Hello everyone!
I wanted to take a break from more serious topics today.
I want to tell you how thankful I am for Christmas and all it does mean to me.
Christmas means Hope. Hope for a lost world, a world in darkness. God came to man, Emmanual - meaning God with us. He came as the tiny baby Jesus who one day would die to take away the sins of the world and rise again. Death, Hell and Satan defeated in one blow. He can be with you too as he is with me.
Christmas means Light. The Light of World has come, heralded by angels to the shepards (who represent the everyday man) in the field that night. The Light Who shines into any darkness of any kind and brings clarity, healing and chases the shadows away.
Christmas mean Love. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to us freely.
Christmas means Life. Jesus brings everlasting life to all who believe in Him, no matter who you are, where you have come from or what you have done.
Christmas means Peace. For the Prince of Peace has come and will one day set all things in heaven and on Earth right and reign in peace and justice for all mankind as a true King and servant.
Christmas means Joy. We have complete and total access to God through Jesus Christ. He who the Son sets free is free indeed and our joy cannot be taken from us. We are his children and no one can take us away from Him.
Before I close, I want to say that this is a hard time of year for many people. I recently spoke with a friend who does not like this time of year for several reasons, one of those being the commercialism. In the recent past, it has been a hard time for me after the loss of my husband. Yes I admit that Christmas does have a lot of commercialism. There are also Christmas rituals that go back to Roman times and beyond that have nothing to do with Christianity. Yes we can celebrate the season with joy but we will never find fulfillment in all the presents, decorations, food and festivities (both new and old) of this season. We will find our fulfillment in Jesus - for He is the true reason. He is the reason I can have joy even without having my husband here for Christmas.
Today, focus on Jesus. For without that tiny baby in the manger, there would be no Christmas.
Celebrating in His joy,
Elizabeth