12/25/15- Jesus- The Main Character of Christmas

12/25- Christmas Day- John 1:1,14- Jesus
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Thoughts: God’s love was in the beginning.  God’s love came down to earth.  God’s love was clearly seen in the person of Jesus and millions testify to this today.  From generation to generation it has been testified that God has come.  Let us not forget that God cares enough to speak a word- and to speak The Word.  Even in the midst of the problems and difficulties and terrors of life- God still speaks.  Jesus is a visible sign of God’s love.  So in the midst of the difficulties of this day- the grief, the sorrow, the relative rubbing elbows and opinions against relative, let us remember that the God of love has come.  Let us show His love despite the difficulties to those around us. 

Prayer: Lord, your coming inspires me to love and to care even in difficult times.  May my witness be enhanced with all that is going on around me. 

Activity: this week- while school is out- go where you wouldn’t normally go.  Jesus left heaven to come to earth for us.  The incarnation means God became flesh for us.

Song: Away in a manger no crib for a bed,  the little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head.  The stars in the sky look down where he lay- the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay!

12-25-13 Jesus

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God,  did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,  to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2)

Thoughts: The greatest character of Christmas is Jesus.  While God is one, if it was possible to divide the emotions of the Godhead: the Father loved the world and gave His Son; The Spirit loved the world and overshadowed Mary; the Son loved the world by humbling Himself.  It would be humbling for any man to be born in an animal stall.  It would be humiliating for any king to be born that way.  But Jesus is God come down.  He came down in the most humbling way to understand, empathize, to understand and to show us that God cares about the pains and heartaches of life.
    Perhaps the most humble thing God did was to be born- with all the risks and vulnerabilities of a baby.  Some find it so humbling that they cannot believe it was real.  But that was the miracle.  Babies are so helpless- and that is the opposite of God the Almighty and helpful One. 

    His life was full of humility- he had no home (foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head).
    His death was most humbling.  He was rejected by the people (all of us) He came to save.  He was mocked, tortured, and died on a displayed painful torture mechanism now outlawed everywhere.
     Our passage above notes that since Jesus humbled himself- we should humble ourselves- in our relationship with each other, and bowing our hearts before the God who showed love in His humility. Christmas is Merry only because God humbled Himself to show His love. 

Prayer: Lord, let me embrace humility.  Let me hold fast to your example. 

(Nativity Giorgione 1527)