1
00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:13,200
Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, and thank you for listening to your

2
00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:16,759
Speaker 1: Daily Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each

3
00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:19,919
Speaker 1: day to learn more about God and his will for us.

4
00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:24,560
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jessica Vinrokel, and after the short word

5
00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:29,360
Speaker 1: from our sponsor, we'll continue with our advance series experiencing

6
00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:33,920
Speaker 1: Christ This Christmas with today's Bible Verse Luke chapter two,

7
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:47,880
Speaker 1: verse seven. Today's Bible Verses Luke, chapter two, verse seven.

8
00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,400
Speaker 1: And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She

9
00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:54,240
Speaker 1: wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger

10
00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:58,560
Speaker 1: because there was no guest room available for them. A

11
00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:00,680
Speaker 1: friend from the city once told me about the first

12
00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,600
Speaker 1: time she ever visited a farm. She expected something magical

13
00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:08,840
Speaker 1: out of a perfectly curated magazine, but the reality surprised her.

14
00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,520
Speaker 1: It smelled bad, she said, and it was loud, messy,

15
00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:17,600
Speaker 1: and nothing was clean. She paused and added, I didn't

16
00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:23,039
Speaker 1: expect the animals to be so real. Our Nativity scenes

17
00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:27,039
Speaker 1: tend to be polished straw that doesn't itch, animals that

18
00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:31,240
Speaker 1: don't smell, A manger that looks handcrafted from reclaimed barnwood.

19
00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,520
Speaker 1: Luke chapter two, verse seven makes it plain Jesus was

20
00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,320
Speaker 1: laid in an actual feeding trough in an actual place

21
00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,880
Speaker 1: where animals lived. It wasn't tidy, it wasn't sweet smelling,

22
00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:49,320
Speaker 1: it wasn't serene, and yet that's where God chose to arrive.

23
00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,080
Speaker 1: Luke's account in chapter two is tied to historical people

24
00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,320
Speaker 1: and events. This is important to know. Jesus was born

25
00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:02,200
Speaker 1: during Caesar Augustus's reign. Augustus had ended the twenty year

26
00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:06,040
Speaker 1: Civil War and finally brought peace. He also changed the

27
00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,840
Speaker 1: political climate from a republic governed by laws to an

28
00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:14,840
Speaker 1: empire ruled by an emperor. After twenty years of war, destruction,

29
00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:19,440
Speaker 1: and brutality, the world was hungry for a savior, but

30
00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:24,720
Speaker 1: a political savior was not enough. God places people in

31
00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,240
Speaker 1: positions of power for a purpose, and in this case,

32
00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,960
Speaker 1: it was to fulfill the prophecy from Micah chapter five,

33
00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,320
Speaker 1: verse two that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

34
00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:41,119
Speaker 1: Caesar Augustus gave a command and all people responded. You see,

35
00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:45,000
Speaker 1: the census wasn't designed to count people, but it was

36
00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:51,080
Speaker 1: to tax the people efficiently and effectively. According to Roman law,

37
00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:55,960
Speaker 1: Mary did not have to go with Joseph. However, Joseph

38
00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,840
Speaker 1: protects her from the local gossip in Nazareth by bringing

39
00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:04,360
Speaker 1: her with him. The journey from Galilee to Bethlehem was

40
00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,280
Speaker 1: approximately eighty miles, and it was a long, significant and

41
00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:14,600
Speaker 1: costly journey. With three simple words, she gave birth, we

42
00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:19,760
Speaker 1: meet the Messiah, the savior of the world. We don't

43
00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:22,600
Speaker 1: know if anyone helped her, but we do know she

44
00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,560
Speaker 1: was separated from her family and friends, making it a

45
00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:31,640
Speaker 1: lonely birth. In a cave outside of Bethlehem, Mary wrapped

46
00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:35,080
Speaker 1: him in torn strips of cloth and laid him in

47
00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:39,520
Speaker 1: a feeding trough for animals. While the world had a

48
00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:45,840
Speaker 1: political savior, what it really needed was a savior. The

49
00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,240
Speaker 1: scholar Barclay has this to say, that there was no

50
00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:51,440
Speaker 1: room in the inn was symbolic of what was to

51
00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,920
Speaker 1: happen to Jesus. The only place where there was room

52
00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:58,560
Speaker 1: for him was on a cross. The manger was a

53
00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:03,560
Speaker 1: humble beginning, and the cross was a humiliating ending. Jesus

54
00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,520
Speaker 1: gives the invitation for the humble to come to him,

55
00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,440
Speaker 1: and he made himself approachable by coming to Earth in

56
00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:14,080
Speaker 1: the most humble of way, in the most humble of places.

57
00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,400
Speaker 1: When we consider who he was, the firstborn son, and

58
00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:23,000
Speaker 1: consider his mission reconciliation to Father God. Through giving his

59
00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,240
Speaker 1: life for us, our eyes can be open to the

60
00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:30,640
Speaker 1: gift he brings. So often we say there is no

61
00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,919
Speaker 1: room in our hearts, but this year it can be different.

62
00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:40,560
Speaker 1: Advent reminds us that Christ doesn't wait for ideal settings

63
00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:46,039
Speaker 1: or perfectly curated moments. He comes into the real places

64
00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:51,359
Speaker 1: of our lives, the messy, the noisy, the unprepared parts.

65
00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,000
Speaker 1: His arrival in that barn like setting reminds us that

66
00:04:56,279 --> 00:05:02,040
Speaker 1: holiness doesn't retreat from the ordinary, It moves toward it.

67
00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:06,919
Speaker 1: As we journey through Advent, the Manger invites us to

68
00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:11,760
Speaker 1: look for Jesus not just in candlelit services or beautifully

69
00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:16,120
Speaker 1: decorated spaces, but in the everyday scenes that feel all

70
00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:23,960
Speaker 1: too real, those unscripted, imperfect and unfinished spaces. That's where

71
00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:29,440
Speaker 1: He loves to show up Today for an optional activity,

72
00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,960
Speaker 1: prepare your heart through confession. Ask God to search your

73
00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,520
Speaker 1: heart and reveal and purge those things that hinder the

74
00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:42,520
Speaker 1: depth of your relationship with him. Let's pray, Heavenly Father,

75
00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:47,240
Speaker 1: thank you so much that you came into the messiest

76
00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:50,560
Speaker 1: of places. You're the King of kings and the Lord

77
00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,359
Speaker 1: of lords, and yet You were not born in a palace,

78
00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,160
Speaker 1: you were not laid in a golden cradle. But Lord,

79
00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:02,920
Speaker 1: you came into the mess of our everyday lives. Lord,

80
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:08,359
Speaker 1: you are approachable. You are saying, come to me, Lord,

81
00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:13,200
Speaker 1: as we prepare for Advent and Christmas this December, Lord,

82
00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:17,279
Speaker 1: I pray that we would prepare our hearts to receive you. Lord,

83
00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:20,560
Speaker 1: we love you, and we are so grateful that you

84
00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,680
Speaker 1: came in Jesus name. We pray Amen.