Christmas Time
My prayers for you this Christmas would be for devices (TV, phones, computers, tablets, etc) to be put on the back burner and for your family and friends to take priority. You only get THIS Christmas just this one day, you can never have it back. When the moment is passed if you missed it you lost it and you can't get it back. Take pictures to look back on but look at your kids, your friends, your parents, your siblings more than the screen on your camera. While you're waiting for just the right lighting or just the right pose you're going to miss everything else. If this was the day and age when Jesus was born, who would notice? With Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and all the games and apps that keep us busy would we have even answered the door when Mary came knocking? Would we have even acknowledged the angel sending us good news? As a believer, every day should be a reminder of God's glory, His mercy, His provisions and His sweet love for us. Christmas is not just about the beautiful music or the candlelight vigils it's about remembering and being reminded of that babe. That babe was rejected from the inn, abandoned in a trough, weak, meek, innocent and the King of kings. "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and Only son, who came from the father, full of grace and truth," John 1:14. That babe grew into a perfect man. A man that was hated, despised, tortured, and the Savior of the world. "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit," 1 Peter 3:18. I pray that you would each know that love of our Savior. I pray that we would not get wrapped up in whether a person expresses their cheer with a "happy holiday" or a "merry Christmas" but that we would be thankful for kind salutations. I pray that we would become less offended by the world and try harder to be like Christ. I pray we would each stress less and love more. I pray that Christmas would be more than a package with a nice little bow. I pray that you set an example for your children, an example of compassion and grace. I pray that you would forgive someone this season, let go of the bitterness and the anger that imprisons you. I pray that I can spread the hope of Christ to someone who doesn't know of it this Christmas. I pray that my efforts to draw people closer to Christ do not feel like force. I pray that others, friends and family, will not be disappointed with the gifts or lack of gifts this season from our financially stale home. I pray that our hearts are bigger than our pocketbooks and we draw closer to one another. I pray that you have a very Merry Christmas.
With Love
