Merry Christmas!!

Immanuel = God With Us!!!

Merry Christmas!!

What a bittersweet time of year this can be for many of us.  On one hand we want to celebrate the birthday of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and on the other hand we are missing our loved ones.  Grief can be magnified during the holidays and shadow the glow of the month of December.  I know my first Christmas and New Year was hard.  I wanted to put on my festive face and enjoy the celebrations as I always had, but it wasn't in my heart to do so.  I didn't want to disappoint my family and friends, and especially my daughter Emily.  I wanted her first holiday season to go as close to tradition as possible.  Christmas morning was so hard but together her and I went on with opening gifts and eating a good breakfast.  We went to the cemetery and took a small drag car for Kirk.  He loved drag racing.  When Christmas night finally came, I was mentally and physically exhausted. 

Is this your first Christmas without your beloved?  One piece of advice I want to give you and your family and friends; give yourself permission to grieve and to take it easy.  Don't push yourself into uncomfortable or hard situations.  Maybe this is your fifth Christmas without your loved one like me, or maybe it's your 50th year!!  Whatever year or whatever situation you are in, give yourself permission to breathe and be easy on yourself.

I am also directing this advice towards divorced or single parents.  Loneliness hits all of us in different situations.  You could be grieving for a parent or a child this Christmas season.  Many of us are missing siblings, grandparents, or aunts and uncles.  Not only do I grieve for Kirk this time of year, but also for grandparents and aunts and uncles. 

My thoughts always turn to Mary this time of year for obvious reasons.  Can you imagine giving birth to Jesus, the Savior of mankind?  Matthew 1:23 NIV says, "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel which means God with us."  God is with us always, never forget that.  We are never alone on this journey of grief.  I know you feel that way sometimes, I myself have felt like I have been dropped in the middle of the desert this past week.  I remind myself that God is with me, He is with all of us.  He never changes, we do.  He never strays from our side, we choose to ignore Him. 

Jesus is THE ultimate gift that we can ever receive.  What He offers us cannot be bought or bartered.  There is no negotiation or gray area when it comes to Jesus.  You either accept Him or not; either for or against.  Jesus became flesh to live among us.  He was born as human to ultimately sacrifice Himself as the perfect lamb on that cross for our sins.  He bought us with His blood so we can be saved and spend eternity with Him in heaven.  Romans 6:23 NIV tells us, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

Will you give yourself the best gift you will ever receive?  Have you put your faith and trust in Jesus?  If not, will you think about how you want to spend your eternity?  The Bible tells us we will either spend it in heaven with Jesus or in hell where there is torment and torture.  Do you realize that for some of us this will be as close to hell as we will get here on Earth; and for some this will be as close to heaven as you will get?  Take some time and let that sink in and open a Bible and read God's word.  Start with the Book of John, most pastors will tell you to start there.  If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, give yourself the greatest gift ever and just read, learn, and ask questions. 

I will leave you a passage from Luke 1:46-50 NIV and they call it's Mary's song.  Mary didn't understand why God choose her to be the one to carry and birth Jesus, but with faith and trust in her heart she walked that path with God and wow what a journey she was blessed to walk.  I try to use that same faith and trust in my walk on this path God has me on.  Different paths but same faith and trust in Him, our Almighty.

And Mary said: My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.  From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me--holy is his name.  His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation."

Lord Jesus, thank you for coming to earth as a humble baby born in a manger.  You are God's word that walked this earth in flesh.  Your sacrifice and my acceptance assures me of an eternity with you and all of my loved ones that have gone before me.  I pray Lord that my family and friends that have not yet taken that step to accept you will consider, read, and pray about taking that most important first step.  You are the BEST GIFT I ever received and I pray others will accept your gift also.  Happy Birthday Jesus!!  In Your precious name I pray Amen!!

I will keep all of you in my prayers during this most difficult time of year.  If you have no where to go, ask around your family and friends.  They probably don't know you are alone this holiday.  If you know of anyone that will be alone, invite them along.  I am telling you that you will feel way more blessed than the person you invite. 

Merry Christmas!!