Daily Devotional For Monday, December 25, 2023

Have you ever felt really down, and then the phone rang and you received some good news?   Even if only for a few moments — you felt lifted.  Good news has the power to do that. Our Christmas word for today is GOOD NEWS.

Christmas is good news! Luke 2:10 says, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people” (NLT). Good news . . . Great joy . . . All people. Let’s walk through this verse from the end to the beginning.

At the end is “all people.” There is something that God wants to do for all people. There is not a person whom God doesn’t love. God wants to do something in the life of every person that you meet today. Whatever the circumstances of your life, God wants to do something for you.

What he wants to do is give you great joy! There’s that word that we’ve come across again and again in our look at the words of Christmas. Joy is not happiness. It might bring happiness, but it is something far deeper. Happiness depends on the happenings of your life; it’s like a thermometer that goes up and down depending on your circumstances. Joy is more like a heater; it sets the temperature of your soul in a way that’s above your circumstances because it is one of the Fruits of the Spirits (Galatians 5:22-23). . Joy is the no-matter-what assurance that God is for you, God will never stop loving you, God has a purpose for you on this earth, and God will pour out His blessings on you in eternity.

For all people, God offers a great joy. This great joy comes into our lives from the Good News. The Good News is that Jesus came into our world. The words “Good News” are the same as the word Gospel — the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Good News about Jesus. In the early church, the words Good News came to represent the entire story of God’s plan to send Jesus into the world to offer every person salvation. Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:8, "Remember Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead, who is from the family of David. This is the Good News I preach (NCV).

As we work back through this verse, there is one more step to see how the shepherds experienced God’s joy that first Christmas. The first two words in the verse are, “I bring.” Unless the angels had brought the good news, they would have never experienced the joy. They went to Bethlehem because they believed the news the angels brought.

Our world is filled with people who are stuck in the fields outside their won Bethlehem, waiting for someone to bring them the good news. Good news must be brought!

The story of telling the good news does not end with the angels. Once the shepherds went and saw for themselves the miracle of a baby in a manger, the first thing they did was tell everyone. Luke 2:17 says, "After seeing Him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child ( NLT). And when they told, their own joy was multiplied.

A simple principle of joy is this: it cannot be bottled. If you try to bottle it, it turns sour. If you try to live the joy of the Lord without telling others about the joy, you lose your joy. There could be a number of reasons why you lose your joy as a follower of Christ, but the first place to look is always whether you are telling others. There is often an indescribable burst of joy when you tell someone the good news of what God has done in your life.

Paul tells us in Romans 10:17, "So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ (NLT). Before saying this, he makes the startlingly simple observation in Romans 10:14b, "And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? (NLT). There is no hearing without someone telling. So this week, as we celebrate Christmas, tell someone else from your family, work, neighborhood, school, team, or group of friends! The Good News is that a baby was born in Bethlehem who is God with us, and that baby grew up to give his life on the cross and be resurrected in glory so that he can give you forgiveness and eternal life. That’s good news!

Scripture To Meditate On: Nehemiahs 8:10b, "The joy of the Lord is my strength" (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: "Father, You know that I want to tell about the joy Christ has given to me. You also know that I can find that difficult to do. I begin by praying for the people in my life that I hope will begin to experience the good news of Your love. As I pray for them, I ask that You’d open the door for me to share even a few words about my faith. Or to share a simple invitation to join us this week at church. Take those few words and use them to be a part of Your guiding this person I love into faith in You, Jesus. In Your name, I pray. Amen."