MONDAY 21st. DECEMBER
St Thomas’s Day
Isaiah 9.2-7
To us a Child is born
When Jesus comes into our lives, He makes such a huge difference. Before He came we were in darkness; now we are in His marvellous light. We couldn’t see where life was taking us and we were full of anxiety and fear. Now life has taken a new course because we can see where we are going. There is now a real purpose to our whole existence.
When we invite Him into our lives, Jesus fills us with so much joy. It is a joy that is greater than anything we have ever experienced before. It’s greater than the farmer’s joy after a bumper harvest or the joy of someone who has just inherited millions of dollars. A famous preacher, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, calls it joy unspeakable. The real joy comes when Jesus completely and utterly removes all the guilt of our sins. He takes away all the things that weigh us down like stress, fear, anxiety, worry, bitterness and resentment - all the things that rob us of joy He gently removes from our lives. Isn’t Jesus absolutely and utterly fantastic!
Jesus was the man born to be King. When we let Him take over and rule our lives, we become part of His Kingdom. It’s a fantastic Kingdom. He governs us so well and so effectively.
Above all, He is a Wonderful Counsellor. He listens to us and encourages us so much. Where He rules there is always peace. There is justice for all and all have the joy of living in right relationships with each other.
We are so happy at Christmas time as we see the zeal of our Lord God brought Jesus to Earth to be our Saviour and King.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you that we were in darkness, but have seen a marvellous light when Jesus came into our lives. Fill our hearts with the greatest of all joys - we have been set free from all that weighs us down. It’s so good to enjoy so much peace, justice and righteousness given to us by King Jesus. Amen.
TUESDAY 22nd. DECEMBER
Psalm 96
Sing a new song
The very best way that we humans experience joy is to sing songs. Christmas is a time which is always very joyful because we celebrate the source of the world’s greatest joy, the joy of having Jesus in our midst! Christmas is a time for joyful singing. The joy of Jesus is a joy that Jesus wants us to share. It is by singing that the joy in our hearts bubbles out. When our family was in England, in Whitehawk in Brighton, we used to sit on the church steps and sing many joyful songs. This attracted lots of children and teenagers. They came to church after that and many came to experience the joy of Jesus coming into their hearts. When I visited the homes of some of these children, I could hear them singing the songs of Jesus up in their rooms. Jesus made them so happy.
One way in which we can continuously enter into the joy of singing to Jesus is to play some of the new Christian praise and worship songs on our CDs.
Always have these going in your car or turn to Rhema Radio (106.5) or Family Radio (96.5). In your quiet times sing some of the songs. If there’s no-one around, I sing them aloud. If others are there, I sing them in my head. Every time I sing to Jesus He fills me with so much joy.
The whole of creation loves to sing to the Lord. Go out into your garden or into the bush, near a lake or the sea, stop and listen. You can, in a special way, hear God’s creation singing His praise. I can hear lots of birds praising the Lord right now.
PRAYER: Father, it’s such a joy to be able to sing a new song to you. As we sing or listen to songs, come and dwell in our hearts and intoxicate us with your joy, which is so much more joyful that the joy of wine or worldly pursuits. Jesus, we rejoice over you with singing. Amen.
WEDNESDAY 23rd. DECEMBER
Titus 2.11-14
Grace
Remember our definition of Grace: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Jesus, and all that comes with Him, is God’s Christmas present to the whole world. All that God does for us in Jesus is described in the Bible by this word, Grace. Grace is an overflow of God’s generosity. It is given out to all people freely. We do not have to deserve it, work for it or earn it in any way. Grace is like the Christmas cards which we go on sending out to people who never send any to us. It’s like giving presents to people who never give anything back to us.
Once we have received God’s grace we will never be the same again. It saves us from ourselves. Grace is Jesus. Once He comes into our hearts, He changes us. He does this by making us like Himself - so generous and ever ready to give, especially to those who do not pay us back.
All the things that used to give us pleasure because they pleased ourselves fade away. Earthly passions and ungodly behaviour do not interest us any more. Jesus comes in to set us free from addiction to earthly pleasures and purifies us by making us very giving people, always more concerned to please others more than to please ourselves.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for Grace. Thank you that you give all your riches to us through Jesus, riches we do not deserve. As we receive Jesus and His Grace, transform our hearts, set us free from the desire to please ourselves and give us an overwhelming desire to be generous and to please others, even when we get no return for our love. Amen.
THURSDAY 24TH DECEMBER
Luke 2.1-20
No room
Isn’t it strange, God was so generous in giving us all His riches when He gave us Jesus, yet when He came to His own home, His own people rejected Him (John 1.12). Yet to all who did receive Him He gave power for them to be reborn as God’s own children - brothers and sisters of Jesus!
In the Gospel story for today, we see how there was no room in many of the inns as Joseph and Mary knocked on the doors. God was about to present the best ever Christmas present - no-one wanted to receive it.
One inn-keeper did let them in, but only into the smelly animal stable. But, wow, was he blessed. Never before had so many people come to his hotel.
Even though he only let Jesus be born in his stable, his life was never the same again. He had never experienced so much joy. That special star illuminated the stable, the singing of the angels filled the place with tranquillity and peace. The beaming shepherds made everyone so very, very happy. Later on the wise men were his guests. Their extreme generosity and devotion to the baby Jesus made a lasting impression on him.
However poor we are, however rejected by society, however degraded by everyone else, if we open the door of our hearts to Jesus, He will come in. When He’s born again in our hearts, what a transformation takes place. Oh what joy, Oh what peace, Oh what tranquillity!
PRAYER: Come into my heart Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for you. As we receive you, thank you for powerfully making us into your brothers and sisters, our Father God’s dear children. Amen.
FRIDAY 25TH DECEMBER
CHRISTMAS DAY
Hebrews 1.1- 12
Jesus, our Christmas present
Let’s unwrap this wonderful Christmas present God has given us all. Let’s see what it is like - see that it’s the best possible present we could ever be given. We couldn’t ask or want for anything better. Isn’t it joyful when we open our presents and find they are just what we need! Jesus is like a new CD player or tape recorder. God speaks to us through Him. When we hear God speaking, it’s the best word we have ever heard! Then we see Jesus as the radiance of God’s glory. God’s glory and magnificence seemed, before, so out of touch or beyond our reach. Now, in Jesus, we can see it, touch it and experience it. We can see what God’s like as we read our Bibles which tells us about Jesus. We can learn all about exactly what God is like!
We see in Jesus someone who powerfully holds the whole universe together. So when we experience Him taking over our lives (which He will only do if we let Him), we see our own lives coming together and being so much more meaningful than ever before.
Finally, Jesus is God among us, purifying us and making us holy. All that sin, guilt, negativity, doubt, worry, fear, anxiety and unhappiness melt away in His glorious presence. He is so much stronger than all negative influences which used to hold us back.
PRAYER: Father, it’s so wonderful to unwrap this Christmas present you have given us. We find Jesus to be so fantastic as He shows us your magnificence and as He brings our lives together and purifies us from all those negative things. Thank you God for Jesus. Amen.
Message for Christmas day
This is the most happy time of the year when we celebrate the birthday of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Jesus is so very important that many people who do not believe in him celebrate His birthday.
Why is Jesus so important? He is important because He has transformed the whole world.
We were in darkness and He has brought us into a glorious light. In this light we can see how wonderfully meaningful our lives are. Before we were in the light our lives on earth seemed so temporary and were full of fear and anxiety. Now we see that we have an eternal purpose. Because Jesus was born and because He died on the cross for us we can have eternal life. If we repent of the wrong way we have been going and invite Jesus to come into our hearts as our Lord (complete boss)
and saviour we become Children of God. His promise to all his children is that He will not let us die.
Isn’t that fantastic. Jesus rose from the dead three days after he was crucified to take all our sins away. All who have faith in Him and have received Him will also rise with him into a new life that will never end
We give presents to people when they celebrate their birthdays. Why do we give presents to each other when we celebrate Christmas? Because Jesus was born into the World all of us can be born again into a new life that will never end.. We give presents to Each other to celebrate each others’ rebirth as Gods eternal children.
Wendy and I and all my family wish you all a very happy and holy Christmas
SATURDAY 26TH DECEMBER
John 1.1-14
God became a Human Being
Christianity is the only way
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No-one can come to the Father except through Him! (John 14.6) In all other religions we see people trying to get to God, to please God and save themselves from the wrath of God. What they are trying to do is impossible. God is so much greater than we are.
All our efforts to be saved by what we do end up being unsuccessful. God did not give us the ability, when He created us, to be able to get right with Him in our own strength. The only way was for Him to come down from Heaven and become one of us and be with us and enable us to find God and to get right with God. This is what happened when Jesus was born.
He always was in existence. John calls Him “The Word”. He was with God and He was God. Through Him God made everything. When Jesus was born in the stable at Bethlehem, this Word, who was God from the very beginning, became a human being and dwelt among us. Then we saw how tremendous, how fantastic God really was.
Jesus was a man born to die. It was His death on the cross that did what man had been trying to do in other religions without success. It made us right with God. It made us one with God: so much so that as soon as we receive this Jesus (God who became a human being) into our hearts, we become God’s own children. We are born again into His family - this time, not as we were born the first time, but born by the Spirit of God, made into creatures who would be like the “Word who became a human being” - like Him in that the new life we have makes us eternal. Because Jesus was born, because He died, because we have accepted Him into our hearts, we will never, never die. Allelujah!
PRAYER: Father, thank you for enabling us to do the impossible - to get right with you. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you that He died to make us acceptable to you. We ask Him again into our hearts and rejoice that because of Him we will never die, but will be with you for ever. Amen.
SUNDAY 27TH DECEMBER
THE HOLY FAMILY
The family is the most important unit of our society. When a lot of families break down the whole of society breaks down. Today we look to the Holy Family of Nazareth and the Word of God to see how we can strengthen the bonds of love in our families In the gospel we see how Jesus had a perfect upbringing. When Mary & Joseph and Jesus visited the Temple when Jesus turned 12, Jesus put His Love for His Heavenly Father before his love for His Mother and Step-Father .He didn’t realise they would be worried because He stayed behind in the temple Jesus was very obedient to His parents. As He grew up He became very wise. God was very pleased with him and everyone saw what a fantastic person He was. To have a family like the family in Nazareth we have to obey God’s word. Husbands must love their wives as Christ loved us by dying for us they must never be harsh with them. They must go out of the way to show their wives how much they love them Wives respond to their husband’s love with a desire to be submissive. On the whole, women find it hard to love if they are not loved by their husbands.
Children are told to be like Jesus and obey their parents. Obedience pleases God so much He promises to give long life to children who obey. Paul give us wonderful advice to help us to be really happy in our family life. We are to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. We are to bear with each other when we are hard to get along with and always be ready to forgive because Jesus has forgiven us.
We must always be bound together with lots and lots of love. To enable us to have all these qualities we must have a very good relationship with Jesus so His peace can rule our lives. We get close to Him by reading the Bible and allowing His word to shape our lives. This means that each family must pray together and worship the lord together. It helps to sing spiritual songs with hearts full of gratitude towards our wonderful Father in Heaven.
PRAYER
Father God, we thank you so much for the example of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Help us to model our families on their family. May we all read and listen to your word and obey what it says. Help us all to relate to each other and love each other just as You want us to. As we worship You together bind us together with cords that cannot be broken. Through Jesus Christ our Lord who gives us the power to love each other. AMEN
MONDAY 21st. DECEMBER
St Thomas’s Day
Isaiah 9.2-7
To us a Child is born
When Jesus comes into our lives, He makes such a huge difference. Before He came we were in darkness; now we are in His marvellous light. We couldn’t see where life was taking us and we were full of anxiety and fear. Now life has taken a new course because we can see where we are going. There is now a real purpose to our whole existence.
When we invite Him into our lives, Jesus fills us with so much joy. It is a joy that is greater than anything we have ever experienced before. It’s greater than the farmer’s joy after a bumper harvest or the joy of someone who has just inherited millions of dollars. A famous preacher, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, calls it joy unspeakable. The real joy comes when Jesus completely and utterly removes all the guilt of our sins. He takes away all the things that weigh us down like stress, fear, anxiety, worry, bitterness and resentment - all the things that rob us of joy He gently removes from our lives. Isn’t Jesus absolutely and utterly fantastic!
Jesus was the man born to be King. When we let Him take over and rule our lives, we become part of His Kingdom. It’s a fantastic Kingdom. He governs us so well and so effectively.
Above all, He is a Wonderful Counsellor. He listens to us and encourages us so much. Where He rules there is always peace. There is justice for all and all have the joy of living in right relationships with each other.
We are so happy at Christmas time as we see the zeal of our Lord God brought Jesus to Earth to be our Saviour and King.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you that we were in darkness, but have seen a marvellous light when Jesus came into our lives. Fill our hearts with the greatest of all joys - we have been set free from all that weighs us down. It’s so good to enjoy so much peace, justice and righteousness given to us by King Jesus. Amen.
TUESDAY 22nd. DECEMBER
Psalm 96
Sing a new song
The very best way that we humans experience joy is to sing songs. Christmas is a time which is always very joyful because we celebrate the source of the world’s greatest joy, the joy of having Jesus in our midst! Christmas is a time for joyful singing. The joy of Jesus is a joy that Jesus wants us to share. It is by singing that the joy in our hearts bubbles out. When our family was in England, in Whitehawk in Brighton, we used to sit on the church steps and sing many joyful songs. This attracted lots of children and teenagers. They came to church after that and many came to experience the joy of Jesus coming into their hearts. When I visited the homes of some of these children, I could hear them singing the songs of Jesus up in their rooms. Jesus made them so happy.
One way in which we can continuously enter into the joy of singing to Jesus is to play some of the new Christian praise and worship songs on our CDs.
Always have these going in your car or turn to Rhema Radio (106.5) or Family Radio (96.5). In your quiet times sing some of the songs. If there’s no-one around, I sing them aloud. If others are there, I sing them in my head. Every time I sing to Jesus He fills me with so much joy.
The whole of creation loves to sing to the Lord. Go out into your garden or into the bush, near a lake or the sea, stop and listen. You can, in a special way, hear God’s creation singing His praise. I can hear lots of birds praising the Lord right now.
PRAYER: Father, it’s such a joy to be able to sing a new song to you. As we sing or listen to songs, come and dwell in our hearts and intoxicate us with your joy, which is so much more joyful that the joy of wine or worldly pursuits. Jesus, we rejoice over you with singing. Amen.
WEDNESDAY 23rd. DECEMBER
Titus 2.11-14
Grace
Remember our definition of Grace: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Jesus, and all that comes with Him, is God’s Christmas present to the whole world. All that God does for us in Jesus is described in the Bible by this word, Grace. Grace is an overflow of God’s generosity. It is given out to all people freely. We do not have to deserve it, work for it or earn it in any way. Grace is like the Christmas cards which we go on sending out to people who never send any to us. It’s like giving presents to people who never give anything back to us.
Once we have received God’s grace we will never be the same again. It saves us from ourselves. Grace is Jesus. Once He comes into our hearts, He changes us. He does this by making us like Himself - so generous and ever ready to give, especially to those who do not pay us back.
All the things that used to give us pleasure because they pleased ourselves fade away. Earthly passions and ungodly behaviour do not interest us any more. Jesus comes in to set us free from addiction to earthly pleasures and purifies us by making us very giving people, always more concerned to please others more than to please ourselves.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for Grace. Thank you that you give all your riches to us through Jesus, riches we do not deserve. As we receive Jesus and His Grace, transform our hearts, set us free from the desire to please ourselves and give us an overwhelming desire to be generous and to please others, even when we get no return for our love. Amen.
THURSDAY 24TH DECEMBER
Luke 2.1-20
No room
Isn’t it strange, God was so generous in giving us all His riches when He gave us Jesus, yet when He came to His own home, His own people rejected Him (John 1.12). Yet to all who did receive Him He gave power for them to be reborn as God’s own children - brothers and sisters of Jesus!
In the Gospel story for today, we see how there was no room in many of the inns as Joseph and Mary knocked on the doors. God was about to present the best ever Christmas present - no-one wanted to receive it.
One inn-keeper did let them in, but only into the smelly animal stable. But, wow, was he blessed. Never before had so many people come to his hotel.
Even though he only let Jesus be born in his stable, his life was never the same again. He had never experienced so much joy. That special star illuminated the stable, the singing of the angels filled the place with tranquillity and peace. The beaming shepherds made everyone so very, very happy. Later on the wise men were his guests. Their extreme generosity and devotion to the baby Jesus made a lasting impression on him.
However poor we are, however rejected by society, however degraded by everyone else, if we open the door of our hearts to Jesus, He will come in. When He’s born again in our hearts, what a transformation takes place. Oh what joy, Oh what peace, Oh what tranquillity!
PRAYER: Come into my heart Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for you. As we receive you, thank you for powerfully making us into your brothers and sisters, our Father God’s dear children. Amen.
FRIDAY 25TH DECEMBER
CHRISTMAS DAY
Hebrews 1.1- 12
Jesus, our Christmas present
Let’s unwrap this wonderful Christmas present God has given us all. Let’s see what it is like - see that it’s the best possible present we could ever be given. We couldn’t ask or want for anything better. Isn’t it joyful when we open our presents and find they are just what we need! Jesus is like a new CD player or tape recorder. God speaks to us through Him. When we hear God speaking, it’s the best word we have ever heard! Then we see Jesus as the radiance of God’s glory. God’s glory and magnificence seemed, before, so out of touch or beyond our reach. Now, in Jesus, we can see it, touch it and experience it. We can see what God’s like as we read our Bibles which tells us about Jesus. We can learn all about exactly what God is like!
We see in Jesus someone who powerfully holds the whole universe together. So when we experience Him taking over our lives (which He will only do if we let Him), we see our own lives coming together and being so much more meaningful than ever before.
Finally, Jesus is God among us, purifying us and making us holy. All that sin, guilt, negativity, doubt, worry, fear, anxiety and unhappiness melt away in His glorious presence. He is so much stronger than all negative influences which used to hold us back.
PRAYER: Father, it’s so wonderful to unwrap this Christmas present you have given us. We find Jesus to be so fantastic as He shows us your magnificence and as He brings our lives together and purifies us from all those negative things. Thank you God for Jesus. Amen.
Message for Christmas day
This is the most happy time of the year when we celebrate the birthday of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Jesus is so very important that many people who do not believe in him celebrate His birthday.
Why is Jesus so important? He is important because He has transformed the whole world.
We were in darkness and He has brought us into a glorious light. In this light we can see how wonderfully meaningful our lives are. Before we were in the light our lives on earth seemed so temporary and were full of fear and anxiety. Now we see that we have an eternal purpose. Because Jesus was born and because He died on the cross for us we can have eternal life. If we repent of the wrong way we have been going and invite Jesus to come into our hearts as our Lord (complete boss)
and saviour we become Children of God. His promise to all his children is that He will not let us die.
Isn’t that fantastic. Jesus rose from the dead three days after he was crucified to take all our sins away. All who have faith in Him and have received Him will also rise with him into a new life that will never end
We give presents to people when they celebrate their birthdays. Why do we give presents to each other when we celebrate Christmas? Because Jesus was born into the World all of us can be born again into a new life that will never end.. We give presents to Each other to celebrate each others’ rebirth as Gods eternal children.
Wendy and I and all my family wish you all a very happy and holy Christmas
SATURDAY 26TH DECEMBER
John 1.1-14
God became a Human Being
Christianity is the only way
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No-one can come to the Father except through Him! (John 14.6) In all other religions we see people trying to get to God, to please God and save themselves from the wrath of God. What they are trying to do is impossible. God is so much greater than we are.
All our efforts to be saved by what we do end up being unsuccessful. God did not give us the ability, when He created us, to be able to get right with Him in our own strength. The only way was for Him to come down from Heaven and become one of us and be with us and enable us to find God and to get right with God. This is what happened when Jesus was born.
He always was in existence. John calls Him “The Word”. He was with God and He was God. Through Him God made everything. When Jesus was born in the stable at Bethlehem, this Word, who was God from the very beginning, became a human being and dwelt among us. Then we saw how tremendous, how fantastic God really was.
Jesus was a man born to die. It was His death on the cross that did what man had been trying to do in other religions without success. It made us right with God. It made us one with God: so much so that as soon as we receive this Jesus (God who became a human being) into our hearts, we become God’s own children. We are born again into His family - this time, not as we were born the first time, but born by the Spirit of God, made into creatures who would be like the “Word who became a human being” - like Him in that the new life we have makes us eternal. Because Jesus was born, because He died, because we have accepted Him into our hearts, we will never, never die. Allelujah!
PRAYER: Father, thank you for enabling us to do the impossible - to get right with you. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you that He died to make us acceptable to you. We ask Him again into our hearts and rejoice that because of Him we will never die, but will be with you for ever. Amen.
SUNDAY 27TH DECEMBER
THE HOLY FAMILY
The family is the most important unit of our society. When a lot of families break down the whole of society breaks down. Today we look to the Holy Family of Nazareth and the Word of God to see how we can strengthen the bonds of love in our families In the gospel we see how Jesus had a perfect upbringing. When Mary & Joseph and Jesus visited the Temple when Jesus turned 12, Jesus put His Love for His Heavenly Father before his love for His Mother and Step-Father .He didn’t realise they would be worried because He stayed behind in the temple Jesus was very obedient to His parents. As He grew up He became very wise. God was very pleased with him and everyone saw what a fantastic person He was. To have a family like the family in Nazareth we have to obey God’s word. Husbands must love their wives as Christ loved us by dying for us they must never be harsh with them. They must go out of the way to show their wives how much they love them Wives respond to their husband’s love with a desire to be submissive. On the whole, women find it hard to love if they are not loved by their husbands.
Children are told to be like Jesus and obey their parents. Obedience pleases God so much He promises to give long life to children who obey. Paul give us wonderful advice to help us to be really happy in our family life. We are to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. We are to bear with each other when we are hard to get along with and always be ready to forgive because Jesus has forgiven us.
We must always be bound together with lots and lots of love. To enable us to have all these qualities we must have a very good relationship with Jesus so His peace can rule our lives. We get close to Him by reading the Bible and allowing His word to shape our lives. This means that each family must pray together and worship the lord together. It helps to sing spiritual songs with hearts full of gratitude towards our wonderful Father in Heaven.
PRAYER
Father God, we thank you so much for the example of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Help us to model our families on their family. May we all read and listen to your word and obey what it says. Help us all to relate to each other and love each other just as You want us to. As we worship You together bind us together with cords that cannot be broken. Through Jesus Christ our Lord who gives us the power to love each other. AMEN