Family Connection

Millennium Devotion

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday
and today and forever

"Brochure", $8 per dozen

His Perfect Time
In Luke 2 we read, "The time came for the baby to be born." It was God's perfect time for that most significant birth in all the history of mankind. The Son of God was coming to earth to live and die--so our time would have eternal consequences.

This is the last time in the 20th century to celebrate the birth of the Christ child. Does your family still gather around that newborn babe in wonder and awe? Has time stood still or has Christmas changed?

Most families have their special Christmas traditions, but, as years pass and the family changes, adjustments are needed. Does that change Christmas? If we ponder in our hearts that awesome night when in God's perfect time He sent His only son to be born of Mary, we too see the Christ child anew. If we pass on to the next generation the ancient Christmas story of that special time in history when God loved us so much He sent His only son, then Christmas has not changed.

Even in a new century, the one constant will always be Christ. Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He was born in God's perfect time and is with each of us for this specific time. Christmas was, is still, and always will be focused on the celebration of the birth of the Christ child. It is God's time for each of us to share with our families the significance of that birth in Bethlehem.

Heavenly Father, as I walk into the new millennium may my celebration of Christmas focus not on change but on that timely birth of the Christ child 2000 years ago and on Your perfect love for mankind. Amen.

Certainty in a Time of Change
Our two daughters are in college. Empty nest. We don't have tickets to Disney for New year's Eve, nor have we bought the jacuzzi.

But life is not bad. In fact it's nice. We miss them. (I need to say that in case they read this.)

But the change has blessings. At first, it wasn't easy. Dealing with change brings anxiety and uncertainty. Is that the reason for some of the hype for this New Year's celebration?

Y2K - The new Millennium - what is it that creates such anxiety? Ponder that for a while - it goes deeper than computers crashing.

Isn't it about life crashing under the weight of sin and lives that are separated from God? Separation has a way of creating lots of anxiety, especially in the midst of great uncertainty.

That is why a quote speaks to my heart: "He who knows who controls the next minute need not fear the last hour." Thanks be to God, we can know without a doubt who controls the last hour of our life - the same One who trusted the last hour of His life to His Father - Jesus Christ.

In a world changing faster than we can keep pace, one thing remains certain - "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb. 13:8).

Dear Jesus, thank You that You do not change, nor Your love for me nor Your promises. Amen.

Thanks to Sandy Thompson, Carmel Lutheran Church, Carmel, IN for writing "His Perfect Time" and to Rev. Barry Keurulainen, St. Luke Lutheran Church, Cabot, PA, for "Certainty in a Time of Change".

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