Daily Devotional For Sunday, December 1, 2024

Good morning and it is Sunday. I love Sundays because we all come together to worship and praise God together. We sing and take notes from God’s Word to apply to our lives. Beginning today and all the way through December 24, I have prepared daily Advent Devotionals for you to read as an individual and as a family to prepare you for the coming Christ child we celebrate December 25. Therefore, these devotionals will be short and to the point.

Today, we are going to look at light – specifically the word LIGHT. When we look for the story of Christmas in the Bible, we first look to the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Matthew tells us about the wise men, Luke tells us about the shepherds, and both tell us about the baby placed in a manger. Added to these, don’t forget that one of the most powerful tellings of the Christmas story is in the book of John. In John 1:1-5, he writes:

“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He existed in the beginning with God. (3) God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. (4) The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. (5) The light shines in the darkness,  and the darkness can never extinguish it” (NLT).

Christmas is the story of God sending the light of His presence into the world. Very briefly, notice five eternity-altering truths in these five verses:

1. Jesus is the Word > As we look at the words of Christmas this month, there is no better place to start than to remind ourselves that Jesus is the WORD. Every word we’ll look at together this month is because Jesus is the Word. God created everything through speaking a word. He said light and there was light, He said land and there was land. John reminds us that even before the words were spoken that brought the universe into existence, the Word existed. The Creator of everything was born into our world at Christmas.
2. The Word is God > Jesus was not only with God before everything began, He was and is God. This mystery of the Trinity means God was born into our world at Christmas. 
3. The Word gives life > Just as Jesus gave life to all in creation, He came at Christmas to bring us the new life that we find in His salvation. Life was brought into our world at Christmas.
4. His life brings light > In the beginning, God said let there be light, and there was light. At Christmas, God decided to send the light of His life into our midst as never before. You can see pretty quickly that there is an entire theology course in these few verses. We’ve looked at the Trinity, and now we’re reminded that Jesus is both God and man. He became a man so that he could bring light into our world at Christmas. 
5. The darkness cannot extinguish His light. This time of year we’re surrounded with beautiful lights: from the strings of bulbs on our houses to the flashing points of light on our trees to the glow of a candlelight service on Christmas Eve. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Christmas! The Light of the world has come to give you the light that you need to live the life that God promises.

Questions To Consider/Actions To Do

1. The Word is Jesus and the Word is light. When we go all the way to Genesis 1, we see that Jesus is God and was there at the origin of the universe. He spoke the word and it came into existence. What does this mean to you this Christmas that Jesus is both the Word and the Light?
2. The Word, Jesus gives life to all who come to faith through grace in Him. There is no life without the Word, Jesus. What life has Jesus shined His light on in your life to give you a life you otherwise never would have had?
3. Jesus said this in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (NLT). What does Jesus being the light mean to you and why?
4. If you have children, get a flashlight and turn off all the lights. Ask them to walk around in the pitch darkness. Then, turn on the lights or use a flashlight instead. Then ask them to compare the two experiences and then connect that to Jesus being the light of the world spiritually.

Scripture To Meditate On: John 12:46, Jesus said, “I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Father, Jesus is the Light of the world. I want to live in that light today. Although there is darkness all around us in this world, thank you for reminding me today that there is no darkness that can extinguish the light of life that I have in Jesus. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

I love you Southside–Pastor Kelly