Ecclesia Global Missions

Now, I don’t know about you, but I love Christmas. I mean I really like it. I am one of those people who would decorate in October if I could. I have often been asked why I like this season so much. People assume it is because of receiving gifts or the parties, however, that is not the case. As an introvert, I would rather sit at home listening to Christmas music, knitting, crafting, or reading than attend public things.

There is so much I love about Christmas, but it all boils down to one thing—though thing really is not the right word. Let me explain. 

I enjoy all the lights at this time of year, the ones that are outside that we can drive around looking at, the lights on all the Christmas trees, the lights in our homes on the walls, doorways, and windows, and the lights of the candles that are lit, or rather, in most cases these days, turned on, the light from the stars at the top of the trees. I enjoy the twinkling lights, the solid lights, the colorful lights, and the white lights. I like them not only because they can be very pretty, romantic, beautiful, and spectacular as some displays can be, but when I see these lights, they bring such joy and peace to my mind, my heart, and my soul. 

The next thing that I love about Christmas is what is commonly known as Christmas cheer. People as a whole just seem to be happier, and more joyful, they seem to be more generous, more helpful, they seem kinder, and just overall more considerate of other people, they seem to be more humble. To me, there seems to be more connecting in the community, more coming together, people are talking more, visiting more, family is around more, and overall people just seem to have hope this time of year. There is almost a feeling of expectation in the air, not an expectation for gifts, but an expectation of miracles, of something happening. There appears to be more walking in the Fruit of the Spirit and feels as though there is love in the air if you will. 

There is also more singing, even more singing to God as people sing traditional Christmas songs. People who do not normally sing aloud will sing this time of year. Children laugh more and enjoy all the festivities this time of year brings. A good belly laugh always brings a smile to my face. 

I also enjoy looking at Christmas trees. It is always fun to see what other people do, the traditions they may have about decorating trees, and the discussions of whether real or fake is best. It is always fun to see the different themes some have for their trees. I relax at night sitting in my chair by the tree, with the twinkling lights on it, the ornaments that my children made during their childhood, the memories that come back as I think about each one, and the Christmases that we have been blessed to have together, and the hope for the future and what God has in store for each one of them in what He has called them to do. While there are more things that I love about Christmas, such as the music, most of which is worship and praise to our Almighty Father in Heaven, or movies that represent the joy and kindness of this time of year, most importantly, my favorite part of Christmas is Jesus. Jesus is at the center of each of my favorite things about Christmas. In everything I am reminded of Who Jesus is and what He did. 

First and foremost, I am reminded that God came down from heaven to earth!

Isaiah 7:14
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Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Listen carefully, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will call his name Immanuel (God with us).

John 1:14
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The Word Made Flesh
And the Word (Christ) became flesh, and lived among us; and we [actually] saw His glory, glory as belongs to the [One and] only begotten Son of the Father, [the Son who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, who is] full of grace and truth (absolutely free of deception).

God with us, that is something, isn’t it? God isn’t just with His people, He isn’t with just a few favored people as it was in the Old Testament, God is with us, He is with you and He is with me because He came down to earth. 

He didn’t come as a mighty warrior, a stately king, or even someone to look up to. 

He came as a baby, and He came because He loved the world so much, not just His people of Israel. but all people—everyone from the past, present, and future. To know that Jesus came to earth as a humble baby, to walk as a man walks because He loves me is already pretty amazing. but oh how we know there is so much more to it than that!

John 3:16-17
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“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him.

In all of the Christmas lights, I am reminded of Jesus. I am reminded that He is the light of the World, as He states in John 8:12

John 8:12
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Jesus Is the Light of the World
Once more Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

2 Corinthians 4:6
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For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give us the Light of the knowledge of the glory and majesty of God [clearly revealed] in the face of Christ.

The lights remove all darkness,  they shed light into the room, the yard, and the area where the lights are. You can see because of the light, and in that seeing you are not bound by the darkness that was once surrounding you. 

The light of Jesus removes that darkness that once surrounded us when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. His light sets us free, it brings peace, joy, and hope. You can see sin for what it is, and it can bring a desire to be set apart for God. He is saving us from that darkness. 

The stars we see everywhere remind me of the shepherds in the field and how the angels alerted them to the Messiah Who was born, and the praises the angels sang to God, how excited the shepherds were to go see Jesus, as scripture states, they went immediately or without haste to see what the Lord revealed to them through His angels, and they shared with Mary and Joseph what the angels said and did. It is a reminder of the night that Jesus was born. 

It is also a reminder of the Wisemen who followed the star from afar, to Bethlehem and how God saved Jesus from King Herod. How God spoke to Joseph and how he obeyed. In this, it makes me think about times when I hear, feel, and sense the nudges and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and my own obedience. 

Seeing more fruit come from people automatically walking in the fruits of the Spirit this time of year, does make me wish, hope, and pray that we see it more throughout the year. However, I am grateful to get to witness such acts of kindness and generosity, as people walk in love as Christ commanded us to do.

John 13:34
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I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another.

Matthew 5:44
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But I say to you, love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

There is no greater example of what it is to love one another than Jesus loving us. The way that He loves me, in the way and things I do not deserve, reminds me to offer grace and mercy to others. It is joyful, it just makes me smile when I see strangers walking in love with one another; when I see people helping others, when people are putting others before them. There is more patience and joy, more peace, there is more love, kindness, and gentleness as people interact with one another. Goodness can be found as communities and others help those who need it, as they donate toys, food, and needed items to others. There is more faithfulness as we are all reminded of Jesus, and often share Him more this time of year, as we step out in faith. And there is more self-control as people think of others, as they put others first, as they humble themselves. 

Yes, I see Jesus even in the trees. If you google metaphors about Jesus and Christmas trees you will find a few different thoughts and teachings. They are as varied as there are interpretations of God’s Word. We can each see something a little different in His Word as we read it, as God speaks to us through His Word. It is a living Word after all. 

But for me, the beautiful trees remind me of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Galatians 3:13
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Christ purchased our freedom and redeemed us from the curse of the Law and its condemnation by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs [crucified] on a tree (cross)”—

Jesus, our Redeemer, our Savior, our Deliverer, paid the price for our sins. He bore the penalty of sin so that we can have eternal life with God in heaven. He willingly went to the cross for you and He went to the cross for me. He went to the cross for our enemies. As John 3:16 & 17 states, He did it because of love. He did it so that we might be saved. He did it so that we can have a relationship with God because, in our sin, we are not righteous enough to even look to God, let alone have a relationship with Him.

Romans 5:8-9
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But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Therefore, since we have now been justified [declared free of the guilt of sin] by His blood, [how much more certain is it that] we will be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

Romans 6:23
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For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:21
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He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His gracious lovingkindness].

There are thousands of different scriptures I could share here. Thousands that show us the love of Christ as He gave up His life for ours. Thousands of scriptures speak to us of how Jesus redeemed us, how He bought us back and brought us back to God through His blood, through what He did for us, thousands of scriptures about the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ. Thousands of scriptures of God wanting us to know what we have through Jesus, the wonderful, amazing, miraculous work He did because of His love for us. This beautiful thing that He has done for us. 

This is another aspect of the beauty that I find in Christmas trees. As we decorate them, they become a reflection of us to a point. It is what we find attractive, what we enjoy, what we like to look at, and as my tree reveals, what we treasure. 

Are we treasuring Jesus? Are we treasuring what He did for us? Are we finding beauty in it?

All of this reminds me to be thankful that God even chose me to reveal Himself to, so that I can see Jesus, so that my eyes, my ears, my heart and my mind would be open to seeing Jesus, to receiving Jesus, to accept Jesus.

John 6:44
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No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him [giving him the desire to come to Me]; and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day.

I think we all have family members who God is working in and on. This time of year makes it easy and possible to share about Jesus, and to ask God’s guidance as you speak about Him and as your actions reveal Jesus Christ. We have life, because of Jesus. We are not paying the penalty of death for our sins, because Jesus paid that price for us. We have access to our heavenly Father because of Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life, this is something to hold close to our hearts as we enter this season of Christmas. 

We can sometimes get overwhelmed by the chaos that Christmas can bring. The things that are not necessarily my favorite parts of Christmas, but things that remind me of Jesus nonetheless. 

To walk in patience as the stores are extremely busy as people prepare to entertain, to walk in patience with family members who know what buttons to push and how to test me. To invite God into my day every day and ask that He lead me and guide me. That He speaks through me, that His words come out of my mouth as I speak with salt and tenderness and not harshness, and to guide me as I share about Jesus, as He leads, not as my will leads. 

It reminds me to walk in grace and mercy for those who may be struggling this time of year. Those who may not have what they need, those who may be struggling physically, mentally, and emotionally as well as spiritually. 

It reminds me to pray for others, to pray without ceasing for their salvation. To make the time to spend time with God. Not to get caught up in all the doing, which quite honestly, I tend to do. I need these reminders from God, in everything that I see about Jesus in Christmas. It strengthens me spiritually, it strengthens me physically and it strengthens me emotionally for the year, as I prepare to walk as Jesus walked. 

When we think of presents at Christmas, we can sometimes become so overwhelmed by the cost, by the work it takes to purchase presents for our families, friends, and others. Some put so much effort into the decisions they make for these presents, such as finding that perfect gift, what wrapping paper to use, and how to make it look pretty and presentable. Some go above and beyond and more than they can afford to, some have guilt in not being able to do more. I like to think we do this because we are giving of ourselves as we spend time doing this. That we are portraying to the receiver how we feel about them in this process, sometimes this process can consume us. It can take over and we lose sight of why we are gifting, why we are even doing what we do, to begin with. 

In this, we can lose sight of Jesus. Jesus, Who is the greatest gift of all. When we wrap presents, are we thinking about the Giver that gave Jesus to us? Are we thinking about how He was wrapped up for us? The tenderness of a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths, the manger that He lay in, which is greater than all our extravagance. 

We can lose sight of enjoying each and every second of the days we have been blessed to have as we strive to do our best for everyone else. In this striving we miss out on striving to do our best and be our best for Jesus. Everything else becomes the focus. We teach our children that Christmas is about receiving gifts, instead of receiving the most important Gift of all. We teach them about taking and not giving. 

For me, this past year has been about balance. In everything I read in God’s Word, He has been revealing to me that there must be balance in my life and to question where my heart lies. Because as His Word says, where your heart is there your treasure lies. 

During this time of year because of the busyness of it, we must, I know I must, be asking God where my treasure is, where that balance is. Am I trying to make everything the best for my children and grandchildren because of what I lacked? Am I trying to be everything for everyone that I am not doing what God wants me to do? Or being what God has called me to be?

So as you can see, everything that I love about Christmas and even things that I don’t necessarily like, bring me back to Jesus. Who as the saying goes, is the reason for the season. 

If you are listening to this or reading this, and are not yet a Christian, or have not yet accepted Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, I would like to give you the opportunity to receive Him today, as well as for those who would like to recommit themselves to God. Personally, I believe we recommit ourselves to God every day, we do so when we repent, and we do so when we make the choice to focus on Him, we do so during prayer and reading His Word. All we have to do as Paul states,

Romans 10:9-10
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because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart a person believes [in Christ as Savior] resulting in his justification [that is, being made righteous—being freed of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God]; and with the mouth he acknowledges and confesses [his faith openly], resulting in and confirming [his] salvation.

If you would like to do this please pray with me:

Lord, I confess that I believe in Jesus, I want to make Him my Lord and Savior, I know that He came to earth as a baby, died on the cross, and rose again on the 3rd day so that my sins could be wiped clean. I confess that I am a sinner and I need you, Lord. Thank you for the gift of Jesus and thank you for revealing Him to me, for opening my heart to receive. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

And remember to keep Jesus at the center of your heart this Christmas season and all year through. God is in everything! Look for Jesus in all that you do and all that surrounds you. He is where our hope is,

1 Peter 1:3
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Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant and boundless mercy has caused us to be born again [that is, to be reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] to an ever-living hope and confident assurance through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

He is where our peace comes from,

John 14:27
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Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.]

He is our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He deserves our praise, our worship, our admiration, our exaltation.

Romans 15:13
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May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.

May your Christmas be filled with the love of Christ, may He open your hearts, your ears, your eyes and your mind to receive Him.

May His peace be felt each and every day and may your time with family and loved ones be full of Joy. May you never feel alone again, as God is with you!

Matthew 1:23
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“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel”—which, when translated, means, “God with us.”