God incarnate! Let us rejoice.

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Wednesday, December 24, 2008 – Christmas Eve
Devotions: Ps 25, 26, 89:1-29; Isa 35:1-10; 59:15b-21; Rev 22:6-21; Lk 1:39-66

Lord, I lift my soul to You; keep me from shame before my enemies. Help me to know Your ways; lead me in truth, God of my salvation. Remember me in accordance with Your steadfast love and faithfulness. Please, pardon my immense guilt; bless my children and grandchildren. Relieve the troubles of my heart, deliver me from sin, and let Your integrity and uprightness preserve me. Vindicate me by the integrity of Jesus; Your steadfast love is before me, and I walk in faithfulness to Your! I stand on level ground, praising You amid Your congregation. And I will sing of Your love forever; how great You are--all nature is Yours, Ruler of all! Blessed are we who celebrate before YHWH and exult in Your name. You have given us Your firstborn, the Son of Your eternal love, and we are His forever!

All nature celebrates the glory and majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak and fearful; behold, our God comes and saves us. In His day, the blind will see, the lame will leap, the dumb will sing for joy. Streams will flow in the desert, and wetlands will replace wastelands. God will make a highway through the wilderness--the Holy Way, on which no wicked will travel. There will be no predators, and the travelers will come to Zion with joy and gladness. And sorrow and sighing shall flee away! God has seen that humanity cannot save ourselves. So He did the work Himself: He clothed Himself in human flesh; He donned righteousness of heart and salvation as knowledge and wisdom; He prepared to wreak vengeance on the wicked. God will requite His enemies with destruction, and will grace His friends with eternal blessing. God comes like a flooding stream; He comes as Redeemer to Zion. God says, ‘My Spirit is upon you; My words are in your mouth—and these will endure always, forevermore.’

Jesus assured John that He is coming soon. Blessed are all who keep His words. Let us worship God! Jesus is God, Alpha and Omega, first and last, beginning and completion. Blessed are all who conduct themselves in righteousness and obey His commands—these will live in God’s holy city forever. Outside are the unfaithful: ‘dogs, sorcerers, fornicators, murderers, idolaters—everyone who loves and practices falsehood.’ Jesus has sent His message to us: ‘I Am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.’ The Holy Spirit and the Church, His Bride, say, ‘Come, our Lord!’ Let all who hear and all who thirst for Him affirm: ‘Come!’ Let all who desire it receive abundant life without cost. Let the words of His scripture be kept—neither supplemented nor reduced. Jesus is coming soon! Amen; come, Lord Jesus! May His grace abide with all the saints. Amen.

In Elizabeth’s sixth month of pregnancy, Mary of Nazareth visited her in the Judean hills. When Mary came into Zechariah’s house, John leapt in Elizabeth’s womb, and Elizabeth exclaimed by the Holy Spirit: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child in your womb! Why am I so blessed, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? When you greeted me, my own child leapt in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed God would do as He has promised.’

Mary responded, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; for He has regarded my low estate; I am His handmaid, and all coming generations will call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name! He has mercy on all who fear Him; He scatters the proud and dethrones the mighty; He exalts those of low degree. He fills the hungry with good things, and sends the rich away, empty. He has remembered His servant Israel and sent us His help, just as He promised our forefathers, Abraham and his posterity forever.’ Mary stayed with Elizabeth three months.

Elizabeth delivered the son God had promised, and they named him John as Gabriel had directed. When Zechariah affirmed the child’s name, his tongue was freed and he blessed God aloud. All their neighbors could tell that something divine was taking place; the hand of YHWH was clearly with the infant. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: ‘Blessed is YHWH, God is Israel; He has visited and redeemed His people. He is raising up a horn of salvation in David’s house, just as God spoke through the holy prophets of old: that God will save us from all our enemies; and He will act out mercy and keep His holy covenant, the oath He swore to Abraham—that we should serve YHWH without fear, in holiness and righteousness all our days. And you, my son, will be called the prophet of the Most High; you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways; you will communicate knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins, through God’s tender mercy—on the Day when heavenly light will dawn upon us and enlighten those sitting in darkness and death’s shadow. He will guide us into the way of peace.’ And John grew and became strong in spirit; he lived in the wilderness until the day of his manifestation to Israel. The stage was set for the Author to enter His Story as a baby boy in Bethlehem.