Joseph were very much aware of what was happening.  How does God use our circumstances, our personalities, and even our flaws to accomplish His will?
• Read Romans 9:8-15 and think about God’s purposes.  In particular read verses 11-16. 11 “Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad– in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls– she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”

As we continue our series Joseph: A Life With Many Colors, Jacob’s family is prospering even in the famine. 

Genesis 47:27 Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.

Genesis 47:28 Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven.  29 When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” “I will do as you say,” he said. 31 “Swear to me,” he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

Think about it:

• God had promised that all nations would be blessed and that included Jacob’s family.  But they were in Goshen.  In what ways does the fruitfulness of Israel display that blessing would not be confined to the national boundaries of Canaan?
• Recall Genesis 46:1 “So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he replied. 3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”
• God was with Jacob even in Egypt.  That was the place specified for God’s making Jacob a great nation.   What might this say about God’s being with us, even in unpleasant places or in our present difficulties? 
• Egypt?  The place of God’s work of blessing Israel?  Read Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” How does this remind us of the sovereignty of God, our limited vision, and our tiny comprehension of what God is doing?
• God had promised that Joseph would close Jacob’s eyes after death, and Jacob would be brought back to be buried with his fathers and his beloved Rachel.  Why did Jacob communicate this to Joseph?