Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas

Tis’ the season to give thanks, again! A time for celebration, and a time to bless and be blessed. Sounds like the past couple months all summed up, huh. What this isn’t though… this is not a time to leave cookies for Santa, or sit on his lap at the mall, or stress over this being the worst Christmas ever. Yes I said it! As long as you realize Jesus Christ who died for your sins was born this season, you can have the best Christmas you’ve been able to live through.



I’ll be honest for a bit (not that I haven’t ever been… in my devotionals that is...), but I just looked up Christmas in the dictionary to see if the “mas” meant anything, like “birth” or something and I didn’t find that. What I did find was that one definition defined it as a Christian celebration turned American holiday. Now, that made me a little mad (if you couldn’t tell already)! But then I thought to myself, “at least it referred to Christianity.” Just the whole separation from church and state thing with going from Christian to American thing got me a bit heated. Some government we have!



Getting back to Christ though, the story of His birth is as familiar as any of the other great tales, and is equally memorable and equally significant as his death. Oh big whoop, a baby was born! No! Back in the book of Genesis, the world was given no chances. You sinned, you died, or drowned in a freakin flood! No questions asked! But over 2000 years ago, around this time God gave us a chance and with that chance another, and another, and another. And what do we give? Don’t know about you, but I gave my life, my heart, my soul, and am now working up my talents for the advancement of his kingdom, and still wouldn’t be able to match his grace if there were two of me!



It was suggested that I speak from the heart when writing for you guys, and I welcome any feedback from those who take the time out to read what I have to… write, and so from my heart, I just wanted to express this message. I’m slowly beginning to realize we go through hard times to buff us toward the greatness God has planned for us - much like pressure on coal creates diamonds. It’s something I live by and wear on my favorite hat. But I thank God for having me go through hard times this Christmas. It’s a learning and growing process I’m very thankful for.



So in closing, please remember the real reason for this season, give thanks, bless and blessed if you can, but furthermore, while it is my main man Jesus’ birthday, remember your father blessed you with the ultimate opportunity on that faithful day. If you don’t get what you want, know that God truly knows the desires of your heart and there may be a reason for it! If you don’t get anything, know you’ve received everything (that endless opportunity) from your heavenly father! And if you get everything you wanted… you lucky little… Christian! And to the next person who says “Happy Holidays!” to you, don’t hesitate to politely correct them by replying with “Mary(I know how it’s spelled!) Christmas and a blessed New Year to you too!” …Happy New Year works too, though!



Merry Christmas guys!

C.j.

what's the real reason?

I want to touch on the real reason for this season. We need to be reminded of it because it is very easy to forget. The black fridays, getting gifts for family and friends, all the advertisements and commercials of the next best gift to buy for someone. It can get distracting and for some people it gets overwhelming. I am not saying that all this is wrong. It's fun to get gifts and to give them (Remember...Jesus said, "it is better to give than to receive"). But we can get so caught up in all this stuff that we lose the real meaning of why we celebrate Christmas.

Do you want to know the real reason for the celebration of Christmas? Good. The reason we celebrate Christmas is to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A little over 2000 years ago Jesus was born of a virgin named Mary. That's right she was a virgin. How could she give birth to a child if she was a virgin? I am glad you asked. God supernaturally planted His seed inside of Mary so that she could give birth to the Savior of the world. It's what we call 'the immaculate conception'. It wasn't natural but supernatural. Jesus is a supernatural person who came to become like us so that he could understand what we go through and then take our place on the cross to die for our sins so that we could be forgiven. His birth forever changed the course of this world. And that's why we celebrate Christmas.

In all the hustle of getting and receiving gifts and all the commercialness (don't know if that's a real word but I hope you get what I am saying) of the season please don't forget that our Savior Jesus Christ was born so that you could have the life you were meant to have. Don't forget the "Christ" in Chirstmas and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Have a Merry Christmas!!! And if you have not given your life to this Jesus that we talk about please don't hesitate to contact us and we can help.

Mick