Devotion Monday 5 January 2026

Dear Readers

As we start the new week and its challenges, we are reminded of the new life that
God has promised when the Christ Child came down from heaven to earth. Jesus
Christ became the incarnate Word of God; he is the blessed mystery of divinity and
humanity. The revelation and realization of God becoming flesh and dwelling
amongst people. As we celebrated his birth we stared in the manger and marvelled
with Mary and Joseph, the angels and the shepherds at God’s salvation plan. Slowly
as we moved through the Twelve Days of Christmas, we were given glimpses of
God’s love and faithfulness, and his fulfilled prophecy and patience with the world
and the people he created.

God knew that the birth of Jesus would herald in a new course in history, and he
knew that the believers would need encouragement to stay faithful and patient to see
the completion of his salvation for the earth and her people. In the Book of Psalms,
we read in the Twenty-Eighth Psalm Verse Eight, “The Lord is the strength of his
people.” If we rely on our own strength to understand God’s salvation history and try
to keep the faith, we will fail for we are dust-people and our powers are limited.

However, God is the one who created the earth and all that is in it, and his strength is
unlimited. He is waiting for us to come to him and receive this strength that will
empower us to behold his revelation. Our eyes will be opened. We will be able to see
Jesus and his work in this world and in our lives. And we will be strengthened to live
life to the fullest.

The Apostle Paul wrote in his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, in Chapter Two
verses Sixteen to Seventeen, “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our
Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope,
comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.” This comfort
that God gives is a supernatural condition of hope, peace and joy even in
uncomfortable and difficult situations. It is the “comfort, comfort you my people,” that
the prophet Isaiah prophesied, this serenity that exists in the life of the believer. Even
in the uncomfortable environment of a stable and the reality of not having a place to
stay, the stable in Bethlehem is for the believers one of the most beautiful scenes in
the Salvation Story. God gives to the believers this encouragement and promise that
he will be their strength so that they will feel comfortable with whatever situation that
they will find themselves in. They can rely on his grace to fulfil their work on earth
which centres around sharing his Word and working here on earth to point people to
Jesus.

Let us live in the divine comfort of his promise that made the stable the most
beautiful home for our Lord, that turns the Cross into the most cherished sight of
hope and truth. God is the God who will give you his strength to run the race of faith
this year and always with the sure knowledge that he has given you eternal life and
his grace to live life on earth for him.

Father, we thank you for your love that was shown to us at Bethlehem. We thank you
for your strength that is given to comfort us and fill our hearts with your hope and
peace. Amen.