He Grew Up!
I think I may have mentioned once or twice my love for Christmas. Pretty much everything about it resonates with me. Oh, the commercialism of this holiday has sort of gone bonkers, but I really try not to focus too much on that fact. Especially, since I have had the honor of not working in retail this Christmas. I did say that I wouldn’t be and I’m not…thank you Jesus! I’m blessed beyond measure to know the true meaning of Christmas. That the Lord of the entire Universe loved me so much that He came as a tiny child and died for me. The awareness of His presence personally in my life is one thing I never quite get used to.
I grew up in church, so the Christmas Story has become just as much a staple in my life as Jonah and the Wale (or Big Fish!), Noah and the Ark, or Adam and Eve. In fact it has become almost too familiar. I have struggled with finding a passion for what the Christmas Story truly means and the impact it has on each of our lives.
We are teaching my beautiful two-year-olds the Christmas Story and I’m struggling with the telling of it to them. I plan tomorrow to just take a moment and spend a little time in prayer over this fact. We have a toy stable, Mary, Joseph, Jesus, angel, animals, and wise men. We display these and as I tell the story I ask one child to come up and place something in the stable. We always save Jesus for last. We go over everything we have put in the stable and then I ask, “Who is missing?” Usually all of them say, “Baby Jesus!” How do you share the reckless love of God to their simple minds?
My preacher preached this lesson this past Sunday:
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. – John 1:1-9
IN HIM WAS LIFE…let me say that again…IN HIM WAS LIFE! Not through Him, or by Him, but in Him!
He truly is the author of our physical and spiritual life. In Him we find the complete being of Life.
I AM WEAK, I AM NOTHING…I NEED HIM!
He is the Purpose and Perfection of Life!
Christmas Eve was the announcement of His arrival on Earth not his birth. He was the Word manifest!
I mean can you imagine this. What an amazing and unbelievable thing of epic proportions this was. That God himself loved us so unbelievably much that He chose to throw off all his glory, majesty, and honor and humble himself as a mere human to sacrifice His life for all of us. What love is that?
“The Nativity” movie is coming off as the “true meaning of Christmas.” Most people don’t have a problem with little baby Jesus; I wonder how well they deal with Jesus on the cross. Sometimes we don’t see Him as light because He is not the light we are looking for! He is going to ask us to do things we aren’t going to like. The only way to life is a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
My pastor asked us to consider three things:
1. Completeness of the Light – that Christ was the Life Light
2. Comprehension of the Light – Do we get it?
3. Conceive the Light – we must learn to take the light into us!
Christ is reborn each time someone receives Him as their personal Savior. We carry the meaning of his birth, life, death, and resurrection each day as Christian’s. We are, in many ways, the visual representation of His existence.
However, Jesus didn’t stay a baby. I think many people like to keep Him there because that is safe. He grew up. The birth of Jesus is just the beginning of the Christmas Story. He grew into a man that many despised, many loved, and many followed. He was beaten, battered, bruised, and nailed on the cross to shed his blood for our sin debt. He died for us and on the third day He rose and sits at the right hand of God.
GOD IS HERE! He’s alive! He is real! He is controversial! He is glorious! He is wonderful! He is magnificent! He ISN’T a baby!
Just as Christ grew from baby to man so we as Christian’s must grow in our faith in Him. We can’t keep Him in the manger. We can’t even keep Him on the cross! He is reckless; He is Sovereign…GOD IS HERE!
Merry Christmas!
I grew up in church, so the Christmas Story has become just as much a staple in my life as Jonah and the Wale (or Big Fish!), Noah and the Ark, or Adam and Eve. In fact it has become almost too familiar. I have struggled with finding a passion for what the Christmas Story truly means and the impact it has on each of our lives.
We are teaching my beautiful two-year-olds the Christmas Story and I’m struggling with the telling of it to them. I plan tomorrow to just take a moment and spend a little time in prayer over this fact. We have a toy stable, Mary, Joseph, Jesus, angel, animals, and wise men. We display these and as I tell the story I ask one child to come up and place something in the stable. We always save Jesus for last. We go over everything we have put in the stable and then I ask, “Who is missing?” Usually all of them say, “Baby Jesus!” How do you share the reckless love of God to their simple minds?
My preacher preached this lesson this past Sunday:
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. – John 1:1-9
IN HIM WAS LIFE…let me say that again…IN HIM WAS LIFE! Not through Him, or by Him, but in Him!
He truly is the author of our physical and spiritual life. In Him we find the complete being of Life.
I AM WEAK, I AM NOTHING…I NEED HIM!
He is the Purpose and Perfection of Life!
Christmas Eve was the announcement of His arrival on Earth not his birth. He was the Word manifest!
I mean can you imagine this. What an amazing and unbelievable thing of epic proportions this was. That God himself loved us so unbelievably much that He chose to throw off all his glory, majesty, and honor and humble himself as a mere human to sacrifice His life for all of us. What love is that?
“The Nativity” movie is coming off as the “true meaning of Christmas.” Most people don’t have a problem with little baby Jesus; I wonder how well they deal with Jesus on the cross. Sometimes we don’t see Him as light because He is not the light we are looking for! He is going to ask us to do things we aren’t going to like. The only way to life is a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
My pastor asked us to consider three things:
1. Completeness of the Light – that Christ was the Life Light
2. Comprehension of the Light – Do we get it?
3. Conceive the Light – we must learn to take the light into us!
Christ is reborn each time someone receives Him as their personal Savior. We carry the meaning of his birth, life, death, and resurrection each day as Christian’s. We are, in many ways, the visual representation of His existence.
However, Jesus didn’t stay a baby. I think many people like to keep Him there because that is safe. He grew up. The birth of Jesus is just the beginning of the Christmas Story. He grew into a man that many despised, many loved, and many followed. He was beaten, battered, bruised, and nailed on the cross to shed his blood for our sin debt. He died for us and on the third day He rose and sits at the right hand of God.
GOD IS HERE! He’s alive! He is real! He is controversial! He is glorious! He is wonderful! He is magnificent! He ISN’T a baby!
Just as Christ grew from baby to man so we as Christian’s must grow in our faith in Him. We can’t keep Him in the manger. We can’t even keep Him on the cross! He is reckless; He is Sovereign…GOD IS HERE!
Merry Christmas!
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