Scripture to Prepare Our Hearts for Christmas

December 1^st: Micah 5:2: But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.

December 2^nd:  Matthew 1:18-21: This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

December 3^rd:  Luke 2:4-7: So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn.

December 4^th: Luke 2:8-14: And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

December 5^th: Luke 2:15-20: When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about the child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

December 6^th: Isaiah 7:14: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

December 7^th: Matthew 1:23: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—which means “God with us.”

December  8^th: Luke 1:26-28: In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings! You are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

December 9^th: Luke 1:29-33: Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

December 10^th: Luke 1:46-56: And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendents forever, even as he said to our fathers.”

December 11^th: Matthew 2:1-6: After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born kind of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.

December 12^th: Matthew 2:7-9: Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had heard king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

December 13^th: Matthew 2:10-12: When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their gifts of gold and of incense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

December 14^th: Isaiah 40:3-5: A voice of one calling: In the desert prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.

December 15^th: Isaiah 53:1-3: Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hid their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

December 16^th: Isaiah 53:3-6: Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

December 17^th: Isaiah 53:7-9: He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speech of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

December 18^th: Isaiah 53:10-11: Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

December 19^th: Isaiah 53:12: Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

December 20^th: Deuteronomy 18:15: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.

December 21^st: Acts 3:18-22: But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, “The Lord your God will raise up or you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you.”

December 22^nd: Mark 1:2-8: It is written in Isaiah the prophet: I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way—a voice of one calling in the desert, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And his was his message: After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

December 23^rd: John 1:1-5: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

December 24^th: John 1:9-14: The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

December 25^th: Isaiah 9:6: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Had I Been Another Mother - Ruth Graham

Had I been Joseph’s mother

I’d have prayed

protection from his brothers:

“God keep him safe;

he is so young,

so different from

the others.”

Mercifully she never knew

there would be slavery

and prison, too.

Had I been Moses’ mother

I’d have wept

to keep my little son;

praying she might forget

the babe drawn from the water

of the Nile,

had I not kept

him for her

nursing him the while?

Was he not mine

and she

but Pharaoh’s daughter?

Had I been Daniel’s mother

I should have pled

“Give victory!

This Babylonian horde –

godless and cruel –

don’t let them take him captive

– better dead,

Almighty Lord!”

Had I been Mary –

Oh, had I been she,

I would have cried

as never a mother cried,

“…Anything, O God,

anything …

but crucified!”

With such prayers importunate

my finite wisdom

would assail

Infinite Wisdom;

God, how fortunate

Infinite Wisdom

should prevail!

Sunrise

I don't think we can really understand how time passes. We can't study it like a river or tame it with a clock. Our devices only mark its coming and going. I dropped an anchor months back but time didn't slow. Some things have to end, you know. You feel like life is always leading up to something, but it isn't. I mean life is just life. It's all happening right now, and we aren't going to be any more complete a month from now than we are now. I only say this because I am trying to appreciate everything now. I will be leaving soon and I want to feel this, really understand that it is happening because God breathed some spark into some mud that became us, and He did it for a reason, and I want to feel that reason, not some false explanation.

-Donald Miller, "Through Painted Deserts"

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond's glint on snow;
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.

-Native American proverb

Decision

A long time ago I went to a concert with my friend Rebecca. Rebecca can sing better than anybody I've ever heard sing. I heard this folksinger was coming to town, and I thought she might like to see him because she was a singer too. The tickets were twenty bucks, which is a lot to pay if you're not on a date. Between songs, though, he told a story that helped me resolve some things about God. The story was about his friend who was a Navy SEAL. He told it like it was true, so I guess it was true, although it could have been a lie.
The folksinger said his friend was performing a covert operation, freeing hostages from a building in some dark part of the world. His friend's team flew in by helicopter, made their way to the compound and stormed into the room where the hostages had been imprisoned for months. The room, the folksinger said, was filthy and dark. The hostages were curled up in a corner, terrified, When the SEALs entered the room, they heard the gasps of the hostages. They stood at the door and called to the prisoners, telling them they were Americans, The SEALS asked the hostages to follow them, but the hostages wouldn't. They sat there on the floor and hid their eyes in fear. They were not of healthy mind and didn't believe their rescuers were really Americans.
The SEALs stood there, not knowing what to do. They couldn't possibly carry everybody out. One of the SEALs, the folksinger's friend, got an idea. He put down his weapon, took off his helmet, and curled up tightly next to the other hostages, getting so close his body was touching some of thiers. He softened the look on his face and put his arms around them. He was trying to show them he was one of them. None of the prison guards would have done this. He stayed there for a little while until some of the hostages started to look at him, finally meeting his eyes. The Navy SEAL whispered that they were Americans and were there to rescue them. Will you follow us? he said. The hero stood to his feet and one of the hostages did the same, then another, until all of them were willing to go. The story ends with all the hostages safe on an American aircraft carrier.
I never liked it when the preachers said we had to follow Jesus. sometimes they would make Him sound angry. But I liked the story the folksinger told. I like the idea of Jesus becoming man, so that we would be able to trust Him, and I like that He healed people and loved them and cared deeply about how people were feeling.
When I understood that the decision to follow Jesus was very much like the decision the hostages had to make to follow their rescuer, I knew then that I needed to decide whether or not I would follow Him. The decision was simple once I asked myself, Is Jesus the Son of Hod, are we being held captive in a world run by Satan, a world filled with broenness, and do I believe Jesus can rescue me from this condition?

-Donald Miller, "Blue Like Jazz"

Forgetfulness

The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,

as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.

Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,

something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.

Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,
not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.

It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall,
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.

No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

-Billy Collins

The Bear Story

That Alex "ist maked up his-own-se'f"

W'y, wunst they wuz a Little Boy went out
In the woods to shoot a Bear. So, he went out
'Way in the grea'-big woods - he did, - An' he
Wuz goin' along -an' goin' along, you know,
An' purty soon he heerd somepin' go "Wooh!"
Ist thataway - "Woo-ooh!" An' he wuz skeered,
He wuz. An' so he runned an' clumbed a tree -
A grea'-big tree, he did, - a sicka-more2 tree.
An' nen he heerd it ag'in: an' he looked round,
An' 't'uz a Bear - a grea'big shore-'nuff Bear!-
No: 't'uz two Bears, it wuz -two grea'big Bears-
One of 'em wuz -lst one's a grea'-big Bear. -
But they ist boff went "Wooh!" -An' here they come
To climb the tree an' git the Little Boy
An' eat him up!
An' nen the Little Boy
He 'uz skeered worse'n ever! An' here come
The grea'big Bear a-climin' th' tree to git
The Little Boy an' eat him up- Oh, no! -
It 'uzn't the Big Bear 'at clumb the tree-
It 'uz the Little Bear. So here he come
Climbin' the tree - an' climbin' the tree! Nen when
He git wite clos't to the Little Boy, w'y, nen
The Little Boy he ist pulled up his gun
An' shot the Bear, he did, an' killed him dead!
An' nen the Bear he falled clean on down out
The tree - away clean to the ground, he did -
Spling-splung! he falled plum down, an' killed him, too!
An' lit wite side o' where the Big Bear's at.

An' nen the Big Bear's awful mad, you bet! -
'Cause - 'cause the Little Boy he shot his gun
An' killed the Little Bear. - 'Cause the Big Bear
He - he 'uz the Little Bear's Papa. - An' so here
He come to climb the big old tree an' git
The Little Boy an' eat him up! An' when
The Little Boy he saw the grea'-big Bear
A-comin', he 'uz badder skeered, he wuz,
Than any time! An' so he think he'll climb
Up higher - 'way up higher in the tree
Than the old Bear kin climb, you know. - But he -
He can't climb higher 'an old Bears kin climb, -
'Cause Bears kin climb up higher in the trees
Than any little Boys in all the Wo-r-r-ld!

An' so here come the grea'-big Bear, he did, -
A'climbin' up - an' up the tree, to git
The Little Boy an' eat him up! An' so
The Little Boy he clumbed on higher, an' higher,
An' higher up the tree - an' higher - an' higher -
An' higher'n iss-here house is! - An' here come
The old Bear -clos'ter to him all the time! -
An' nen - first thing you know, - when th' old Big Bear
Wuz wite clos't to him - nen the Little Boy
Ist jabbed his gun wite in the old Bear's mouf
An' shot an' killed him dead! - No; I fergot, -
He didn't shoot the grea'-big Bear at all -
'Cause when he shot the Little Bear, w'y, nen
No load 'uz any more nen in the gun!

But th' Little Boy clumbed higher up, he did -
He clumbed lots higher - an' on up higher - an' higher
An' higher - tel he ist can't climb no higher,
'Cause nen the limbs 'uz all so little, 'way
Up in the teeny-weeny tip-top of
The tree, they'd break down wiv him ef he don't
Be keerful! So he stop an' think: An' nen
He look around -An' here come the old Bear!
An' so the Little Boy make up his mind
He's got to ist git out o' there someway! -
'Cause here come the old Bear! - so clos't, his bref's
Purt' nigh so's he kin feel how hot it is
Ag'inst his bare feet - ist like old "Ring's" bref
When he's be'n out a-huntin' an' 's all tired.
So when th' old Bear's so clos't - the Little Boy
Ist gives a grea'-big jump fer 'nother tree -
No! - no, he don't do that! - I tell you what
The Little Boy does: - W'y, nen - w'y, he- Oh, yes! -
The Little Boy he finds a hole up there
'At's in the tree - an' climbs in there an' hides -
An' nen th' old Bear can't find the Little Boy
At all! - but purty soon the old Bear finds
The Little Boy's gun 'at's up there - 'cause the gun
It's too tall to tooked wiv him in the hole.
So, when the old Bear find' the gun, he knows
The Little Boy's ist hid round somers there, -
An' th' old Bear 'gins to snuff and sniff around,
An' sniff an' snuff around - so's he kin find
Out where the Little Boy's hid at. - An' nen - nen -
Oh, yes! - W'y, purty soon the old Bear climbs
'Way out on a big limb - a grea'-long limb, -
An' nen the Little Boy climbs out the hole
An' takes his ax an' chops the limb off!...Nen
The old Bear falls k-splunge! clean to the ground,
An' bu'st an' kill hisse'f plum dead, he did!

An' nen the Little Boy he git his gu
An' 'menced a-climbin' down the tree ag'in -
No! no, he didn't git his gun - 'cause when
The Bear falled, nen the gun falled, too -
An' broked It all to pieces, too! - An' nicest gun! -
His Pa ist buyed it!- An' the Little Boy
Ist cried, he did; an' went on climbin' down
The tree - an' climbin' down - an' climbin' down! -
An' sir! when he 'uz purt' nigh down, - w'y, nen
The old Bear he jumped up ag'in - an' he
Ain't dead at all -ist 'tendin' thataway,
So he kin git the Little Boy an' eat
Him up! But the Little Boy he 'uz too smart
To climb clean down the tree. - An' the old Bear
He can't climb up the tree no more - 'cause when
He fell, he broke one of his - He broke all
His legs! - an' nen he couldn't climb! But he
Ist won't go 'way an' let the Little Boy
Come down out of the tree. An' the old Bear
Ist growls round there, he does - ist growls an' goes
"Wooh! -woo-ooh!" all the time! An' Little Boy
He haf to stay up in the tree - all night -
An' 'thout no supper neever!- Only they
Wuz apples on the tree! - An' Little Boy
Et apples - ist all night - an' cried - an' cried!
Nen when 't'uz morning the old Bear went "Wooh!"
Ag'in, an' try to climb up in the tree
An' git the Little Boy - But he can't
Climb t' save his soul, he can't! - An' oh! he's mad! -
He ist tear up the ground! an' go "Woo-ooh!"
An'- Oh, yes! - purty soon, when morning's come
All light - so's you kin see, you know, w'y, nen
The old Bear finds the Little Boy's gun, you know,
'At's on the ground. - (An' it ain't broke at all -
I ist said that!) An' so the old Bear think
He'll take the gun an' shoot the Little Boy: -
But Bears they don't know much 'bout shootin' guns:
So when he go to shoot the Little Boy,
The old Bear got the other end the gun
Ag'in' his shoulder, 'stid o' th' other end -
So when he try to shoot the Little Boy,
It shot the Bear, it did - an' killed him dead!
An' nen the Little Boy clumb down the tree
An' chopped his old woolly head off. - Yes, an' killed
The other Bear ag'in, he did - an' killed
All boff the bears, he did - an' tuk 'em home
An' cooked 'em, too, an' et 'em!---
An' that's all.

-James Whitcomb Riley, but best read by Great Grandma Bertram