Joy to the World! Lessons from the Birth of Jesus!

I grew up in the Church of Legalism.

With that said, it was emphasized every year that we did not celebrate "religious" holidays such as Christmas and Easter because the Bible did not say to celebrate these days or tell us when to celebrate them.  It was okay to have Christmas trees and presents, but talking about Jesus on this day was a no-no.

As with most things:  This group missed the point.

One of the best things about leaving the Church of Legalism has been celebrating these wonderful Holy Seasons.  It seems we are always experiencing something new and different.  This year my sister and I experienced our first candlelight service.

It was beautiful and thought provoking and something that I will definitely be adding to my Holiday traditions.  After closely reading the Old Testament this year, I understood why the birth of Jesus was so incredible (for lack of a better term)

Through the birth of Christ I began to understand even more about the character of God.  As I have began to follow God on this Sacred Journey, I have learned more about his character than ever before. 

Silence for 400 years

As I sat in the darkened auditorium during the candlelight service, I began to reflect on God's silence before the birth of Jesus.  When we read the Bible, we just turn the page from the Old Testament to New Testament.  The people of Israel did not have that luxury.  God was silent for 400 years before Christ came.

They killed all the prophets, the Pharisees had taken over and were strangling them with legalism, and worst of all God was silent.  

True, the people of Israel had constantly made a mess of things, but God kept showing them mercy.  I'm sure the people thought he had forgotten all about them. If the people were anything like us (and from what the scriptures say, I see myself all up in the Israelites) 

I wonder if these were some of their thoughts.

What happened to that Savior God had promised?  

Guess it isn't happening. 

Isaiah and the rest of those prophets just made all of it up.

Lesson

I thought about how God is silent in our lives, we think he has forgotten us, those dreams we had aren't going to happen, and we made it all up.  

Then...the light appears.

Joseph and Mary, SAY WHAT?

Sometimes I wonder what on earth Joseph and Mary were thinking when all of this went down.  I often wonder what the conversation sounded like when Mary told Joseph that an angel came to visit her and  told her she was pregnant with the son of God.

Talk about SAY WHAT!

Lesson

This year I have seen that God will do things in our lives that make no sense to us as human beings, yet you know that it isn't made up.  You just have to roll with it and see how God works it out according to His plan.  

That's what I love about God:  He fixes it so it is past the point of thinking you could have made it all up.  You just know YOU couldn't have made this all up, and you just have to go with it.

THAT'S how the Son of God is born???? WHAT!!!

I'm sure when the Israelites were expecting their Messiah, they expected him to be born in grand fashion.  He was going to be born in a palace with angels dancing all around and fireworks going off.  

This is the Son of God we are talking about.  The guy who is coming to save the people.  He's coming first class!  Well...not exactly.

He was born in a raggedy manger.

God has his own ways of doing things.  He did not have Jesus born with fan fare.  The first people to know about it were some lowly shepherds.  God always looks out for the least celebrated and he always goes ahead of us.

Now imagine if Jesus had been born like most of us thought he should have been, Herod would most likely have gotten to him.  Not only that, you would not have needed any faith to believe that Jesus was the Messiah.  Everyone would have already known he was the Son of God.

Later on down the line, we can see the people didn't believe in Jesus because he was just the carpenter from Nazareth.  He was Joseph and Mary's son...what was he gonna teach us?

Lesson

God never delivers things how WE think they should go.  In our own human limited understanding we have ideas about how things should be done.  

God always goes ahead of us and he knows how the story will end.  Our own human limited mindsets is what prevents the greater good from occurring.

My big lesson from 2013:  If you're going on this journey with Jesus, he has to build your FAITH.  When I aimed low, I didn't need any faith.  I could use my little intelligence and some manipulation.  I don't want that anymore.  I want God's purpose and destiny for my life and there is NO WAY my limited intelligence can help me.  I can't manipulate my way on this one.  

I have to just roll with it on FAITH.

Praise and Worship!  He is the Light of the World

⁸ That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. ⁹ Suddenly an angel appeared among them, and the landscape shone bright with the glory of the Lord. They were badly frightened, ¹⁰ but the angel reassured them.

“Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you the most joyful news ever announced, and it is for everyone! ¹¹ The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born tonight in Bethlehem!^[b]12 How will you recognize him? You will find a baby wrapped in a blanket,^[c] lying in a manger!”

¹³ Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God:

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,” they sang,^[d] “and peace on earth for all those pleasing him.”

¹⁵ When this great army of angels had returned again to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Come on! Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.

Lesson

God always comes through with his promises.  They don't look like we thought they would but they are always MORE THAN ENOUGH.

On that night long ago in Bethlehem, light came into a world that was dark literally and figuratively.

New Life

New Hope He Brings

New Joy He Brings

Glory! Glory! To the Newborn King!

God always comes through with his promises.  They don't look like we thought they would but they are always MORE THAN ENOUGH.

That's why on this day I don't care about presents or any of that commercialized nonsense. 

 JOY TO THE WORLD THE LORD IS COME!! 

GO TELL OF HIS GLORY!!! 

SING JOY TO THE WORLD!!!

GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!!! PEACE ON EARTH!!!

TO GOD BE THE GLORY FOREVER!