Hello, my dear “Walking with Jesus” friends on this Christmas Day,
I hope this is a day of great joy for you, no matter where you are in this world, no matter if you are single or married, young or old. It’s Christmas Day, a day when God wants to speak into your life and mine with His wisdom, His truth, His guidance in helping us know HIM more, and follow Him more closely.
How much sleep do you suppose either Mary or Joseph enjoyed that night after Jesus was born and after the shepherds had left them alone in that stable with the animals? I imagine both of them prayed over and over through the night, asking God to protect them and help them, and most of all guide them in raising this miracle boy!! Now friends, I wonder what challenges in life you are facing this Christmas. Challenges which will require God’s help?
Do you believe God understands those challenges much better than you do? Are you comforted by the truth that God is all-powerful and can accomplish anything, even the impossible? Are you grateful God is all-knowing and can even see the future long before it happens? Now…how many people look to you as parent or grandparent, friend or relative to be someone they can trust to set an example for them by living a God honoring life? And be someone from whom they can seek advice, counsel, wisdom when life gets complicated for them?
Let’s take just a few moments today looking at some special words from God to His people, through the prophet Isaiah. I think if Joseph knew these words, they would have been very comforting to Joseph on that Christmas Day as he sat beside that manger looking at baby Jesus, and holding the hand of his young bride Mary, and then looking around at the animals in that stable and hearing the noise of a busy Bethlehem! Isaiah wrote: “This is what the LORD says – your Redeemer, the Holy One Of Israel: ‘I am the LORD your God who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.“ (Is. 48:17) Oh my! Pause and let that soak into your soul for a moment.
Joseph didn’t know it, but very soon an angel would awaken Joseph and tell him to run for his life, taking Mary and the Baby with him, for Herod’s slaughtering soldiers were coming to ravage Bethlehem, killing the babies! (Matt. 2:16-18) In that moment, the lives of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus would depend on Joseph’s ability to discern God’s warning and follow God’s instructions carefully and quickly! How often, my friends, in 2026 will you and I need God’s Sovereign guidance? Will we listen, receive and follow God’s guidance, or how often will we seek a second opinion?
And if Joseph had read these words from Isaiah 50, do you suppose these words would have challenged Joseph to be a husband and father who began each day with God, listening carefully to God’s instructions for that day? “The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary. He awakens me morning by morning, awakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears…” (Is. 50:4,5) Every day, from that moment in the stable, until Joseph disappears from the story of Jesus’ life, Joseph would be counted on by Mary and Jesus, and the rest of Joseph’s family, to KNOW God was with them, and how God wanted them to deal with whatever challenges they faced! How will you and I do that in 2026?
Now, it’s Christmas Day and I want to keep this short but I’ve given us two powerful verses from God’s Word that if you and I will memorize them, or at least write them on a card so we can refer to them often, maybe every day, it might make as big a difference in our lives and our families as it did for Joseph and his family!
More reflection notes are available in the “Grand Narrative” link below and as always, a powerful worship song to engage our hearts before we head out into Christmas Day. And I’ll be here tomorrow waiting for you. God bless you this Christmas Day, my friends.
Today’s Scripture: Isaiah 48 & 50.
Choose below to read or listen.
Isaiah 48
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Isaiah 50
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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