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Sunday, December 24, 2023

Devotional for the Fourth Sunday of Advent


Matthew 1:22-23 (Berean Standard Bible) “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel (which means, ‘God with us’).’”

 

“Life is amazing. And then it’s awful. And then it’s amazing again. And in between the amazing and awful it’s ordinary and mundane and routine. Breath in the amazing, hold on through the awful, and relax and exhale during the ordinary. That’s just living—heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life. And it’s breathtakingly beautiful.” I love this quote by L.R. Knost! 

 

Throughout life, there are so many highs and lows, with everything in between. I cannot fathom what it would be like to have to go it alone! What a joy and relief it is to know that God is with us! As Anne Lamott wrote, “I do not understand the mystery of grace—only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.” What a priceless gift it is that our Creator God, “Emmanual, God with us,” chooses to lovingly shepherd us through our time in this life. Thanks be to God! 

 

—Belinda Alkula

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