But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:19). Mary, a young girl playing in the streets of Nazareth with her friends one day and finding she is pregnant, though a virgin and unmarried, the next.  Her initial response?  "How can this be" (Luke 1:34). After Jesus was born, it all began to sink in, Mary pondered all these thing in her heart.  The word picture is of a cak...  Read More

She brought forth her firstborn Son … and laid Him in a manger (Luke 2:7). These words grab my heart more than any others - She laid Him in a manger.  Not a nice little wooden cradle like we see in a manger scene.  But a rock hewn cattle trough in a cavelike stable where your sandals squashed in the dung as you walked and the nauseating smell of the animals filled your nostrils.  She laid Him n a ...  Read More

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14). What is a sign?  It is something that is intended to do two things; grab your attention and then tell you something.  You may be driving on a hazardous mountain road and see a flashing sign warning you to slow down for a sharp curve ahead.  Billboards a...  Read More

And they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us (Matthew 1:23). The name Immanuel is a translation of two Hebrew words expressing "God is with us."  God with us.  Not some prophet or teacher or holy man.  But God Himself clothed in human flesh – with us!  He came to where we are so we could go eternally to where He is.  God will always be with us. God – that is majes...  Read More

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). The name Jesus is a transliteration of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means "Jehovah saves."  His very name, Jesus, tells us of the mission upon which He came form heaven to earth to save His people from their sins. Jesus is our Lord's intensely personal name.  Have you ...  Read More

Thou shalt call his name JESUS.  They shall call his name Immanuel (Matthew 1:21, 23). There is an interesting psychology in the naming of our children.  Some are named with family names to retain a family heritage.  I am often asked what O.S. stands for – my initials represent family names Otis Swafford.  Now you know why I use O.S.  Others are named for an attribute their parents desire their ch...  Read More

My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19).What an awesome privilege to be the handpicked city to cradle the Son of God.  Why Bethlehem?  Why not Jerusalem, the seat of religious power?  Or Rome, the center of political power?  Or Athens, the center of intellectual power?  God was sending a message.  The hope of our world is not in religion, politics,...  Read More

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting (Micah 5:2).Long centuries before His birth, the prophets foretold that Christ would be born in Bethlehem.  But how?  Joseph and Mary resided seventy miles north, in Nazareth.  God put...  Read More

But thou, Bethlehem … though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth … whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting (Micah 5:2). Think of it.  Of all the places for the Messiah to be born, God chose Bethlehem.  One would have thought it might be in a much more prominent place, like Jerusalem.  Bethlehem reminds us that in God’s economy the sma...  Read More

Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us (Luke 2:15). It was a dark night ... yet there was light!  The Light of the world had come.  Bethlehem almost missed it.  No room.  So the young, pregnant Jewish girl found herself without the decency of even a clean sheet or a simple cot.  In her hour of labor, her bed was straw in ...  Read More

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11). I love Rembrandt's portrayal of the nativity.  One great beam of light falls upon the baby Jesus so that all the other participants are somewhat shrouded in shadow.  He wanted nothing to take away from the significance of Christ. Christmas is really about Christ.  And, primarily, Christ alone.  Not o...  Read More

While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth (Luke 2:6). Look in the middle of the nativity and you find a little family.  Christmas is about family.  God entrusted His own Son to a human family, just like yours.  He could have circumvented the family, but He did not.  God put His own stamp of approval on the family.   Family is important to God.  Think about it.  He instit...  Read More