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Welcome
to our Christmas Pages |
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All the poems and stories have been written to be a blessing to you during this season and to glorify the One whom we celebrate.
We pray love, peace and joy for you and your family throughout this holiday season and throughout the New Year.
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It’s
Not The Wrapping That Counts! |
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Being a mom of three children and now a grandmother of three grandchildren I have received many gifts over the years wrapped in all different ways. There were gifts wrapped in newspapers, paper bags, unusual wrapping paper and even some barely wrapped at all. Gifts with so much tape it was truly a challenge to keep an excited look at the young eyes waiting expectantly for me to see their special surprise. I would hold each gift as if it was the best gift I had ever received, taking time to comment all through the unwrapping process and wondering to myself what I would find when I finally got to the gift inside. The children would stand there just waiting, knowing how proud they were of the gift I was about to see that came from their heart. Whether it was a picture, or an ornament made by their little hands or a special gift they picked out in a store my responses to their anticipation was always excitement, even when I couldn’t figure out exactly what the gift was. I learned that they were not concerned about the price of the gift, or if they found just the right gift, or even what gift they may receive in return but instead their excitement was hoping I would know the gift truly came from their heart. As they patiently waited for me to get through all the wrappings, the love and joy of giving was evident in their eyes. Each and every gift I have ever opened from one of my children or grandchildren was and still is priceless to me for they were gifts given from the heart of a child, wrapped with little fingers in many different ways but always with love. This month we celebrate the birth of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He is the gift of God to all of us and He is the greatest gift we can ever receive. Like many of the gifts I received from my children and grandchildren Jesus did not come into this world perfectly wrapped on the outside. In fact in Isaiah 53, verses 2 and 3 we read:
“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is not beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men. A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were our faces from Him, He was despised and we did not esteem Him.”
Jesus did not come to this world in the way man anticipated a King would come, He wore no costly robes and the only crown placed on His head was a crown of thorns. Yet the life He came to give to you and to me is more priceless than any gift we could ever receive or give. Many were blinded to the gift of God as they still are today because they looked and are still looking at the way the gift came wrapped into this world. After all, how could the Messiah not even have a room to be born in, did He not deserve the very best; yet He was born in a stable surrounded by his parents, animals, and shepherds. No one saw the angels rejoicing; no one saw the look of Our Heavenly Father watching from heaven waiting for His gift to be received by many. Few could understand or see the true gift that had been given because just like us sometimes we are looking for the most expensive wrapped gift, thinking that one will be the one that will change our lives in some way. God’s gift to us, Jesus Christ, was not wrapped as expected and therefore He was and is rejected by many. I can only imagine the sadness in Our Father’s eyes as we reject His gift year after year. I can only compare it to the look on one of my children’s eyes that I might have seen had I rejected the gift they worked so hard to wrap special just for me. Thankfully I have never had to see that look of rejection in them just as I pray I will never have to see the look in God’s eyes when His gift is rejected because of the way Jesus came into this world.
The gift of God, Our Savior Jesus Christ was and is and always will be the most expensive gift given to us, for the price of the gift was His own life, given for us that we might have life and life more abundantly. When our eyes are opened spiritually to the works of Our Father’s hand, to the “Gift” He has given we no longer see the wrapping, we see the heart of a Father who loved us so much that He gave His Son Jesus Christ that whoever believes on Him will have eternal life. (John 3:16)
We as a church are representatives of His gift to the world. We all come wrapped in different ways, yet our heart and our lives prayerfully reflect the love of Christ to those who are perishing. The world is watching us even more these days for they are looking for hope in a time when much hope is needed. None of us are wrapped perfectly on the outside yet as we continue to reach out in love and touch lives with His love the gift that dwells within us is able to be seen a little clearer by each person. When we look beyond the wrappings of others we also begin to see their hearts and the need within for a Savior. We my friends have been given the awesome blessing of being messengers of God to a dying world. We have the ability to give a perfect gift to all those we meet, we only need to open our hearts and mouths and let His love flow into the hearts of others. As we do that we begin to see the wrappings of this world begin to come off their hearts and with all expectation we anxiously wait for Christ to be birthed in others. What greater gift can you give my friend this year to all those you come in contact with? Be careful not to let the outside fool you, never think there is too much tape on that one heart that it can’t be reached because through prayer and by the Spirit of God we will be able to see eyes opened to the gift of Jesus Christ and hearts made whole by the forgiveness of sins that He gives. Unwrap each heart carefully knowing inside there is a place for the King who was born in a manger to dwell and keep that heart throughout eternity. Just as I took time opening each special gift from one of my children I pray we will also take the time to unwrap all the wonders of the Kingdom of God that is ours through Jesus Christ. The Lord is patient with us, some things in our lives He removes immediately and other things He takes time to gently remove the wrappings that may bind us as He begins to fill our hearts with the precious gift of His Holy Spirit.
Our God is an awesome God and this Christmas season I pray that whenever we see wrapping paper we will stop to think of the most wonderful gift we have been given, the gift of Jesus Christ. I pray we will always be aware that it is not the wrapping on the outside that counts but instead the heart of Our Father who gave freely to us the best gift we could ever receive. God bless you and have a wonderful and blessed Christmas with your family and friends. |
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The Everlasting Gift
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Do you remember certain gifts you received at Christmas time? Does one Christmas morning stand out in your mind more than others? Well there is one Christmas that I will never forget and I would like to share that special memory with you.
Christmas has always been my favorite holiday and as I look back to when I was a child I am surprised that the memories of Christmas still warm my heart. Most of you know I did not grow up in the best of circumstances. There were eight children and not much money but some how Christmas was always a happy time. It was a time when love was shared. But the Christmas I remember the most was just a few years ago. For the first time in many years it was going to be just the kids and me. I didn't think I could get through it, after all Christmas is a family holiday and my family was minus one person.
Well God is good and merciful, He sent a friend and her daughter and as single moms we went forth with the celebration. My children must have sensed my pain because that year I received the most precious gifts from them that I have ever received. My daughter, Dawn, gave me a plaque that said:
"No one can take the place of a mother."
My son David gave me one of those Hallmark gifts that said:
"Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet."
My youngest daughter Tammy gave me a music box and imprinted on top was:
"I love you Mom."
My heart was overwhelmed with joy. They really knew what I needed to hear and I will treasure these gifts forever. They say to me, "We love you mom and it is going to be all right." I had a great Christmas that year.
The Bible tells us in John 3:16:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
What greater gift could we ask for. It is from God and it is for free. God gives it with love and it holds a promise for our future. It cannot be bought or earned; all we have to do is receive Him.
"The Wondrous Gift"
"For unto us a Child is born.
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder;
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
The Bible tells us in Psalm 72 verse 18:
"blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things."
When I looked up the words that were synonymous with Wondrous, I found words like miraculous, unexplainable, unutterable, unthinkable, and stunning. Words that could only be attributed to Our God, Our Father. To do a wondrous thing means to perform a miracle, marvel, wonder or supernatural deed, that is something beyond the human ability to grasp, do or achieve. We know that this is who God is because of all the wondrous things we read in the Bible:The parting of the Red Sea, the walls of Jericho falling down, Jonah in the belly of a whale, the provision for the widow that God sent Elijah to.
All of these things are beyond our ability to grasp. We cannot figure it out, we don't know how God did all these things, but we believe He did.
To me the most wondrous thing God ever did was send His Son to this world, that through Him we might find forgiveness of sins. The Bible tells us that Jesus left the glory He had with His father to come and do His will that God may be glorified. Think about it, Jesus left the most glorious place He could ever know to walk on this earth, to die on a cross that we might have eternal life. His name is Wonderful, and the prophecy in Isaiah told the world of His coming and yet they didn't believe Him when He came.
When we read the gospel of Luke he tells us of all the events that surround the birth of Jesus. He tells us that the angel Gabriel was sent by God to Mary, and the angel told her:
"Do not be afraid, Mary for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
The birth of Jesus is a wondrous miracle, something we don't understand, something we could never do, but Our Father in heaven did it for us. He sent His Son as His gift to us, and there is not enough money in the world to buy the gift, for it is free. It comes from a Father who loves us and was willing to sacrifice for us, and although you will not find it in any store, or under your tree on Christmas morning it is a gift that is freely given to all and I hope that this Christmas Day you will share His gift with others.
Celebrate Jesus! Get excited! Give His love to all you know and most of all take time to thank Him for the most wondrous gift you could ever receive - the blood that He shed for us on the cross; the blood that redeems us from the hand of the enemy. It is truly a Wondrous thing Our Father did when He sent His Son and all of the events surrounding His birth, death and resurrection are Wondrous.We thank you Father this Holiday Season for Your gift, Your Son Jesus Christ, Whose Name is Wonderful.
We pray blessing upon you as you enjoy time with friends and family this holiday season.
In Christ, your friends at Friends Because of Him
Next Page! Our Prayer For You For Christmas and the New Year Previous Page! Pat's Christmas Poetry
We would like to thank
Unique Christian Graphics
Awesome Christian Graphics
ITC
and
La Blaise des Mary
for free use of their graphic images,
both on this page and throughout this site
Also, we would like to thank
CPR Midi's
for letting us use
"Oh Holy Night"
http://www.ChristianMagazine.org
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