God’s Perfect Plan (Point to Christ-Day 1)
OPENING PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you sending your Son, Jesus, to make provision for us, who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” (John 14:6, NIV).
Psalm 5:7, NIV
But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple.
John 3:16, NIV
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
REFLECT:
The Christmas carol ‘Silent Night’ was said to have come from the work of a young Catholic priest, Joseph Mohr, from Salzburg, Austria in 1818. That Christmas, he was very downcast. His organ was not operational, due to the work of church mice chewing at it, and the evening service was fast approaching. So, Joseph decided to present a poem he had written years before called ‘Stille Nacht’ (German for Silent Night) to a local schoolmaster named Franz Xavez Gruber to be set to music. Thus, the song ‘Silent Night’ was sung for the first time at the church’s Christmas Mass. Mohr played guitar and the choir repeated beautifully the last two lines of each verse. Today, almost every Christmas evening service is capped off with a chorus or two of the congregation singing ‘Silent Night’ by candlelight before heading home to enjoy family festivities. So once again, God creates something wonderful from a situation that seems hopeless!
Even when things do not go as we plan, God’s plan is still at work. Proverbs 16:9, NIV, says “In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” Even when we stumble and struggle to find our way – God shows his grace and mercy. The Psalmist today understands his sinful nature compared to a Holy God. He comes with reverence into the house of the Lord. This is the beauty of this wonderful Christmas carol – we stand silently before a Holy God, waiting on him, simply in awe of his glory. So, on this holy day, Christmas, God gave the world the greatest gift of all – Jesus Christ, his one and only Son, born the Savior of the world! The song says it best with this line found in the third verse – “Son of God, loves pure light.” Isaiah 9:6, NIV says, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
APPLY:
Take a moment today to get alone in a quiet place. Close your eyes and lift up your hands to your loving heavenly father. In that place of silence and solitude, consider all that the Lord has done for you. Think of the gift of salvation that came to the world that has delivered us all from darkness into his marvelous light. Ponder a God who made heaven and earth, who formed the seas, who made you and me, who is perfect in every way. Give thanksgiving and honor him today for his endless love and mercy he has and continues to shower upon us, his children. “He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things,” Romans 8:32, NIV.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Lord, reveal to me that special someone you have in mind for me to share with today, who needs to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and His plan of redemption, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then the Gentile,” (Romans 1:16, NIV) amen.
WORSHIP: