Day 1: What IS Christmas Really About?

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

 ²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 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! ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³² He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³ And he will reign over Israelforever; his Kingdom will never end!”³⁴ Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”³⁵ The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For nothing is impossible with God.”³⁸ Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

Definition of ANGEL

I feel the lesson to be learned here for me on day one of this journey is simply this, if I am calling myself a servant of the Lord then I must act like one.  I need to cast out all fear and doubt and simply know God is working on my behalf.  I need to further accept that I am a carrier of the Presence of God where ever I go, just like Mary as she carried Jesus in her womb.  How do I get to this point in my life?  Well, for the most part I think I have a good grasp on this concept, I just need to apply it to ALL areas of my life, not just the places where I think I can fit God into.  God should be active and involved in all aspects of my life and it is up to me to choose this for my lifestyle.

So to wrap up lesson one, I will concentrate to see where I need to improve on listening to the voice of God and let Him show me where I need to seek Him more.  I will begin to have more faith in both the little and the small and this faith will go with me to every situation I encounter.  I feel the angel was sent as a great sign to Mary that she will be rewarded for her faith.  We know that we all need more faith because what would happen if an angel appeared to you tonight and spoke into your life something that they outside world would never understand. How would we actually react?  “Okay God, as your servant, I will accept and follow” or “Um I need some time to pray and think this over?”  God is calling each of us to have the faith of Mary and to become great carriers of the presence of Jesus.