Make Ready a People

But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John . . . He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit . . . and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God . . . to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Luke 1:13, 15-17 NKJV)

"Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest." (John 4:35 NKJV)

Day 14 of 25 Days of Christmas.  As we celebrate Jesus' first coming, we need to remember his second coming and our responsibility to prepare a people for him - a people who hunger after God more than anything else.

Pray today for revival and renewal on our campus, for believers to be energized by the Holy Spirit to live and proclaim the Gospel, for the lost to see Jesus in us and be inspired to submit to the Lord and be transformed into the sons and daughters of God.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness. "Prepare the way of the Lord." (Matthew 3:3 NKJV)

Her Firstborn Son

Then Joseph . . . took his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus. (Matthew 1:24-25 NKJV)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation . . . the firstborn from the dead . . . having made peace through the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15, 18, 19 NKJV)

Day 13 of 25 Days of Christmas.  Be sure to see the broad scope of God's plan this Christmas, not just the baby in the manger, but eternal God clothed in flesh, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Pray today for all of our students to see the deeper meaning of Christmas this year, especially those who may not know Jesus. Pray that for every gift they receive, they will be reminded of the greatest gift ever given - Jesus.

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life." (John 11:25 NKJV)

Son of David

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. (Luke 2:4-5 NKJV)

And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Mark 10:47 NKJV)

Day 12 of 25 Days of Christmas.  Joseph and Mary were the first to travel at Christmas, and they went to Joseph's ancestral home. Many of us travel home for Christmas, too, but no one has ever traveled farther at Christmas to be with family than Jesus.

Pray today for our Emmanuel family to have safe travels during Christmas. May we gather again in the New Year filled with hope and boundless opportunities.

"Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!' Hosanna in the highest!" (Matthew 21:9 NKJV)

According to Your Word

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. (Luke 1:26-27 NKJV)

Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38 NKJV)

Day 11 of 25 Days of Christmas. The prophet spoke of an obscure virgin who would bear a son. To us, she has a name - Mary. She reminds us that sometimes obedience is scary with uncertain outcomes but at the same time so full of promise.

Pray today for the favor of God to continue to rest upon Emmanuel College, for that favor to loose generosity among God's people that enables us to secure the financial resources necessary to advance God's mission and purpose for us.

Mary kept these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19 NKJV)

I Am With You

So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." (Matthew 1:22-23 NKJV)

"And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. (Matthew 28:20b NKJV)

Day 10 of 25 Days of Christmas. This Christmas season remember that the Lord has come, and he makes his dwelling in us. He is Emmanuel - our God with us. Hallelujah!

Pray today for the leadership of Emmanuel College, the Board of Trustees and the administration, to draw close to our God who is with us and to follow him with precision and with complete obedience.

For he will save his people from their sins.

My Peace

And His name will be called . . . Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 NKJV)

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27 NKJV)

Day 9 of 25 Days of Christmas. Why do we insist on making the Christmas season stressful when the One we honor at Christmas came to bring peace? Peace. Ours for the asking. So ask!

Pray today for the people of Emmanuel College to allow the One born Prince of Peace into our lives as the peacemaker. Whether the waters of life are placid or turbulent, pray that we navigate every circumstance with a calm and steady hand, revealing the peace that Jesus brings.

Peace, be still.

Father

And His name will be called . . . Everlasting Father. (Isaiah 9:6 NKJV)

Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father." (John 14:9 NKJV)

Day 8 of 25 Days of Christmas. Everlasting? Hard to comprehend, as in before there was time and after time shall be no more. Father? We know father. He wants us to know him as our Father - the kind that will do anything for his children, even die for them.

Pray today for us to know the Father well, as sons and daughters, and to follow the example of Jesus, our elder brother, empowered by the Holy Spirit to teach, nurture, and guide our students and to graduate leaders and workers, generation upon generation.

With God nothing will be impossible.