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Christmas Past and Christmas Present

Yes it is here the season that I am dreading. How are we going to get through this time of year? I do not even like to think of the past years and the joy of celebration and closeness that we shared as a family. It is much too painful.
This past week  Alekhya copied me on an email that she had written to some friends. I was so blessed that I asked her permission to post it. Being the very private person  that she is(unlike her mother!!) it took some persuasion but here it is...

So, since Christmas is going to be brutal without Papa, I’ve been asking God to prepare my heart for it and teach me how to focus on HIM this Christmas. 
 
On this journey of asking God to help me focus on Christ this Christmas, I believe that He has been speaking to me...and this morning I read something that I feel really encapsulates what I feel I've been learning/reflecting on. I just really, for some reason, felt like sharing an excerpt with you! I hope you are encouraged as you prepare for the season: 


"Apart from the Gospel narratives, the birth of Jesus isn't celebrated in Scripture. In fact, the apostles don't recall this stable at Bethlehem, nor do they mention Mary by name, shepherds, wise men, or the star, to say nothing of cattle, sheep, and snowy winter!

Unless we view Bethlehem from the perspective of the Cross, most of what we sing and celebrate at Christmas amounts to glorifying the cradle, not the Cross. The love of a babe in a manger even though virgin-born and a King does nothing to save us. The apostle Paul wrote, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world," (Gal.6:14 KJV). 

What saves us is the love revealed; when a grown-up Jesus hangs on Cross, suffers, and dies. When we have been to Calvary we cannot glory in the manger beyond the fact it was the preparation for the Cross. 

To know and experience the real meaning of Christmas we must not linger too long at Bethlehem. We must go on to Calvary. We should remember the crib, but we should live at the Cross. The wonder and glory of Christmas is not the Jesus came it is rather he came to die for sinners like you and me! His virgin birth brought God to us, but only his death as our substitute should bring us to God." 

 Isn't that awesome? And the writer doesn't even mention Santa Claus and the whole host of other lies that our society has now made a part of Christmas. I was thinking the other day, "I wonder what Jesus himself thinks about this whole Christmas thing? Is this what he ever intended? Does he like it?" For some reason, I feel as if He may do a bit more than roll his eyes at the holiday....because it has sort of snowballed into this monstrous thing that often has very little to do with Him, and more to do with gifts and evergreen trees. And for years I have inadvertently bought into the whole thing!---because I guess for years I've had everything that society says you should have at Christmas. This time around, in the midst of my pain and in the midst of my loss, I'm so thankful that God has opened my eyes to see and celebrate the real meaning of Christmas. 

 

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