Greg Laurie: Daily Devotions

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. (John 1:14 NLT)

Can you imagine looking at God in human form? During the earthly ministry of Jesus, we can imagine the disciples walking along with Him and looking at Him all the time.

The apostle John wrote of Jesus, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son” (John 1:14 NLT).

The disciples watched Him. They heard His words. Yet interestingly, in all the Gospel accounts, not one person gave a physical description of Jesus. The Bible suggests that Jesus was ordinary in appearance, because Isaiah 53 says, “There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him” (verse 2 NLT).

In other words, when Jesus walked this earth, He was an ordinary-looking man. He didn’t have a striking appearance. Nor did He have a permanent halo. In fact, when Judas Iscariot was about to identify Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, he said, “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss” (Matthew 26:48 NLT).

Why did Judas need to say that?  Because they wouldn’t have been able to find Jesus in the crowd. Judas was essentially saying, “Let me point Him out to you.”

This makes it all the more extraordinary that God Almighty became an ordinary human being, a person just like us. He came to this earth. He walked among us.

John was saying, “We walked with Him. We talked with Him. And we want you to know that you can have fellowship with Him just like we had fellowship with Him.”

This isn’t a privilege only afforded to first-century believers. It’s one that is indeed available to twenty-first century believers too. We can know Jesus. Yet for some, God can seem so distant and unapproachable. But Jesus, who was God, came to show us what the Father is like.

Jesus stands apart from all other prophets, teachers, and so-called gurus. Jesus wasn’t a man who became God. Rather, He was God who became a man. And it never will happen again.

If you want to know what God is like, then take a long look at Jesus. You don’t need to look further. If you want to know how God feels about children, then look at Jesus taking the little ones into His arms, blessing them, and saying, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children” (Matthew 19:14 NLT).

And if you want to know how God feels about sinners, then look at Jesus reaching out to the down-and-outers of society and showing them love and compassion. We see Him going out of His way to make time for people that no one else wanted anything to do with.

Thus, if you want to know what God thinks about anything, then look at the story of Jesus. He is showing us what God is like.

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‘Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.’ (Revelation 22:12 NLT)

There were a lot of people who missed the first Christmas, the night that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. Of course, there were no the telltale signs that we have today. There were no Christmas carols, brightly colored lights, or sales at the local market.

Yet the first Christmas had its own signs that were being fulfilled before the eyes of the people, because the Hebrew prophets had foretold the arrival of a Savior. However, in the twenty-first century, we would be hard-pressed to miss Christmas. We can’t miss the fact that Christmas is upon us.

People today have a better idea of how to prepare for a Christmas celebration than how to prepare for the return of Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ, who was born in the manger in Bethlehem, who was crucified on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead, is coming back again. And we don’t want to miss that.

He came right on schedule the first time, and He will come right on schedule the second time.

Jesus said, “Yes, I am coming soon!” (Revelation 22:20 NLT). And the answer of the true Christian will always be, along with the apostle John, “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” What’s more, anything that would prevent us from saying the same thing is out of place in our lives.

We are not only to be waiting, but we are also to be working. Jesus said, “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward” (Luke 12:42–43 NLT).

If watching is the evidence of faith, then working is the evidence of faith in action. Watching for the Lord’s return will help us prepare our own lives, but working will assure that we bring others with us. We should be serving the Lord and looking for opportunities to engage people and tell them about Jesus.

Jesus also said, “The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat!” (verse 37 NLT). The word blessed could be translated as “happy.”

Looking for the return of Christ isn’t a miserable, repressive, confining way to live. It’s a happy, joyful, and purposeful way to live.

Christmas is coming. The signs are all around us. Of course, Christmas will come, and Christmas will go. And before long, we’ll forget about the gifts that we received. But Jesus Christ is coming back again. People missed the first Christmas. But we don’t want to miss it when Jesus Christ comes back again. He is coming for those who are watching and waiting.

So, don’t just be ready for Christmas. Be ready for Christ Himself. It is not about Christmas presents; it’s about His holy presence in our lives.

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What can I offer the Lord for all he has done for me? (Psalm 116:12 NLT)

The psalmist David asked, “What can I offer the Lord for all he has done for me?” Then he goes on to say, “I will lift up the cup of salvation and praise the Lord’s name for saving me” (Psalm 116:12–13 NLT).

One of the most well-known stories in the Bible is that of the wise men who came to visit the child Jesus. There’s a lot of misunderstanding about this story, however. For example, they have been called kings, but we really don’t know that they were. The Bible calls them magi, which is closely related to the word magician.

These men were advisers to the king and more like king makers than actual kings. They were very powerful. They studied the stars and were into astronomy and astrology. These were pagan men who did not believe in the Lord God of Israel. So, God came to them in a way they would understand.

He went to these stargazers, these magi, with a star. And that star brought them to the child Jesus, who had already been born. First they came through Jerusalem, where they met the paranoid King Herod. They told him they had come to worship the King of the Jews.

Then they found their way to Bethlehem. Matthew tells us, “The star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him” (Matthew 2:9–11 NLT).

They came to worship the newborn King. And how did they express their worship? Verse 11 tells us, “They opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (NLT). They didn’t give Jesus their leftovers. They were meeting the living King, and only the best would do.

Sometimes in the church we limit the word worship. In a church service, we often call our time of singing our “worship time.” Then when the singing is done, we say it’s time for Bible study. But hearing a Bible study is also an act of worship, just as giving an offering is. Leaving the church building and sharing our faith with someone is an act of worship as well.

Serving others is an act of worship. In Billy Graham’s home, there was a sign near the kitchen sink that read, “Divine service done here three times daily.” Even doing the dishes can be an act of worship. So, let’s not limit our worship to singing.

At Christmas we celebrate God’s gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, to us. There’s nothing that we ever could give to God that would be even close to being equal to the gift that God has given to us. But there are things we can do for Him to show our thanks.

When someone gives us a nice gift, we say thank you. If someone does something for us, we say thank you. In the same way, God has given us this amazing gift. So, we should say, “Thank you, Lord.”

The real happiness we are looking for is not in Christmas; it is in Christ. It comes from His presence in our lives.

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Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words! (2 Corinthians 9:15 NLT)

There are gifts that you may receive this year that soon will be out of date or out of fashion. Some gifts, however, only grow in value over time. Maybe it’s a family heirloom that you received a long time ago, and it has become even more precious to you now.

God has given us a gift, and it never goes out of style. It’s the gift of all gifts: salvation. If you are a Christian, then you already carry this gift in your heart. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (NLT).

While this gift brings with it the hope of Heaven and the hope of eternal life, there are aspects of it that we can enjoy now. One of them is justification. The Bible says, “Since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us” (Romans 5:1 NLT).

The word justify has a twofold meaning. First, it carries the idea of the forgiveness of all our sin. Maybe you’ve been mulling over your sin and you’re troubled by it. If you have asked God to forgive you of that sin and have repented of it, then He has forgiven you.

God has forgiven you of every sin that you have confessed and turned from. Accept that. Often we dig up those sins, go over them again and again, and beat ourselves up over them. Yet God says, “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins” (Hebrews 8:12 NLT).

Here’s what we need to know: We should not choose to remember what God has chosen to forget. God has forgiven our sins. That is part of the gift that God has given to each of us. But there is also the positive side of justification.

When God justifies us, He places the righteousness of Christ in our account. That balances the moral and spiritual budget for us. We are declared righteous. This is not a gradual process; it’s something that happens immediately when we put our faith in Jesus Christ.

And there is even more. Not only has God justified us, not only has He forgiven our sins and placed the righteousness of Christ into our account, but He also has adopted us into His family.

By adopting us, God is saying, “Don’t merely stand in awe of Me. Come close to Me. I want you to be My child. You have access to Me anytime.” What a great joy to know that we have been adopted into God’s family.

If all there was as a Christian was this life we have now with Jesus, it still would be worth it to be a Christian. But that isn’t all there is. It will get even better. The afterlife will be better than the “before life.” The best is yet to come.

That is God’s gift to you. Open it. Enjoy it. Love it.

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‘And it is one of King David’s descendants, Jesus, who is God’s promised Savior of Israel!’ (Acts 13:23 NLT)

The shadow of the cross lay over the beauty of the first Christmas night. It was there from the very beginning. That is why red is the color of Christmas. It isn’t because Santa wears red or that we sometimes wrap our gifts in red. Red is the color of Christmas, because red is the color of the blood that Jesus shed for us on the cross.

That is what Jesus came to do. He went voluntarily to the cross. Of course, He could have gotten out of it if He had chosen to, but Jesus laid down His life for us.

Jesus did not come so that we could go to endless Christmas events. He did not come to teach everyone how to be good or to love their neighbors, although these are good things to do. To the point, Jesus came to die an agonizing death and to ransom us from an eternal death sentence.

The story of Christmas doesn’t begin with the words “once upon a time,” though it has all the majesty and the magic of the greatest fairy tale you’ve ever heard. It has shepherds, angels, wise men from the East, and a bright, shining star. But it’s a real story pinpointed specifically in time.

Luke begins the Christmas story by telling us who is in power and what was going on at that particular moment in history. Luke was a physician by trade, and he was a stickler for detail. Everything in the world was in place for the arrival of the Messiah.

The Bible says, “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children” (Galatians 4:4–5 NLT).

When Christmas arrives and the gifts are opened, some of us will be very excited, and some of us will be a little disappointed. That’s because Christmas can’t deliver on its promises. Only Christ can.

What is Christmas at its best? At its best it is gathering with family and friends and perhaps enjoying a meal together. (And of course, worshipping together is one of the greatest things we could do on Christmas.) But these are glimpses of things to come.

In many ways, Christmas is a promise. It’s a glimpse of something greater. It’s a promise that has not been fully kept because it’s really not about Christmas; it’s about Christ.

That is what we’re really longing for—not Christmas but Christ; not merriment, but the Messiah; not goodwill, but God himself.

Put God first, not last. Don’t work Him into your busy schedule. Rather, put Him first in all things. Jesus won’t force His way into your life, but He would love to come and be a part of it. If you will seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness in everything you do, it will change everything about your life.

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But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf. (Micah 5:2 NLT)

God could have directed Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem in many ways, but He chose to do it through a Roman emperor’s decree. Because Mary and Joseph both traced their ancestry back to King David, they went to the boyhood town of David, which was Bethlehem.

Joseph and Mary were in Nazareth, but God needed them in Bethlehem. Micah had prophesied, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf” (Micah 5:2 NLT).

Thus, God had a plan. We read in Luke’s Gospel, “At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. . . . And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home… He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child” (2:1, 4–5 NLT).

This reminds us that ultimately, God is in control. World figures come and go. Dictators come and go. Kings, queens, prime ministers, and presidents come and go. But God moves people the way He wants to move them.

Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases” (NLT). Billy Graham once quoted, “Jesus is the hinge on which the door of history swings, the point at which eternity intersects with time, the Savior who redeems time by drawing all things to himself.”

Mary and Joseph made their way to Bethlehem. It was a difficult and dangerous journey, and when they finally arrived, they looked for a place to stay. But there was no room for them, which was indicative of the treatment Jesus received when He walked this earth.

Essentially Jesus was homeless. Yes, He would stay in the homes of people, but He also slept out under the stars on the Mount of Olives. We find this interesting verse in Luke: “Every day Jesus went to the Temple to teach, and each evening he returned to spend the night on the Mount of Olives” (21:37 NLT).

The One who created Heaven and Earth, the One who said, “There is more than enough room in my Father’s home” (John 14:2 NLT), left His home in Heaven so that we, too, could have a home there.

It was all part of God’s plan for our Savior to be born in the humblest of settings. At the same time, the innkeeper missed out on an opportunity. The same thing can happen to us. We can be so busy shopping for Christmas and talking about Christmas that we can’t seem to find time to go to church or even take a moment to pray.

Jesus was born so that we could be born again. He left his home in Heaven to make a home in our hearts. We need to make room for Jesus, not only during this Christmas season but all year long.

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That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth. (Philippians 2:10 NLT)

Juliet asked Romeo, “What’s in a name?” And then she answered her own question: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

That might be nice if you’re a flower. But if you’re a person, you know that a name can indeed make a difference. Names are so significant that people even will go to court to have them changed.

So, what’s in a name? That all depends on whose name it is. If it’s the name of Jesus Christ, there’s a lot in that name. The Bible says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13 NLT) and “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11 NLT).

Some may claim they never will bow before Jesus. But they will. Atheists will bow and agnostics will bow. Everyone will bow, no matter who they are, at the Great White Throne Judgment of Christ. But sadly, for those at this judgment, it will be too late. There will be no other chances of forgiveness.

That is why we want to bow now so that we’ll be ready to meet the Lord. Jesus wasn’t born in a stable in Bethlehem so that we could have an excuse to go shopping for a month. The message of the angels to the shepherds was not, “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Therefore, go to the nearest mall and spend lots of money.”

Rather, they said He is the Savior of the world. This is good news for us. He was born to die that we might live—and not only live eternally, but live life to its fullest and discover the plan that God has for us.

Have you discovered that plan? Maybe you’re living under the power of a particular sin right now. Maybe some vice, lifestyle, or addiction has its stranglehold on you, and you’re trying to break free. God can deliver you from it.

Maybe you’ve felt all alone. There is an everlasting Father who wants to reveal Himself to you. Maybe you have walked blindly through life, not knowing where to go or what to do. There is a God who wants to give His personal counsel to you. Most importantly, He wants to forgive you of your sin.

Every one of us has broken God’s commandments. Every one of us has fallen short of His standards. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and then rose from the dead three days later. He is saying, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends” (Revelation 3:20 NLT).

When we look at all that God is and all that He offers to us, it should cause us to be amazed, surprised, astonished, and in awe. And it should cause us to worship Him.

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For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 NLT)

The story of Jesus coming into the world is not so much the story of a birth as it is the story of a gift. From Earth’s perspective, it was the entrance of Jesus into Planet Earth. But from Heaven’s perspective, it was the departure of Jesus Christ from Heaven.

Jesus is God. Therefore, He is eternal. He has always existed. But at just the right time, the Son of God came to this earth. The Bible says, “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law” (Galatians 4:4 NLT).

We need to remember that Jesus made a choice to leave the glory of Heaven and walk among us as a man. The very Son of God was born into the most unsanitary conditions imaginable, laid in a little bed of straw, and wrapped in pieces of cloth. This is how the Creator of the universe came to us in human form.

The first Christmas was not about a gift to a child; it was about the gift of a child.

Isaiah tells us, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (9:6 NLT). Each word that Isaiah chose to describe Jesus gives us a different insight into His nature, character, purpose, and plan.

His name is Wonderful Counselor. That takes care of the dullness of life. We no longer have to settle for the cheap substitutes but instead can experience what God has for us. It also takes care of the decisions of life. No longer do the problems we face need to plague us, because there is One who wants to counsel us.

His name is Mighty God. That takes care of the demands of life. We must never forget that Jesus was God incarnate. This means that Jesus has unlimited power. And if we put our trust in this Mighty God, He will give us the power to live the life He has called us to live.

His name is Everlasting Father. That takes care of our future. We know that life is not merely what we experience here and now on Earth. According to the Bible, we will live forever. The big question is where we will live. If we put our faith in Jesus Christ, then we will live in Heaven. Because He was born, crucified, and resurrected, we can have this hope beyond the grave.

His name is Prince of Peace. That takes care of the disturbances of life. Life throws us a lot of curve balls. Frightening things happen, and we don’t know what to do. We need the Prince of Peace to step in.

We don’t have to wait for Christ to return before we can experience His rule and reign in our lives. That can happen right now. We can surrender our lives to Him and experience the purpose and plan that He has for us.

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Jesus replied, ‘All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.’ (John 14:23 NLT)

Being a Christian isn’t merely trying to follow the example of Jesus Christ. Being a Christian is having Jesus Christ Himself taking residence in our hearts and living inside us. It’s what distinguishes the Christian faith from any other belief system.

Jesus said, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them” (John 14:23 NLT). That is an amazing statement when you think about it. God the Father and God the Son are saying they want to make their home with us.

And in Revelation 3, Jesus said, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends” (verse 20 NLT). It’s interesting that Jesus made this statement to the church of Laodicea. Jesus essentially was speaking to people who were probably in the church and going through the motions of Christianity, but for all practical purposes, they didn’t have a relationship with Him.

A few verses earlier, Jesus said to them, “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” (verses 15–16 NLT).

In other words, “Lukewarmness turns my stomach.” Thus, Jesus said, “I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”

It’s hard for us to appreciate the significance of that statement in our fast-food culture. We are used to quick meals. In fact, we have developed into an art form the ability to eat while we’re driving.

But in Jesus’ day, there was no such thing as takeout. A meal took much longer back then. Dinner was the main event of the evening, where you sat down with friends and family. You took your time to relax, share the events of the day, and bare your hearts to one another.

So, when Jesus said, “I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends,” He was saying, “I want to have fellowship with you, and I want you to relax and be honest. I want to spend a lot of time with you.”

Is Christ at home in your heart? The apostle Paul wrote, “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong” (Ephesians 3:16–17 NLT).

Is Jesus Christ an honored guest in your home, or is He a permanent resident? He wants to be the latter. Jesus doesn’t just want to be home for the holidays. He wants to live in your heart all year.

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Let us go to the sanctuary of the Lord; let us worship at the footstool of his throne. (Psalm 132:7 NLT)

The Bible doesn’t tell us much about the boyhood years of Jesus. But it does give us an instance where Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration, and they took twelve-year-old Jesus with them. Then they made the journey back home.

In those days, the men and women traveled separately. Joseph thought that Jesus was with Mary. And Mary thought that Jesus was with Joseph. But then they realized they had lost Jesus. So, they frantically made their way back to Jerusalem. They found Him in the temple three days later, where He was speaking with the elders.

Jesus said to them, “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49 NLT). Imagine the panicked couple running around town, asking people if they had seen their son.

We can become so busy, especially at this time of year, that we don’t have time for God. We can be so busy celebrating Christmas that we lose Jesus. We string the lights, trim the tree, and buy the gifts. And during all this busyness, we can forget all about the Lord. We can lose Jesus just like Mary and Joseph did.

We Americans are so busy. You could write on our tombstones, “Hurried. Worried. Buried.” We’re always rushing about, and that is more evident at Christmas than at any other time of year. Lines are long and tempers are short.

We think Christmas will bring us some measure of happiness. But after so much buildup, Christmas can be a letdown. Then there is the mess and cleaning up. Soon the bills start arriving, and reality kicks in.

Experts tell us that calls to psychiatrists and emergency rooms increase during this time of year. That is because Christmas can’t measure up to its romanticized image.

So many of us say, “I would like to make time for God, but I am just so busy. I work too hard and don’t have any time in my schedule. I would like to go to church, but there just isn’t time for that. I would like to read my Bible, but I just can’t find the time.”

However, we find time for what is important to us.

It seems the only place where there ever was room for Jesus was on a cross where He died for the sins of the world. Ironically, Jesus Himself said, “There is more than enough room in my Father’s home” (John 14:2 NLT).

We don’t have room for Him, but He has many rooms for us. Jesus took His place in a manger so that we could have a home in Heaven.

So, let’s forget about the clutter and hype and replace it with the Christ of Christmas. Then it will be great. It is not about Christmas presents; it is about His presence in our lives. The message of the season is not “let it snow” or “let us shop.” It is “let us worship.”

If we will focus on that, then Christmas will be a blessed time for us.

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