Weekly Devotional from Pastor
Eddie Jenkins
December 4th, 2024
"But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship" (Galatians 4:4-5).
“I’ll make all the arrangements.” It’s good to hear these words when they come from the lips of a travel agent, cruise director, concierge, wedding coordinator, mortgage broker, real estate agent, husband or wife. “I’ll make all the arrangements.” Christmas is all about letting God make the arrangements. And God is so much more able to make all the arrangements than these other people who specialize in making arrangements. Why? Because his love never fails!
Think of that first Christmas and how God made all the arrangements. Galatians 4:4-5 speaks of that first Christmas: "But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.
"Yes, that first Christmas God made all the arrangements. He arranged for:
1. Joseph and Mary to meet and be engaged
2. Mary, while still a virgin, to become with child by the Holy Spirit
3. Caesar Augustus to issue a decree that a census should be taken in Palestine
4. Joseph and Mary to take that journey to Bethlehem, the labor pains to begin and the manger to be available
5. The shepherds to be in the field keeping watch over their flock by night
6. The angel chorus
7. The star in the heavens
8. The wise men from the East
That first Christmas God made all the arrangements! His love never fails! Because God made all the arrangements, when Jesus Christ came, everything was just right. First of all, He came at the right time; secondly, Jesus came in the right way; and, thirdly, Jesus Christ came to do the right thing.
Now the good news of Christmas is that God still makes all the arrangements today! He always comes at the right time, in the right way, to do the right thing. His love never fails!
1 Corinthians 13:8-13 says this: “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away…now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known…And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
”When we look at our lives today, we see things but in a poor reflection. We know only in part. It’s hard, if not impossible, to understand what happens to us, when it happens, why it happens. We struggle, we doubt, we question, we ask our “Why?”, but amid the dimness and the darkness shines the resounding promise of Christmas that God still makes all the arrangements today!
For that baby sleeping in a manger in Bethlehem is now the King of Kings and Lord of Lords reigning upon a throne in Heaven. He rules in perfect wisdom, perfect power and perfect love. He is always working on behalf of His followers, always bringing good even from the darkest and most difficult of circumstances in His children’s lives. This is our faith, this is our hope, this is our love and His love never fails! It always brings us PEACE!
Have a great with with Jesus!
Pastor Eddie Jenkins
