Christmas Is So Close...

Christmas is so close...you can smell it. That's what the deejay said as I was drifting off to sleep. Apparently that sparked my brain because every time I woke up I had a thought in my head. So now let's see if I can get 'em on here. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas is how the song goes. What about the smell of Christmas? One of the first smells that entered our house on the day after Thanksgiving was the smell of the  Christmas tree. For all except one or two Christmases we've had a live Christmas tree. They smell so good. We love Douglas Firs. As the scent of turkey fades from the kitchen we begin to smell the sweets!! Yum. At home, we had White Chocolate Chip Cookies and Alicia's famous Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies. Now at Mom and Dad's house, we have Batman Cake, Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies, Reese's Bars, Cupcakes, Corn Flake Wreaths that stain your mouth green. At home it's snowing. That has it's own wintry scent. But what about the first Christmas? What did it smell like? If the manger was a cave, then it had a dank smell. After traveling all day by donkey, I'm sure Mary and Joseph had an unpleasant bodily smell. Course this was before deodorant so everyone stunk. LOL. Jesus was placed in a feeding trough. We assume it had hay in it. Hay has it's own smell. A freshly cut hayfield smells great. But what if the feeding trough was for the pigs. Well that probably wouldn't be since this was a Jewish town. But the thought of the feeding trough having slop in it produces a completely different idea. So you can keep your hay-filled manger. Then you have the animals. We assume there was a donkey, the one Mary and Joseph had, but we don't know if there were any other animals. Coulda been a cow or horse there, maybe a sheep. Because if the close quarters you would have to watch your step. Again, a smell all its own. That first Christmas was not as neat and clean as our pageants portray. The sweetest smell of Christmas, of any season, is the smell of love. That smell is hard to describe but impossible to miss.  The aroma of love for one another coupled with the love for our Savior is the most inviting, welcoming smell of all. So as Christmas draws closer I hope your home is filled with beautiful fragrance of the love of Christmas! A scent that is indescribable but unmistakably sweet! 

Soundtrack

Was reminded of something I said a couple of years ago. Don't you wish your life had a movie soundtrack to it. Imagine the "Jaws" theme just before something bad happens. That would be great or at least it would give us a heads up as to what's coming. Our life has had it's own soundtrack but the tracks are either concurrent with live or just a few moments after the fact. A constant theme for as long as I can remember is GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS. "...All I have needed Thy hand has provided..." His timing is always perfect. Not necessarily our timing but His. Like the old song says, "He's never late, never early, He's an on time God" When the time was right, after a 400 year silence, God spoke His love to the world, to you and me, through a baby. A baby that "grew in favor with God and man." A boy that astounded the religious leaders when He was only 12. A man who not only fulfilled the Law but expanded it. "Love your enemies...Turn the other cheek...Go the extra mile..." A man who laid down His life for His friends. That friendship spans the centuries to today. Because of that great love, we can truly know what love is. Without His love, our love is just a shadow. "...Morning by morning new mercies I see...Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!" Thank you!

December 15

December 15, 10 days til Christmas. No wait, we're having our family Christmas on Friday! 2 MORE DAYS! There's snow on the ground and a chill (maybe a little more than a chill) in the air. I heard this Christmas song on the radio by 33 Miles, "I Could Not Come to Him". Since we can't get to God, He came to us. Immanuel, God with us! What amazing love! It's the most wonderful time of the year! I hope you are having a great Christmas season! 

Christmas Thought

These aren't original thoughts, thanks Louie Giglio. Just personalized...

What would it be like for you if your best friend or your spouse or your child didn't speak to you for 4 days? What about 4 weeks or months or even years? We don't like to think about that. In this social culture of texting, e-mails, Facebook, etc., we can't imagine being out of contact with anyone for a long period of time. Now imagine that you are an Israelite. In our Bibles after the end of Malachi there may be a blank page or a page that says "New Testament" then you move on to Matthew 1. For the Israelites, after the last prophet spoke there were 400 (FOUR HUNDRED) years of silence. No one heard from God. There was no letter, no phone call, no text, nothing, nada, zilch. Many thought, maybe God died. I thought we were the chosen ones, they may have said. Did God change His mind? Is He angry or frustrated or apathetic? What about all those promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Do they still apply? What about the favored son, David?  I know we've had this pattern of following God and then doing our own thing. We survived the captivities but even in all those God still spoke. Although we had forgotten Him, somehow He never, ever forgot us. Can you imagine a son going to his father and asking, "Hey dad, have you ever heard from God?" "No, son, I haven't." "What about granddad? Did he hear from God?" "No, son, my father never heard from Him either. Son, there is no one in our family who can remember hearing from God. I think that maybe He's just given up." "But dad, what about the prophecies? What about Messiah?" "I don't know, son. I just don't know." "Dad?" "Yea, son." "If I heard from God, how would I recognize His voice?' "Again, son, I don't know." We are talking about generation after generation after generation. Year after year, decade after decade, score after score, century after century. Not one word. Not a whisper. Not even a sigh. Even a sigh could have been deafening. Then when God did decide to speak it was at the busiest time of the year. NO, not Christmas. It was TAX time. There was no "JOY TO THE WORLD" here. Not only was it tax time but you couldn't even just mail them in or better yet send them electronically. You had to go back to your family's hometown. There were so many people coming and going. It was the epitome of a really bad family reunion. In all the chaos, God choose to break His silence. Was God dead? No, He came as a newborn. The silence was broken with a baby's cry. The cry that His mom and earthly dad were the first to hear. With the cacophony of the census and the tax paying, who would notice another baby's cry? God is not dead, see Him, hear Him in an infant's cry. God was not angry either. John tells us that "the 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." He was full of grace, God's unmerited favor, and truth. And the truth is heard in the angel's message to the shepherds. “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." They needed good news that would bring great joy. We need good news that brings great joy. Personalize it. ...a Savior has been born to YOU, (INSERT YOUR NAME). To you and for you. God spoke saying not only have I not forgotten you, I am going to save you so that "where I am there you may be also." Even His name, Jesus, means "Savior". So regardless of what this Christmas season brings you. Your first Christmas as a couple, your first Christmas without being a couple. Your first Christmas without a job. Your first Christmas having to go to your mom's house and then your dad's because of divorce. That stinks. Your first Christmas with a newborn. Your first Christmas without your child. Your first Christmas serving your country in another country. Wherever you may be, Jesus became flesh and,as The Message says, "moved into the neighborhood." Your neighborhood. My neighborhood. And His gifts are great joy, grace, truth, salvation, peace and so much more. All we have to do is accept His gifts. So go ahead and rip open that present. Don't worry about the bow or the paper. It's the best gift of all. The coolest thing is you don't have to wait 'til December 25th to receive His gift. It's available anytime. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!