Daily Prayer: A Weekly Devotional for Prayer-Filled Living. (Photo: Jesus Club kids acting out a Bible story.)

Daily Prayer ©2005
A Devotional Guide to Prayer and Prayerful Living

Published weekly by the Partners of
Lutheran Ministries of SW Oklahoma

Vol. 12, No. 27
Week of 
July 3, 2005
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The Four Pillars
Fifth in a series by Ronald Boelte

Christmas in July!

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Many different communities celebrate in a way that may be unusual to some of us. They put up Christmas decorations in July and have a special celebration called Christmas in July. In most of the cases that I have seen it is just a special way for the stores to sell things and a town to celebrate in a different way after the 4th of July celebrations.

This week we are going to start reading the 3rd pillar, Luke. Of all the Gospels, none give us more information about the birth of Jesus than Luke. We are pretty sure he was a doctor (Colossians 4:14), and he was a convert to the Christian religion. He was a close friend to Paul and is mentioned in a lot of Paul’s letters.

As you read Luke, we’ll see that he focuses on how God used women in special ways in Jesus’ ministry more than any other gospel. In the first two chapters we see John the Baptist’s mother, Elizabeth, and Mary the mother of Jesus, but as you read take notice of other women that are mentioned and what role they played in the ministry of Jesus.

However, Luke depicts all the glorious events that surrounded that first Christmas like no other writer. The announcement of the coming birth by the Angel Gabriel to Mary, a miraculous virgin birth, actual birth heralded by angels to shepherds, and we are told that the name Jesus means "the Lord saves." Many other events about Jesus’ birth are found in Luke and are not included in the other gospels.

As you read this week the story of Christmas, try to see why "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). It can also help us to see the story of Christmas in a new way, and ponder this amazing story in our own heart.

It’s July and half way between Christmases. Let us read this story anew, and like Mary treasuring and pondering its wonder, for Jesus was sent to be our Lord and Savior.

 

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