Christmas
    Blessings            2023  🌲

Christmas is almost here again.  What do you love most about Christmas?  The food is good, so are the parties and the people -- the songs, the smiles, the smells.  Each weaves its way into our minds in such a beautiful manner that we live in the thoughts of them for days.  But the most wonderful blessing is the birth of the Christ Child, our Savior.  A time of being "lost in wonder, love and praise." as Charles Wesley put it.

Home --Having someone to love at Christmas is family -- having somewhere to go is home.  Having both at any time is a blessing.  What better time to warm up alongside a crackling fire, listen to some beautiful Christmas music and remember the greatest story ever told.

Remember back 18  centuries and more -- Who could have cared about the birth of a baby while watching Rome in all her splendor?  God did.  While Rome was making history, Christ arrived, and the world didn't even notice.

It still doesn't to some.

So, is it any wonder that the first baby shower was given by the stars?

The setting was humble, but the cast was divine.  The world's masterpiece was framed in straw.  Who else but God would think of sending a gift and wrapping it in swaddling clothes?

Music and a host of angels appeared in the night sky to announce the miraculous birth to the shepherds who were lending their sheep.

After hearing the angels, the shepherds hurried down to Bethlehem to see and worship this child whom the angels had proclaimed.

Soon after the shepherds left, Joseph sat gazing at his child.  What shall I call Him?  He was thinking -- Father or Junior?  In the end, he named Him Jesus because that is what the angel said His name should be, and Joseph hadn't the faintest idea what to name a God he could cradle in his arms.
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Because God knew Mary and Joseph couldn't afford announcement cards, He leant them a star.

Later, three wise men appeared at the place where Mary and Joseph  were staying.  They had followed the star and had come to worship the newborn King.

Each one bowed down in worship and laid a gift beside the manager -- gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Silently they left, leaving Mary and Joseph to ponder the events of these past unbelievable days.

So, while history was being made and babies were being born, God arrived and laid His earthly presence in silence on straw...in a stable...under a star.  "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature" to become our Lord and Savior.

Indeed, God has blessed us forever, and that is what Christmas is all about.

Now believe in the magic, feel the wonder and celebrate the joy of Christmas.

Give your gift of faith, hope and love to God in response to His greatest gift to you.

So, my closing thought for your new year is a paragraph from Max Lucado's book, "Traveling Light."

TRAVELING LIGHT by Max Lucado, Page 32 -----
"You have a God who hears you, the power of love behind you, the Holy Spirit within you, and all of Heaven ahead of you.  If you have the Shepherd, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner, and an anchor for every storm.  You have everything you need."

Christmas kisses and holiday hugs to each of you.
HELEN JERNIGAN
December 12, 2023    🌲

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