Dec. 25, 2025

The Greatest Present

What is the greatest gift you’ve ever received? In today’s episode, host Lauren Alessi invites us to pause in the midst of Christmas morning and reflect on the true meaning of the season. We’ll discover together why Jesus is the greatest present of all, explore the significance of His name, Emmanuel, “God with us”, and practice being present with our families and blessings. Whether our holiday feels joyful or a little heavy, this episode gently reminds us to center our hearts on gratitude and...

What is the greatest gift you’ve ever received?

In today’s episode, host Lauren Alessi invites us to pause in the midst of Christmas morning and reflect on the true meaning of the season. We’ll discover together why Jesus is the greatest present of all, explore the significance of His name, Emmanuel, “God with us”, and practice being present with our families and blessings. Whether our holiday feels joyful or a little heavy, this episode gently reminds us to center our hearts on gratitude and to lift up God above all.

Join our community in prayer and devotion as we celebrate the gift of Jesus and embrace the peace of being present with Him today.

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You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1429. Today's episode is called the Greatest Present. Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time.

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That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast. Hello, everyone. My name is Lauren Alessi, and I am your host for this week.

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Merry Christmas, everybody. If you're listening to this podcast today, I just want to say, wow, thank you so much, because that's a big deal that on Christmas morning, you want to get the word of God in. You want to get this podcast in your system. I just want to say thank you so much. But you know what? Today's going to be all about Jesus. Today's going to be all about him. It's his day. It's his birthday. Let's give it all to him. And today we're talking about how he is ultimately the greatest present that we could ever receive. And we're going to be reading out of Matthew 1:23, Matthew 1, 2, 3 And it says this. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us. Aren't we so grateful that God sent down his son in like, a baby form, in a human natural form, the lowest form he could, but so that God could be with us and named him Emmanuel. So that means that God could dwell amongst us, that we could have God amongst us. And when we get to Easter, we'll talk about what he did on the cross, but let's just talk about Jesus being born as a man unto men and just being the greatest present of all. And like we talked about this week, let's not get too caught up in the next.

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Let's not get too caught up in. In New Year's. Okay, what are we planning for New Year's? Like, I know my family, we open up all our gifts. We're like, okay, what's next? Who's making breakfast? Okay, who's putting the movie on? Okay, what are we doing for. For. For New Year's? Who. Who's reaching out to. To our grandmothers? Okay, who's reaching out to the family members? Who's calling your sister? Can we just chill? Can we just relax?

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Can we just enjoy Christmas Day? And I know that's very hard but can we just practice the art of being present in the moment with our families, being present with the blessings God has gifted us. And.

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And just remember that today's all about Him. Today's all about God.

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Today's all about the gift of Jesus Christ that God brought us.

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It's all about the gift of him being named Emmanuel and him dwelling amongst us. And let us remember that like we talked about yesterday, maybe your Christmas looks a little bit like a low season Christmas. Like you're facing some hard times and you're still trying to celebrate Christmas. Or maybe your Christmas is great and you're going through a really, really great time, or maybe it's somewhere in the middle. But let us ultimately remember that it's not about us, guys.

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It's not about us or how we feel. It's really not even about our seasons, right? Even though they're important to recognize and point out, it's really not even about us. It's about Him. All the glory goes to God today. So let us remember that. Let us lift him up. Let's take some moments to be present with him. Let's take our own personal reflection time and just thank him for today. Thank him for the life he lived here on earth. Thank him for the life he lived amongst us. And ultimately, guys, let's just be present with our families today. Let's just be present with loved ones today. And if somehow you're not with your loved ones today, I just pray that you can ultimately just find people to be surrounded by, find friends to be surrounded by, make the most of today, because this is the most beautiful Christmas season of all. It's the most beautiful day of all. But also it's not about us, it's about God.

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So let us pray. Dear Lord, we thank you so much for today, Lord.

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And we thank you. And Lord, I thank you for the opportunity to do this podcast on this Christmas Day, Lord. And Lord, I don't want to keep people long because I want people to be not on their phones listening to podcasts, Lord, but in the midst of family and friends, in the midst of your blessings that you've given them, Lord, in the midst of relatives, Lord, just enjoying their comfort company, Lord. But ultimately, God, we lift you up today and we pray that it's not about us, it's not about what we're going through. It's not about even our struggles, Lord, or.

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Or whatever we're facing, Lord, we just lift you up today because today is all about you, God, and we pray that you help us find ways to be present today. Off of our phones, away from the tv, away from our own thoughts and mindsets, God, and just totally be present in what you've done and given us today. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

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So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.