The Upper Room Devotional for 14th December 2022
Welcome!!! The word of God is food to the spirit man. As you read The Upper Room Devotional Today, may the word of the Lord powerfully impact on you.
Topic: The News Is Good
Graham N. West (Wisconsin, USA)
TODAY’S READING
Matthew 11:25-30
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The season’s news is good — Christ is born to us!
The Upper Room Devotional For 14th December 2022
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. – Matthew 11:28 (NRSV)
Every Christmas, my wife brings out a tattered recipe for Christmas pudding that she has made for almost four decades. She inherited the recipe, which my mother made for her family each Christmas. The much-loved recipe is faded, smudged, and stained. Yet it brings joy to our family every year.
By the time I reach the Christmas season at the end of the year, my heart is also tattered. Whatever joy I held at the beginning of the year has faded. The clarity of my vision is smudged. I am stained by letdowns, setbacks, and defeats.
That’s when I know it is time to bring out the well-loved story of the angel announcing Jesus’ birth in Luke chapter 2. The angel announcing the birth of Christ our Savior brings joy to our expectant hearts. After a hard year of challenge, stress, and struggle this is truly good news of great joy! God has never forgotten us and comes to renew us each year at Christmastime.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Gracious God, after a hard year help us to remember the good news of Christ our Savior. May we discover in him the fullness of your joy. Amen.
PRAYER FOCUS
Those yearning for good news
