Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day. A fresh start. Jesus is everywhere. You can hear Christmas songs in stores, on the radio, and throughout town. There are Nativity scenes and signs that share His message. People embrace Jesus at Christmas. They are open and receptive to Him. The people who lived around the time of Jesus birth were waiting for Him too. They had long awaited the promised Messiah. Old Testament scriptures had promised a Savior, A messiah would come from Bethlehem and would save the people. They were looking for Him and waiting for Him to radically change everything and He Did!

These are just a few verses from the Old Testament that prophesied of a coming Savior:

But the LORD will still give you proof. A virgin is pregnant; she will have a son and will name him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

A child is born to us!
A son is given to us!
And he will be our ruler.
He will be called, “Wonderful Counselor,”
“Mighty God,” “Eternal Father,”
“Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

“What I saw in my vision
hasn’t happened yet

But some day, a king of Israel will appear like a star. (Numbers 24:17)

The people were waiting for Jesus! But they were expecting a different saving. They were expecting a king to rise up and save them from the oppressive government they were under. They were expecting their Savior to save them from what was their current earthly circumstance. Instead, the Lord came and reconciled people back to Himself so that they could have direct access to Him while they resided here on earth AND He also offered Himself as the sacrifice so that eternal salvation would be available to all people who believed and followed Him.

The SAVING wasn’t quite what they expected. It was far far better. It was whole and not lacking anything. It was salvation for eternity and connection to God in the here and now..

But, it wasn’t through the overthrowing of the Roman government as they had hoped. They were still temporarily oppressed and subject to Roman Rule during Jesus’s lifetime and after his death and resurrection. Their blessing was different than what they were expecting and anticipating. God didn’t temporarily fix the problems of His people by just overthrowing the government. He offered a permanent fix once and for all.

That is how He still operates today. He is blessing you and shifting things in ways that will impact you for eternity. He is a long term healer of the mind, body, and soul.. He is going to heal and bless you in ways that you may not understand now just as the people in Jesus’s time didn’t fully understand what was happening.

As you prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas, take some time to think about how people were waiting in expectation for Him 2000 years ago. They desperately needed Him to save them then and we desperately need Him now. He came and He radically saved them far beyond what they could see with their eyes. He blessed them with eternal
peace, joy, and freedom. He blessed them by restoring them to sons and daughters of God. He gave them royal placement in the kingdom of God. They wanted a temporary earthly fix, and Jesus gave them eternal solutions.

Sometimes our miracle, our blessing, our answered prayer is radically different than our expectations..You can trust in Jesus to bless you with your generations in mind. He is shifting and healing and blessing you for the impact it will have throughout your family far beyond your lifetime.

Because of Jesus and His divine birth, we are given access to the Lord. JESUS came so that we would have life and life more abundantly. He came and blessed in new unexpected ways and He still moves and blesses that way.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Help us to grow in our trust of You and Your plans. Help us to trust that You are working all things out for our good even when we cannot fully see what You are doing. Let us lean into You and trust Your ways are better than our ways. In Jesus’s name, Amen.