12th Truth of Christmas- Emmanuel, God With Us

Here we are, ladies and gentlemen, the 12th and final truth that I am focusing on this Christmas. In my opinion, this truth is the epitome of Christmas, the one truth that stands out to me the most during this season.

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel," which is translated, "God with us." (Matthew 1:23)

Emmanuel- God with us.

This is the very greatest truth of Christmas. This is also one of the most amazing truths of Christianity. We worship the True and Living God, Who sent His Only Son down to earth to live among us.

Down here on earth, among the filth, the suffering, and the sin, Jesus willingly came down to be a part of our world. He was born like any human baby; he ate, slept, and grew as a human. He felt pain, sorrow, and joy. He experienced physical life as one of us.

God could have just swept in with a mighty force and solved everything wrong in our broken world. But He didn't; instead, He chose to come and be among us. To feel what we feel, to see what we see. He took the time to understand us, and then He gave us a way to be rescued.

God is a relational God. He created human beings in His Image so that we might have fellowship with Him. In the Garden of Eden, God walked with Adam and Eve as their Friend. When sin entered into the world, that relationship and connection was broken. Jesus was the link that renewed that chain of connection.

I find it incredibly beautiful that God chose to reestablish relationship with mankind by being among us first, living as we do. The greatest way to earn someone's trust and friendship is to live life alongside them. To feel what they feel, to see what they see.

Did you read that story that was recently in the news about the barber and the little boy with autism? An autistic little boy did not want to get his hair cut, and the barber had already tried several times unsuccessfully to cut the child's hair. Finally, the barber decided to get down on the floor with the boy, who seemed more comfortable hanging out on the ground while playing with his father's phone. The barber got down on the boy's level, and cut his hair.

This story is a wonderful analogy of what God did for us. He didn't try to force His relationship on us, even though we desperately needed it, just like that little boy needed a haircut. Instead, God got down on our level and entered into our world.

I don't know about you, but I have a much easier time having faith and trust in a God Who understands where I am coming from. It is so encouraging to go through life and my faith knowing that Jesus has also felt everything that I experience, both the good and the bad.

The knowledge that God went to such lengths just to have a relationship with me thrills me to the core of my being. It fills me with joy to accept that gift of offered relationship and eternal life. God has proven His desire for relationship, and I count it a privilege to be called His friend.

God is so loving,  and He is so real. He knows us intimately. He knows our both our spiritual and our physical needs. He understands our frailty, and our fear. Whatever you are going through in your life, be it good, bad, or a bit of both, God understands.

This season we celebrate Emmanuel, who is God with us.

Thank you for joining me on this journey through 12 Truths of Christmas. This season, I pray that we may all choose joy. Let us embrace our peace on earth, and have goodwill towards men. I encourage you to be a Christmas light this year, lighting up our dark world. May we look for and appreciate the gifts in disguise. May we all look for the star.

Despite the craziness of this life, let us rest in the knowledge that we are right on time. Despite all the places where we feel inadequate, let us be ready for a Savior. I pray that we may discover the beauty in the stable. I pray that we would embrace the journey, and the surprises that come along the way. Let us celebrate the life that we have been given.

Merry Christmas, dear ones, may this season bring you light and life. Peace be with you in the name of Jesus our Redeemer, Amen.

7th Truth of Christmas- Ready For A Savior

I love to be prepared. I am the girl who packs her purse with snacks, nail clippers, and a Swiss Army knife. One of these days I hope to add a roll of duct tape in there as well. Yes, it is a goal of mine to make MacGyver proud.

I am the girl who gets on wikipedia and reads up on all possible trivia before going to a movie marathon. I love knowing things ahead of time, being prepared, and feeling ready.

I've grown more relaxed in this arena, but many times, I am the girl who spent a lot of mental energy on her appearance, wanting to look put together all the time.

Being prepared isn't a bad goal in life, so long as it stays in balance. Looking peaceful and put together aren't bad either, after all, our God is a God of order. Knowledge can be power. But my desires have definitely tipped over into unnecessary more than once. If I don't have every detail figured out ahead of time, I am tempted to feel panicked. I want to be on top of everything, the master of every skill, the girl who knows and does it all.

Let me tell you, the reality of life has a great way of knocking down your castles in the air. I have tried to be on top of everything in my life, and believe it or not....

....I have failed miserably.

Somewhere in my heart, I have believed the lie that I can't get through life without knowing what comes next and how to handle it. My pride and self-worth have been tied to my feeling in control and on top of things. Uncertainties are too terrifying, and not knowing what you are doing is a big dent to your ego.

I have prayed before, "God, please don't let such and such thing happen until I am ready for it." And by "ready for it", I meant that I had done all of my homework ahead of time. When the next thing came, I wanted to be the captain of the ship.

Lovingly, God hasn't listened to me when I am being an idiot. Instead, He has sent whatever I need to grow in my life in His timing, and not mine. This has led to me being thrust into many situations and seasons in life that I did not feel ready for, but had to face nonetheless.

It came out okay in the end; however, my pride was removed when I realized that I didn't know what I was doing and that was all right. And then from that new place of humility, I learned and matured. If I had known everything, I would not have room for growth. If God had brought things in my desired timeline, I wouldn't have gotten what I needed when I needed it most.

In our dream reality, I think most of us would look polished and professional. Arriving at every situation with composer and intelligence. We wouldn't be messy, our lives wouldn't be chaotic, and we would have a lot more answers.

Shepherds in ancient Judea spent most of their time out in the wilderness, where their lives were very intermingled with their animals. Bathing was probably about as rare as a blue sheep. They were stinky, very isolated from the world, and obscure to all of the "great" people of that time.

And then, lo and behold, one night an angel shows up to invite them to the Messiah's birthday party!

I would have been tempted to think, "What the heck? I'm not ready to go meet the Messiah! Excuse me Mr. Angelic Being, do I have time to grab a shower and change my tunic? Are you sure this is the address you were looking for?"

At least, I would have been tempted to ask those questions. But apparently the shepherds were wiser than me, for the Bible says that the shepherds went to Bethlehem with haste. As fast as their sandal-ed feet could move, those shepherds hurried to the manger to meet their Savior.

They were messy, they stank, they had likely sinned within the last 24 hours. But when they were invited to be in the presence of their Lord, they did not hesitate. The shepherds knew what a gift they were being given, a once in a life time opportunity that would never come again.

It didn't matter whether or not they looked or felt presentable. It didn't matter that they had no education or permanent address. Their Messiah was waiting and ready, and that was enough for them.

I didn't feel ready for Christmas this year. I didn't feel the energy, the sparkling Christmas "spirit". I found myself wishing that I had more time to be '"ready".

I'm a mess, like the rest of humanity, but I'm not going to let the fact that I feel unprepared stop me from embracing this Christmas. This year, this celebration, this moment is going to happen only once in a lifetime.

And when I begin to feel under-prepared and overwhelmed, what does God tell me?

"Don't worry sweetheart, because I am ready for you, and that's enough."

Embrace the gift of this Christmas, even if your life is crazy and you feel like a mess. It's okay if you don't feel ready for this season, because Jesus is ready for you. And He is enough.

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Need some more truth this Christmas? I've got at least 6 days worth to share with you! Catch up with Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6.

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Twelve Truths of Christmas

I'll admit, a fraction of me feels like just putting my head down and shuffling through Christmas this year.

In my own mind, I'm shouting "Blasphemy!" to myself. I'm usually all about Christmas, by July 7th I'm ready to start putting up the tree.

I'm all about hope, which is what Christmas means to me.

I'm all about sparkly lights.

I'm all about presents.

I'm all about the music, the people, the food, the meaning, the stories, the memories, and on, and on, and on.

I should feel thrilled, even more than usual this year, because this is my first Christmas as a graduated "adult". Yes, to all of those nineteen to twenty-five year old's out there, you know exactly why I put the word adult in quotation marks. At this point, I am assuming that once you reach the heightened age of twenty-six this whole adult thing will begin to make some sense.

I should feel all of that, the joy, the sparkles, the warmth....

....but I don't.

Life has been hard for me and my family for the last couple of years. We have been in a really difficult living situation that just keeps getting more cramped and hard to live in. God has really done a lot of painful work in our hearts over the last few years, digging up things and forcing us to work on them.

The last few years have been really great when it comes to growth, and I wouldn't trade this season for anything. I have matured so much.

But I'm tired, I want to move on, to the next place, literally, I want to get to a different house. Maybe I sound like a whiner, but certain things like AC, a furnace, less mold, and other things seem fairly reasonable to me.

So what does this have to do with Christmas? This: life just feels too messy and hard to fit Christmas into.

I know, that sounds nuts, doesn't it? But it's how I feel. Trying to fit Christmas in around all of the messy chaos of my life sounds so hard. And I know for a fact, I am not the only one who feels this.

Across America, across the world, there are millions of people who live busy, chaotic, and messy lives. And millions of those people celebrate Christmas.

Should we all just put our head down and shuffle through the holidays when we don't feel put together enough to celebrate? Should we just forget about the joy this season, and feel sad about the things that don't feel right? Not that Christmas will ever look like it does on Hallmark Channel, but, I have had more orderly Christmases before.

It's tempting, it may be really lame, but in a sense, it does sound easier to close up rather than trying to engage this celebration.

That is how I feel...

...but that is how I refuse to live.

I REFUSE to allow my Christmas to be taken from me by the troubles of this world and my own heart. I refuse to let joy slip away and be replaced by gray clouds. I refuse to let this season pass in a blur.

This Christmas, I choose to eagerly grab onto truth, life, and joy. This Christmas is precious, and beautiful, and just what I need right at this moment in my life.

I want to share this choice with you, and so, I have decided to write about Twelve Truths of Christmas that I am going to focus on this year. Starting on Sunday the 13th, I will be sharing a single truth each day, something precious that I am focusing on this Christmas season.

Join me. Don't let this precious season pass you by. I know life feels hard, maybe you are depressed, maybe your circumstances are less than ideal. But this is our Christmas, this is our Savior, and this season about our hope and joy!

Merry Christmas! See you all on Sunday for Day 1- Joy.