The Mistake We Make of Christmas: Our Not-So-Holy Holiday
I have been wanting to write this post for a while, but it is hard to put these thoughts into words. Christmas is a celebration, a holy day to worship, it is not my birthday, and it isn't yours. It is nice to be with family, but Christmas isn't about family either, it is about celebrating the amazing miracle of the birth of the Christ child and what that means for us. That is my gift, that I am redeemed, that I am forgiven, because I took that gift 27 years ago right from the fingertips of Jesus.
Why then are we not content? I think it is because we never stop to evaluate our expectations. We never ask that of our kids either. We don't want to ruin their dreams. Only when they get older will they see right through the fickle Christmas that you built up for them, when they already have several 'Christmas tradition' immersed brats of their own. That can change though. I want to change it now.
Let's fill our houses with the desire and anticipation of Jesus and not of wish lists, because He is the only one who will make us complete. We are not filled by lugging home 5 Christmas trees, one for each room of the house, each with its own theme. Giving presents doesn't even make us feel much better when we can see the getter of our gifts already has opened 10 toys in a row and can barely be grateful enough to muster up a smile. Giving should be done for those who need it. Pray about that.
I've felt challenged in this season more than any other to give to those who don't have- which is not my own children, my family, or those around me. We are blessed in this country, and when we look around some of us don't even see any need to give at all. I would challenge you to pray about your gift giving, the amount you are to spend on family and then to put aside money to give, or to buy something for a local food bank or one of the many charities who give practical gifts around the world (I'll provide a list below). Let's get out of our little bubble- the world awaits. There is no better season than this one, where in the name of Christ we don't say, but we do, we need to learn to be like Him in actions.
What does that mean practically for us this year? We are still deciding. The boys will each get two small toy gifts from us, and some clothes that they need, and some candy- as that is always gone really quick. The Husband and I have been paired down for a while, getting each other a book, a watch, or some small token of our love and appreciation.As a family we are going to set aside an amount of money to give. The boys will have a specific amount of cash that they get to give and they can decide where they want it to go- more than what their own toys are worth, an amount that they will feel thrilled to give away.
In the past we have just had the boys go through their toys and clear out for a new invasion of stuff. That is good to do, but I also want them to know others are just as valued as they are and should not only get their used items. We've also given to different charities, but mainly that was something The Husband and I did, and the boys didn't get to be that involved. I want to change that.
All around the world there is need, even locally if you choose to see it. I challenge you to pray about what you are to do this year. That you wouldn't just buy stuff because that is what you have always done, but that you would seek God's heart in your giving. It is still always important to give tokens of love to our families, and some of you may have family members in great need.Maybe you are to welcome others into your home who are depressed or without family for your special meals, or just to be with your family. There are so many options, many that don't cost any extra if this is a difficult season for you. No matter what there is always something you can do. Just do what God is telling you in this season, if you ask Him, He'll tell you.
There are many great organisations, here are some that I love. If you have a favourite, post it in the comments section and I'll add it in as well.
Living Water International- Providing Clean Water for Communities Worldwide
World Vision- Give a gift. Change a Life.
Compassion International
What have you done in your family in order to simplify your gift giving? As a child do you have a favourite memory of when Christmas was more than about the gifts? Has God been speaking to you about this lately?
Bite the Dust Santa Baby, Saint Nicholas is Here to Stay.
by Elisabeth Jvanovsky
To grow up in Spain, is to know there is a Saint for every day. Yes, and they used to (and probably still do) name their children after the saint of their birthday. An even more amazing tradition in Spain is celebrating BOTH your birth date and your saint--thus giving each kid 2 birthdays every year, if you were named after a saint. I was always a little jealous that my parents didn't name me after a saint as a kid, I am over it now.
Now that I am older I still am not up for celebrating all the roman catholic saints days, but there are some saints that really do deserve mention. Today is the day of such a man. Nicholas famous for his love of children and generosity. He helped the poor and gave of himself beyond what was required. But what stirred him when so many others of his day were stagnant and only interested in the collection plate?? To leave out the rest of his story is to forget the true passion of a hero of the faith. It is to celebrate a fat Santa with all the good intentions and none of anything else.
In 325 Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea, over 300 bishops were called upon in order to debate the true nature of the Trinity. Bishop Arius of Egypt argued that Jesus Christ was not an equal to Christ . As he went on and on Nicholas became so enraged that something so essential was misrepresented that he lost his temper and smacked Arius on the face. Because he lost his temper in such a setting, Nicholas was stripped of his bishop's status and chained in a jail.
The final verdict of the Council of Nicaea declared that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are equal. Three in one. The following creed was what came out of the council in 325. Many Christians memorise this creed, it is in worship songs, printed on church bulletins, it is powerful in listing what is common ground for those who call themselves followers of Christ. Nicholas although flawed, desired to serve God with passion and practicality and to see Him represented just as he should be. That is truly noteworthy.
The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
If you want to know more information about this man who although flawed, desired to serve God with passion and practicality here is an amazing website: St. Nicholas Center. They even have pages for the kids!
How do you celebrate Saint Nicholas Day? Are there any special books you read to your kids, or traditions that you enjoy? Please let me know as we just started this tradition last year and I am a little short on ideas!!
Blessings all, and a very Happy St. Nicholas day to you!!
Day 6: Be With Him.
Walk with God today, ask Him what He is asking of you and where improvement needs to be made. Or just walk along side Him enjoying the immensity of His presence and don't talk at all. That's why today my words are few, I want to lean into Christ to rest.
Sometimes when I am having a hard time hearing God I write in my journal to Him, then I sit and await an answer- even no words is an answer. So often He will just surround me and I know how He feels, sometimes He gives me words of encouragement, others he has something He wants me to know, or something to leave behind.
I love the following song, God stills me each time I hear it. Close your eyes and listen.
Previous Posts on Prayer and Fasting:
Day 5: That Quiet Grinding
Day 4: Define Me.
Day 3: Grace
Day 2: Giving Up.
Day 1: Starting Out
Allowing Blank Space.
Consider Change
On fasting.
Day 5: That Quiet Grinding
They aren't the large stones, or even the smallish ones, pebbles are the ones you might not feel when you start your run and yet by the middle of it they will make themselves known. Pebbles left in a shoe throughout a long run will rub the skin raw, causing blisters, creating a wound-taking the runner out by their mere presence -no matter how small.
What pebbles do I have in my running shoes, which after only a few miles will create sores and fill each of step with agony? A little character issue swept under the carpet here, another there, little thoughts, little words, bad attitudes hidden with white smiles, all these and many other 'little' things create problems in your spiritual walk.
Last night at our church's prayer meeting several of the leaders wept over the pebbles that they had allowed to be left in their lives while being too lazy to remove them, not even really feeling them-but for the repercussions these setbacks where having somewhere deep within.
We weren't made to run with that constant grinding, that nagging pain shoved down and ignored but out of embarrassment of its disclosure and the humiliation of its existence we leave them right where they are smiling at others through the pain. We all have these pebbles, we all have weakness. Jesus wants to remove your shoes, peel off your blood-stained socks, clean the wounds, let the air get to them and rinse away the pain as well as the guilt.
What if He chose a christian friend to do it? What would that exposure of your unkemptness show them? Just that you, as much as they need a good washing in the love of Christ. Be vulnerable, remove your fake smiles, let down the masks that glisten, be transparent, in that there is freedom.
Time to peel off the bloody socks.
Previous Posts on Prayer and Fasting:
Day 4: Define Me.
Day 3: Grace
Day 2: Giving Up.
Day 1: Starting Out
Allowing Blank Space.
Consider Change
On fasting.
Day 4: Define me.
[Raw Clay] Photo Credit
If I really grasped what I looked like in raw clay form I would be more apt to let you work in me Lord. I think I am much more beautiful and useful in my natural form than raw clay, but you know the truth-that only when I allow Him to mold me am I truly worth anything. Without His hands changing me I am formless, and then when I shove Him away after I feel I look a little better I am flawed.
This is what I read today in the bible and I thought it so fitting to what I have been thinking already this week:
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. Jeremiah 18:1-6
When God wants to weed out character flaws, time commitments, or a wrong mindset I am to listen. When He longs to plant seed I am called to allow for it the best habitat of growth in me-not starve it out or throw it aside because of the work involved in the nurturing. It doesn't matter if I don't understand why, or for how long or what the end goal of God is. That is not my concern. I am only to be obedient at his first command, his first touch.
Define me Lord. I can't define myself.
Previous Posts on Prayer and Fasting:
Day 3: Grace
Day 2: Giving Up.
Day 1: Starting Out
Allowing Blank Space.
Consider Change
On fasting.
Day 3: Grace.
Over the last three years I feel like God has taught me nothing but grace, grace, grace. There is so much to learn, and unlearn. I like what Manning says in The Ragamuffin Gospel, " The News of the Gospel of grace cries out: We are all, equally, privileged but unentitled beggars at the door of God's Mercy" (p. 26)
I have grown up in the church, hardly missing a Sunday other than for sickness. As a child we went to church most nights of the week, I was a pretty good kid while growing up, never got into too much trouble, but all this I realize now doesn't earn me anything. The real Head Honcho Sunday school teacher doesn't award gold stars for perfect attendance because He can see the heart. So much of growing up was doing what I didn't want to do when there was much 'better' stuff going on.
A while back I decided I'd test Jackson (our 6 year old) on grace. " Who do you think God loves more, a person who constantly disobeys Him or a person who is very obedient?" Without a second thought the answer was, " the one who is obedient." I agree that that does make sense in our humanness, but we are not governours and that is the wrong answer. God loves us all the same if they grieve Him or not, if they attend all the meetings or not and He can do that because His Son made the willing sacrifice for us. Why on earth be faithful then?!
We earn nothing, but gain everything by being faithful. When first coming to the realization that it was all for nothing I held on a little to what I thoguht I should have earned from it. My gold stars!! Don't take them!! It is hard to see that, "our huffing and puffing to impress God, our scrambling for brownie points, our thrashing about trying to fix ourselves while hiding our pettiness and wallowing in guilt are nauseating to God and are a flat denial of the gospel of grace" (p. 18). There it is said, personal discipline and self-denial are not the magical combo to God's love, realizing what you really are and falling at His feet is.
The blessing that comes from obedience is the lack of regret, a pure heart and the good discipline to master urges, but not one gold star. Because I am not a kid anymore, I see that there is much more value in not regretting so much more than I do, and knowing what self control feels like. I earned nothing but blessing worth much more than golden stars, and I regret not one single day of my church-going youth.
Of God's nature I constantly try to understand, I won't ever master it, " He is not moody or capricious; He knows no seasons of change. He has a single relentless stance toward us: He loves us. He is the only God man has ever heard of who loves sinners. False gods-the gods of human manufacturing-despise sinners, but the Father of Jesus loves all, no matter what they do" (p.20) It seems the church goers are constantly trying to reconcile the fact that they aren't earning things. I think it is a life-long lesson.
I love this on the nature of our God from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment:
At the last Judgment Christ will say to us, "Come, you also! Come, drunkards! Come, weaklings! Come, children of shame!" And he will say to us: "Vile beings, you who are in the image of the beast and bear his mark, but come all the same, you as well." And the wise and prudent will say, "Lord, why do you welcome them?" And he will say: " If I welcome them, you wise men, if I welcome them, you prudent men, it is because not one of them as ever been judged worthy." And he will stretch out his arms, and we will fall at his feet, and we will cry out sobbing, and then we will understand all, we will understand the Gospel of grace! Lord, your Kingdom come!
Fasting and Prayer: Ask God to reveal the truth of His grace to you in a new way today. If you are into writing things down, write down the people in your life that you should show more grace to and ask God to give you the grace to do it.
Previous Posts on Prayer and Fasting:
Day 2: Giving Up.
Day 1: Starting Out
Allowing Blank Space.
Consider Change
On fasting.
Feel free to share your thoughts, what God is challenging you with or encouragement in the comments.
Day 2: Giving Up
Humility. That I would allow myself to be moved by God, stirred and transformed by His word. A soft clay that is able to be molded by the potter--not a clay that resists proudly declaring that it knows better than the maker. This is a song that I can't stop thinking about, playing over and over: To God Alone (click the link to hear it).
The following is a quote from Oswald Chambers, I've underlined it three times in the book. Each time I read it I feel its truth and still that I try so hard to do things on my own, comprehend myself and make sense of the lives of others.
The only way we can be of use to God is to let Him take us thought the crooks and crannies of our own characters. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We do not know envy when we see it, or laziness, or pride. Jesus reveals to us all that this body has been harbouring before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look in with courage?
We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves, it is the last conceit to go. The only curse in spiritual life is conceit.
When God gets us alone by affliction, heartbreak, or temptation, by disappointment, sickness, or by a thwarted affection, by a broken friendship, or by a new friendship--when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are dumbfounded, and cannot ask one question, then He begins to expound.
If you are going on with God, the only thing that is clear to you, and the only thing God intends to be clear, is the way He deals with your own soul. Your brother's sorrows and perplexities are an absolute confusion to you. We imagine we understand where the other person is, until God gives us a dose of the plague of our own hearts.
Jesus can expound nothing until we get through all the noisy questions of the head and are alone with Him.
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers (p. 12)
What else can be said today? This whole segment above is a soothing balm and sandpaper all in one, but I know it to be completely true. God uses things in ways we'd never agree too, never hope for, but they are always right. He purifies us though humiliation, embarrassment and it works. We want a magic pill for everything, God knows we need difficulty to morph into something beautiful.
Take time today to sit still and quiet the noise of questions and directions you give Christ when you speak to Him. Allow Him instead of you to take center stage and receive the glory for the broken pieces, the torn down walls and the decay that is waiting for transformation.
Previous Posts on Prayer and Fasting:
Day 1: Starting Out
Allowing Blank Space.
Consider Change
On fasting.
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