Tag: Christmas

Posted in Christmas, Life Inspiration

A Christmas Tree in the Bible?

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Jesus Chick Christmas

In the dark hours before dawn my Christmas tree glows a bright red; adorned with baubles and ribbon, a few sentimental ornaments and candy canes, and Santa on top. Don’t judge me… I just think he’s cute and I love the spirited story of giving. The meaning of Christmas has nothing to do with my tree and everything to do with my heart, which on a regular basis is distracted by life. Surely, I’m not alone? It doesn’t help matters that I’m ADD-OSS at Christmas time. (Attention Deficit Disorder, Oh Something Shiny!) And Heaven knows there is plenty of shiny things to catch my eye. It’s hard enough for me to stay focused on regular days of the year. The closer that Christmas gets I revert to childlike tendencies and begin to wonder what’s going to be under my tree, and at my age I try to remember what I’ve put under the tree. I dream of the wonderful times I’ll have with friends and family and the specialness of having an excited new Pastor in our church this time of year. I have handmade grandbaby goodies all over my house. A Frostie the Snowman milk jug sits beside me that was forgotten by preschooler Nicolis yesterday and my heart overflows… and my mind does too with all the things that need to get done the next few days!

The Christmas Tree has long been a tradition but was by no means started in America. According to history the traditional Christmas tree began in Germany by devout Christians and is also believed that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.

But this morning I find a Christmas tree in the scriptures that has nothing to do with the Holidays but everything to do with the Holy Days that are before us.

Isaiah 60:13

13 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.

As I understand it, Isaiah speaks not only of the Sanctuary in Solomon’s day but the Sanctuary of Christ where He makes a place for His feet and in that place there will be a pine tree! I found that fascinating this morning. Let the naysayers say what they want about Pagan rituals but Jesus likes Christmas trees too. So much so that they’re going to be in His sanctuary. Whether or not His trees will be decorated is yet to be discovered, and in the presence of Jesus I doubt it will be necessary, He’ll shine enough on His own! But this morning that decorated tree took on a new meaning as think about the return of Christ when the sorrows of this world will be gone, Hallelujah! and only the sweetness of life will be known.

Today His feet are in Heaven and I have to wonder if there’s not a tree there too? Nothing is beyond a possibility when God is involved. I hadn’t noticed before that pine trees were even in the bible, but I am ever so thankful that God gave me that scripture today. I hope you’ll find a little extra blessing in an evergreen this Christmas too!

Posted in Christian Service, Christmas, Life Inspiration

I Traded Jesus for Amazon?

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Baby Jesus for free 2

It all began yesterday as I prepared a devotion for the teen Christmas Party and ended this morning as I prepared to write my blog. I told the teens about a woman who stepped out of her car and noticed that her Baby Jesus had been stolen from the Nativity set on her lawn. At first she was angry, and then she began wondering who it was that would have done such a thing? She first thought it was surely menacing teens, then her thoughts went much darker about certain religions that would take it symbolically. So the teens and I discussed who they thought would have taken that Baby Jesus and they basically came to same conclusions that the owner did. But for the rest of the story…

The woman was angry for a little while and then decided for the sake of Christmas she really needed to get past this, so she created a sign and placed it in the manger where the Baby Jesus once lay; it read “You may have stolen the Baby, but you can’t steal Christ! He was crucified, but is risen again and He is alive and well in my heart.”

Well played! And how true!

Nobody can take Christ from us. Romans 8:38-39 reads:

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And yet, my computer gave me a wake-up call this morning I hadn’t anticipated this Christmas. When I open up Google Chrome, there are about 8 pages that I can click on in the order of my most visited sites. Forever and a day, possibly less, my number one visited page is one that I use for my blog and bible studies, www.biblegateway.com. It’s where you’ll find the scripture links I use and it has very useful commentaries and such that are handy when studying the Word.

But today that was not my number one site, it was (I’m ashamed to say) www.amazon.com.

What! How did that get there?

I’ll tell you how it got there. That’s where my Christmas focus has been. Rather than running like a mad woman all over the country to Christmas shop I’ve been on Amazon.com ordering, ordering, ordering, and then checking the status every day. And in all my shopping and checking, I’d traded Baby Jesus on amazon.com, or at least that’s what it felt like when Google Chrome ratted me out this morning.

I haven’t been blogging for the past few weeks because of multiple responsibilities elsewhere, all of which allowed me to let my own immune system to get run down and allow a virus to attach itself to me, to the point I actually considered going to the doctor! But that was way too radical an idea, so I toughed it out, getting to the point of death or so I thought one day. But today I’m on the mend and sick of myself. I had not allowed the Baby Jesus to be stolen from my manger, I had given Him away on Amazon. I’ve not only been physically low I’ve been spiritually low for about two or three weeks with no one to blame but myself. I have allowed the temporary frustrations to take a permanent hold on me. Sad truth from the Jesus Chick.

So today I’ve set myself back on the Jesus journey. The one that puts the Bible back on the front row of Google Chrome and my life and puts my focus back on the whole meaning of Christmas which is Easter! Ha! Bring on the Holidays!

Posted in Christmas, Life Inspiration, Peace, salvation

What Happens When You Hear His Name?

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Isaiah 9 6Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

That scripture brings to mind the song “This World is Not my Home,” as I read it this morning, thinking back on recent conversations that I’ve heard. The conversations of both the saved and unsaved alike are filled with anxiety and worry and then turn on a dime to apathy. They discuss end time events as if they’re imminent, yet escapable. My comments and insight are tolerated yet unwanted and I don’t know if I should shake the soup out of my family and friends, or throw my hands up in the air and walk away, yet I know the answer and so I keep talking… mostly to Jesus.

His Name shall be called Wonderful…

Sounds just like Christmas doesn’t it. The word Wonderful evokes sentiments of splendor and smiles but with the Name of Jesus, One in the same, the sentiment is different depending upon the day of the week, the time of day or the geographic location. His name also brings with it conviction, misunderstanding, and anger. But it is Wonderful if you know Him as He desires to be known.

His Name shall be called Counsellor…

But the world would rather seek advice from “educated” people who have been indoctrinated by colleges and universities that say God is an idea not a fact. I know there are good godly professionals out there, but they are few and far between and few that seek them out when they’re in trouble. It’s easier to tune into Dr. Fill me up with garbage than to fall down upon your knees to the Wonderful Counsellor Who only gives good advice.

His Name shall be called Mighty God…

Until Church folk put Him into a box on Sunday morning and perhaps Wednesday night if they can fit Him into their schedule, unless a crisis happens to occur and then He is Mighty God again, or they hope so. They don’t know so because their relationship with Him has been so obscure that they really don’t know Him that well. But He is still the same Mighty God as in Creation! He Who spoke the world into existence… unimaginable in my finite mind yet truth.

His Name shall be called Everlasting Father…

Eternal, forever and ever Amen… the way most believe their own lives to be on earth. Yet our lives are but a blip on the radar in comparison to eternity. We’re in utter despair when we lose someone we love on earth because of all the uncertainty that Satan throws into the mix. We know that scripture tells us that those who know the Lord as Savior are present with Him in death, but Satan plants seeds of doubt. And then there are those that we do not know if they knew the Lord as Savior… what about them? That is why we need to be concerned about those that are alive and well (or not so well) here on earth. For them they are still afforded the chance to know so that we all may have peace should something happen. And we can stand flat footed and call Satan the liar that he is.

His Name shall be called Prince of Peace…

Peace on earth, good will toward men? Somebody didn’t get the memo. Peace isn’t experienced where the Prince isn’t welcome. It’s the one thing that if we were all honest we’d say that we’d give up everything else in our life just to experience it, and it’s there for the asking. Perhaps not as we’d like it. We think peace is the evidence of no sorrow, or concerns in the world. But that’s not it. Peace is a feeling in the soul even in the middle of one of the worst storms in life knowing that the Prince has it under control. That’s my Jesus!

My prayer for you this Christmas is that you experience the Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Prince of Peace and then share Him as the greatest gift ever given to the world.

 

Posted in Christmas, Life Inspiration, salvation

A Strange Place to Find a Gift

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black gift

I was looking for a specific verse this morning on gifts, and through my word search I glanced across a gift in the book of Revelation. My first thought was “That’s a strange place to find a gift!” And so my curiosity got me and I had to follow it through. It was not the kind of Christmas message I had planned on receiving this morning, it would more than likely fit into the Halloween season. I like the gift stories with happy endings; no happy ending here.

Revelation 11

8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

Wow! Did you catch that? Here we are in the latter days of the world, the end times, and the two prophets which God had warned them would come have been murdered. A prideful, arrogant world leaves their bodies lying in the street and celebrates around them; SENDING EACH OTHER GIFTS! Oh my goodness… how wicked does this world get that we go from celebrating life, to celebrating death?

Not so long ago, in the year of my salvation, 1996; I would read the book of Revelation and it would read like a sci-fi flick. I could barely imagine the reality of it. Now it reads like yesterday’s news. Truth? So how is this a Christmas message? Thanks to the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ our Lord, I’ll have no part of this story. This is one gift that you should make sure that you, your family or friends have no part of. Their celebration only lasts a few days until God breaths the life back in those two prophets, then I figure the arrogance and prideful attitudes were drained from their day like the color from their face when they realized “their back!”

I know that’s not a very Merry Christmas message, but it’s one I want to take to heart as I celebrate the Holidays. I want to remember not only what I’ve been given, but what’s been taken away. God is so good…I am so not. I deserve the worst, yet He has afforded me the best. Merry Christmas Child of God!!!!! Thank Him and Praise Him this wonderful, blessed season of gift giving and receiving.

Posted in Christmas, Grace, Life Inspiration, Life's Failures

Would Your Bells be Ringing?

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sound of grace

I’m often shocked at just how unholy I am. Christians all play the “flesh” card, touting that the Devil made us do it, or the Spirit is mighty but the flesh is weak theology; which is true but doesn’t justify sin. The truth is we’re all just sinners.

1 John 1:8 says If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

So now that we’re all on the same playing field let’s Praise God for New Testament times for I am certain I wouldn’t have made it past the door as an Old Testament priest.

Exodus 28:33-35

And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about: A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not.

I can’t hardly hear a jingle bell ringing that I don’t think about that text and the weight that was upon the man of God that entered into the Holy of Holy’s. The reasoning behind those bells was that should they stop ringing they would know the Priest had not been right with God and had been killed. They would then drag him out by a rope that was placed around him prior to entering the room. Anybody up to that test today? Umm…. I’m thinking no. Praise God for the grace we live under today!

I would give you a running list of my sins but I try to keep this blog post to 500 words. As I said in the opening paragraph, I’m shocked at how unholy I can be. Put me in the right setting with the right conversation and I’ll chime in to the juiciest gossip you’d like to know. I won’t start it, but I’ll certainly listen in and respond accordingly. I’m highly opinionated, which is also translated as pride sometimes, I can get a little self-righteous. And then I go into a place like the correctional facility (aka prison) that I went into last night and I realize that the only difference between me and the fellas in that prison is my clothes were cuter and I was allowed to leave. Humbling…

So this Christmas when you hear the bells… Take a few minutes to thank God for Grace!

Posted in Life Inspiration

Did You Find What You Were Looking For?

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Perfect gift

Yesterday was a spendthrift’s paradise and a penny pincher’s nightmare. Merchandise flew off the shelves and cars were packed to the brim with Christmas gifts, goodies and bargains… or so I’ve been told. I wasn’t a part of the mayhem and bedlam this year; my shopping was done from the couch with a click and cha-ching, I figured that was a lot easier on my feet and my wallet. But it still didn’t eliminate the issue of finding the perfect gift for the folks I love, it’s tough! I do however know the perfect gift giver!!!

The Perfect Gift

James 1:17 says “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

The gifts that God has given each one of us are good, perfect and beyond a shadow of a doubt, just what we need. They’re nonrefundable and un-exchangeable. So why is it they’re not being used? I ask myself that question almost every day. Every Christmas we usually get at least one gift that has us scratching our head and asking “What were they thinking when they bought that?” We’re as hard to buy for as those we’re buying for. But not so with God, He has us pegged from birth, it is we to try to change the game.

The Perfect Gift Perfected

As a child I loved to write, speak and sing. The world inside my mind was always a stage. But over the years I convinced myself I wasn’t good enough at any one of them and pushed those ideas into the recesses of my mind. And upon the occasion that I’d unclutter it, they’d resurface for a while only to be returned to a corner for fear of inadequacy. But praise God for scripture such as that in Psalm 138:8 which says “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.”

God is merciful and patient with me. Praise His holy name for that. Even though I forsook the gift, God never allowed me to forsake the notion and eventually He won me over. I struggle daily with feelings of inadequacy and self-esteem issues, usually masked with comic relief. God said He would perfect that which concerns me, not me.

The Perfect Gift Accepted

Romans 12:2

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Finding that perfect will of God is about as easy as finding the perfect gift for someone because the world is always vying for our attention. It’s not easy, but it’s worthy. Because within that perfect will we’ll find:

Peace

Isaiah 26:3

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

 Love

John 17:23

I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

 Contentment

James 1:4

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Are those not the perfect gifts!

Posted in Christmas, Easter, Life Inspiration, salvation

Christmas’ Purpose

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Four o’clock came early this morning but as soon as the alarm went off my first thought was. Good morning Lord, it’s Easter! This is the day you arose and changed the very fabric of our lives. When the veil was torn in the temple there would no longer be a separation between God and man. The privilege once held by the Priest alone, now belonged to the common man… or the common Shari as it is with me.

I woke up as excited as if it were Christmas, which I guess is appropriate being that the reason we have Christmas is Easter. This was Christmas’ purpose.

John 6:40

And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Resurrection Morning! This day is what brings hope to all the bad days. This is the day that overrides every heartache in life. God’s ultimate heartache, the forsaking of His Son now gave way to the restoration of man. God opened His Christmas gift that first Easter morning when He opened up the tomb and walked out.

Just to write those words causes my heart to leap with jubilation!!! How must God have felt that first Easter morning? From the cross He spoke “It is finished.” From the tomb, it’s just beginning!

Merry Christmas Lord… Happy Easter!

If you think I’ve lost my mind you may be right, I hope it’s because I’m getting closer to the mind of Christ. But today I have joy unspeakable for what Christ has done in my life. I hope today that you know that joy; that peace on earth and good will to men that we speak so often of at Christmas time. Because were it not for Easter, there would be no peace.

If you don’t have that joy, there’s an easy remedy. Right now, where you are ask Jesus to be Lord of your life and trust Him from this point forward for everything. Believe that He was born of a virgin, that He walked the earth to experience life as you do except without sin because He is God. Believe that He died on the cross to pay for the sin you experience and to put an end to death and give you an eternal hope. There’s still going to be heartaches down here, but because of that first Easter morning we have hope that every heartache has a reason and will for certain pass.

Make today the day that you give all that heartache to the One who took it upon Himself on the cross of Calvary.

Posted in Christian Service, Life Inspiration

Is your Love Feast spotted?

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spotted heart

Jude 1:12

These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

The feasts of Love (Agape) were held when food was in short supply in the community and richer members would bring food and drink to the church. Following a service and communion everyone would gather together for a potluck dinner of sorts in the name and character of Jesus, by showing love to one another through their provisions. It sounds very much like what occurs in our churches today, although today they are more for fellowship than providing food, the theory behind it is the same… we want people to know we care. Jude wasn’t so much concerned about the dinner as he was with the shenanigans going on with the creeps in the church who used this blessed event to further false teaching.

A meal that was meant to refresh poor saints had been turned into a social event where, rather than feeding the poor, Judaizing Christians were observing them in imitation of the Passover, excluding the poor and inviting unseemly guests into the church to take communion thus corrupting the works of God. It was no longer about seeing souls saved but once again was running the risk of turning into dead religion.

At a recent church training for disciple making, Dr. Sebby Volpe asked the simple question, “When is the last time you’ve invited a member of the church to dinner (outside your normal click)?” It’s an occurrence of days gone by that church fellowship extends past the noon hour on Sunday. We get into the grooves of life and it takes a bill of congress to get us out. Church dinners are an excellent opportunity to fellowship as a whole, but they run the risk of just being an opportunity to nourish the body and not the soul, which was the original church’s intent. We provide a turkey or two to poor families in the community at Christmas and think we’ve done our good deed for the year, after all the season of giving is over.

Good grief! That is so true.

We leave the feeding of the poor to local agencies (that are mostly non church related) while the church sits idle and the name of Jesus unglorified. January, February and March are hard months. Many families have overspent (which is wrong, but reality), and other didn’t have the option of spending at all and food is now in short supply. Most of us cannot identify and we assume the Department of Human Services (Welfare) takes care of the underprivileged which is far from the truth; there is nothing well or fair about it. Many don’t qualify or are too proud to ask. Before the days of the Welfare Department it was the church who took care of the widows and the children who lacked the necessities of life, for which they earned the right to be called Christian (meaning Christ like).

A missionary friend to Tanzania illustrated this to me in a great way yesterday. He had been visiting a person at the hospital and it was time to go. He told them he’d be back, but as a college student he had other obligations. On his way back to school he found 2000 Tanzania shiling, the equivalency of one U.S. dollar. He could have used that dollar for himself, but instead he buys 20 bananas and takes them back to the hospital to share with the patients… That’s Jesus’ love feast at its finest.

Another day of being parked in the book of Jude that God uses His word to illustrate modern life.

Christmas is over, the need is not. What can we do today to lend a hand and let someone see Jesus?

 

 

Posted in Christmas, Life Inspiration

Face to Face with God

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Mark Lowry wrote the words to a song titled “Mary Did You Know” in 1984 when his pastor asked him to write the program for the living Christmas tree choir presentation. I’ve heard the song again and again, and each time I have to wonder what it was like to be in Mary’s situation. A young woman, a child by our definition today, pregnant out of wedlock in the eyes of the world, carrying the Messiah in the eyes of God. My mind wonders to what the conversations would have been between her and Joseph those months of waiting for the birth of Jesus. As the child grew inside of Mary, they were afforded the time to get to know one another without intimacy. No doubt they both turned to God on multiple occasions and asked questions that may or may not have been answered. Why? How? When? It was a faith like we have never known, or have we?

After all, do we not carry God Himself with us? I know I have asked questions like:

“Why do You choose to use me, Lord?”

“How will I know if what I’m doing is what You’d have me do, Lord?”

“When Lord will I know Your purpose?”

I’ve asked and answers have come, but not as I wished they would have. I wanted clearly defined resolution, but more often than not I got the absence of wonder. I didn’t get an answer, just the absence of anxiety or stress ~ Peace.

I don’t think Mary could have possibly known what the future of that Baby Boy would be, but she knew that she was a part of it and for her that was enough. She thought on it, deeply, Luke 2:19 says ~ “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” And so this morning I find myself pondering God’s purpose in my life as 2013 winds to a close and I’m asking God to open doors in 2014. His doors, not mine. I’m so very grateful for His knowledge that comes from within at the right time. If I don’t know something now, it means I’m not meant to know now.

2 Corinthians 4:6 ~  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

I believe when Mary stared into the face of baby Jesus, she knew all she needed to know. And although I desire to know more, I have to continue on believing that God will reveal His desires to me in His time, and if I continue to search for the answer to life’s questions in the face of God, in due time I’ll find them.

Psalm 105:4

Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore.

Posted in Christmas, Life Inspiration

Pass the *Songlasses, Winter’s on!

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sunglasses

December 21, the winter solstice came and went with little notice by me. As a matter of fact it was almost 70 degrees in West Virginia that day, feeling more like Easter weather than Christmas and it was not until the Preacher mentioned it in passing yesterday in his sermon that I gave it any thought at all. But this morning it is on my mind, and as I prepare to celebrate the Christmas season I’m reminded of my first Christmas after salvation in 1996, the year if found *“more Light.”

December 21st is the shortest day of the year, marked originally on the Roman Calendar as December 25th as the Solstice. A quick Google search lead me to discover that Solstice comes from Latin – “sol” for “sun” and “sisto” for “stop.” For the winter solstice, the sun will stop moving southward, pause, and then begin to move northward. So the first day of winter occurs when the North Pole is tilted the farthest away from the sun. Winter Solstice is the beginning of “more light.”

Woohoo, that’ll put a shout on you if you compare it to what we celebrate on December 25th! That too was a day of more light, it was nothing seasonal but rather 365 days a year, 24 hours a day as a child of God and in 1996 my soul became filled with that Light and every year since it’s gotten sweeter than gumdrops, I’m still like a kid at Christmas.   What joy it brings to my soul to call to remembrance the discovery of what the birth of Christ meant. There would be no Easter, no salvation, were it not for Christmas.

Today is actually my oldest daughter’s birthday, but as a family we’re celebrating Christmas because of the multiple places my children have to go to celebrate with various families. And tonight as my children gather around the tree, as has been the tradition since that first season of “more light” in 1996, I’ll read the Christmas story. But to a new generation. Five little people will sit at my feet and basically wish I’d shut up so they can open their presents. But hopefully one day soon each will discover their own season of “more light,” because Noni (that’s me) shared with them the joy of that first Christmas day.

Tears flood my soul today when I read Luke 2:11 –  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

My Savior. Born of a virgin in a lowly manger so that lowly me could live in His mansion someday.

No wonder the angels sang Glory!