Welcome to the Journey to Jesus! I invite you to enjoy this interactive journey from creation to the birth of the long-awaited Messiah to the cross of Calvary, culminating in a beautiful and life-giving relationship with Jesus, our soon-coming King. Every step of the way, we will celebrate the faithfulness of God!
I love Christmas! Give me all the traditions with all my people. The warmth of a fireplace, the sight of candles at a Christmas Eve service, the sound of carols being sung, and the excitement of little ones (and not-so-little-ones) opening presents bring a tear to my eyes! Let’s not forget family dinners, late-night shopping trips, parties with friends, festive decorations, and the smell of peppermint mixed with cedar. I love Christmas! There is something special about celebrating Jesus’ birth with the people we love.
Honestly, though, sometimes Christmas is not all warm and cheery. Sometimes it’s hard. The traditions can bring to mind what was lost or is yet to be realized. Add in the stress of doing all of the things and being in all of the places, and Christmas can become an event to survive instead of an opportunity to embrace.
In the midst of both realities, I invite you on a journey that will move Christmas beyond a feeling of warmth that can come and go, or a task that has to be endured or conquered, to a quiet place of resolve in your soul. This journey will take us back to the beginning and recount God’s unfolding story of redemption. We will visit the prophecies of old and the quaint stable that held the King of Kings. Our hearts will be quieted, and our minds will be stilled as we worship the One who came to change our lives.
Along the way, we will look at God’s work in and through Old and New Testament characters who played an important and unique role in the advent of Christ. This journey will help us understand how we fit into God’s story and the important and unique role we play in sharing God’s message of peace. Join me on this journey to Jesus as we celebrate the entire Christmas story.
DAY 1: The Power of Relationship
Let’s go all the way back to the beginning and celebrate that God is the author of relationships. We see this in the beautiful and complex relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God does not exist in isolation. His very being exists in a relationship. Why is this important as we celebrate Christmas? Because Christmas is proof of God’s plan to rescue and redeem a lost and dying world so we can be in relationship with Him.
Prophets foretold about the coming of the Savior. Scripture is clear. Jesus, the Savior, was slain before the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8, 1 Peter 1:20) Celebrating Christmas invites us to recognize that God’s plan of redemption started before time began. Each step of the way, God was working and moving because God is the way-maker and the promise-keeper. He is never unsure of what needs to happen, and He is never without a plan to redeem and restore.
Every prophecy in the Old Testament was given by God and was fulfilled through Jesus. May we never forget that Jesus came as a baby to die as a man so we can be in a relationship with God.
God wants a relationship with you, and God made a way for you to be in a relationship with Him. God loves you. God sees you. God invites you to know Him and love Him. How will you respond? This Christmas, receive the love God extends to you and enjoy a beautiful relationship with God through Jesus! “For God loved the world in this way. He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
DAY 2: Adam and Eve
God created Adam and placed him in the Garden. God gave a clear instruction to Adam. He could eat from any tree except one. If Adam ate from that one tree, he would surely die.
A suitable helper was not found for Adam, so God created Eve, and life was good. Enter the snake—the tempter. He came on the scene and started throwing all kinds of questions into the mix. The questions made Eve doubt the goodness of God.
You are probably familiar with the story. Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit. At that moment, sin entered the world, and everything changed. The eyes of Adam and Eve were opened, and they immediately felt the need to cover themselves up and distance themselves from God.
God showed up in the Garden and walked through it in the cool of the day. God called out to Adam and Eve and asked them a series of questions. Of course, God knew the answers to the questions He asked. So, what was God doing in the lives of Adam and Eve? Don’t miss this beautiful point! God was establishing truth in the situation and providing the way forward. At every moment and in every way, God was in charge.
At no point were the circumstances, or even the actions or feelings of Adam and Eve, in charge. Through it all, God was God.
Way back in the Garden, God set in motion the plan of redemption. While Satan would bruise Jesus’ heel, Jesus would crush Satan’s head. (Genesis 3:15) What can we learn from this? Nothing catches God by surprise; any situation happening in life can be redeemed and restored by a loving God with a loving plan. This Christmas, let's celebrate that Jesus came to seek and save the lost!
DAY 3: Noah
“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9) If you have taken a deep dive into Genesis 6, you know the sin Adam and Eve brought into the world was in “full-blown” status by the time Noah came on the scene. The sin was so troubling to God that He regretted creating mankind. God decided to wipe out humanity and start over, but because Noah was a righteous man, he and his family were saved.
The path to safety was not easy. God told Noah to build an Ark- a BIG Ark. Can you imagine Noah and his sons gathering lumber and supplies? Then, imagine them building something that seemed unnecessary. As the boat took shape, it was time to gather the animals- two of each! The stares, the talk, the expense- I’m sure all of it impacted Noah and his family.
How did Noah’s story play out? He built the Ark. He gathered his family. The animals were loaded. The rain came. The earth flooded. Mankind was wiped out. Every detail came to pass just like God said. Here is the point. Long before Jesus came on the scene, God was raising up men and women to live by faith in the hard and unknown seasons of life. Noah was one of those people. He is remembered in the New Testament as a man of faith. “By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family.” (Hebrews 11:7)
God's economy has always been a faith economy, a surrendered economy, a step-by-step economy. Not only that, the faithfulness of God is experienced during some of the hardest and most challenging parts of the journey. The ups and downs remind us that God is real and He is present. The flood ended with a rainbow, a sign that God would never wipe out His creation again. The sun came out, and life moved on. God was setting the stage for the establishment of a special people who would provide a special line, all leading to the Savior. This Christmas, let’s celebrate God’s story and those who lived by faith! Then, let's live by faith!
DAY 4: Abraham
As a little girl, I sang the song Father Abraham. I had no idea what the song meant as I moved my “right arm, left arm, right foot, and left foot. (IYKYK!) Today, I better understand Abraham’s role as the Father of God’s chosen people, the Israelites.
God called Abraham to leave his homeland and go to an unknown place and to trust God for a certain future with as many descendants as stars in the sky. To keep things real, Abraham’s wife was barren and would remain barren for many years as they waited for the promise to be fulfilled.
When I read Abraham’s journey, I love seeing how Abraham changed and grew over time. Abraham went from struggling to believe that God would give him a son, to being willing to offer his son as a sacrifice to God and to knowing that God could raise his son from the dead. Of course, God did not ask Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. God asked Abraham to trust Him even when life did not add up or make sense. That trust would lead Abraham to be the Father of a Nation with land set apart for God’s chosen people. All of this provided lineage through which the Messiah would come.
One thing Abraham learned from his time on earth was that God was a promise-making and a promise-keeping God. At the beginning of God's unfolding story of redemption, the thread of the impossible being possible was set into motion. God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah required faith to believe it and trust to walk it out. It was an impossible promise that couldn’t happen with human strength or human resources; it would take a move of God. Abraham was not perfect, far from it, but he did remain faithful to God’s call on his life. The promise of land and legacy would come to pass in ways that exceeded Abraham’s wildest dreams. This Christmas, let’s celebrate that we can trust God with the details in our lives.
DAY 5: Issac
If I asked you to tell me one thing that happened in Isaac’s life, probably the events recorded in Genesis 22 would come to mind- the moment when God tested Abraham by asking him to take Isaac and sacrifice him. As Abraham and Isaac walked up that mountain, Isaac took in every detail. He was looking around and observing the situation.“We've got the wood, we’ve got the fire, but where is the lamb?”
It is important to remember that Isaac was a real person. When the story took place, he was older. We may picture a cute little boy who was unaware of what was happening. But Isaac was a young man. He was someone who knew what it meant to sacrifice to the Lord. To think about what was going on in Isaac’s mind is sobering. Isaac had been cared for his whole life. He had been loved and protected because of the journey it took to have him. I'm sure his mind was racing with all the questions. But he trusted his father. Isaac followed his father into an uncomfortable and unknown place. There’s a lesson for us in that.
All the way back in Genesis 22, as Abraham and Isaac walked up that mountain, God was painting a picture of the gospel. Jesus, the Lamb of God, would become human, live a sinless life, and walk up a hill to die in our place. We know the rest of the story. Jesus changed the course of human history and made the way for us to be in a relationship with God. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life! (John 14:6)
In the Bible, we see story after story of redemption, moments when someone could choose to trust God or not. Abraham chose to trust God. Isaac chose to trust Abraham. We can choose to trust Jesus. Ultimately, God showed up at every single point of need and provided in His way. He always has, and He always will! This Christmas, let’s celebrate that we can trust God to show up and provide in His way.
DAY 6: Moses
God’s promise to Abraham came to pass. He had more descendants than stars in the sky. A baby named Moses was one of Abraham’s descendants. God used Moses to deliver the Children of Israel from Egyptian captivity.
Moses should have been killed as a baby, but God had another plan. The Hebrew midwives feared God and went against Pharaoh’s order to kill the male Israelite babies as a way to control the population. Moses was placed in a basket and found by the Pharaoh’s daughter. He was raised in the palace and lived an extravagant life.
Eventually, Moses ran away from Egypt in an attempt to hide from God and the consequences of killing an Egyptian. God appeared to Moses in a burning bush. God called Moses to go back to Egypt and lead the Children of Israel out of captivity.
Moses questioned God. He felt inadequate and unsure. Moses wondered how God could use someone like him. Lots of questions were asked as Moses tried to get out of God’s call on his life. With one powerful statement, God told Moses everything he needed to know. “I AM WHO I AM.” (Genesis 3:14)
I love that God’s name provided the authority Moses would need to do what was humanly impossible. God is God, and we are not. Not only that, God’s plan will come to pass. This fact reminds us of three important truths that set the stage for God sending Jesus to save us.
God is Sovereign. God is in charge of the people and things He has created.
God is Providential. God is always working, directing the events of life.
God is Purposeful. God is working according to a plan that He has determined.
This Christmas, let’s look back over our lives and recognize how God is sovereign, providential, and purposeful. Your life is not an accident. God is willing and able to save, move, protect, and provide!
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