Have you gotten your first Christmas Card of the season already? If not, please let me hand deliver one from the Father to you. Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The miracle of Christmas is that our holy God displayed His great love for us by sending His only begotten Son For US!!! Does that amaze you? The most amazing thing is that middle part, “While we were still sinners.” Jesus knew our depravity of mind and soul and chose to come and die for us anyway. How great a love we are embraced by. The inside of your card this morning reads, 8:38 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I am grateful beyond words to have the security of knowing God’s love is not only there for me through His Son, but absolutely NOTHING can separate us from His love for us. That is why Christmas as well as the other 364 days is truly Merry and Bright. Merry Christmas!

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

Have you been around people that just made you feel good to be in their presence. There was something about them, a spirit of some kind that was healthy, uplifting and maybe even joyful. You come away from time spent with them feeling filled. I wonder if that may not have been what it was like to spend time with Jesus. Look at what this passage says about Him. The Spirit of the Lord was on him. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of God. Jesus must have been someone who listened and understood. He must have given honest yet helpful answers when asked. It must have been evident from the moment you met Him that He possessed knowledge beyond His years. I think back to bible accounts where He taught teachers in the temple when He was a young boy. When He would read the scriptures as a young man and people would say “He speaks with authority.” His authority came because of who He was and the Spirit that rested upon Him made Him distinct. When Jesus left the earth He sent a Helper, The Spirit to abide within the hearts of those who trusted in Jesus for salvation. That same Spirit abides in those of us today who accept Jesus as Lord. Therefore, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and counsel are all there for us as we as we fear God and walk in His ways. What a great gift! My prayer today is that you will be one of the people who fill others. I pray that all wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and fear of God will be abounding more and more. I pray the Spirit will be evident in you and people will want what you have.

Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Who would have thought to send the Savior of the world in the form of a baby? My mom was like most other moms telling us as children, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” There is so much under the cover of this precious child. Though He was born into humble means He was anything but common. The entire sin of the world would rest on His shoulders. He was Wonderful Counselor understanding all of our needs and thoughts. He was Mighty God in human form. He was an Everlasting Father because through His death eternal life would be given to all who believe. He was the Prince of Peace because through His gift we were brought back in right relationship with God. The kingdom He would reign over was an eternal one no human eye has seen but is still very real. By whose power did He come? God’s power and His strength. His zeal was behind it all. Glory to God the Father. Praise and adoration to Jesus the Son because this Child born so a simple young girl might have been covered with human flesh but He was and is the perfect Son of God.

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Several years ago we were on a mission trip to Brazil. We were working in a slum area of a large city offering free medical care and sharing the message of Christ. We had prayed that God would bring the people who needed to hear. A young woman came in who was pregnant with an unwanted pregnancy. She knew to have the child would be to invite ridicule on her family because the child’s father was not her husband. The woman just “Happened” to walk by the clinic that day and felt a pulling to go in and have a test done to confirm the pregnancy. Her care givers shared the gospel message with the young woman and though at first her heart wasn’t open, God worked on her. Our team prayed for her for several days that she would not only be saved which she was eventually, but also that she would have a change of heart about giving life to her child because she had made up her mind abortion was her best option. We returned to the states at the end of the week not knowing the fate of the baby, but trusting God was changing the mother’s heart.
A year later we returned to the same church for another medical clinic. Just being in the same community was an act of God because it is not the practice of the mission team planners to go to the same community two years in a row. We unloaded the bus and prepared our instruments and equipment. One of the first people in line was the young mother holding her baby girl. We all wept to see God’s hand of protection over the child and the radiant mother who was walking in the faith. She passed the beautiful big baby girl around and said, I knew you would come back. I knew God had said you would so you could see Emmanuella. Little did that sweet mother know that she had named that child a name that meant, God with Us. God had been with that young mother. He had saved her spiritually but also given her hope and joy. Baby Emmanuella was a beautiful reminder to all of us as well that God hears our prayers and walks with us.
Jesus came not as a good man who did good things for people. He came as God with us. He told the disciples if you have seen me you have seen the Father. He was a physical embodiment of God’s presence among His people. A great gift at Christmas is to remember that God did not choose to be far away from us and rule over us with un-attachment. He came to live among us and to love us. What a wonderful gift! Please pray for many young ladies today who are deciding whether to give their children life. Pray they will be touched by the message of Christ and give life to their children.

Shared by Jan DeKlavon: “This song has always touched me for many years, but after reading your testimony,  this makes it even more moving! ”

 ^“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ  as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”  Eph. 1:3-10

Did you see when God chose us?  As we celebrate Jesus’ birth this month it is important for us to start at the beginning and the beginning is before God even spoke the words “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Gen. 1:1  Before the foundation of the world was set in place God had already chosen us in Christ Jesus and given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.  WOW!!  That blows my mind.  God chose before setting the world in place to send His Son knowing that the imperfect people He would make would need a Savior.  He chose Christmas, the celebration of Jesus’ birth from the beginning and He chose to make us holy and blameless through the death and resurrection of His Son.  It was and is His will.  Jesus chose this path as well and through His gift to us we are given the gift of forgiveness of all our sins.  What rich grace is lavished on us.  The great gift of salvation allows us to come before God not as servants or even friends, but as children through His adopting us.  Today as you consider the Baby placed in a manger, take time to thank God for choosing you as well.  If you have never admitted you are a sinner, believed that Christ is God’s Son, our Savior and confessed your sin or wrong doings to Christ do that today and receive the gift of salvation from God.  It has already been bought and paid for.  The miracle of Christmas is that because of what Christ did those who choose Him will live eternally united with God.  Wow, what a gift!

My favorite ballgame to watch is the one I know my team wins.  I love to watch movies that I know have a happy ending.  You may say, “Page where is the fun in that you already know the outcome.”  For me there is peace and security in knowing the ending is good.

God knew because we were human we would fail and need a redemption plan in order to have a happily ever after.  Our reading today shares God’s answer.

Titus 3:4-7:  “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,  he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

That may seem very deep to you, but what it is saying is that God knew sending Jesus was the only answer to our fallen state. We could never be good enough, religious enough, smart enough, wise enough. According to the Bible even our most righteous acts are dirty rags.  We needed someone who could pay for our wrongs since we could not do it ourselves. Because of what Jesus did through being born a human who lived a perfect life and giving himself to be crucified for our wrongs, we can be washed clean.  Not only that He sent a Helper, the Holy Spirit, that resides in the heart of all believers.

This Christmas season you will probably open one or many gifts, but none will compare with the gift God gave us through His Son Jesus.  That is why we celebrate!!  That is why His birth is such a big deal.  That is why Christmas is so much more than trees, lights, songs, sweets, and even family.  We use all of these things to remind us of the true Gift!

Stephanie Thompson from Louisville writes:

“I’ve been thinking tonight about the beginning of the advent season and the hope that it brings with it, this “settled certainty” that its already been done. I wanted to share this song because I think it says it so beautifully, the work of the Father, revealed in the Son….”

A year ago we were anticipating the birth of our second grand child Haddon. I remember waking every day checking on his mom, Lacey and asking how she was feeling. We just knew it would be any minute! As we anticipated the arrival we tried to make preparations. Lacey and Les prepared the room for our new arrival. We gathered boy clothes since our first grandchild had been a girl. Then we just waited. I wonder if that is how Mary and Joseph felt? Waiting…

The celebration of Advent is just that, the celebration of the arrival of the Messiah. During the month preceding Christmas day scriptures are read and prayers are offered as we prepare our hearts to celebrate what God did by sending His Son
Today’s Passage is John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” It is tempting to make gift buying and even fun things like elves or Santa the focus the closer you get to Christmas Day. You may even feel pressure to be perfect in decorating, hosting, or any number of outside pressures. Don’t allow these things to move your focus from the main person of Christmas. He is The Way, The Truth and The Life. He is our only ticket to Eternal life with the Father.
As we wait expectedly for Christmas I invite you to interact with me. Please comment on the scriptures we post or leave a thought, a favorite recipe or craft. Join in the celebration. This is intended to help us keep our focus on Jesus not the pressures that sometimes accompany the Christmas Holiday. It is His birthday and we want to highlight Him!

Commit today to spending time daily focusing on His word and a few minutes in prayer. You may even want to throw in a carol or two.

Mary Did You Know :