#2 Christmas Favs // Thursday E-Devotion

What is your favorite thing about Christmas? Family. Tradition. Winter. Gifts and giving. Joy and music. Church and friends. Whatever your favorites, we need to remember that we are a blessed people. Blessings come because we serve a great God. He is able to care for us, guide us and to provide even when we don't see the possibilities.

A story like that provides our 1st Christmas Fav of the day. (Drum roll please) It is Mary, the mother of Jesus. What an awesome lady! Read on:

(verses taken from Luke 1 of the New Living Translation of the Bible)

28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, "Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!" 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 "Don't be afraid, Mary," the angel told her, "for you have found favor with God!

That is just the start. What do we learn about this young girl? God chose her. She was blessed because she knew God and believed God. What a testimony! What an example to follow! Read on:

38 Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true." And then the angel left her... 49 For the Mighty One is holy,and he has done great things for me.

Can you imagine what all this young girl went through? Marriage. A baby. The baby being God in the flesh. Too much and I am sure filled with stress, but so good because of what God would bring to all of us through her.

The last Christmas Fav of the day, and I cannot say enough about them, are my parents. They've put up with so much. They have given and given and given more. Often the trek the 1,000+ miles to our home and share with us more. I remember as a kid the good times of Christmas. The special presents but mostly the family times. I am still a bit anal about something they taught me. We have to pass out all the presents on Christmas day and open them one at a time. I love that. It is important to me, but some people, including my wife, cannot handle that. Oh well.

I am so thankful for family. My parents (and I get to see them next week) are pictures for God's best, they have shown me God through their lives and their love. But most of all we have lived life learning together. Christmas gets us together, reminds us of the blessings and points us all back to God. That is what Christmas Favs are all about.

Matthew 1:23 (nlt) --- "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'"

Have you heard of EDITH BURNS?

Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas . She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips. Dr. Phillips was a gentle doctor who saw patients as people. His favorite patient was Edith Burns. One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because of Edith Burns. When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her. Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way: "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved. Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse, Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood pressure. Edith began by saying,"My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Beverly said, "Why yes I do." Edith said, "Well, what do you ...

wash feet, sharing hope

John 13:4-5,14 NLT So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him… 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. Jesus set the example we follow. He served. He valued and gave value to others. That is why we choose to serve. For 18 years our church has shared an outreach called back2school, and for 16 of those years we have chosen to give students brand new shoes and socks as well as washing their feet. It is one of the most important parts of this event. Washing feet is a humbling experience where both the give and the receiver learn how to share some moments that might change their lives. Jesus said we should do this. See the verse above. Follow His example, do what He did, and give far more than you will ever know....

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!

Michael Harrison's e-devotion

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