Devotionals for the Heart: Treasures

Treasures of the Heart
A devotional by Mirachelle Canada

“When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” 

–Luke 2:17-19 (NIV)

Every December is the joyous season of giving and receiving. Both actions show our remembrance of and celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

So significant was His birth that a bright star illuminated the stable where he was born, and an angelic host proclaimed His glorious arrival to some humble shepherds. The news was so great that they went in search of the child and, once they had seen him, they told everyone they could find.

When something amazing happens to a person the first thing most want to do is go tell someone about it. When your heart is bursting with such joy it is hard to hold the excitement inside. But sometimes a gift and our reaction to its true meaning are meant for God alone.

In Luke 2:19 after Mary, who had just given birth to Jesus then heard the glorious retelling of the shepherds’ angelic encounter that finally proclaimed what she already knew, there is the word but. Mary took a pause. Instead of joining in the excitement and perhaps invite all of Bethlehem to come and see her amazing child, “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "ponder" means to think or consider especially quietly, soberly, and deeply. So why did Mary take such a deep appraisal of things?

Experience. She’d already had an angelic visit of her own and was miraculously with child though a virgin, making what she heard easy to believe, but it also weighed on her heart as a new mother who had proven faithful to wait and listen to God before acting on impulse.

How often, after we open all the gifts from under the Christmas tree, do we take pause to give thanks to God? Or even personally reflect on what it means that He sent His Son Jesus to be the Hope and Light of the world? 

Mary understood the significance of her actions as well as her reactions to the events of Jesus’s life. Few others in The Holy Bible are a better example of patience and endurance considering Mary found out early on about her and her son’s fate through a blessing in Luke 2:34-35 (NIV):

Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Whoa. Wait. What? “A sword will pierce through your own soul also so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” What does that mean? 

Simeon’s blessing was referring to what Mary was already doing – waiting and storing up God’s treasures in her heart. All the thoughts she had pondered and not acted upon. Promises. Hopes. Dreams. For what mother could so gracefully endure knowing a sword would one day pierce her own soul because of what her son was meant to do?

Mary’s example of such endurance paved the way for us to learn to have patience and show humility in every season. As the mother of the proclaimed Messiah, she had every right to be proud and tell everyone about it, but she didn’t. Instead, her faithful act of storing up the treasures of God in her heart throughout Jesus’s life ultimately provided the opportunity for us to follow her example and store up our treasures there too. Like Mary, God promises to honor and reveal all the treasures we ponder in our hearts, as the book of Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV) reminds us:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Let’s pray: Dear God, We thank you for the gifts and blessings in every season and rejoice that as we ponder these things and store them up in our heart, You are also storing up treasures for us in Heaven. Give us the strength each day to take captive every thought and reaction and give us wisdom to know when to act or to ponder events in our hearts in accordance with your will. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

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Author Bio:

Mirachelle Canada is a writer, playwright, screenwriter, and theatre director/producer from Northern Virginia, where she teaches television production at her high school alma mater.

She earned her Master of Fine Arts in Script & Screenwriting from Regent University and is an alumnus of Act One: Hollywood Film & Television Writing Program.

Mirachelle is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, American Fiction Writers Virginia Chapter, The Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild, and Your Novel Blueprint.

She is currently working on her first historical fiction novel set during WWII.

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Connect with Mirachelle:
Website: www.mirachellecanada.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mirachellecanada/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/miracan

Devotionals for the Heart: A Closer Look at the birth of Jesus Christ

Where Jesus Was Born?
A devotional by Allison M. Wilson

Key Scripture: Luke 2:8-20, Genesis 35:19-21, Micah 4:8-5:2, John 1:29,
1 Peter 1:18-19, 

1 Corinthians 5:7, Revelation 5:6-14 (NASB)

I’m about to challenge you to dig into the Word of God to search for an amazing treasure that has been there all along. A pastor friend of mine taught on, “Where Was Jesus Born?” The entire teaching is linked here. There’s not enough space to do more than whet your curiosity. This made me sit back in awe, again, at Who our God is.

We’re told in Luke that an angel appeared to shepherds. Why these shepherds? They were very special. They were likely the ones who tended the Passover lambs and flock. 1 Corinthians calls Jesus Christ our Passover Lamb. Genesis talks about a “tower of Eder.” In the original Hebrew, that means “migdal eder,” or “tower of the flock.” Micah 4:8 tells us, “To you it will come—Even the former dominion will come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.” This tower is something special, but why?

We have “certain” shepherds, as one of the carols calls them. We have John and others referring to Jesus as the Lamb of God. We know Christ to be our Passover Lamb taking away the sins of the world. How did the shepherds know where to find Mary, Joseph, and the Christ? It wasn’t the star which led the magi. That didn’t happen until later. 

They knew where to find a “Passover lamb” because they were shepherds of that very flock! Where else would a place be prepared to accept the birth of “perfect” sheep, destined to die on an altar? What other lambs were wrapped up to keep them from harming themselves and making a blemish? Where else would perfectly cleansed swaddling be available which had to be done according to the Law for the lambs of sacrifice? They had to be kept separate from less worthy sheep. They had to be protected. They were sacred.

If you read on in the Bible book of Micah, it talks about a woman in childbirth … giving birth to the Savior! I hope you believe that there is no coincidence in the Word of God. Every word is intentional and necessary for His perfect will to be made known. This is no coincidence that a description of childbirth is given in this passage about Migdal Eder. We are given crumbs, here and there, to show us the way through the Scriptures to find truths we never saw before. It reminds us that His thoughts are so much bigger than our thoughts, and His ways immensely different than our ways.

Yes, Mary and Joseph were turned away from the inn, but there is no recorded place in Scripture that says they went to a stable. Where else would the Holy Spirit lead the Lamb of God to be born, but to the very same place that the lambs, which had fulfilled the promise as far as they were able, were born? God leaves nothing to chance. Everything in the Old Testament is a shadow of what was to come in Christ.

I think the part which hit my heart the hardest in all of this study was when I read, again, that Mary wrapped her Babe in swaddling clothing, and treasured all these things in her heart. As a mother, Mary wrapped up her sacrificial Lamb when He was born, in the place where death was assured as soon as life began for those lambs. She had no idea she would be wrapping her Son just 30 some years later, in grave cloths. A different swaddling with tears staining the material, I have no doubt.

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, the birth of Christ is significant enough for God to have written about it, hidden nuggets of priceless truth within the Scriptures, and rejoices when we seek them out.

Let’s Pray: Jesus, You amaze me at every turn. You hide nothing from us, but we must want to seek out these gems. Give us the desire to find more “hidden” things in Your Word that we may learn more of You. In the Name of Christ we pray, Amen. 

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Author Bio:

A very early reader and lover of the written word, Allison M. Wilson has been writing since the age of eight with the heart to impart stories and God's truth. 

She has judged countless contests for the last 25 years, reviewed for several online publications, professionally edited, and written articles and devotionals.

Wife, mother, writer, editor, teacher, mentor, and mompreneur, God keeps her busy while living in east central Florida with her family.

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Connect with Allison:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allisonmwilson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amwilson