Christ-Centered Christmas - Day 16
God came to earth as the son of peasants-turned-refugees. God came as a victim, not as a victor, fully identifying with the marginalized. Christmas, in fact, is the story of a God who showed up in a place of great pain and shouted, “I am here, and I understand.”
The fact is that the Lord never intended for you to handle life all by yourself. He came to give you Himself and to surround you with a myriad of brothers and sisters who also call God their Father.
In the midst of the unexpected, the messy, or even the devastating, never doubt that fundamental truth. You can fully trust that God will show up. That is the central message of Christmas—God is with us!
THINK
How good is it to know that you will not be left alone like an orphan because your Father has come?
In John 16:1-4, Jesus told the disciples that bad things will happen, but who did He promise would see them through?
In John 16:33, Jesus told the disciples that life will have tough times, but what can they count on in those tough times?
How can God use your struggles to help others this Christmas?
PRAY
Thank Jesus for sending His Spirit to live inside you
Confess to God, if necessary, forgetting the fact that God is with you and God is in you
Ask God to work in your life during tough times
Ask God to use your struggles to make a difference in the lives of others
APPLY
It has been said that God can turn our biggest struggles into our greatest ministry. Think through the big struggles in your life
Read 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, and ask yourself, “How might God want to use my biggest struggles to bless others going through similar circumstances?”
