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Hold onto comfort and joy in the new year

Jesus came down to earth in a manger at Christmas, but He doesn’t have to leave with the tree when the ornaments and festive decorations come down. When the comforts of the season are all boxed up, how do we hold onto comfort and joy the rest of the year?

Is Jesus just seasonal?

Winter blahs and blues

The Christmas lights arrive during the darkest time of the year. The birth story of Jesus brings joy amidst the winter blahs and blues. How do we keep that good feeling going after all the Christmas cheer has been packed away for another year?

Christmas lights

Walking through the neighborhood we see a few holiday holdouts. A handful of Christmas lights adorn a house here and there, but otherwise the signs of the yuletide are gone. In our own home the ornaments are packed away for another year. The symbols of the season are nestled all snug in their boxes until their much-awaited debut next December.

How about you? Are the house lights still up? Has the tree been taken down?

Is it back to business as usual – as usual as it can be in this unusual season?

After Christmas

What happens after Christmas? Once we take down the Christmas tree and put away the ornaments, is that it for peace, goodwill, and tidings of good cheer? Does the jolly just leave? The merry get misplaced?

Is Christmas just a passing phase and Christ attached to a pop-up event?

When Christmas gets put away maybe we think Jesus does, too.

Hold onto the light of Christmas

We don’t have to set Jesus aside. After the trappings of the season are packed up, we can still hold onto the light of Christmas.

I want to carry forward peace on earth and tidings of comfort and joy.

Anchor into Christ’s presence

I decided to look back at the carols of Christmas to bring good cheer into the new year. I’m not talking about a momentary gladness, but rather an intentional commitment to remember elements of Christmas and Christ’s presence that we can anchor into in the days ahead.

Reminders of the season from the Christmas carols

What can we carry forward from the carols of Christmas?

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. We can call on Jesus.

Emmanuel, God with us.

So often in my morning journaling this phrase, “Emmanuel, God with us,” comes up. A reminder that God is with me in whatever I am dealing with or walking through.

God is with you, too.

Angel’s message to the shepherds

The First Noel and While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks.

Remember what the angel said to the shepherds?

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Luke 2:10 KJV

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:13-14 KJV

Good news, great joy, peace.

Jesus

O Holy Night. On that holiest of nights, the arrival of Messiah brought hope into a weary world.

Hope.

Wouldn’t it be nice to remember Jesus brings hope?

And the reminder from Hark the Herald Angels Sing that Jesus brings light, life, and healing.

Carry forward comfort and joy

Emmanuel, God with us.

Good news, great joy, peace, hope.

Light, life, and healing.

I’ll bring those forward into the new year. Want to join me?

Want a refresher from songs of Christmas?

Christmas carols in the Scriptures – O Come O Come Emmanuel

Christmas carols in the Scriptures – Hark the Herald Angels Sing

What to do with a wayward ornament?

The wayward ornament, a reminder of the gift

Christmas carols in the Scriptures – O Holy Night

O Holy Night, the song that sings of the Christ child’s birth and the heavenly connection, offers us a glimpse of the sacred gift Jesus brought to earth. Find phrases from Scripture that draw us into the depth of this most holy night.

O Holy Night

The first verse of this beloved hymn and Christmas carol brings us to the hope-filled moment of the Messiah’s arrival into a world grown weary. That Holy night when God’s gift to humanity, His beloved Son, took His first breath.

Gift of love

The second verse speaks to the gift of love Jesus brought to us and taught to us. A gift reflected in an oft-memorized Scripture passage.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NIV

The next phrase of the song speaks of the law and love and the gospel of peace.

Love fulfills the law

Two verses from Romans illustrate the connection between the law and love.

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8 NIV

“Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:10 NIV

Gospel of peace

Verses from Colossians help make the connection to the gospel of peace.

“In [Christ] we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:14 NIV

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Him, and through him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.” Colossians 1:19-20 NIV

Christmas

I have felt a certain level of intensity coming with this Christmas. Sure this year has been intense and challenging, but something beyond that, a sense that things are ramping up. The deepest issues seem to be surfacing, you know, the ones you thought you’d dealt with and healed from. Those hurts you bump against that you haven’t thought about in a while until something makes contact and you are reminded of their presence.

The manger and the cross

In this season of Advent I’ve felt a strong connection between the manger and the cross. How God sent Jesus into our world knowing full well His journey would continue to the cross.

Maybe rather than cover up our issues and hide them all wrapped up under a pretty façade of false control, maybe we’re supposed to bring them to the manger. Maybe the gift God wants to give each of us this Christmas is to take our heavy loads, our burdens from us and draw our attention to new life in Christ.

Receive the gift

Can you see this Christmas as an opportunity to release the heavy weight you’ve been carrying and receive the gift Christ has for you?

I woke up this morning with all the weight of the burdens I’ve been carrying. As I’ve contemplated this idea of bringing them to Jesus this Christmas, my heart feels a bit lighter. I’m not cured or healed, but the weightiness is gone.

Release your load

Have you felt an intensity leading up to Christmas?

Maybe Christ is calling you to release your load, too.

While I was writing my worries down, my stressors ran out of steam. Writing them out, telling them to Jesus, lessened the weight of them.

Do you have burdens you’ve been carrying? Maybe they didn’t seem that significant when you first picked them up, but a prolonged period of holding onto them has made them feel heavier. Or maybe they’ve been heavy from the moment you picked them up.

Is God calling you to release them this Christmas?

For me, that meant sharing the load with Jesus. Telling Him what I was worried about. Maybe that would help you, too.

This Christmas may you draw closer to Jesus and the gift of His Presence.

Christmas carols in the Scriptures – Hark the Herald Angels Sing

“Hark the Herald Angels Sing” is certainly a song about angels, but it’s also a song about Jesus. Don’t miss the gift of Christ proclaimed by the Prophets of the Old Testament in these verses.

Christmas special

“Hark the Herald Angels Sing” is most likely one of the best-known traditional carols due in part to its prominent placement in a certain Christmas special.

Surprising connection to Scripture

I think it also has one of the most surprising connections to Scripture of all the carols.

Recognized phrases

As mentioned in a previous post, when my Bible study read through the Word, we recognized phrases throughout Scripture that reminded us of songs we knew. One such phrase that really caught our attention spoke of someone rising “with healing in his wings.” This phrase stood out immediately but we couldn’t quite place where we’d seen or heard it.

Music

We sat with it for a moment allowing the music to find the phrase in our heads, then I went in search of a hymnal in the church to confirm what was surfacing.

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

We found the phrase in “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”

Healing in wings

I realized I had sung this verse so many times over the years that I took it at face value. I don’t know that I understood what it was saying. What exactly is healing in a wing anyway?

Verse in the Bible

Imagine my surprise when that very verse showed up in the Bible. Well then, if it’s in there, then it makes sense to God. But what does it mean?

Context

First, let’s find out where it is, which will give us some context as to its meaning.

This phrase comes in the middle of the third verse of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and follows the declaration that He, Jesus, brings light and life to everyone.

Life and light

We could just stop there, couldn’t we?

Jesus brought the gifts of life and light to all of us.

Light in the midst of darkness, into a world in darkness. And life where there was once only death.

Prince of Peace

The third verse of the Christmas carol starts out by telling us who Jesus is, the Prince of Peace. This title for our Savior comes from the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 KJV

Healing wings in Scripture

But what about the healing wings? Where are they found in Scripture?

Minor Prophet Malachi

The Scripture reference for this phrase leads us to the Old Testament and the Minor Prophet Malachi. This was one of those really cool aha moments for my Bible study when we were reading through the Bible.

Words of carol come from Bible

The wording in the hymn was so strange to me. I had sung it every Christmas but didn’t really pay attention to the text. Then when I read it in Malachi I thought, wait a minute, that’s from a Christmas carol. Wow, the words of the Christmas carol come from the Bible.

“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;” Malachi 4:2a KJV

Just FYI, fear in this context can be likened to “show honor.” The NIV translation uses the word “revere.”

What does it mean?

Okay, great, we found it. But what does it mean?

This is the gift that’s found in this verse. Jesus brings healing. Life and light.

Gospel of Luke

In the Gospel of Luke, Zechariah sings a song about this. I find it only fitting that we turn to a song in the Bible to clarify the verse of this Christmas carol.

Zechariah is the father of John, the one who will grow up to be called “John the Baptist.” Following John’s birth, Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesies about his son John:

“’And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.’” Luke 1:76-79 NIV

Light, life, healing

Do you see the gifts of light, life, and healing?

We find healing in Jesus. The rising sun refers to His light, and it reminds me of Jesus rising after His death on the cross. Because He died for us, we have access to ultimate healing.

“By his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24b

What a beautiful gift to receive this Christmas.

Want to read more about Jesus as light?

The Christmas story and the missing manger part 2

Other Christmas carols:

Christmas carols in the Scriptures – The First Noel

Christmas carols in the Scriptures – O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Christmas carols in the Scriptures – The First Noel

Christmas carols

While many Christmas carols sing of the shepherds and angels, including “The First Noel,” another song about shepherds takes its text straight from scripture.

Shepherds

Okay, truth be told, when I think of a Christmas carol about shepherds I immediately go to “The First Noel.” But when I read through the verses I discovered the shepherds are mostly relegated to the first verse. A more comprehensive account of the shepherds’ tale comes from “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks,” but that’s not one at the top of the Christmas carols most of us know list.

The First Noel

The first verse of “The First Noel” narrates the shepherds’ encounter with the angel who tells them of the birth of the Messiah. This well-known carol is probably the most familiar account of the shepherd’s role in the nativity story. It is not however the most complete.

While Shepherd’s Watched Their Flocks

That honor goes to “While Shepherd’s Watched Their Flocks,” which is pretty much the full account of the scripture passage about the shepherds in song. Here’s the narrative in the King James Version.

Scripture passage

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:8-14 KJV

Traditional Christmas carols

Of course when my Bible study came to this part of scripture we thought of all the traditional Christmas carols we remembered:

The First Noel

Silent Night, Holy Night

Angels We Have Heard On High

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

O Come All Ye Faithful

Joy to the World

Shepherds in their routine

One thing I notice as I look at these Bible verses is that the shepherds were at work, in their routine, out in the fields when heaven sent a messenger to tell them of the good news, the joyous news.

Appearance of an angel

The unexpected appearance of an angel startled, even frightened them. Why?

God’s messenger

Were they surprised to hear from heaven because it was unusual or because they didn’t think they were the type to receive a message from one of God’s messengers?

Live in expectation

How do we approach this season? Are we in the middle of our routine, one in which we might unexpectedly encounter the hope of heaven? Do we live in expectation of the joyous news?

As we go about our days in this Advent season, may our hearts be open to hear from heaven.

Beyond The First Noel

Did you know that although the wise men and the shepherds are merged in “The First Noel,” they are not found in the same Gospel account of the birth of Jesus? For insight into their whereabouts, read the missing manger part 1 and 2.

The Christmas story and the missing manger part 1

The Christmas story and the missing manger part 2

Christmas carols in the Scriptures – O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Christmas carols draw us into the season and some, like “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”, lead us into Scripture. Find connection to the carol and to Jesus as we take a closer look at this song of Advent.

Jesus in New Testament

When my Bible study read through the Bible we came across Jesus much sooner than we thought we would. We knew the story of the birth of Jesus was in the New Testament. We didn’t know where (it’s not in all the Gospels), we just knew Christ’s birth came in the New Testament.

Jesus in Old Testament

Imagine our surprise when we recognized references to the Son of God in Old Testament books like Isaiah and Malachi.

Now that I think of it, finding Jesus in Isaiah, a Major Prophet, and Malachi, a Minor Prophet, makes sense now, but it didn’t then.

Scripture and Christmas carol

We’d read a passage of Scripture and find among the verses a familiar phrase of a Christmas carol – though which one wasn’t immediately clear.

The verse out of context caused us to rack our brains to figure out which song the words were from, but that was half the fun.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

One such song was “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” which may not be as well known in caroling circles, but it has some of the richest connections to Scripture in my mind, starting with the title.

Waiting for Emmanuel

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” speaks to the anticipation, the waiting for Emmanuel to arrive.

Who is this Emmanuel? I thought we were talking about Jesus. We are. Emmanuel is Jesus.

Emmanuel, God with us

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matthew 1:23 KJV

Emmanuel. God with us.

In this season of chaos I like to remember this phrase, Emmanuel, God with us.

Passage in Isaiah

This verse references a passage in Isaiah.

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 KJV

Emmanuel and Immanuel are the same Jesus.

Matthew’s Gospel draws forward the prophecy given in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah.

Wow, all that from a song title.

Root of Jesse

Another phrase I came across while we were reading was from Isaiah 11:10. I recognized most of one of the verses of the hymn.

“And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.” Isaiah 11:10 KJV

If this wording seems a little confusing, don’t worry. Paul brings up this passage from Isaiah in the Book of Romans.

While the King James Version is reflective of the song verse, we’ll look at the New International Version for a slightly different translation of the words.

“And again, Isaiah says,

‘The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
in him the Gentiles will hope.’” Romans 15:12 NIV

Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

So who exactly is Jesse?

Jesse was the father of David (Ruth 4:22), King David (Matthew 1:6), who is in the family line of Jesus. (Matthew 1:1)

“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Matthew 1:1 NIV

Receive Christ

“Root of Jesse” reminds me of a verse from the New Testament book Colossians.

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:6-7 NIV

Live our lives rooted in him. Emmanuel, God with us.

Another song with Scripture connection:

Music Speaks: Is He Worthy? – Scripture in song