"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." --Matthew 1:23Christmas is just days away and I've worked to keep the true meaning fresh in my mind and heart. I can't help but be a bit "Bah! Humbug!" about certain sing-songy cliches about 'the reason for the season.' I even vetoed rhyming Christmas cards this year. I wanted to feel and send an authentic message about our true celebration.
We settled on this verse by Ron Lessin in a beautiful snowflake card from DaySpring cards.
Just think, you're here not by chance, but by God's choosing. His hand formed you and made you the person you are. He compares you to no one else--you are one of a kind. You lack nothing that His grace can't give you. He has allowed you to be here at this time in history to fulfill His special purpose for this generation.My dear friends, it is my heart's desire: that you feel this loving message from the Lord and that you can fully realize His plans for you as we celebrate the greatest Gift ever given this December 25th. I enjoy writing for and connecting with each of you. I will be thinking about you and praying God's grace upon you this coming week.
I will leave you with the December 25th devotion from Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest. I hope you can feel the love of the Father and the gift of the Son and the comfort of the Spirit all week and into the New Year.
Lord, Thank you for giving me a chance to be what You designed me to be. Thank you for sending your Son that I might become a fragrance lovely to You. Help me share this chance with others. Amen.His Birth and Our New Birth
His Birth in History. "...that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of---He is a Being for whom the human race can take no credit at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate---God coming into human flesh from outside it. His life is the highest and holiest entering through the most humble of doors. Our Lord's birth was an advent---the appearance of God in human form.
His Birth in Me. "My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you..." (Galatians 4:19). Just as our Lord came into human history from outside it, He must also come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a "Bethlehem" for the Son of God? I cannot enter the realm of the kingdom of God unless I am born again from above by a birth totally unlike physical birth. "You must be born again" (John 3:7). This is not a command, but a fact based on the authority of God. The evidence of new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that "Christ is formed" in me. And once "Christ is formed" in me, His nature immediately begins to work through me.
God Evident in the Flesh. This is what is made so profoundly possible for you and for me through the redemption of man by Jesus Christ.
3 comments:
May you be blessed with a beautiful Christmas my friend. I love you.
Really lovely, Patrice. Sometimes we have to stop the madness and get centered again. This is a good post for doing that.
Love the card! Precious.
Post a Comment