{"id":1027,"date":"2025-12-09T00:08:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T08:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/?p=1027"},"modified":"2025-12-07T22:19:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T06:19:05","slug":"dec-9-christmas-countdown-day-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/dec-9-christmas-countdown-day-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Dec.9-Christmas Countdown\u2014Day 9"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em><u>COME TO HIM<br \/>\n<\/u><\/em><\/strong><em>Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden,and I will give you rest<\/em>. &#8211;Jesus\u00a0 Matthew 11:28<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Today&#8217;s Thought:<br \/>\n<\/u><\/strong>Jesus says: &#8220;Come&#8221; so,&#8230;stop all the shopping and baking and come&#8230;spend some time with Him.<br \/>\nUnburden your heart. Rest in His arms. Enjoy His peace. For, He is the reason for this season&#8230;<br \/>\nCome to Him, reflect, and rest awhile today.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Today\u2019s Action:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>REMEMBER: HE is the reason for the season<\/li>\n<li>REFLECT: Read His promises<\/li>\n<li>REST: Enjoy His peace today<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Watch <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/_6p5icEYBus?si=nMzoyOP97fkDlz1V\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Little Drummer Boy video<\/a> and come before Him today with whatever your drum is and play it the best for Him.<\/p>\n<p>Only 16 days left until Christmas!\u00a0 Make each one count!<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9SGLY Ministry www.smilegodlovesyou.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>COME TO HIM Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden,and I will give you rest. &#8211;Jesus\u00a0 Matthew 11:28 Today&#8217;s Thought: Jesus says: &#8220;Come&#8221; so,&#8230;stop all the shopping and baking and come&#8230;spend some time with Him. Unburden your heart. Rest in His arms. Enjoy His peace. For, He is the reason for&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1652],"tags":[1661,1734,3,3311,1737,1735,1733,1736,1738,30,32,1739],"class_list":["post-1027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christmas-countdown","tag-christmas-countdown","tag-come-to-jesus","tag-daily-devotionals","tag-december-2025","tag-enjoy-jesus-peace","tag-jesus-is-the-reason-for-the-season","tag-matthew-1128","tag-read-gods-promises","tag-rest","tag-sgly-ministry","tag-smile-god-loves-you","tag-spend-time-with-jesus"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/ComeToHim-Matthew-11.28.jpg?fit=375%2C326&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1023,"url":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/dec-8-christmas-countdown-day-8\/","url_meta":{"origin":1027,"position":0},"title":"Dec.8-Christmas Countdown\u2014Day 8","author":"SGLY Devotionals","date":"December 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"BLESSED Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!\u00a0 Matthew 21:9 Today's Thought: \"Glory to God in the highest!\" Multitudes of heavenly host sang at His birth. \"Hosanna in the highest!\" Multitudes on earth cried out before His death. He who testifies to these things says, \"Surely\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christmas Countdown&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Christmas Countdown","link":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/category\/christmas-countdown\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"CC-Blessed-Rev-16.15","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Blessed-Rev-16.15.jpg?fit=375%2C326&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1008,"url":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/dec-4-christmas-countdown-day-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":1027,"position":1},"title":"Dec.4-Christmas Countdown\u2014Day 4","author":"SGLY Devotionals","date":"December 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"ARISE! Arise, shine; for your light has come!\u00a0 Isaiah 60:1 Today's Thought: Jesus is the Light of the world.\u00a0 John the Baptist said that Jesus was the True Light that gives everyone who believes in Him light. The one who is the true Light, who gives light to everyone, was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christmas Countdown&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Christmas Countdown","link":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/category\/christmas-countdown\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"CC-Arise-Isaiah-60.1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Arise-Isaiah-60.1.jpg?fit=375%2C326&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1016,"url":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/dec-6-christmas-countdown-day-6\/","url_meta":{"origin":1027,"position":2},"title":"Dec.6-Christmas Countdown\u2014Day 6","author":"SGLY Devotionals","date":"December 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"BEHOLD! Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God!\u00a0 \u00a01 John 3:1 Today's Thought: If you are a believer in Christ, remind yourself today that you are a child of God! For God's word says: But as many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christmas Countdown&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Christmas Countdown","link":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/category\/christmas-countdown\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Behold--1John-3.1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Behold-1John-3.1.jpg?fit=375%2C326&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":996,"url":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/dec-1-christmas-countdown-day-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":1027,"position":3},"title":"Dec.1-Christmas Countdown\u2014Day 1","author":"SGLY Devotionals","date":"December 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"ABIDE He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit. The words of Jesus--John 15:5 Today's Thought: Abide means to Remain Remain in Him today. Spend time talking to Him in prayer today. Abide means to Await Await Him today. Spend time listening for Him to speak\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christmas Countdown&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Christmas Countdown","link":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/category\/christmas-countdown\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"CC-Abide--John-15.5","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Abide-John-15.5.jpg?fit=575%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Abide-John-15.5.jpg?fit=575%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Abide-John-15.5.jpg?fit=575%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1079,"url":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/dec-25-christmas\/","url_meta":{"origin":1027,"position":4},"title":"Dec.25&#8211;Christmas!","author":"SGLY Devotionals","date":"December 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"PEACE For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11 Today's Thought: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. Luke 2:14 Jesus, our Savior, came to earth bringing His peace and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christmas Countdown&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Christmas Countdown","link":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/category\/christmas-countdown\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Peace-Luke-2.11.jpg?fit=335%2C291&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1019,"url":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/dec-7-christmas-countdown-day-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":1027,"position":5},"title":"Dec.7-Christmas Countdown\u2014Day 7","author":"SGLY Devotionals","date":"December 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"BELIEVE! Believe in the Lord your God and you will be able to stand firm. 2 Chronicles 20:20 Today's Thought: 'Tis the season the world says \"Believe!\" But we believers \"Believe\" and stand firm in our belief all the time, in season and out of season. We believe that Jesus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christmas Countdown&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Christmas Countdown","link":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/category\/christmas-countdown\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"CC-Believe--John-3.16.17","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Believe-John-3.16.17.jpg?fit=375%2C326&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1027"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1028,"href":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027\/revisions\/1028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smilegodlovesyou.org\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}