Welcome to God's Lemonade Stand

It is my hope that by reading this daily you will grow in your walk with Christ and knowledge of scriptures and be set free from any struggles in your life that are weighing you down. Be blessed to be a blessing.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

BIRTHDAYS



We are coming upon the celebration of the birth of Christ. At this time of year thoughts turn to Jesus' birth. We all look forward to our birthdays, or at least you should. They are gifts from God. Today my beautiful mother is celebrating her 88th birthday! Birthdays are a reason to celebrate and for the birthday of the King of kings and Lord of lords, we should pull all the stops out.

Christmas is not about toys, gingerbread men, mistletoe, pretty light displays, holly, eggnog, and office parties often dubbed " holiday parties" but Christmas is for us to remember a baby born in a manger who came to save us from our sins. There is nothing wrong with making this a family time but Christ should stay in the center of your activities.

I am not sure why people have a hard time saying 'Merry Christmas' and instead opt for 'Happy Holidays". Maybe it is less threatening or less "religious" sounding. Perhaps you do not want to offend those who get uncomfortable with the name of Jesus. Funny but many who may say "holiday" in lieu of offending anyone with the word "Christmas" may be surprised that one of the definitions is "holy day". The word "Christmas" comes from the words "Christ's mass" or festival.

I do not have enough time in this writing to delve into where the red and green came from and all the rest of the man made traditions, but the important thing to remember is to be sure to not cut Jesus out of His own birthday celebration.
Start some Christian Christ-centered activities especially if you have children. Do not make it all about reindeer's, Santa, elves,and the North Pole. One thing we used to do is have a Happy Birthday Jesus cake. When one of our son's was a small child riding along in the shopping cart in a local store when asked if he was ready for Santa to come he bravely and boldly replied 'It's not Santa's birthday, it is Jesus' birthday". From the mouth of a child, pure truth and innocence.

So are you ready for the big birthday or are you worn out shopping and doing things you think people expect of you? Might I suggest making time for alone time with God where nothing noisy is distracting you and perhaps decide that this Christmas things will be different. Less commercial and more peace filled perhaps?

Take time December 25th and help celebrate the birth of a King.

Isaiah 9:6(NIV) says 'For unto us a child is born, a Son is given,and the government will be upon His shoulders and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.'

PRAYER: Lord I want to have your peace only you can give this season of your birth. Help me not feel I have to fit into the world's mold of what is expected but do things to celebrate the Christ centered aspects of this special day all the while remaining peaceful. In Jesus' name.Amen.
Click link below to enjoy a familiar Christmas song:

1 comment:

  1. Becky:
    Thank you for the refreshing I received as I read your post and heard the carol.

    ReplyDelete