December 18, 2022 … Really - A Merry CHRISTmas …

Berry Patch Devotions in 2021 - Day 352 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...  Please take the time to take in song from The Martins singing  … Heaven’s Child … poignantly singing of how that Babe in the manger, born to Mary, was in fact Heaven’s child, … God come to save mankind. 

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Highlight Passage: … Romans 8:3 [NLT] …  

3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.    

… Paul explains the reality of God sending His Son in bodily form as the Christ-child to save mankind from sin.                                                                            

Highlight Passage (Context): … Romans 8:1-10 [NLT] …  USE THIS LINK … </b>

…Paul teaches the truth of God sending His son to earth to save mankind from their (our) sin,     

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Reference Passage: … Isaiah 7:14 [NLT] … 

14 All right then, the Lord Himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). </i>

…  Over 700 years before Christ’s coming, Isaiah prophesies of the Lord coming to mankind in bodily form, born to a virgin, to save man from his bondage to sin.

Reference Passage: … Matthew 1:18-24 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

…  God’s Spirit, thru Matthew, describes how Joseph came to take Mary as his wife to fulfill the prophesy of Isaiah (see Isaiah 7:14 above).         

Reference Passage: … Luke 2:11-12 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK ... 

…  Luke’s account of the birth of King Jesus, born, as prophesied of old in a manger in Bethlehem to a  virgin.     

Reference Passage: … John 1:14 [NLT] … 

14 So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. 

…  John’s account of God’s Word becoming flesh and dwelling with us and being the glory of the Father in us.      

Reference Passage: … Philippians 2:5:11 [NLT] … 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A5-11&version=NLT

… Paul teaches fellow Christians of the reality of God, the Father, giving up his Son to humbly come to mankind, … die for mankind, … and save mankind from our sin.   

                                                                            

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Jennifer Benson Schuldt … AT THIS LINK …   writes of finding a nativity scene in a garage sale and being taken by the figurine of the baby Jesus, being unclothed with arms stretched (see photo); …  and how the author was touched with the reality described in the Scriptures shared above.       

However, it’s can be difficult to see thru the worldly fog of commercialism at this time of year, can’t it?  But when we stop for a moment to consider what the parents of the Christ child went thru on that night in Bethlehem; and when Mary looked into the eyes of her baby boy, reflecting the reality of what is conveyed in the linked song … that, in seeing in the eye’s of Mary’s baby …   “this was Heaven’s Child.”

And I’m praying that we all can take time - just a few moments at least - and reflect on the what that birth in Bethlehem meant for you and me, … and all mankind, … as we realize that God sent His only Son to be born in a manger, to live among us, and to die for us on a cross that we, who believe in Him as Lord and Savior, are born again to live with that Baby, Who became our Savior, … FOREVER.  

And may all who read this have a MERRY CHRIST-MAS !!!       

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for becoming our Savior, born in a manger, for all who believe in You.                

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to stop and reflect on Your coming to us , … and for us, Lord, in that Manger so long ago.   …  Amen

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Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.