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Due to the loss of a family member I will not be posting this week.
I will however be back next week!
Thanks
Due to the loss of a family member I will not be posting this week.
I will however be back next week!
Thanks
The real spirit of Christmas is a spirit of hope. The message was announced by angels that a child had been born. This was no ordinary child, Jesus was different, not from earth but from heaven. In Star Trek the brave explorers go boldly where no one has gone before to seek out new life. The UFO enthusiasts anticipate the coming of a superior life form to this earth. A new life, a superior life came to this earth 2,000 years ago!
-John 8:23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. -John 17:14,16 I am not of the world. -John 18:36 My kingdom is not of this world:
People do a lot of crazy things in the hope of finding a new quality of living-a new career, a new location, a new spouse, a new name, a new physical appearance, new friends BUT the same old problems still follow them.Only in Jesus Christ can we find a new life!
-Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. -2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
The real spirit of Christmas is a spirit of new life for all that will receive. One of my favorite Christmas songs when done right is "Joy to the World" but the birth of Jesus did not bring joy to everyone.-Matthew 2:3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Jesus brought Joy to those who understood scripture and loved God!-Matthew 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. Jesus is the source of Joy today.
John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full-Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
There was excitement among the shepherds - Luke 2:15-18 They were excited about their search and encounter with Jesus. The Christian life should be a life of excitement - why? Because it is easier to do something you are excited about be it attending worship gatherings, praying, reading, worshipping, witnessing, working.When the fires of excitement burn low, we need to let the real spirit of Christmas touch our hearts.
There were people anxiously awaiting the arrival of Jesus.Simeon and Anna - Luke 2:25-32, 36-38-they were in tune with the Word, the Spirit and the times. As believers our lives should be marked by a spirit of expectancy, daily expecting God to show up and do something! Daily looking for the return of Christ because we can get to a place where we are no longer living in expectancy and then ‘old age,’ or a dryness of spirit sets in.The real spirit of Christmas can restore expectancy.
Our highest calling is to worship our Creator. The world in general no longer worships YHWH. The three kings worshipped - Matthew 2:1-2, 11. Worship opens the treasures of our heart and lays them at the feet of Jesus, it is interesting when our worship can become routine, dead, unfeeling. The real spirit of Christmas will restore life and feeling to our worship!
So what does all this mean? Similar to the Grinch, let the real spirit of Christmas get a hold of your life, it will completely change you and it is not for a season, it is for an eternity.
Some People try to steal Christmas. This time of year, more often than not, We hear of some shopper, whose presents weren’t bought. They have gone in the store, there intention was clear, to fill their pockets with all kinds of gear. The tapes and the CD’s, little toys or robots. All because they thought they were good girls and boys. Christmas they think is just free for the takin’ and when caught they think the clerk was mistaken. What causes people to think that Christmas can be stole. Could it be they have been misinformed by a diabolical foe?
Stealing Christmas is more than just filling our pockets, or taking gifts from someone else’s car. We steal Christmas when we get caught up in other things rather than the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, and those things become the central focus of our celebration. Santa, and Frosty, and reindeer and sleighs can point to the Christ of Christmas or they can steal it away, it is all in how we present it.
All the Who girls and boys would wake bright and early. They’d rush for their toys! And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the noise! Noise! Noise! Noise! That’s one thing he hated! The Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise!Then the Whos, young and old, would sit down to a feat, and they’d feast! And they’d feast! And they’d feast, Feast! Feast! Feast! They would feast on Who pudding, and rare Who roast beast which was something the Grinch couldn’t stand in the least! And then they’d do something he like least of all! Every who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, would stand close together, with Christmas bells ringing. They’d stand hand in hand. And the whos would start singing. They’s sing! And they’d sing! And they’s ding! Sing! Sing! Sing! And the more the Grinch though of this who-Christmas sing, the more the Grinch though, “I must stop this whole thing! Why, for fifty-three years I’ve put up with it now! I must stop this Christmas from coming! But how?
Thoughts...part 2 coming sooner than next Monday!