“The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:9-12).

Through this “Advent Adventure,” we’ve looked at the long-awaited, promised and anticipated birth of Jesus Christ the Messiah, from multiple angles, zooming in on all the “characters of Christmas.” Now, let’s make it personal. John’s gospel says plainly that Jesus gives light to every person born. John observed that many who should’ve received Jesus, didn’t, including both Jews and Gentiles. But others welcomed the newborn King. And to them, He gave new life.

Our last step, then, is to simply receive Jesus, moving from the heart-warming, sentimental view of Christmas, to the soul-saving reality that we all need His rescue. We must abandon the fruitless attempt to save ourselves by good works, identify our sin, turn from it, calling upon Jesus and receive Him as Lord and Savior. That’s where life in God’s family begins.

Have you done that? If not, why not take that step now? How? Pray! All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So pray something like this: “Father God, thank you for sending Jesus to die for my sin and then to rise from the dead. Please forgive me now as I open my heart to confess Him as my Lord and Savior. The rest of my life is Yours, in Jesus’ Strong Name. Amen.”

And now, welcome to the family of God…And have a Happy New Year!

“After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and His mother,’ the angel said. ‘Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill Him.’ That night, Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, His mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: ‘I called My Son out of Egypt’” (Matthew 2:13-5).

The journey continued for Joseph, Mary and Jesus. The Magi’s gold would’ve come in handy for this poor family as they traveled south to Egypt, the same Egypt that gave birth to the nation of Israel nearly 1,500 years earlier. The words from Zacharias about Jesus’ rejection must’ve been ringing in their ears as they wondered to themselves, “Why would Herod want to kill our little boy? How will we survive in this strange land? Why Egypt, with it’s painful memories for our people? Why can’t we quietly slip back up to Nazareth where we have connections?”

With many good reasons to head north, Joseph quickly packed up his tiny family and fled south to Egypt. This was no time to question an angel who had been right so far. Joseph’s quick obedience saved the life of the Son of God. Yahweh could’ve accomplished redemption with or without human involvement but chose instead to work in the midst of the current confusion and violence, and prove that it only took a couple of obedient and courageous souls, listening to God, to thwart the schemes of a madman.

Jesus is our Savior, but Joseph has earned hero status in my book.

How long did the family live in Egypt? Some scholars believe it was a rather brief stay. It appears that Herod the Great’s number was up after ordering the massacre of all those little boys. He died shortly after that terrible event.

“Then they opened their treasure chests and gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense and Myrrh” (Matthew 2:11).

Perhaps each of these gifts from the Magi were simply their way of honoring this new “King of the Jews” by giving Him what was precious to them. After all, gifts were commonly exchanged when visiting from distant lands. So perhaps gold was just gold, and the sweet resins were just intended to make Mary’s house smell nice. But there’s one interesting claim in the ancient world of Jesus’ time regarding myrrh. It was apparently applied to ease pain. This substance from the thorny “Commiphora” tree might have been a prophetic hint. There was indeed pain in Jesus’ future.

But there is application for us, because we also carry pain, sorrow, brokenness and regrets. Remember, Jesus Himself says, “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I’ll give you rest.” And He defined His mission that day He stood up in His hometown synagogue and said the Spirit of the Lord had anointed Him, “to bring Good News to the poor, proclaim that captives would be released, the blind would see, the oppressed would be set free” (Luke 4:18-19). He was saying, “bring me all that pain, suffering and the doubts it brings.”

Jesus is King of Kings. Jesus is truly God. And Jesus is our burden-bearer, and sorrow-lifter. Jesus heals what is broken in us, if we’ll just bring it to Him. When we worship Him, even when pain, doubt or sorrow remains, we’re offering the most precious worship of all.

Give Jesus what He asks for. Come with the thorns, the wounds, the questions and lift up your praise to your King, God and Healer. He will lift you with His own wounded hands.

“Then they opened their treasure chests and gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense…” (Matthew 2:11).

With gold, the magi recognized the “young child” as king. But their worship had only begun. The remaining precious substances presented to Jesus were gathered in resin from short, desert trees, native to the Arabian peninsula.

Frankincense makes a profound statement. This fragrant resin “Boswellia sacra” tree was one of four ingredients blended to make sacred incense used in the Tabernacle, a portable tent version of the future temple in Jerusalem. Think of it as God’s “tiny house.”

Every morning priests would ignite enough incense on a small, three-foot tall altar to allow it smolder for more than 12 hours. In the evening, the process was repeated. Do the simple math. This pleasant fragrance would fill God’s house 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Here’s where this gets personal. The sweet aroma of that incense rising from the altar represented the prayers of God’s people, including yours. King David said, “Let my prayer be set before you as incense, my lifted hands as the evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141:2).

This wonderful fragrance of frankincense was a visible message to God’s people that He is always ready 24/7 to listen to our prayers, and that He loves to hear our voices.

Frankincense speaks of honoring Jesus, not just with the worship of surrender and allegiance due to Him as our king, but also with the worship of prayer and praise offered to Him as the One True God.

May our lives be filled with the sweet aroma of our frankincense, rising to God in song, and the open conversation of prayer, praise and adoration. May our sacrifice of praise never cease.

“Then they opened their treasure chests and gave Him gifts of gold…” (Matthew 2:11).

As the mysterious Eastern visitors arose from the floor, they dusted themselves off, straightened their robes and began presenting tokens or “treasures” of their adoration.

First came the gold, known as “the metal of kings.” Nearly every culture sees gold as the most precious of treasures. Economies and currencies are based on gold held on deposit by the king and his administration. There is no doubt this gift of gold was meant to acknowledge Jesus as king. Since these men saw Jesus as king, He needed to be honored with the treasure of a king.

The tender Christmas song asks, “What can I bring Him, poor as I am?” The truth is, no matter how poor we are, we must still honor Him as king, and the core commodity every humble subject must present to their king is their allegiance or loyalty.

We hear voices today insisting that we “Bow to no one; be true only to yourself.” That is a recipe for a diminished life. You were not made to be your own king.

Answer these questions: Did you create yourself? Did you assemble the environment in which you live, that provides the elements that keep you alive: air, water, food? Did you place the planet you live on in a precise orbit around the sun that provides warmth and nutrient for you? No? Then there is one to whom you and I owe allegiance…one to whom we must give our “gold” of honor and surrender. That would be Jesus, “through whom all things that were made” (John 1:1-3). That is your king. Crown Him with gold.

My 16-year-old daughter was able to participate in a six-week program in Hungary called “A Vision For Life.” It’s basically Bible college condensed into six weeks for high schoolers. It was a mix of Bible classes, outreaches, dorms and general “parent-free living”. She had some incredible opportunities to share her story of hope in Jesus. My heart smiled when I saw photos of her talking to a group of hundreds on the streets of Vienna, hosting Vacation Bible School for kids, making new friends, and I knew she would come back changed. I’ve been on multiple mission trips in my life, and the effort is always to go touch other people’s lives, but in the process, it completely changes who we are and what we believe. The same happened for my daughter, and I was so ready for her to come home; we really missed having her around. There was one thing I had forgotten when it comes to mission trips, especially as a teenager…the culture shock.

I remember the first time I went on a mission trip was to Juarez, Mexico. I had never seen such poverty, and when I returned home, it was Christmas time. Talk about culture shock, I was angry at every bit of American excess I saw around me. I had just seen firsthand people who literally didn’t have anything, and I didn’t understand how people didn’t feel guilty for having all they had. The culture shock my daughter faced was different. They didn’t really visit poverty stricken areas, but she had done a lot of really important things for the kingdom of God and coming home just felt, well…ordinary.

It’s no fun coming home to parents and rules and chores, after you just spent two months with a group of awesome new friends who were on fire for Jesus and couldn’t wait to tell everyone they met about Jesus. Now she was back home, picking up her school schedule, locker combination and getting ready to start her junior year of high school. Along with the regular jet lag that comes with international travel, there was a bit of an aimless feeling of, “What am I supposed to do now?” I could totally understand where she was coming from, and my mama heart started asking God how I could help her navigate this moment of uncertainty. I thought about Isaiah 43:18-19 that paraphrased says, “Don’t look back on the old times as if they were the best of times, I have more ahead for you!”

God has promised that He is always doing something new in us, and so, if we keep our head stuck in the past, we may miss the new that is coming.

It would be pretty mean of God to give us all just one highlight reel to keep looking back at our entire lives. Thankfully, that’s not what He does!

What a great encouragement to us! It’s ok to reminisce about the good old days, but we can’t dwell there as if that’s as good as it’s ever going to get. I received a tea towel from the famed Magnolia Market in Waco, Texas, that reads, “The good old days are still to come!” I love the thought that in the future we could be looking back on these days right now saying, “Oh man, that was an awesome time!” I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to get so stuck in the past triumphs that I leave no space for new victories!

Let’s hold on to this Scripture and to the knowledge that God is doing a new thing today!