READ:Luke
2:1-7
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
goodwill toward men! —Luke 2:14Every
so often I catch myself wondering about the whole grand scheme of faith. I stand
in an airport, for example, watching important-looking people in business suits, 
briefcases clutched to their sides, as they pause at an espresso bar before
scurrying off to another concourse. Do any of them ever think about God?
I wonder .Christians share an odd belief in parallel universes. One universe
consists of glass and steel and wool clothes and leather briefcases and the
smell of freshly ground coffee. The other consists of angels and spiritual
forces and somewhere-out-there places called heaven and hell. We palpably
inhabit the material world; it takes faith to consider oneself a citizen of the
other, invisible world.Christmas turns the tables and hints
at the struggle involved when the Lord of both worlds descends to live by the
rules of the one. In Bethlehem, the two worlds came together, realigned. What
Jesus went on to accomplish on planet Earth made it possible for God someday to
resolve all disharmonies in both worlds. No wonder a choir of angels broke out
in spontaneous song, disturbing not only a few shepherds but the entire universe
(Luke 2:13-14). —Philip Yancey Once
from the realms of infinite glory,
Down to the depths of our ruin and
loss,
Jesus came, seeking—O Love’s sweet story—
Came to the manger, the
shame, and the cross. —Strickland The
key word of Christmas is “Immanuel God with us. Our Daily Bread
