Dec 24, 2025 – Giving Big
Don sold one of his (NINE) tubas yesterday afternoon. Not the one in the photo though. That’s the one he plays in Tuba Christmas every year. (If you’ve never been to Tuba Christmas, you should Google it to find one near you next year.) It was a sad-ish day because it has been a fun season for him collecting them; however, it was also a free-ing day for him (and me) as we embark on this season of clearing out the clutter in our lives. He said the tubas need to be played, not just sitting gathering dust and he’s glad that someone will be enjoying this one.
During our conversation with the buyer, we told her about an opportunity to hear big band music later in the evening, but she said that each year on the 23rd, a group of friends go out for a “big tip supper” so they can bless someone for Christmas. It reminded me of how Church of the Highlands encourages “Acts of Kindness” and provides little business cards that can be given (secretly or openly) to the recipients of the gestures of love and caring. Giving to others blesses the giver as well.
Power – Philippians 3:1 – “For the rest, my brethren, delight yourselves in the Lord and continue to rejoice that you are in Him. To keep writing to you [over and over] of the same things is not irksome to me, and it is [a precaution] for your safety.” Joyce writes, “We must consistently choose right thinking, right words, and right action. It’s not what you choose to do right one time that’s going to change your life. It’s doing it over and over and over.”
JA – “Prepare your heart for the celebration of My birth…. Recognize that I am the Gift above all gifts, and rejoice in Me! Clear out clutter and open up your heart by pondering the wonders of my entrance into human history…. Gaze at the glory of my birth, just as the shepherds did, and respond with childlike wonder.” Giving to others helps us appreciate the awesome gift of Christ’s “miraculous incarnation” and sacrifice for us. (See John 1:14 and Philippians 4:4.)
Prevail 358 – Revelation 5:5 – “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory.” Larson points out that Jesus is, “The only One who faced off with the devil himself and dismantled his power over us. He did all of this with a pure heart and a victorious spirit. He is King. He has no rival.”
JC – “As you celebrate the wonder of My birth in Bethlehem, celebrate also your rebirth into eternal life. This everlasting gift was the sole purpose of My entering your sin-stained world. Receive My gift with awe and humility. Allow thankfulness to flow freely from your heart in response to My glorious gift.”
Streams – Genesis 24:63 – “He went out to the field one evening to meditate.” Cowman reminds us about taking time to be with and listen to God as she writes, “Someone once said, ‘Meditation is the Sunday of the mind.’ In these hectic days, we should often give our mind a ‘Sunday’, a time in which we will do no work but instead will simply be still, look heavenward, and spread itself before the Lord like Gideon’s fleece, allowing itself to be soaked with the moisture of the dew of heaven…. Time spent in this way is not lost time. A fisherman does not say he is losing time when he is mending his nets…. a walk through a field, a stroll by a sea shore… will purge you of the impurities of life and will cause your heart to beat with new joy and hope.”
Utmost – Chambers bases today’s devotion on Colossians 3:3 – “Your life is hid with Christ in God.” He writes, “When you really see Jesus, I defy you to doubt Him. When He says – ‘Let not your heart be troubled,’ … it is a moral impossibility to doubt when He is there. Every time you get into personal contact with Jesus, His words are real. ‘My peace I give unto you,’ it is a peace all over from the crown of the head to the sole of the feet, an irrepressible confidence. ‘Your life is hid with Christ in God,’ and that imperturbable peace of Jesus Christ is imparted to you.”
