Great Joy | Kristi's Morning Devotional

The last couple of days I have had pictures from Christmases past show up on my memory page. I’m not surprised by how many of them have been from Christmas tree cutting adventures.

The second Christmas after Dave and I were married we went Christmas tree cutting with some of the members from our Sunday School class. I was seven and a half months pregnant. Our financial resources were slim but we had a full tank of gas in the truck and a tree permit only cost $3. Flagstaff was only a two and a half hour drive up the interstate. We were good to go and once we went we were hooked.

Amazing!

Forty-seven Decembers later it’s still one of my favorite things to do. We have cut our own tree about half, if not more, of those years.

What makes it a favorite thing? Well, the family is all together searching for the same thing, the perfect tree. There is an excitement to the search and it’s beautiful. The photograph I used for this morning’s post was taken on our tree cutting adventure in 2010 from a mountain just a few miles from our home in Montana.

God’s handiwork is breath-taking.

“It is wonderful to be grateful and to sing your praises, Lord Most High! ²It is wonderful each morning to tell about your love and at night to announce how faithful you are. ³I enjoy praising your name to the music of harps, ⁴because everything you do makes me happy, and I sing joyful songs. ⁵You do great things, Lord.” Psalm 92:1-5 CEV

The verses above describe my heart as I sit here each morning sharing my thoughts with you. “It is wonderful each morning to tell about your love”. It is truly wonderful! I have learned and am still learning how to see my heavenly Father’s love in each day and through each circumstance. (Not all circumstances are caused by Him but He is always with me and taking me through each one.)

Each time I look at the image I used this morning I am amazed by God’s greatness to create such a scene of beauty and then I am overwhelmed when I realize that the God who created this marvelous view loves me beyond measure and has chosen to be my Father.

He loves you too!

With that realization, how can we do anything less than have a good day?

I don’t know of a better way to usher in the Christmas season than with hearts filled with thanksgiving. It just seems like the logical thing to do – giving thanks prepares our hearts for the best that God had to give.

So, we decorated our trees (I’ll explain more in a minute), started reading our new Christmas story books and talked about Jesus’ birth with Sam and Kristine. One of the things I enjoy doing most at Christmas time is reading beautifully illustrated books that will capture the childrens’ attention and help them understand the real meaning of Christmas.

Dave and I will be spending Christmas at a campground this year. This was not our original plan but it’s not a bad Plan B. Last week I bought a small evergreen tree to take with us and it will sit on the breakfast bar until we leave. Yesterday the kids decorated it with some brightly painted tin ornaments. They both chose five ornaments and could place them whereever they wanted on the tree. Sam had an angel ornament that also had a star attached to it. He wanted that one to be at the top because the star was for Jesus.

Later in the day we headed out to the front courtyard where Dave helped us place big plastic ornaments in the mesquite tree. We laughed and giggled, oohed and ahhed, as he lifted each glittery ball at least fifteen feet in the air.

We were having so much fun!

“An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord was shining around them. The shepherds were very afraid. ¹⁰The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid. I have some very good news for you—news that will make everyone happy. ¹¹Today your Savior was born in David’s town. He is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:9-11 ERV

Joy is the message of Christmas. God, the Father, was so excited about His Son’s birth that He lit up the heavens and had an angels’ chorus announce the good news! After thousands of years, the day was here, that day when God came to earth and became Immanuel, which means God with us!

“So the Lord’s promise came true, just as the prophet had said, ²³‘A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,” which means “God is with us.’”Matthew 1:22-23 CEV

Now that’s the reason for the joy and laughter!

May I admonish you to take a strong stand against stress and grumbling this Christmas season. What if we decorated our lives they way we decorate our homes and our trees? Look for and share the lasting joy that has been heaven sent! Look at Christmas through the eyes of the angels – the wonder of heaven coming to earth.

“My soul will be happy in the Lord. It will be full of joy because He saves. ¹⁰All my bones will say, “Lord, who is like You? Who saves the weak from those too strong for them? Who saves the poor from those who would rob them?” Psalm 35:9-10 NLV

Prepare now to be happy and full of joy!

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