The True Gift of Christmas ... Bow Before the Manger

    I hope everyone had a very merry and blessed Christmas! I pray that somewhere in the midst of all the running and happy chaos, you had some time to really focus on the beauty of what Jesus did for you.
        Christmas time is such a confusing mixture of emotions for me. While on the one hand, I am deeply humbled and in awe of everything my Jesus did for me, and I can't help but be so in love with Him, the other hand ( the human one ) seems determined to focus on the brokenness in my own life, the family members that I never hear from, the dear friends going through such painful ( seemingly endless ) struggles, the unanswered prayers, a country that seems desperate to turn as far away from God, as fast as possible, and a world that appears darker every day .... and there I am, at Christmas, in the midst of what is for me, a very personal ( and silent ) full blown, spiritual war! ( Which I don't want to talk about because it's Christmas and I'm not supposed to struggle at Christmas! )
          I wonder, does anyone else struggle with this at Christmas, or am I alone? The truth is that the devil is so desperate for us to focus on all the imperfections at Christmas time ... He loves to dangle all the things we don't have in front of us. He whispers to us of the health that has yet to be restored, and the prayers that have yet to be answered. He is thrilled to remind us of all the people who don't love us, those who have hurt us the most, or those we have lost. He delights in holding a mirror up to our less than perfect faces and reminding us of all our failures, all the ways we have failed our God! On this day, more than any other, ( aside from Easter )his sole mission, is to rob us of the Joy and Peace that are ours!

         He knows that if he can take our eyes off of the True Gift of Christmas, that we won't open it and take hold of the powerful treasure inside! If he can just avert our attention with other shiny, deceivingly beautiful counterfeits wrapped up in shiny packages and bows, then he can keep us from finding the true, priceless Treasure wrapped up in a humble manger! You see, he knows what we do not. He knows, that if we, the Church, focus our eyes and hearts on that stable, if we truly ( and with purpose ) open the one True Gift .... the Joy, Peace and Power that would come from that, would light up our world! Oh that we would learn how to live in that Christmas Spirit all year long! That we would see the life giving beauty in the only Gift that matters!
       God has reminded me in so many beautiful ways this Christmas, that He is my perfect Gift! He is the Father who adores me, the only Love I will ever need, and the perfect answer to all my prayers! ....
     ..... Can we just take a minute to praise Him for His goodness, and as we bow ourselves beside that manger, look into the perfect face of the tiny Christ King, and take a moment to stop and say thank you .... to just be in awe of Him?

 

       If you have never received this True Gift, ( the perfect gift of salvation through Jesus Christ ) it is for you too! God tells us throughout His Word, ( the Bible ) that He loves us, that His deepest desire is to have a relationship with us and be our God, and that He made a way for us ( while we were yet sinners ) to come to Him, and that Way is Jesus .... born in a stable, hung on a cross, and raised from the dead! This promise ( this Gift ) is for you too, and it is there for you the moment you are willing to receive it! It is a free gift, ( there is no possible way we could earn it ) and it is there for you always, ( No one can ever take it away ) but as Christians, at Christmas time, we are especially reminded of this Gift by the wonderful story of a tiny baby, born one beautiful night, to a virgin, in a stable in a little town called Bethlehem! 

 

       The Scripture tells the story like this :

 

  " In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,  and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived. "

                                                 - Luke 2:1-21

...... My prayer for you is that, if you have not received the life giving Gift of Jesus, and come to know Him as Lord .... that this would be the year that you accept and open this beautiful, perfect gift. ~  You'll find Him in the stable. He's there, in that manger, waiting for you, and He loves you very much! <3