"God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus." But when He came, He wasn't born in a nice, warm house or in a hospital the way you and I were. He was born in a cave or a stable, probably where the lambs were born. After all, He came as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. Another thing to think about is that there were no doctors or midwives or nurses. We think Mary and Joseph were all alone in that dark place at night when the LIGHT of the world came to them as a tiny baby. He came to be their Savior, too. But He started His earthly life as a helpless baby. Jesus is GOD. He is the One who has always lived and has all power, but He became a human being. Why? So He could die. When you think of the blessings of Christmas, think of Emanuel (God With Us) and think of Jesus, Yeshua -- our Savior.
We have a tradition of giving gifts at Christmas time -- sometimes big gifts, sometimes home made gifts, sometimes a plate of cookies or a Christmas card. We do that to remember that the greatest gift was given on that first Christmas -- "the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Now I want to tell you some things that I hope you will take to heart. I am praying that God will help you understand that He has plans for YOU. I love Jeremiah 29:11. It says, "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope."
1. Just as God sent His Son to this earth for a purpose, He has also placed YOU here for His own purpose -- and it is a GOOD purpose for you.
2. God chose Mary and Joseph to be the ones who would nurture Jesus through His babyhood and childhood. And He also chose the very parents (or step-parents) that He wanted YOU to have. They didn't choose you and you didn't chose them. But GOD chose you for each other. And it was the BEST choice in His plan for you.
3. Bethlehem is where the Heavenly Father wanted His Son to be born. Think of where YOU were born. Maybe you would rather have been born in a warmer place or in a busier city or in the forest near a lake. But He decided where He wanted you to be as a child and where He will take you in the future. And it was the BEST place for you.
4. God gave the greatest gift that was ever given and the greatest gift that could ever be given. And He is so GOOD!
How are things for YOU this Christmas? Have you found gifts to give? Are you wishing you had more money so you could buy something nicer? I want to encourage you because I think the very best gift you could give won't cost you any money at all. It is something that ALL of you can give and I hope that ALL of you will want to give this to your parents, your siblings, your friends, your neighbors. It is something that everyone (including you) needs. It is to be LOVED and to know it.
Take your parents and your siblings, sometimes we get mad at them. I've been mad at mine and pretty upset with our children and our grandchildren from time to time. They have hurt me. And I am sure that I have hurt them. When that happens, we usually handle it wrong. We might want to get even or be rude or just cold and unloving and not spend much time with them. But when we behave that way, we are not only sinning against them but we are sinning against God. And that is serious.
Why is it serious? Partly because we are not being thankful to God for giving us the RIGHT parents and siblings for us. And it is partly because we are disobeying what God has commanded us in His Word. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves; we are to honor and obey our parents; we are to be kind to one another and forgive each other just as GOD has forgiven us, for Jesus' sake.
Here is what I hope you do. I hope you think about these things and pray about them. I hope you will ask the Lord to show you if you have failed to show love, kindness, respect, and obedience where He has asked you to do so. If there are problems, I hope you will make them right.
The best Christmas present you could give your Mom, your Dad, your Sister, your Brother, or anyone else is to sincerely repent before the Lord, apologize to anyone you have wronged, and ask the Lord to give you the ability to LOVE others the way HE loves you. What an awesome Christmas it could be -- revival in our homes and family!
Love, Grammie
PS: The baby shown here was the first baby picture I found on my computer today. It is one of our grandchildren. Can you guess who it was? Send your guesses to my email brenda@buza.net or on facebook. First correct answer gets a prize!
