Loading more...
The Upper Room International Editions: Changing Hearts and Lives
Not long after the first issue of The Upper Room daily devotional rolled off the press Read More
Steve Doughty | Read Galatians 4:4-7
Today’s passage offers a portrait of overflowing joy in our divine adoption. It reminds us that the child in the manger comes to give us a new identity. When Paul writes to the Galatians, Gentiles are flocking to the fellowship. Some insist that new converts conform to Jewish laws, including...
Loving One, today may we joyfully claim, and live, the freedom of being your beloved children. Amen.
As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, we do so with cries of praise to God. Isaiah delights and rejoices in God, who will bring reconciliation to all nations. Psalm 148 declares that all of creation praises the Lord, for creation knows who formed and sustains it. Paul explains to the Galatians that God sent Jesus to redeem us, and as a result we may now call out to God as God’s children. In the Gospel reading, Luke sets the story of Jesus within the history of the Israelites. Both Simeon and Anna are devout people, filled with the Holy Spirit. They have been praying for God to send the Redeemer, and God gives them insight to recognize him as Jesus. Praise be to God for this indescribable gift!
Read Isaiah 61:10–62:3. How do you yearn for righteousness? How do the prophet’s words give you hope?
Read Psalm 148. Pause and consider the joy of God’s coming salvation for the whole world.
Read Galatians 4:4-7. Consider your identity as a child of God through Christ. What joy does this identity bring you?
Read Luke 2:22-40. How can you, like Anna, joyously proclaim the freedom and redemption Christ brings all of humanity?
Respond by posting a prayer.
