Celebrating Christmas with Jesus: An Advent Devotional
By Max Lucado
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About this ebook
Searching for an Advent devotional that is intentional and easy-to-follow? Let Advent come alive in your life this Christmas with Celebrating Christmas with Jesus: An Advent Devotional written by New York Times bestselling author Max Lucado.
Every Christmas, Christians all over the world celebrate the Advent season, recognizing the love, hope, joy, and peace that is found only in Jesus Christ. Through this 30-day devotional, Max Lucado:
- Brings to light the many events in the life of Christ from birth to ascension that demonstrate His omnipotence
- Reflects on the gift that God has given each one of us to enjoy during this Christmas season
- Invites you to experience each moment as our Savior becomes the center of this Christmas for you
Celebrating Christmas with Jesus:
- Is an affordable gift for neighbors, Bible study groups, worship leaders, fans of Max Lucado, and holiday gift baskets
This Advent devotional gives readers the chance to slow down and get ready for the special birth of Jesus.
Max Lucado
Since entering the ministry in 1978, Max Lucado has served churches in Miami, Florida; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and San Antonio, Texas. He currently serves as the teaching minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. He is the recipient of the 2021 ECPA Pinnacle Award for his outstanding contribution to the publishing industry and society at large. He is America's bestselling inspirational author with more than 150 million products in print. Visit his website at MaxLucado.com Facebook.com/MaxLucado Instagram.com/MaxLucado Twitter.com/MaxLucado Youtube.com/MaxLucadoOfficial The Max Lucado Encouraging Word Podcast
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Book preview
Celebrating Christmas with Jesus - Max Lucado
CELEBRATING
CHRISTMAS
WITH
JESUS
AN ADVENT DEVOTIONAL
MAX LUCADO
9781400318292_INT_0001_001Celebrating Christmas with Jesus
© 2011 by Max Lucado
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means— electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson®. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.
Scripture quotations are taken from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. © 1982, 1992 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Cover design by ThinkPen Design
Interior design by Kristy L. Morell
ISBN-13: 978-1-4003-1829-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-4003-1828-5 (with display)
Printed in the United States of America
11 12 13 14 15 DP 5 4 3 2 1
www.thomasnelson.com
INTRODUCTION
It was a night like no other. A night that forever punctuated the timeline of history. A night that introduced hope to humanity.
God became man and came into our world—to live as we do and to know laughter and tears, pain and joy, hurt and compassion. His story is a collection of monumental moments that remind us that Christ cared enough to experience life with us. Some moments show us he loves us enough to change the course of hopeless situations—a lunchbucket of fish and bread that fed thousands, a leper’s skin made babysoft. Other moments show us he understands our questions and our crying out—the death of a dear friend, the grief of a parent, the garden of agony.
Christmas is the time to remember that Christ not only came, but he stayed, he lived, he cared. Christmas is more than one remarkable event. It was . . . the beginning.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Jesus’ Birth
Jesus’ Baptism and the Witness of John
Jesus Turns Water into Wine
Jesus Begins His Ministry
Jesus Calls Peter, James, and John
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount
Jesus Talks with a Samaritan Woman
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
Jesus Heals Jairus’s Daughter
Jesus Heals a Sick Woman
Jesus’ Transfiguration
Jesus Heals a Man at the Pool of Bethesda
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
Jesus Walks on Water
Jesus Forgives the Woman Taken in Adultery
Jesus Teaches Forgiveness
Jesus Heals the Ten Lepers
Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead
The Triumphal Entry
Jesus Clears the Temple
Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet
The Last Supper
Jesus Prays in the Garden of Gethsemane
Jesus Is Arrested
Pilate Questions Jesus
Jesus’ Crucifixion
The Resurrection
The Road to Emmaus
Jesus Calls Paul
A View of Heaven
Acknowledgments
DAY 1
JESUS’ BIRTH
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
JOHN 1:14, 17–18
9781400318292_INT_0009_001It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment that was like none other. For through that segment of time a spectacular thing occurred. God became a man. While the creatures of earth walked unaware, Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb.
God as a fetus. Holiness sleeping in a womb. The creator of life being created. God was given eyebrows, elbows, two kidneys, and a spleen. He stretched against the walls and floated in the amniotic fluids of his mother.
God had come near. No silk. No ivory. No hype. To think of Jesus in such a light is— well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn’t it? It is much easier to keep the humanity out of the