Read Revelation 21:3-5  Today is the last day of 2010. Tomorrow begins a new year. Many people will stay up late tonight until midnight to celebrate. At midnight, the next day actually starts. So just past midnight on Friday night, Saturday actually begins and it is the new year. It is 2011! I will have to get used to writing 2011 when I write out the date. John was an old, old follower of Jesus when he wrote the book of Revelation. Verse 3 says that John heard a voice in heaven which gave some exciting news: One day we will live in heaven with God and He will live with us. We will not have to pray to Him like we do now. We can talk to Him just like you talk to your mother or father! It will all be different in heaven! It will be much better. What are some of the bad things that God is going to get rid of in verse 4? Jesus reminds John in verse 5 that He will make all things new. Jesus is going to make everything better. Jesus is going to straighten everything out. If we have trusted Jesus as our Savior, we will live with Him in this new place called heaven. How wonderful it will be!

Read John 3:30, 31  In verse 30, John the Baptist realized that Jesus was more important than he was. John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin. He was about 6 months older than Jesus. John's mother, Elizabeth and Jesus' mother, Mary were sisters. God had sent John the Baptist ahead of Jesus to tell the people that the Messiah was coming, and that they had better change their wicked ways and prepare for the promised Messiah. Jesus was that promised Messiah. But John was not jealous of Jesus. John knew that Jesus was the Son of God that was promised in the Old Testament. In verse 31, where did John say that Jesus was from? We should follow what Jesus said because of what John the Baptist said about Jesus in verse 31. John said that whoever comes from heaven is above everyone who is on earth below. If we listen to Jesus and obey His teachings, we will be happy!

Read John 6:66-69  Many people did not understand the teachings of Jesus. He spoke to them using parables and symbolism. A parable is a story that helps us to understand an idea. Your mother may tell you a story about a little boy who stole some money and got into trouble so that you will learn not to steal. That is called a parable. A symbol is like a parable. A symbol is something that stands for an idea. The American flag is a symbol of our country. When we pledge allegiance to the flag, we are actually promising to be a good citizen of the United States. In these verses, Jesus asked His disciples if they were going to leave Him like the other people. Which disciple spoke up for the other disciples in verse 68? He told Jesus that they had no other place to go. They knew that Jesus was the Christ; Jesus was the promised Messiah; Jesus was the Son of God who would save them from their sins! The disciples followed Jesus. Are you a follower of Jesus? Do you obey His words? I hope we all do.

Read John 6:35  Jesus had just left with His disciples to go across the Sea of Gallilee. When He got to the other side, the people were already waiting for Him. They had hurried all the way around the little sea to beat Him to the other side. But Jesus knew they didn't really want to just see Him. They wanted some more of the bread and fish that He had given them just the day before. He fussed at them and told them that physical bread was not the most important thing that they needed. He reminded them that they needed spiritual bread. That means that just like we have to feed our body every day with food, we need to feed our spiritual souls with spiritual food. We need to read our Bible every day and pray to God in order for our spiritual body (our soul) to grow. What did Jesus say He was like in this verse? How many times do we usually eat every day? Just like we need physical food every day, we need spiritual food also. Thank you for feeding your spiritual soul today with this Bible reading!

Read Luke 19:10  Today is Jesus' birthday! I hope you got many nice gifts for Christmas. But don't forget, today is not your birthday; today is Jesus' birthday! But Jesus was not born as an ordinary person; Jesus was born so that He might take our place on the cross of Calvary and pay for our sins.He was born to die. But Jesus did it willingly because He loved us so much! Have you asked Jesus into your heart as your Savior? He will take away your sins and in return give you a home in heaven when you die. What a wonderful exchange! Have you thanked Jesus for His tremendous gift of eternal life that He gave to you? If you are not saved, ask someone what you need to do in order to know that you are saved and part of God's family!

Read Matthew 2:9-11  Herod and the priests told the wise men that they should search for baby Jesus in Bethlehem. When the wise men left Herod's palace in Jerusalem, they were excited that the star continued to lead them. They followed the star until it led them directly to where the baby was. Since verse 11 says that they came into the house, we think that baby Jesus must have been a few days or weeks old. Baby Jesus was no longer in the stable; Joseph had found Mary and Jesus a house to live in by then. We don't know how many wise men there were. But because verse 11 tells us that they opened up 3 gifts for Him, we think that there may have been 3 wise men. We usually buy gifts for each other at Christmas time because the wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus. Did you get Jesus a gift this year? After all, Christmas is really Jesus' birthday!

Read Matthew 2:7,8 & 12  King Herod was a wicked king. He lied to the wise men. He told them that he wanted to worship the newborn king, but he really didn't. He really wanted the wise men to find baby Jesus so that he could kill him! But verse 12 tells us that God warned the wise men not to go back and tell Herod that they had found the baby. What did God tell the wise men to do in verse 12? God protected baby Jesus from evil and God will protect you too!

Read Luke 2:40  This verse tells us about the little boy, Jesus. He was born in a lowly stable where the animals were kept. He was born into a poor family. But His real father was God in heaven! What a contrast! The word contrast means the opposite: Bad - good. Happy - sad. Poor - rich. On one side we see a poor family, but on the other side we see the owner of the entire universe! In heaven, Jesus was surrounded by noise. The angels worshiped Him day and night. Other angels were always standing around ready to do whatever Jesus wanted them to do. But when Jesus was born on earth, there was nothing. The song, Silent Night tells how quiet it was at Jesus' birth. Silent Night was written by a pastor in Oberndorf, Austria near the city of Salzburg. It was first sang on Christmas 1818 and played on a guitar because the poor church's organ was broken. Luke 2:40 says that little Jesus grew strong in what? It says that He was filled with what? Then, lastly our verse says what was upon Him? We need the power of God upon us every day, don't we?

Read Luke 2:25-30  What is the name of the old man who was in the Temple when Baby Jesus was brought in? He was called a devout man, which means he worshiped God and did his best to obey God and God's Word. God had told this old man that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah with his own eyes. The Messiah was to be the king of Israel who would deliver them from their enemies. The Jews thought that the Messiah would be an earthly king and would deliver them from the Roman soldiers, who had beaten them in war. But Jesus Christ was the Messiah who would be a heavenly King to deliver is all from our sins. The freedom in our hearts from sin is more important than to be free from evil rulers. What is on the inside is more important than what is on the outside. When the Old man saw Baby Jesus, God's Holy Spirit excited him and his heart was filled with joy. As he held the little baby, he said that his life was complete and that he could die in peace. How good it is to feel God's peace in our hearts!

Read Luke 2:19  This short verse tells us that Mary was thinking. She knew that the Holy Spirit had come upon her to birth Baby Jesus. She knew that God was Jesus actual father and that Joseph was actually like Jesus' step-father. Joseph was a good man and had married Mary after his dream with the angel, but Mary kept all of these thoughts in her heart and thought about them. What is the word that is used in Luke 2;19 to describe how Mary thought about all of these things? Do you think about God and about what things are going to be like for you in the future? Do you know that god loves you and only wants what is best for you? I am sure that Mary had no idea that Jesus was going to do all of the things that He ended up doing! I am sure that your mother has many hopes for you. None of us have any idea of what God will do with our lives - that is IF we give ourselves to Him. Let God have your life and He will make you the happiest that you could ever be!

Read Luke 2:16-20  What do you do when you hear something interesting or hear some good news? That is exactly what the shepherds did. When they heard about the Savior from the angels, they immediately went to Bethlehem and searched for Baby Jesus until they found Him. Then, after they left Baby Jesus, they went out and told everyone about Jesus. They were excited that God had told them the good news of the new-born Savior first of all! They took it as their job to tell everyone else. Should we tell others about the Savior, Jesus Christ?

Read Luke 2:8-16  Shepherds have an easy job. Well, in some ways it is easy, and in some ways it is hard. It is easy because they don’t have to think or to do any reading or talking. They only have to watch their sheep. Their job is hard because they are out in the cold in the winter and out in the heat in the summer. And then they are usually all alone and the last ones to hear any news from in town. But on the night when Jesus was born, they were absolutely the first to hear the good news! This was special that God would announce the birth of Jesus Christ to lowly shepherds. In Luke 2:9 who announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds? According to verse 16 were the shepherds lazy or did they hurry to Bethlehem to see the Christ Child? Should we obey God quickly?

Read Luke 2:1-7  The prophets had told 500 years BEFORE Jesus was born that He would be born in Bethlehem. But Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth. So God did an amazing thing: He put the thought into Caesar Augustus’ mind that he should tax everyone in his kingdom. Everyone had to go to the home town of their ancestors (great-great-grandparents) to sign up for this taxing. So, BEFORE Jesus was born, God worked it out so that Mary and Joseph would have to go to Bethlehem. They were both great-great-grandchildren of good King David. When Mary and Joseph got to Bethlehem, the little town was so over-crowded that they had to stay in the stable with the animals! Mary didn’t have a nice baby bed to put her new little boy in. Where did Mary lay little baby Jesus? Would you like to sleep in with the farm animals? Not me!

Read Matthew 2:1&2 The story of the wise men is exciting! Just think of these strange men coming from such a great distance to see the new little Christ child! They expected Jesus to be born in the palace since He was a new-born king. But wicked King Herod knew nothing about this baby Jesus. Of course, everybody else in Israel knew that the coming Messiah should be born in Bethlehem. The prophets had foretold that it would be so. The Wise men had seen this new star in the night sky and had followed it to the land of Israel. Perhaps it was a comet; perhaps it was a nova. They knew that something wonderful was taking place because of the appearance of this new star in the western sky. I wonder what these Wise men looked like? Was one of them Chinese? Was one of them from India? Our picture is of three black kings from Africa. Verse 1 tells us the name of the capital of Israel, What was the name of this capital? This was the city where King Herod had his palace.

Read Matthew 1:20-25 Joseph was troubled in his mind. He didn’t know what to do about his problem. He loved Mary and wanted to marry her, but he had just found out that she was going to have a baby, and Joseph knew he was not the father of the unborn baby. But an amazing thing happened to Joseph that night. An angel appeared to him in a dream and explained to him that Mary was going to give birth to the Son of God. Joseph was not the father of Mary’s baby; God the Father Himself was the father of the baby. The angel told Joseph to marry Mary and to raise this special child just as if it were his own. There are two names given for this special baby: one in verse 21 and one in verse 23. What are these two names? His real name is given in verse 21, but the name given in verse 23 means “God with us.” It is amazing that God would choose to be born as a baby and to live with us! He actually became one of us!

Read Isaiah 1:18 How exciting to wake up to snow on the ground! No school for the kids! No school for the teachers! (Marmmie was happy) The thing that I like about snow is how it covers all of the dirt and nastiness and makes everything look nice and clean like it is covered with a new blanket. Yesterday we learned that our sins were likened to darkness; but this verse says our sins are red - bright red. There are two shades (different colors) of red mentioned in our verse. What are they? But then this verse says that our sins can be covered by God and to be made like snow. What else will our sins look like after God covers them? How wonderful to know that our sins are covered by the red blood of Jesus Christ! Thank you Jesus for loving us!

Read Matthew 5:14 Last night we came home while it was snowing. Yippee! Marmmie might not have school! :<) When we drove up into our neighborhood, I saw our two Reindeer Christmas decorations in the front yard. Aunt Patti bought them for us. Wasn't that kind! There was such a warm glow around them and a quiet stillness with the snow falling. These little glowing deer reminded me that we are called by Jesus Christ to be lights in our world. In the Bible sin and evil are often called darkness while good is called light. Jesus is not about sneaking around getting into trouble and doing evil; Jesus is about being open and before everyone and doing good. We should not be ashamed for anyone to see everything that we are doing at any time of the day. That is what light is all about. Light is also about showing others the right way. Just like we need a flashlight to find our way at night, we need to be lights for Jesus to show others the right way to live. We Christians are not only called lights, but what else are we called?

Read John 1:1-3  Jesus' birthday is in less than two weeks! I am getting excited. But, I still have some Christmas presents to buy. Yikes! I'd better get busy! Did you know that Jesus is the only person who existed before He was born. What is Jesus called in John 1:1? John 1:2 says that Jesus was with God (the Father) when? John 1:3 says that how many things were made by Jesus? That is pretty amazing. Some people say that Jesus is just another person; that He is just another created being. But, these verses say that Jesus made everything. He is the person in the Trinity who does what God the Father plans. The Father plans, the Son does the work, and the Holy Spirit empowers.