Good news – Daily Inspirations has returned. Starting on Monday 1st December and taking us up to Christmas Eve. See below:
Our back catalogue is still available here. There are series from all across the bible, and you can either view the PDF files online or download at your leisure.
December 2025 – The Nativity, as Scripture tells it
Day 9: 9th December – Matthew 1:22-25 ‘He did as commanded’
It’s always a lovely surprise when you hear about people with unexpected gifts. Friends you thought you knew suddenly appear in a different light, as they manifest some striking creative ability, or describe an unusual hobby. People never fail to surprise you!
I often feel the same way about Joseph, as he is described in the nativity story. In many respects Joseph comes across as a conventional character – honest, hardworking, keen to observe the law. A pillar of the community, you might say.
And yet, below the surface beats an equally remarkable heart as that of his more celebrated bride. It was no small thing to choose to live with the ongoing scent of scandal, the whispers in an insular village of being a cuckold – to stick by Mary, come what may, and fashion a stable family home.
And Joseph also had a hidden gift – he was unusually sensitive to the Holy Spirit. No less than four times he receives divine instruction through a dream – only his Old Testament namesake with the multi-coloured dreamcoat receives significant dreams as often as this Joseph (1:20, 2:13, 2:19, 2:22).
These dreams dramatically affect the course of his life, and those around him – he marries Mary, flees to Egypt with his young family, returns to Israel a few years later and then settles in Galilee. But what is often overlooked is the very simple observation that Joseph acted upon these revelations. He believed that God had spoken, and he obeyed. Each time he does exactly what has been revealed to him in the dream.
We may not receive such striking revelations – although I’m frequently surprised by how many ‘ordinary’ people tell me about significant dreams they have received at some point in their lives. But, whether we do or not, there is a simple two-fold lesson in the story of Joseph: to trust in what God speaks, and to obey. As the old children’s bible song has it: ‘Trust and obey, for there’s no other way….’
Life is complicated, but in many ways faith is simple: trust God, and try to do what he wants you to do. As Joseph knew all too well, such childlike trust led him in very unexpected ways. The life of simple trust is never dull! But it is the path to intimacy with God. The more we trust, the more God speaks. The more God speaks, the more we trust.
Keep saying yes to God. And our loving God will keep drawing ever closer to you.
Day 8: 8th December – Matthew 1:18-21 ‘This is how…’
Today we flip from Luke back to Matthew, to allow us to cover the story in broadly chronological order. Mary is now pregnant, so it’s time for Joseph to enter the picture. Like Elizabeth, Joseph is another of the great unsung heroes of the text – he is usually pictured as being a frail old man, quite without foundation. In all probability he was in his late teens or early twenties, marrying the bride arranged for him by his family, as would have been the custom.
Tomorrow we’ll look at the character of Joseph in more detail, but today, let’s ask a simple question: how does Jesus’ birth come about?
The natural answer would be to quote the passage from Luke we looked at yesterday – it was a mighty supernatural act of God. Mary conceives miraculously, confirming the divine ancestry of the Messiah. And this of course is true.
But there is also another, human answer to that question. Jesus is born because Joseph and Mary get married anyway, and Jesus has a human family to be born into. Jesus has an earthly father, too, who likewise receives a divine messenger and the revelation of the new baby’s name (and what it means for the world).
This is so often the way God works. The divine and the human weave together. Very occasionally, God does something totally down to him. But most of the time, God works through our work, our faithfulness, our prayer. ‘Pray as if everything depends on God: act as if everything depends on you.’ That’s not a bad maxim for the spiritual life – and here we see Joseph and Mary embody it perfectly.
Yes, Jesus is wonderfully and divinely conceived. But he is still born to human parents, with a real life in a real village. They make a real journey to Bethlehem, and have to agree on a very real (and hard) choice to wed anyway, despite the circumstances. And so – praise God! – we have a fully divine and fully human Saviour, born as the result of fully divine and fully human faithfulness.
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about.
It’s also how most of the work of God in our own life and times comes about too. We co-operate with God’s plans – we pray for them, obey them and see God work through our faithfulness.
Where is God at work in you presently? Pray today for wisdom, courage and resolve to co-operate fully with whatever God is up to. This is how God’s marvellous work comes about.
Day 7: 7th December –Luke 1:34-38 ‘No word ever fails’
‘How will this be?’ It’s not a bad question to ask, is it? You’ve just received some of the most extraordinary – and shocking – news anyone could imagine. Perhaps as you’ve read today’s passage, you found yourself remembering such a time in your own life, when you received news it was hard to take in. And Mary asks a natural follow-up: but what’s striking in her reply is that she doesn’t question the fact of it, only the process.
This is in stark contrast to Zechariah earlier. He asks: ‘How can I be sure?’ (i.e. ‘…that what you’re saying is true?’) Mary doesn’t doubt the message, only the method. And her faith is rewarded with a direct answer from the angel.
The text doesn’t tell us what she felt emotionally after receiving this visitation. The hundreds of portrayals of this scene in art through the ages tend to reflect the values of the society of the time. Mediaeval paintings picture her receiving it demurely, like a good lady of the court. Modern versions tend to emphasise the emotional shock and even pain, reflecting our more therapeutic culture.
In some ways, this is good – it means that we see Mary as fundamentally one of us – a real human being. And yet, we can so easily read into her response what she ‘must’ have felt. Luke cleverly avoids such guessing. Instead he tells us simply that Mary accepted the word, whatever it would cost: ‘I am the Lord’s servant…. may your word to me be fulfilled.’ (v38)
It is a remarkable encounter – and at its heart is a remarkable young woman showing even more remarkable faith. This single scene changes the course of history, and in its turn transforms this anonymous young villager into the most famous woman in history. Lady Di might have been photographed more often, but nobody has been captured more in art and literature over the course of 2,000 years. I do wonder what Mary herself would have made of that.
But let’s close with a glorious affirmation: God’s word never fails (v37). It didn’t fail for Mary – it doesn’t fail for us, too. The bible is full of promises – and ‘all of them are yes in Christ Jesus’ (2 Corinthians 1:20). Because God’s word never fails, we can say ‘yes’ to God’s love, to his salvation, to God’s gift of the Spirit to dwell in our hearts, bringing peace that passes understanding, joy that gives us strength, and hope in times of trial. Christ comes into the world as the fulfilment of God’s word – today let’s spend a few moments reading any one of our favourite passages and choosing to rejoice in those promises again. ‘For no word from God will ever fail.’
Day 6: 6th December – Luke 1:26-33 ‘What’s in a name?’
Names matter. They certainly matter in the bible. A name wasn’t just a parental preference, it was meant to signify something. We can learn a lot from names. Take Gabriel, for example. It means ‘God is my strength’ – a perfect name for an angel. Mighty as Gabriel was, he knew where his true strength came from.
Or take Mary as another example: in today’s reading we get the iconic encounter between the angel and the young woman. The name Mary is most likely from the ancient Egyptian name ‘mry’ meaning ‘beloved’. Beloved of Joseph, certainly; but also beloved of God.
So God-is-my-strength meets The Beloved One – and promises a miraculous child. Not surprisingly, his name is important too. Jesus means ‘God saves’ – it is the updated version of the Old Testament name Joshua, the great hero of the Israelites who led his people into the promised land.
God was coming to save his people again. Only this time he would do it himself: ‘He will be called the Son of the Most High… his kingdom will never end.’ A greater rescuer, an eternal king.
Tomorrow we’ll deal with Mary’s shock – and her remarkable faith. But today let’s rejoice that Jesus lives up to his name. God saves, and his salvation is glorious. All the promises to Israel – to the prophets, to those waiting, for generation after generation – are coming to fulfilment. There is a new way back to God, a new hope for the renewal of our broken world.
‘Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?!’ So jokes the disciple Nathanael 30 years later (John 1: 46). Today we have our answer and it is emphatically yes. The Beloved One is promised the gift of the Messiah – God’s Son, salvation made flesh. A saviour not just for then, but for now. A Saviour for you and for me – for the whole world. It’s all in the name.
And may that beautiful truth lift your heart today.
Day 5: 5th December – Luke 1:18-25 ‘He has shown his favour’
Poor old Zechariah. It’s easy to give him a roasting. All those years waiting hopefully and serving faithfully, and when his big moment comes…
But I wonder if Zechariah is not somewhat more like us than we care to admit. One of the great pointers to the truthfulness of the bible is that the characters are so much like us. There’s no massaging of egos or marketing jingo. The human characters are very… human. We can see ourselves in them – which reminds us that the God of the bible is a God for people like us.
People like Gideon, the mighty warrior who hides in the shed. Or Peter, the Rock who blows his mouth off and then runs away. Or, as here, Zechariah who doubted an angel, and temporarily lost his voice because he temporarily lost his trust.
Never is God’s love and mercy more greatly shown than in the people he chooses to use. Ordinary people, people who mess up and let him down. People that God gives a second chance to; and a third, and a fourth…
There is redemption in this story for Zechariah – just as there is for you and me. That’s who God is – and we’ll see Zechariah come good in a few days’ time.
But let’s also celebrate the faithfulness of Elizabeth today – one of the great unsung heroes of the bible. Mother of the Baptist, woman of faith – and encourager of Mary, who only sings after Elizabeth has welcomed her and prophesied over her. She may only get half a chapter, but her unique contribution alters the course of history: just as it has been for many people of faith through the ages. Her ‘appointed time’ was brief but brilliant.
Our God is the God of second chances: for Elizabeth, long after her childbearing years were over; for Zechariah, when their son was born; for us too, whatever falls, foibles, faults and failures we’ve had along the way.
God shows his favour to those who don’t deserve it. People like us. Give thanks for that beautiful truth today – and may it cause your heart to sing.
Day 4: 4th December – Luke 1:5-17 ‘Your prayer has been heard’
Most modern tellings of the nativity story begin with the Angel Gabriel appearing to Mary. But that’s not quite the beginning of the story – not even in Luke’s gospel itself. Six months before that historic encounter, Gabriel has another divine errand, to an old priest performing his duties at the temple in Jerusalem.
Zechariah was a righteous and blameless man, as was his wife Elizabeth (v6), and their lives were similarly about to be turned upside down, almost as much as Mary’s. It was another miraculous birth – only this time because of age. They had never been able to have children, and presumably had long since given up hope. But they remained faithful, and got on with the day-to-day business of living, and serving their Lord.
And into this pair of quiet lives comes the angel, with an extraordinary promise: ‘Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John’ (v13).
You see, there was one other prophecy in the bible that had to be fulfilled before the Messiah could come. It was one of the very last words in the Old Testament, given to the prophet Malachi: that Elijah would return first, preparing the way for the Messiah.
This is the divinely-appointed task that John – later known as The Baptist – would come to do. That’s why it’s so important that he comes ‘in the spirit and power of Elijah’ (v17), ‘to make ready a people prepared for the Lord’. John is that ‘voice calling in the wilderness’ (Isaiah 40:3): the herald announcing that the Messiah has come!
So there’s no time to waste – if Angel Gabriel is going to visit Mary, he has to visit John’s would-be parents first. So he does.
Yesterday we dwelt on the idea that God keeps his promises – which he does again here. But today let’s feast on this short but profound phrase in v13: ‘Your prayer has been heard.’
What a glorious thought! That Almighty God, the creator and sustainer of the universal, all- powerful and all-knowing – this God hears our prayers. He listens, his faced turned towards us, full of love: he knows who we are, and what we’re asking.
Many of us will have prayers we’ve prayed for a long time, just like Zechariah and Elizabeth. Let’s take heart today and seize this promise with renewed faith: God hears our prayers. Yes, yours! And let’s have courage to keep praying them. God has not forgotten you.
Day 3: 3rd December – Matthew 1:1-17 ‘The divine promise-keeper’
Admit it – you skipped a few lines of today’s reading, didn’t you? Most people do. In fact, if I was
able to secretly watch your reading time, I might find it was more than a few lines!
The bible is full of genealogies. Long lists of who begat who, to use the old language – and I’m sure
most of you have often wondered what the point of them is. If the bible is first and foremost a book
about God, what can we possibly learn from human family trees? Those of you who are family
history fans might derive a modest interest from this kind of thing, and others of you – you know
who you are – are mostly having a chuckle at the funny names, or trying to pronounce some yourself
as a personal challenge. But otherwise, what is the point?
To answer that question you need to go back to the third chapter of the bible – to verse 15 of
Genesis chapter 3. It had all started so well. A perfect world, and humans in perfect relationship
with their Creator…. and then disaster. The bond broken, the innocence shattered. A fallen world.
But in the midst of this catastrophe God promises that one day Eve’s offspring would crush the
serpent’s head. You might say that the rest of the bible is The Search for the Serpent Crusher.
And as we read these long lists throughout the Old Testament, generation after generation, we can
detect a voice echoing down the ages: ‘where is he? Is he here yet?’ Waiting, waiting.
And the promises keep growing. As God speaks and blesses one family in particular, we see a line
from Abraham – through Isaac, Jacob and Judah – which carries special hope. King David came and
went, and the promise escalated: one of his descendants would inherit an eternal throne. Then the
prophets weigh in, too: this new king would outstrip anything which had gone before – a new era of
peace and justice, a global reach. Way more than just the serpent’s head! But still the waiting…
And so we get to the first chapter of the New Testament – Matthew’s gospel. And now the voice
changes – a divine voice answering all those echoes of longing, of faith and perhaps also of doubt:
‘the serpent crusher is here. I keep my promises.’
Jesus is the Anointed One (i.e. the Messiah or Christ of v1). Jesus fulfils the promises of global
blessing given to Abraham (v2). Jesus inherits the eternal throne promised to David (v6). The
serpent crusher has come!
It’s big stuff. Perhaps take a moment to breathe in the enormity of a ‘boring’ family tree. And more
than that, remind yourself of something very simple but incredibly profound: God keeps his
promises. He keeps them to the world, to his people, and also to you. God keeps his promises to
you. And may that awesome thought lift your heart, and also your faith, today.
Day 2: 2nd December –Micah 5:2-5a ‘A surprising Shepherd?’
The Advent story is full of surprises. In many ways we’re so familiar with it, that often those
surprises pass us by. We think of shepherds and angels and wise men and it all seems so… normal.
Which is odd, when you think about it!
Today’s passage from the prophet Micah likewise has its share of surprises. Any of us who’ve
attended traditional carol services over the years will recognise it – the promise that the new king
would come from Bethlehem.
That the town of King David should feature is, we might think, not unexpected. The great shepherd
king would prove the ancestor to an even greater Shepherd who would ‘stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the Lord’ (v3). This ruler would transcend even the boundaries of the nation: ‘his
greatness will reach to the ends of the earth’ (v4).
But there are hidden surprises here. The first is that prophecies of the new king’s birth refer both to
God honouring Galilee in the north of the country (in Isaiah), and also Bethlehem in the south (here
in Micah). Isaiah and Micah were contemporaries – one was of noble rank and lived at the court,
one lived in relative poverty and obscurity away from the corridors of power. How would this
conundrum be resolved?
God’s solution is simple, but beautiful: Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth (in Galilee), but had to
travel to Joseph’s ancestral hometown (Bethlehem) to pay Caesar’s poll tax. Galilee and Bethlehem – both prophecies fulfilled without contradiction.
The second surprise is that Bethlehem was chosen at all. It may have been linked to King David, but
in other respects it was a small, insignificant place. Its name means ‘house of bread’, and its main
business was to live up to its name – it provided the capital city of nearby Jerusalem with corn, and
also lambs for sacrifice.
Centuries later, the new ruler prophesied by Micah – the one born in ‘the house of bread’ – would
stand up and declare to the world: ‘I am the bread of life.’ This Great Shepherd would himself
become the ‘lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.’ You never really get away from the
place of your birth.
God knew what he was doing when Bethlehem was chosen. As we spend the next three weeks on
our annual pilgrimage to the stable situated in ‘the house of bread’, may we too be fed daily by the
Bread of Life, and fall in adoration before the Lamb of God. Bethlehem is just the beginning…
Day 1: 1st December –Isaiah 7:14 ‘God with us’
God with us. That’s really the whole ball game, isn’t it? Over the next 24 days, as we prepare
ourselves in this season of Advent, we’ll tell the ageless story afresh, and we’ll marvel again at the
wonder of it all: the angels, the shepherds, the wise men, the journey to Bethlehem, a young
carpenter and his pregnant wife, the stable and that glorious Christmas night.
But, in all the beauty and mystery of what is to come, nothing really summarises it better than this
one word which begins our journey: Emmanuel. God with us.
It was always the plan. God is not a distant deity, who winds the clock up and observes passively
while it runs. God is a ‘with’ kind of God at the very core of his being. It begins as God with himself:
‘the Word was with God’ (John 1:1) as the Spirit hovered over the waters (Genesis 1:2) – a Trinity of
love.
Then God with humanity, as originally intended. Humans made in his image, knowing true intimacy
with each other, and with their Creator. And the Lord comes walking into Eden in the cool of the day
to spend time with Adam and Eve, only to find the barriers up, and the pattern dislocated.
After that time, we are no longer with God – but even so, not everyone gets the memo. King David,
among others down the centuries, knew what it was like to experience God’s presence: ‘I will fear no
evil, for you are with me.’ (Psalm 23:4)
Somehow the promise never goes away, never disappears for good. God would be with us – in a
new way, for all time. It would take a miracle – the Virgin birth – but it would surely come to pass.
And seven centuries later, it does. God comes down to earth. God with us as never before. And this
divine Son grows up to utter this great promise: ‘My Spirit will be with you…. Abide in me.’ God with
us for all time.
There so much we can say about what the Christmas story means. But let’s start here – and maybe
let’s finish here, too. God is with us. May this beautiful, intimate, faithful God be with you today,
and throughout this season. And may this stir all of our hearts to joy and adoration. O come, o
come Emmanuel.