Day 21

Chandler Jones (10^th Grade)

Today’s devotion focuses on Mathew 2:1-6. The wise men were sent by King Herod to find the location of baby Jesus. King Herod’s goal was to kill baby Jesus. As the wise men traveled home, they were warned in a dream to not tell the king. At the same time, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to change his location. This Scripture should remind us that we should have a close relationship with Jesus Christ and follow his daily guidance on how we should live.

Day 20

Julia Johnson (10^th Grade)

Could you imagine what it would be like to be one of those shepherds? To be in total awe of what God has done for us, and to go do something about what you’ve seen? This day in age, it’s so easy to lose our wonder. It’s easy to slip into stress and be so focused on yourself and your temporary problems that you don’t even notice all that the Lord has done for you. Next time you feel worried or stressed, just stop. Stop everything and take a deep breath and look around. Go look out your window and look at what God has done. Give Him 5 minutes and a quick prayer, and I promise He will show you something beautiful.

Day 19

Tyler Bottomlee 

Luke 2:15-21 is the familiar story of the shepherds on the hillside on the night of Jesus’ birth. We have all heard it, but when I stopped to think about it, this passage is more than just a story. It was put into the Gospel not only to record the events that occurred on the night of Jesus’ birth, but also to demonstrate the way we should respond to God’s voice and His actions. When God sent His angels to inform the shepherds of Christ’s birth, they did not just simply think it was “cool” then go back to tending their sheep. Luke specifically mentions, “they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger.” They were extremely excited by what God had revealed to them, and immediately followed his guidance. They didn’t stop with just seeing Christ. They didn’t hoard their newly found discovery, but they shared the news with everyone they saw. Luke says, “and when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.”

At this point, King Herod was already looking for the Messiah to kill him. These Shepherds were specifically told that Jesus was the Christ child, the Messiah in flesh. They weren’t afraid of Herod though, they went through the streets telling every one of the good news the angels had brought them and miracle they had seen. They were simply so excited by the Lord’s voice in their life, they couldn’t contain themselves. This passage revealed to me how we should act as well. God has already told us of His son’s birth, and even more, of His son’s all-forgiving sacrifice for us. We cannot just sit idly by with this gospel, this good news. Like the shepherds, we have to stand up and walk; we have to share the news of Jesus’ immense love and sacrifice for everyone. With the Holy Spirit speaking to us and filling us, we don’t have anything to be afraid of. We can, and we must go out and share the love and comfort of Christ’s birth, love, and resurrection.

Day 18

Katherine Dudley (9^th Grade)

After reading today’s devotion, I realized that I have been overwhelmed with all sorts of things. When they said something about a test, I really related because I really struggle with test taking. Can you imagine how the shepherds felt? It wasn’t like they were taking some little Spanish test…they were in the presence of an Angel sent by the Lord! What I find so crazy about it all, is that for the shepherds and all of us to have a relationship with God, Jesus had to be born as a baby just so he could die on the cross for us. That just shows how much He truly loves us. In verse 10 it says, “Do not be afraid. I bring to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” I love this verse so much because it is such a great reminder of what Jesus did for us, and that He is with us at all times. Something I want to encourage you with is when you start to get overwhelmed or you feel like your world is turned upside down, just remember that He loves you so so so veryyyyyyy much. He doesn’t ask us to do it alone!