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Ever wondered what was going through Joseph’s head when he first heard the news about Mary’s pregnancy? Or wondered how Zacharias might have responded to his punishment for disbelief?

It’s becoming an annual tradition here during Advent to call attention to one of my favorite Christmas devotional series: The Twelve Voices of Christmas. It’s a series of twelve meditations on the Christmas story from the perspective of its participants, from the angel Gabriel to the three Wise Men.

I like this series of devotionals because, among other things, it seeks out a few of the lesser-known characters in the Christmas drama, like Simeon and Anna. Each character’s story is short and easily readable (or listenable); if you’re looking for a few additional points of reflection this holiday season, take a look.

As Christmas approaches, Christians around the world affirm that they believe in Jesus Christ, the living Word of God. But what does it mean for God’s Word to become human and walk among us? In the Old Testament, God’s Word was spoken or written to His people; how does the “living Word” of the New Testament differ?

That’s the question asked by today’s devotional from Words of Hope:

…in Christ we receive a new kind of Word from God. Once again, God speaks and his Word enters the world. But now it comes in visible form, in the vulnerable casing of human flesh. This is one of the deep mysteries of the faith: how an abstract thing like a word becomes incarnate. It is also one of beauties of the faith. God’s Word, which had been previously manifested in commands, promises, judgments, and criticism, does not get harsher and more severe. It does not provide a new series of rules that only show us how far we fall short. Instead, this Word of God comes to saves us. “He dwelt among us,” the apostle adds. Better yet, because of Christ’s sacrifice, we now can have the Word of God dwell within us.

Read the complete devotional at Words of Hope. And with Christmas right around the corner, take a few minutes today to ponder the incredible, mysterious way in which God made his Word accessible to mankind—in human form.

Today’s devotional doesn’t come from a traditional devotional, but from Mart De Haan’s Been Thinking About blog. Christmas is on all of our minds this week, and his latest post ponders one of the more intriguing parts of the Christmas story—the three Wise Men:

The wonder of the magi may be worth thinking about. The mystery surrounding them seems to be by design.

For openers, why is Matthew the only one of 4 Gospel accounts that mentions them?

If they came “from the east” and saw a star “in the east” why would they travel west to Bethlehem? Who were these “wise men?” Were they pagan “star gazers,” “magicians,” or “priests?

Was the star they followed a real star, an alignment of planets, an angelic star, or some other miraculous sign?

Could “the star” have appeared to them 2 years prior to Jesus’ birth so that they could have arrived while Jesus was still “in the manger”?

Read the complete post at Been Thinking About.

The Wise Men’s appearance in Christmas story is well-known and referenced in countless Christmas songs and sermons. But sometimes stepping back and asking fresh questions about even the most familiar elements of the story can provide an interesting new perspective on the whole.

Are there other elements of the Christmas story that, despite their familiarity, remain particularly mysterious?

Today’s devotional centers on Romans 8:28 and comes from Oswald Chambers’ beloved My Utmost for his Highest. In it he explores the difference between claiming we are faithful to God and actually being faithful to God.

It is only a faithful person who truly believes that God sovereignly controls his circumstances. We take our circumstances for granted, saying God is in control, but not really believing it. We act as if the things that happen were completely controlled by people. To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, or object of our faith— the Lord Jesus Christ. God may cause our circumstances to suddenly fall apart, which may bring the realization of our unfaithfulness to Him for not recognizing that He had ordained the situation. We never saw what He was trying to accomplish, and that exact event will never be repeated in our life. This is where the test of our faithfulness comes. If we will just learn to worship God even during the difficult circumstances, He will change them for the better very quickly if He so chooses.

Being faithful to Jesus Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today. We will be faithful to our work, to serving others, or to anything else; just don’t ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Many Christians become very impatient when we talk about faithfulness to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the workers.

The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilities on us. He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His part. God wants to use us as He used His own Son.

Read the devotional on RBC’s site.

Around the holidays there is always talk about the importance—or unimportance, depending on your perspective—of holiday greetings. The debate usually centers around whether or not retailers should wish customers a “Merry Christmas” rather than a more secular “Happy Holidays.” Equally important—or unimportant, again, depending on your perspective—are personal greetings.

What about you? Do you say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays”? Do you care?

Today’s devotional, written by Anabel Gillham, asks a straightforward but unusual question: do you know who you are? It’s a challenge to understand what it really means to identify yourself as a follower of Jesus:

Do you know who you are? Do you know that those arms are outstretched, that He is standing and waiting, with a tear-streaked face, for you to run and with “one, wild leap” jump into His arms? Do you know that you are totally and completely loved? Oh, you may be surviving in your present surroundings, entertaining yourself with your “toys,” but are you separated from the One who loves you so much that He gave His life for you?

Knowing who you are brings a confidence into your life that cannot be taken away. Jesus got down on His knees, on the floor, and washed the feet of the disciples. How could He humble Himself to that degree? Well, John 13:3 tells us: “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God. . . .” Jesus knew two things: 1) who He was; and 2) that He was passionately loved by His Father.

You may label yourself an engineer, a librarian, a business mogul, a student, an accomplished vocalist, a devoted mother, a retired banker, an executive secretary, or a wife above reproach. Any of those things could be gone in the twinkling of an eye. Now, who are you? There is only one identity that is unshakable; one identity that is for eternity; one identity that will never fail you. That is your identity in Christ.

Read the rest of the devotional at Lifetime Guarantee Ministries.

Your career might change; you might acquire or lose your skills; your relationships with others might change. But your identity in Christ is set in stone.

Over at ThinkChristian.net, Amy Adair reflects on an interesting phenomenon that happens when you adopt a child: people ask you how much the kid cost you.

Here’s an excerpt from her post:

The first week Evie was home, my dentist, a neighbor, and a stranger at the park all wanted to know: How much?

It is true, adoption isn’t cheap. There are a lot of fees that add up quickly. We paid for a home study, visas, passports, immigration papers, plane tickets, and hotels. Quite honestly, it is a financial sacrifice. But so are other things that people don’t question, like sending your child to college. People find a way to do it. Much like financing a college education, there are grants, loans, and federal tax credits available to adoptive parents.

I wonder, though, what’s the cost of not adopting? It was never God’s intention for children to grow up in an orphanage without the love of a mother or father. Clearly God weeps for those who suffer, especially the fatherless. In fact, in Matthew 19:14, Jesus berates his disciples for turning children away from him. Jesus invites the children to stay and declares that the kingdom of Heaven belongs not to the grown-ups but to the kids. It is one of the many beautiful pictures in the Bible that illustrates God as our Abba or Father…

Read all of The Price of Adoption.

Amy wonders aloud about what the world would look like if more Christians cared for orphans. In fact, she goes so far as to wonder what price we’re paying by not caring for the orphans. Even if we’re not called to adopt ourselves, shouldn’t we at least be actively praying for those that have?

The pastor at the church where I grew up was a foster parent. It definitely changed what kind of sermons he preached. He had a deep understanding of family and parenting that I’ve rarely encountered elsewhere. There’s something about caring for a child that’s not your own that teaches you some deep spiritual lessons about love and family.

Do you have any adopted children? Have you faced similar questions about the “price” of the child?

Spurgeon reflects Jesus’ call to “Come” found in Matthew 11:28 in this devotional:

The cry of the Christian religion is the gentle word, “Come.” The Jewish law harshly said, “Go, take heed unto thy steps as to the path in which thou shalt walk. Break the commandments, and thou shalt perish; keep them, and thou shalt live.” The law was a dispensation of terror, which drove men before it as with a scourge; the gospel draws with bands of love. Jesus is the good Shepherd going before His sheep, bidding them follow Him, and ever leading them onwards with the sweet word, “Come.” The law repels, the gospel attracts. The law shows the distance which there is between God and man; the gospel bridges that awful chasm, and brings the sinner across it.

From the first moment of your spiritual life until you are ushered into glory, the language of Christ to you will be, “Come, come unto me.” As a mother puts out her finger to her little child and woos it to walk by saying, “Come,” even so does Jesus. He will always be ahead of you, bidding you follow Him as the soldier follows his captain. He will always go before you to pave your way, and clear your path, and you shall hear His animating voice calling you after Him all through life; while in the solemn hour of death, His sweet words with which He shall usher you into the heavenly world shall be—”Come, ye blessed of my Father.”

Nay, further, this is not only Christ’s cry to you, but, if you be a believer, this is your cry to Christ—”Come! come!” You will be longing for His second advent; you will be saying, “Come quickly, even so come Lord Jesus.” You will be panting for nearer and closer communion with Him. As His voice to you is “Come,” your response to Him will be, “Come, Lord, and abide with me. Come, and occupy alone the throne of my heart; reign there without a rival, and consecrate me entirely to Thy service.”

Read the whole devotional at Christian Classics Ethereal Library

How important is it for Christian parents to keep their children involved in church activities and education? It’s difficult to get a handle on a question so broad, but the issue has seen some debate recently. You may recall a much-discussed study commissioned by Answers in Genesis that found that childhood Sunday school attendance did little to keep people from drifting away from the Christian faith later in life.

However, there’s a new wrinkle in the debate, in the form of a Barna survey also examining the links between church involvement as a child and faith later in life. It’s an interesting read; here are some of the conclusions:

How do childhood and teen engagement connect to adult spirituality? The research examined four elements of adult religious commitment: attending church, having an active faith (defined as reading the Bible, praying, and attending church in the last week), being unchurched, and switching from childhood faith.

When it comes to church engagement, those who attended Sunday school or other religious programs as children or as teens were much more likely than those without such experiences to attend church and to have an active faith as adults…. In comparison, less frequent participation as a teenager correlated with less frequent adult participation.

Measures of disassociation – being unchurched and changing from childhood faith – were also correlated with activity before age 18. The highest proportion of unchurched adults was found among those who had never attended as children or teenagers. Weekly activity as a child and weekly or monthly activity as a teen were connected with the lowest levels of disconnection from church attendance. 

The study also found that people who were “heavily churched” in their youth are less likely to switch to a different religion as an adult.

All very interesting, although the question is so big, and the nuances of “religious” and “active faith” so varied from person to person, that it’s hard to know how to interpret it all. But at the very least, if you were worrying that forcing little Johnny to attend Sunday school every week was going to damage his faith in the long term, you can breathe a sigh of relief. (The jury is still out about whether or not youth group games of dodgeball inflict permanent psychological and spiritual damage on the participants.)

How do these findings resonate with you? Were you heavily involved in church activities and education, and if so, do you see that experience as one that strengthened your faith over the long term? If you came to the faith without the benefit of childhood religious education, do you think your faith was stronger or weaker as a result?

Advent, much like Lent, is a time of expectation. The lighting of advent candles on the advent wreath is one way Christians mark off the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Does your family light candles during advent? Does your church?

Share your thoughts!