Because of Christmas...
The days of matchless … miraculous … and breathtaking wonder are upon us … the days of Christmas.
The Savior of the world has come.
Heaven’s grandeur invaded earth’s mundane with a miraculous gift.
The Divine has left the enormity of eternity and has entered the limiting boundaries of time.
The joy of His presence has come to trump depression … to defeat discouragement … and to conquer gloom for every day of every decade of every century.
Peace now rules over confusion and discord. The Savior has a Name … He is known as “The Prince of Peace”.
Light has obliterated darkness! Nothing will ever be the same in all epochs to come … the Light of the world now lights the way of mere mortals.
Where once darkness had authority … now Light rules and reigns.
Where once shadows marred the view of abundant life … now unclouded horizons are ablaze with possibility.
My friends … it is Christmas! Let the rejoicing begin!
Let the perpetual and triumphant song of the Season find a resting place in your weary heart.
Please … please … please … do not allow the trappings to swallow up the treasure. What a monstrous mistake that would be!
Do not allow the temporary to diminish the miraculous. What an enormous error of gargantuan proportions that would be!
Do not allow your disappointment with life to create a murky fog that disguises the gift you have been given. What a sad legacy that will leave!
Hope has come and your world has been refreshed … renewed … and restored.
Hope is not wishing upon a star nor is it fictional fantasy.
Hope is simply choosing to believe, with renewed fervor and with joyous vigor, that God’s promises are true.
God is a good Father, and you are not forgotten.
Your name has been written on the Savior’s hands.
And while we are hoping … we are a people of grand celebration!
Do not allow human obstacles or the fiasco of other’s lack of enthusiasm mar your potential for living a life of Christmas impact.
Something so extraordinary has been born in us that demons tremble … darkness runs and hides … and the angels stand to their feet with a joyous roar of encouragement.
Temporary setbacks are a false alarm! He has been born in you and you have been born again!
You can be at rest … you can embrace peace.
Hope and peace are the personal endowment that heaven has given to you. That’s right … it has been given to YOU!
And if peace and hope are not enough to fan the flame of your Christmas zeal … let me remind you about the joy that has come!
The Name of the Savior is “Emmanuel”!
He is …“God is with us”!
“In His presence is fullness of joy!” – Psalm 16:11
Because the presence of the Creator of the universe has been delivered to planet earth … joy has accompanied Him on this vivid journey.
Jesus never leaves home without joy!
And He brought joy not to keep it selfishly to Himself but to generously give it away.
Jesus lavishly and liberally shares the atmosphere of His presence … which is described with one word … and that word is JOY!
“And behold, I bring you good news of great JOY which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Savior Who is Christ the Lord!” – Luke 2:10
Peace … hope … joy!
What marvelous gifts He brings!
And, as we ponder the meaning of Christmas, let us not forget that Love was born in the crude, tiny manger nearly 2,000 years ago.
Love like the world had never known … Love incarnate … Love visible … Love powerful … Love triumphant!
All babies come wrapped in their own personal blanket of love.
And, for the Babe named Jesus, His blanket of love was not for Himself but it was for you.
He has come to share His blanket with you.
His covering of unearned love was always meant to be shared with a world in pain.
He shares His most resplendent endowment with you … Love.
You have been covered and comforted by His eternal and personal Love.
If you are questioning God’s love for you today, remember Christmas.
Think upon the Darling of heaven who was sent so that you and I could experience the love of heaven.
Think about the preposterous reality that Jesus left the streets of gold … the adoration of the angels … and the presence of the Father just because of love for you.
He came because of love.
He died because of love.
You live because of love.
Christmas, at its heart, is all about love.
Christmas is an eternal, unstoppable, unbelievable, miraculous, outrageous, zealous love that has taken aim at your cold heart.
Because of Christmas … we can sing joyously and we can give generously.
Because of Christmas … we can love the difficult and we can forgive the offender.
Because of Christmas … we can hope for the impossible and we can trust the good, good Father.
Because of Christmas … we can dance on top of pain and we can rejoice in spite of tears.
Because of Christmas … we are His.
He has been born for us. He has been born in us. We have been born again.
Merry Christmas, my friends. Merry, joyful Christmas!
Thanks for listening to my heart this week. As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me. And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!