Christmas Is Coming
Christmas is coming!
I am going to ask you some questions and they are not: Have you put up your tree or gotten presents or sent your Christmas cards? All of these have a part to play in the lives of us and our loved ones at Christmas, but the real question I want to pose to you at the beginning of the Christmas season is this: Have you set aside a place in your heart for Jesus every day? Is He your priority and all the rest of the Christmas “stuff” revolves around Him? I have had to take an assessment test today and didn’t make a very good score, as I am an intense person. Whatever I do, I tend to focus on that entirely. If I am trimming the tree, that is all I concentrate on. If I am baking cookies, that is all I concentrate on. If I am buying gifts and wrapping them, that is all I concentrate on. This year the Lord is helping me to pray in the spirit as I am trimming the tree. He is helping me to focus on Him as I clean the house and prepare for friends to come over. I play praise songs and sing to Him.
I love Christmas. My mom and dad made Christmas so special for us. It is such a family time for me. Now that the children are grown, it is a time for all of us to get together once again. When I was young, we would all gather around the tree on Christmas eve and open gifts and my mom would read the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus. Daddy would have made fudge or popped popcorn. It was a special time for me. After I became an adult, I have made a point to carry on the family tradition of close times and special Christmases.
What do you do to make Christmas special for Jesus? That is the question I am asking myself today. I love Him and worship Him and spend time with Him and His word every day. But I sense that I want to do something to give Him pleasure this year. I am not sure what it will be but I want to make this time special for Him also.
Mary, the young Jewish girl, made a very special place for Jesus when He came to this earth. She allowed her body to become His resting place until He was born as the Christ child. What most people fail to realize is the ridicule and persecution she must have endured as she told people that she was with child and had not been touched by any man. What did her family think of her? Think about Joseph’s reaction as her fiancée. She suffered great humiliation and rejection by those around her as she became great with child. But she knew that she must be obedient and accept what the angel had told her. When the angel Gabriel told her that with God nothing shall be impossible, her words ring in my ears all the time: “Be it unto me according to your word.” (Luke 1:17)
This should be our response to what appears to be impossible situations in our lives. Be it unto me according to Your word. Let Your word be the final authority in my life. Let Your word be what I believe, when nothing seems to be working. Let Your word be what I live by. Let Your word be what I believe. Let Your word be all that I need. Let Your word be settled in my heart forever.
Mary literally accepted Jesus, Who is called the Word in scripture, into her body and He became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory as the only begotten Son of God (John 1:14).
Jesus, the Word of God, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, has brought us the word of God in a flesh and blood body. He came to make the word real to us once again. This written word that we hold in our hands is a recording of the breath of God, the Spirit of the Truth of God breathed into our spirits. When you and I pick up this Bible, let us pick it up with respect and reverence. This is the Word of God. This is true. Believe it. Accept it for your life. Live it. Do what it says. It is this Word that produces faith in our lives. It is this Word that heals us. It is this Word that sets us free. It is this Word that prospers us. It is this Word that delivers us. It is this Word that is our very life and existence. Jesus, the living Word, came to present us with the spoken, written Word that is a copy of the thoughts of His Father, Himself and the Holy Spirit—in other words, God.
Let this be what we declare this Christmas: Be it unto me according to Your Word.
I am going to ask you some questions and they are not: Have you put up your tree or gotten presents or sent your Christmas cards? All of these have a part to play in the lives of us and our loved ones at Christmas, but the real question I want to pose to you at the beginning of the Christmas season is this: Have you set aside a place in your heart for Jesus every day? Is He your priority and all the rest of the Christmas “stuff” revolves around Him? I have had to take an assessment test today and didn’t make a very good score, as I am an intense person. Whatever I do, I tend to focus on that entirely. If I am trimming the tree, that is all I concentrate on. If I am baking cookies, that is all I concentrate on. If I am buying gifts and wrapping them, that is all I concentrate on. This year the Lord is helping me to pray in the spirit as I am trimming the tree. He is helping me to focus on Him as I clean the house and prepare for friends to come over. I play praise songs and sing to Him.
I love Christmas. My mom and dad made Christmas so special for us. It is such a family time for me. Now that the children are grown, it is a time for all of us to get together once again. When I was young, we would all gather around the tree on Christmas eve and open gifts and my mom would read the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus. Daddy would have made fudge or popped popcorn. It was a special time for me. After I became an adult, I have made a point to carry on the family tradition of close times and special Christmases.
What do you do to make Christmas special for Jesus? That is the question I am asking myself today. I love Him and worship Him and spend time with Him and His word every day. But I sense that I want to do something to give Him pleasure this year. I am not sure what it will be but I want to make this time special for Him also.
Mary, the young Jewish girl, made a very special place for Jesus when He came to this earth. She allowed her body to become His resting place until He was born as the Christ child. What most people fail to realize is the ridicule and persecution she must have endured as she told people that she was with child and had not been touched by any man. What did her family think of her? Think about Joseph’s reaction as her fiancée. She suffered great humiliation and rejection by those around her as she became great with child. But she knew that she must be obedient and accept what the angel had told her. When the angel Gabriel told her that with God nothing shall be impossible, her words ring in my ears all the time: “Be it unto me according to your word.” (Luke 1:17)
This should be our response to what appears to be impossible situations in our lives. Be it unto me according to Your word. Let Your word be the final authority in my life. Let Your word be what I believe, when nothing seems to be working. Let Your word be what I live by. Let Your word be what I believe. Let Your word be all that I need. Let Your word be settled in my heart forever.
Mary literally accepted Jesus, Who is called the Word in scripture, into her body and He became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory as the only begotten Son of God (John 1:14).
Jesus, the Word of God, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, has brought us the word of God in a flesh and blood body. He came to make the word real to us once again. This written word that we hold in our hands is a recording of the breath of God, the Spirit of the Truth of God breathed into our spirits. When you and I pick up this Bible, let us pick it up with respect and reverence. This is the Word of God. This is true. Believe it. Accept it for your life. Live it. Do what it says. It is this Word that produces faith in our lives. It is this Word that heals us. It is this Word that sets us free. It is this Word that prospers us. It is this Word that delivers us. It is this Word that is our very life and existence. Jesus, the living Word, came to present us with the spoken, written Word that is a copy of the thoughts of His Father, Himself and the Holy Spirit—in other words, God.
Let this be what we declare this Christmas: Be it unto me according to Your Word.
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 7:57 PM
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