What does Christmas Mean to You?

Nowadays, people always associate Christmas with presents, parties, Santa Claus, families, etc. However, do you know what Christmas really is? It is true that Christmas normally is family time, gathering giving presents and enjoying each other company. Most often, people forget what Christmas really is about. Christmas is about Jesus, who was born and died for all of us. Christmas is about our salvation, redemption and restoration which is made possible only by Jesus and Him alone. Christmas is about celebrating the birthday of our wonderful Savior. Christmas is about receiving the most wonderful present ever, that is Jesus. Now, if you never thought of Christmas that way, why don't you start from now? Reevaluate yourself and think, what does Christmas really mean to you? Do you acknowledge the birth of our Savior and rejoicing? Don't forget the true meaning of Christmas.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Let's celebrate the birth of our Savior!



Below is a story by Dave Egner.

It seems to happen earlier each year. Stores put up Christmas decorations. Newspaper ads announce "the perfect Christmas gift." Toy commercials punctuate television shows. Christmas music fills the air. Before you know it, there are banquets to attend, parties you can't miss, gifts to wrap, family gatherings to plan, baking to be done, and a host of other activities that manage to crowd out the real meaning of Christmas.

Delores Van Belkum told me a story about her young grandson that drives home the point. His mother and father had used a simple manger scene to tell Justin about Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus. They wanted him to know that the Child born in Betlehen was someone very special. As the holiday apporached, Justin went on a shopping trip with his mother and grandmother. One salesperson showed him a sparkling display of Santas, toys, and decorations. He was fascinated. But he spoke words that far surpassed his years when he looked up and said, "But where's the baby Jesus?"

This Christmas, let's keep foremost in our minds the reason for the celebration - the birth of God's Son. Then, as people listen to our words and observe our activities, they won't ask, "Where's the baby Jesus?"



Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled."
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th' angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem."
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

A Christmas Story

There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays, like Christmas. His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments. One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a Christmas Eve service in the farm community in which they lived. She asked him to come, but he refused. "That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!" So she and the children left, and he stayed home. A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. Then another thump. He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet.



When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window. In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn't go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles,blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed.



The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It's warm andsafe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn't seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them and they moved further away. He went into the house and came with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread crumbs trail leading tothe barn. They still didn't catch on. Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe. "Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?"



He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a goose, then ! I could save them," he said out loud.Then he had an idea. He went into barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn-and one by one the other geese followed it to safety.



He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save them!" Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. "Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!" Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese-blind, lost, perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could show us the way and save us. That was the meaning ofChristmas, he realized. As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood what Christmas was all about, why Christ had come. Years of doubt and disbelief vanished like the passing storm.He fell "Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!"

~Author unknown~

You are there

Thank you Jesus for what You have done for me & for being who You are



Jesus, The day before I was born again
You have died for my sins
You were there
The day after I was born again, You came to me
You watched me in my every step
You helped me through my pains
You supplied me with every thing I needed
You blessed me with all the joy within me
You were there
Jesus, You are my joy
You are my love
You are my happiness
You are my peace
You are my every thing
Every step I make, You are always there with me
Making sure I know what I do
Helping me making the right decision
Jesus, You've been there all along
What else can I ask for
I am truly grateful the day You became a part of me

~Kristy Kusuma~

Loving God

"Loving God brings about a commitment to Him. When you love somebody, you are committed to him in every way. There is nothing that you will not do for someone you love. A real relationship with God enables you to walk in His commandments. God wants to have a relationship with us, and not just when things are going wrong. He desires to have a relationship that touches every facet of our lives. Think about it. How would you feel if your friends and family members called only when there was an emergency? Any other time you didn't hear from them at all. This is how the Lord feels when He has made it possible for us to come into daily, hourly, minute-by-minute relationship with Him - and we don't. We must realize that He is concerned about every detail, every moment, of our lives."

~Juanita Bynum, an excerpt from "Matters of the Heart"~



This passage is meant to remind us again and again to thank God IN everything. It happened to me personally. When I love someone, I will do everything to get to know the person better. However, I did not do the same to the Lord. I admit that it is easier to do it to a person because you can see the person and you will get a respond back from the person. I know that God will respond back to us. Nevertheless, sometimes it is hard to know that it is Him that I do not bother to build a better relationship with Him. I talk to Him everyday, not only when I have a rough day, but through my happiness and my sorrow. The only thing that I always regret is I can not make myself do the things I need to do in order to know Him better or just to have a better relationship, to move to the next level.

Forgive me Father. Will you help me please?

Christmas

There is one thing that strucked me today at church when my pastor was preaching.

The three wise men gave baby Jesus presents when He was born. That's how the tradition of giving presents during Christmas time started. However, they gave the presents to Jesus, to the Lord, not to the parents, not to each other.

The question that my pastor asked us is, "What will you give Jesus in this Christmas time?"

Anyone wants to share his/her answer, I will truly appreciate it.

God is ALL I Need

Praise the Lord!
This is an excerpt from today's sermon at my church. I feel very blessed to be the member of Canaan Missionary Baptist Church with Rev. B.J Tatum as the senior pastor which is a great church with good teachings. I want to share what I learn to all of you so you may be blessed too. Right now we are at Matthew. We are celebrating the season where Jesus was born and this sermon is from Matthew 2. I hope they will be a blessing to you too.



What will happen if you find a stable instead of a palace as you were hoping for? What will happen when you were expecting for something great and glorious, but you found something which is much less instead? The three wise men found a stable instead of a palace that they expected. However, they looked for God in that stable and gave Him all their treasures.

In life, you will always be put in a place where you are not looking for or where you are not expecting. What should we do in this kind of situation?

~ Find the Lord in that situation, whether it is a stable or a palace
God is everywhere. He is not with us only in our best situation. He is also with us in our worst situation. In the midst of our troubles, He is there too with us. You just have to find Him. Don't be too wrap up with your circumstances that you forget to acknowledge Him. He wants you to seek Him regardless your form at that time.

~ Give your very best.
Whether you find Jesus in a stable or in the place where you don't want to be at, regardless of your circumstances, you need to give your very best. When things don't give you your very best, that is when you need to give your very best or special efforts. The best way to handle your worst situation is to put your very best effort to it. Then you will know your real strength. (My pastor gave an example using his own situation. When your spouse was angry with you, that's when you would make a special effort to win her heart again. Do not let the situation make you fall deeper and worsen the situation. Solve it with your best effort) Sometimes stable will change your direction and lead you to another way - which is perhaps where God wants you to go

~ Intensify your prayer time
When things do not work as how you want them to be, increase your prayer time. God wants His people to worship Him. He wants you to get closer to Him. The way for Him to make it happen is to give you trials to make you realize how you need Him badly in EVERYTHING. Keep praying, even more than usual. Hear Him well and you'll know what to do.



Do NOT ever forget. He will NEVER let you go, no matter what. He loves you. Hang on there. In time, everything will fall into places.

May God bless you and keep you.



Mercy Said No
~Cece Winans~

I was just a child, when I felt the Savior leading
I was drawn to what I could not understand
And for the cause of Christ, I have spent my days believing
That what He'd have me be, is who I am

As I've come to see the weaker side of me
I realize His grace is what I'll need
When sin demanded justice for my sould

Mercy said no
I'm not going to let you go
I'm not going to let you slip away
You don't have to be afraid

Mercy said no
Sin will never take control
Life and death stood face to face
Darkness tried to steal my heart away
Thank you Jesus
Mercy said no

A Heart Like Yours

I tried to reach out for You but I fall
Sometimes You seem so close,
And yet so far
Oh I need another chance.
I need to know Your mercy
Just give me strength
To change within

I know I'm not all that I can be
My weakness seems to get the best of me
Bust as long as You are here,
I know that I will make it
Every step along the way,
Please hear my prayer

A heart like Yours, is my desire
A heart like Yours,
Is what I'm searching for
Full of compassion,
Nothing wrong within
Please hear me Lord,
Give me a heart like Yours

So much grace, so much kindness
So much faith, forever true
Strong as the wind, soft as the shadows
If just once, I could be like You

A heart like Yours is my desire!

~Cece Winans~



Father, this is my prayer. Thank You for everything.

God is good, ALL THE TIME

I talked to my friend today and she told me that her friend was raped few weeks ago. Maybe you would say, "Rape? That's normal. It happens everyday." I agree. However, when I asked her more questions about it, she told me that the victim knew (not personally) who the rapist was. The victim (an African American) went to a majority white populated college and she suffered from racism every day. Not enough with the racism, she was raped. The rapist was white. When I heard this, I just felt so much pain for her, and i personally feel HATE. I have hatred in my heart (which is a little bit unusual I must say). I hate the racism, I hate the rapist, I hate the people. Why did you have to do that? Why? It's just beyond thinking. Don't you have heart? feeling? compassion for others?



When things like this happened, I started questioning, why did God let this to happen? I thought He loves us, His people, then why did He still let this thing happened? I thought to myself, how would I react if this thing happened to me? I don't know how I would react. But I hope that I will still praising God at that time. I know that God has His own plans for us and no one knows what He is thinking, or how He thinks. Therefore, I know, whatever happened, God must know why. And truly, we don't have to know the reason why when it happened. But we will find out later in our lives, when it has impacted us in other areas. Because that is how God works. He uses the circumstances to shape us, to build us, to make us stronger, His people whom He loved so.



I am very impressed with that girl, especially her faith and strength. She actually has started going to college again this week. For you, who read my blog, that has experienced unjustice, know that God has a plan for you. God is good, and He is always good, ALL THE TIME. Keep praying, and forgive yourself and the circumstances. He will bring it to over. Keep praising His name. That's why it is said, "IN everything, give thanks." He loves you and He always will. He gave us His only Son, what more can you ask?



I know it is hard to do it at the beginning, and I know it is easy for me to give you these advices because I have never experienced it. You know, that's what friends are for, to remind you of His goodness. I will keep reminding you of how good He has been to you, despite all circumstances, and when it's my turn to be at your place, I hope that you will remind me too.



Oh, How He Loves You and Me

Oh, how He loves you and me!
Oh, how he loves you and me!
He gave His life, what more could He give?
Oh, how He loves you,
Oh, how He loves me,
Oh, how He loves you and me!

Jesus to Calvary did go,
His love for mankind to show.
What He did there, brought hope from despair.
Oh, how He loves you,
Oh, how He loves me,
Oh, how He loves you and me!