1/1. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once
regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 herefore, if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is
from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry
of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not
counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of
reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were
making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled
to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we
might become the righteousness of God.
WE
We are included in the family of God by work that Jesus did on the Cross. We have forgiveness and presence. Jesus loves you.

12/31 Ezekiel 11:19-20
19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
HOLY SPIRIT
We are filled with the Holy Spirit. We walk in the Spirit. We live in Jesus. Praise the Lord for He is our life. Jesus is Lord.

12/30 Deuteronomy 7:11-13
11 Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today. 12 If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers. 13 He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land–your grain, new wine and oil–the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you.
LOVE
Jesus loves you. He brought us love from the Father. He gives us His love and enables us to love. Jesus loves you.

12/29 Psalm 98:1-9
Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. 2 The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. 3 He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 4 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; 5 make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, 6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn– shout for joy before the LORD, the King. 7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. 8 Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; 9 let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.
PRAISE
Praise the Lord for all things and in all things. Jesus is Lord and He is our Lord. Praise the Lord. Jesus is Lord.

12/28 Luke 1:67-79
67 Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy: 68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited his people and redeemed them. 69 He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, 70 just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago. 71 Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us. 72 He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant with them, 73 the covenant he gave to our ancestor Abraham. 74 We have been rescued from our enemies, so we can serve God without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness forever. 76 “And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. 77 You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. 78 Because of God’s tender mercy, the light from heaven is about to break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”
LORD
Jesus is the Lord. He has come to give us a relationship with the Lord God Almighty. He is Lord.

12/27 Luke 1:46-55
46 Mary responded, “Oh, how I praise the Lord. 47 How I rejoice in God my Savior! 48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and now generation after generation will call me blessed. 49 For he, the Mighty One, is holy, and he has done great things for me. 50 His mercy goes on from generation to generation, to all who fear him. 51 His mighty arm does tremendous things! How he scatters the proud and haughty ones! 52 He has taken princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. 53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. 54 And how he has helped his servant Israel! He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful. 55 For he promised our ancestors — Abraham and his children — to be merciful to them forever.”
PROMISE
Jesus came to save us from our sin. He is merciful and loving. He is Lord.

12/26 Luke 1:39-45
39 A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town 40 where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “You are blessed by God above all other women, and your child is blessed. 43 What an honor this is, that the mother of my Lord should visit me! 44 When you came in and greeted me, my baby jumped for joy the instant I heard your voice! 45 You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”
MARY
Mary the Mother of Jesus knows the Lord is coming. She was a young woman of great faith. Jesus is Lord.

12/25 Luke 1:26-38
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! ” 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be frightened, Mary,” the angel told her, “for God has decided to bless you! 31 You will become pregnant and have a son, and you are to name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” 34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin.” 35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s already in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.” 38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true.” And then the angel left.
JESUS
His birth. His presentation. HE is Lord.

12/24 Isaiah 40:1-11
1 “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. 2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and that her sins are pardoned. Yes, the LORD has punished her in full for all her sins.” 3 Listen! I hear the voice of someone shouting, “Make a highway for the LORD through the wilderness. Make a straight, smooth road through the desert for our God. 4 Fill the valleys and level the hills. Straighten out the curves and smooth off the rough spots. 5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!” 6 A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are like the grass that dies away. Their beauty fades as quickly as the beauty of flowers in a field. 7 The grass withers, and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD. And so it is with people. 8 The grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.” 9 Messenger of good news, shout to Zion from the mountaintops! Shout louder to Jerusalem — do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, “Your God is coming!” 10 Yes, the Sovereign LORD is coming in all his glorious power. He will rule with awesome strength. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes. 11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.
JESUS
Jesus has come. He came to save His people. You are beloved of the Lord and Jesus loves you.

12/23 Matthew 2:1-12
1 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We have seen his star as it arose, and we have come to worship him.” 3 Herod was deeply disturbed by their question, as was all of Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law. “Where did the prophets say the Messiah would be born?” he asked them. 5 “In Bethlehem,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: 6 ‘O Bethlehem of Judah, you are not just a lowly village in Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod sent a private message to the wise men, asking them to come see him. At this meeting he learned the exact time when they first saw the star. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!” 9 After this interview the wise men went their way. Once again the star appeared to them, guiding them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11 They entered the house where the child and his mother, Mary, were, and they fell down before him and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 But when it was time to leave, they went home another way, because God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
DEVOTION
Our devotion should be to Jesus. Don’t let your job or your wants or even your needs sidetrack you from your devotion to Jesus. Jesus is Lord and He is calling us into a relationship with Him and thru Him with the Father. Pray for peace in the Middle East today especially peace in Jerusalem that city that the Lord loves.