Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! Hope you are making progress on your Christmas preparations, and time to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas. I plan to make Swedish meatballs this morning and get more cards and gifts done. We enjoyed time with friends yesterday and when we got back, I made a visit to our former neighbor from the lake who is now in Assisted Living.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
When we get good news, we most likely like to share it right away with those closest to us. It’s hard to keep it inside and we may share that we are now a grandparent, or we got engaged, maybe that our overseas children are coming home for Christmas, or our cancer is in remission, etc. I like to tell my friends when I find an unbelievable sale so they can get in on it too! Good news is just waiting to be shared and of course the best news is Jesus came, He died, He rose again, and He will one day come back for us to spend eternity with Him and all who believe. Now that news trumps anything and Christmas is especially a time when we can share the real meaning of Christmas with others who may not realize why we celebrate.

I was reading today from John’s gospel, and John was closest to Jesus when He was on earth. He called himself, “the one whom Jesus loved.” ((John 13:23) We can also add our names to that ourselves, for He loved us enough to die for us! It’s one thing to know that in our minds but does our heart really grab hold of that? If we receive His love, then we will want to naturally share Him with others, but we have to know His love first in our own hearts. We can’t give away something we have not received ourselves.

 Andrew was one of the first disciples who heard John the Baptist tell who Jesus was and you know what he did? It says in John 1:41, “Andrew at once found his brother Simon and told him, ‘We have found the Messiah (which means ‘Christ’). Andrew brought him to Jesus.” The next day Jesus found Philip who then found Nathanael and of course the list goes on and on. When we find Jesus, we want to share Him with all who will listen. Let us not keep the good news to ourselves but as the song goes, “Go tell it on the mountains, over the hills and everywhere! Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.”

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to make openings for you to share Him with others. (Don’t forget those closest to you!)
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy