Happy December! Christmas is on its way and we couldn’t think of a better way to ready our hearts together than by spending the whole month reading through the story of Jesus’ birth and finding some practical ways to love others. Together, we will work through an Advent reading plan provided by LCBC Church through YouVersion. Our prayer is that as you read about the greatest story ever told, your hearts will be readied for Christ’s arrival.
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us— to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.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.”
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
Zechariah, now that his mouth can work again, speaks a prophecy over his newborn son. It is a beautiful blessing for a life that will be filled with both beauty and tragedy in following God.
Pray
Pray that you can have a moment today to bless someone. Pray that you have either the moment to literally bless someone in your life today with a prayer or maybe just bless them by your actions of kindness and goodness. Either way – pray that you can have the same life-giving moment that Zechariah has for his son.
Practice
Leave a voicemail for another friend in which you pray for them a prayer of blessing in what they are doing right now.
