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This Day’s Thought-Wednesday

Wishing you a most joyous and meaningful Christmas celebration!

This Day's Thought

Christmas is not a day or a season, but a condition of heart and mind.
If we love our neighbors as ourselves;
if in our riches we are poor in spirit and in our poverty we are rich in grace;
if our charity vaunteth not itself, but suffereth long and is kind;
if when our brother asks for a loaf, we give ourselves instead;
if each day dawns in opportunity and sets in achievement, however small–
then every day is Christ’s day and Christmas is always near.

James Wallingford

This Day's Verse

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Luke 2:8-14
The New King James Version

This Day's Smile

The hinge of history is on the door of a Bethlehem stable.

Ralph W. Stockman

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This Day’s Thought-Tuesday

This Day's Thought

Thanks be to God for his unspeakable Gift—
indescribable
inestimable
incomparable
inexpressibly precious beyond words.

Lois LeBar

This Day's Verse

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirini-us was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Luke 2:1-7
The Revised Standard Version

This Day's Reprise

Then let every heart keep Christmas within:
Christ’s pity for sorrow,
Christ’s hatred for sin,
Christ’s care for the weakest,
Christ’s courage for right.
Everywhere, everywhere,
Christmas tonight!

Phillips Brooks

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This Day’s Thought-Monday

This Day's Thought

Though time crumbles stone and the story grows old,
Yet The Shepherd we love, still watches His fold;
And His star still shines, over city and mart,
And His voice still speaks to the listening heart.
Our hearts are His birthplace.
Our lives are His home.
Let His work truly be our own.

James Barnes

This Day's Verse

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do 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 as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25
The New Revised Standard Version

This Day's Smile

God must have said, “I know what I’ll do, I’ll send my LOVE right down there where they are. And I’ll send it as a tiny baby, so they’ll have to touch it, and they’ll have to hold it close.”

Gloria Gaither

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This Day’s Thought-Friday

This Day's Thought

The first message of Christmas is “fear not.”  The birth of Jesus…banishes our fears.

Ann Voskamp

This Day's Verse

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14
The English Standard Version

This Day's Smile

Love is the thing.  The rest is tinsel.

Pam Brown

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This Day’s Thought-Thursday

This Day's Thought

Sunrise at the far horizon was sunrise near me in this infant.

Walter Wangerin, Jr.

This Day's Verse

When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom.  He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

2 Samuel 7:12-13
The New International Version

This Day's Reprise

Christmas is when God came down the stairs of heaven with a baby in His arms.

R. Eugene Sterner

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This Day’s Thought-Wednesday

This Day's Thought

When praying for healing, ask great things of God and expect great things from God. But let us seek for that healing that really matters, the healing of the heart, enabling us to trust God simply, face God honestly, and live triumphantly.

Arlo F. Newel

This Day's Verse

As in water face reflects face, So a man’s heart reveals the man.

Proverbs 27:19
The New King James Version

This Day's Smile

“I have heard many great orators,” said Louis XIV to Bishop Jean Baptiste Massillon, “and have been highly pleased with them; but whenever I hear you, I go away displeased with myself.” This is the highest encomium that could be bestowed on a preacher.

Charles Simmons

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This Day’s Thought-Tuesday

This Day's Thought

Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way. This is a tragic waste of truth and never gives rest to the heart. There is a better way. It is to repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God. Our insistence upon seeing ahead is natural enough, but it is a real hindrance to our spiritual progress. God has charged himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to him.

A. W. Tozer

This Day's Verse

One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

Psalm 27:4
The New International Version

This Day's Reprise

We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.

Mother Teresa

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This Day’s Thought-Monday

This Day's Thought

When Jesus Christ utters a word, He opens His mouth so wide that it embraces all heaven and earth, even though that Word be but in a whisper. The word of the emperor is powerful, but that of Jesus Christ governs the whole universe.

Martin Luther

This Day's Verse

“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. For the sake of his great name the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own. As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.”

1 Samuel 12:20-25
The New International Version

This Day's Smile

Happiness grows at your own fireside, and is not to be picked in strangers’ gardens.

Unknown

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This Day’s Thought-Friday

This Day's Thought

We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; The Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.

Oswald Chambers

This Day's Verse

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah  Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.

Psalm 68:19-20
The English Standard Version

This Day's Smile

The woods are made for the hunters of dreams,
The brooks for the fishers of song;
To the hunters who hunt for the gunless game
The streams and the woods belong.

Unknown

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This Day’s Thought-Thursday

This Day's Thought

When someone tells me that he has never had a moment of probing religious doubt I find myself wondering whether he had ever known a moment of vital religious conviction.

Harold A. Bosley

This Day's Verse

He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

Proverbs 15:32
The King James Version

This Day's Reprise

Knowing the Bible is one thing. Knowing the author another.

Unknown

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