Yesterday, I skipped 4 and went straight to 3. But to keep on schedule, I need to get the number 4 back in to the game. Today, I will mention two devotionals I am working through this season.
BOOK COMMENTS … First
Journey to Bethlehem: A Treasury of Classic Christmas Devotionals … by Leland Ryken
Ryken reprints and comments on three categories of classical Christmas works … Christmas hymns, devotional writings and poems. This anthology does more than give historical annotations, it is a work that edifies and gives a general take-away.
In the Bleak Midwinter by Christina Rossetti, 1872 (Sometimes called A Christmas Carol)
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.
Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.
Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.
What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.
BOOK COMMENTS … Second
Let Earth Receive Her King by Alister Begg
Begg works through the Scriptures, Genesis, Prophets, Gospels, Epistles and Revelation showing a thread about the King, the Christ-Child. He ends each chapter with lyrics from a carol or poem.
Chapter 7 “A Light Has Dawned” digs a bit into Isaiah 9:2, something so relevant to today …
The people who walked in darkness have seen great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them the light has shone.
The Bible never disguises how dark the world can get. But it also is ever so bold to declare the light is always brighter, stronger, better than the darkness. It can not overcome it.
He shares the lyrics of O come, O Come, Emmanuel … by John Neale
(but not the common lyrics)
O come, o come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice, rejoice Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, o Israel
O come, o Wisdom from on high
Who endured all things mightily
To the path of knowledge show
And teach us in the ways to go.
Rejoice, rejoice Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, o Israel
O come, O Bright and Morning Star
And bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
And turn our darkness into light.
Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, o Israel
O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind;
bid thou our sad divisions cease,
and be Yourself our King of Peace
Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, o Israel
Have a Merry Christmas.
Muddy Shoes by Todd 
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