Fearlessly CourageousDesk of Dennis Piller12 22 2022Click for Audit
The only Gift Jesus wants from us is what? _____________
The truth is without all the toys and all the presents and even without all the carols, there is still Christmas… Christ with us… Emmanuel is still with us. When it all goes away Jesus never goes away. We’ve heard this so many times, it has lost its meaning to many of us or at least the impact that it should have on us. It is so easy to get caught up in this downward spiral of looking for love in all the wrong places. A person…a place… a time past. How do you find God’s peace without God? How do you believe in someone you have too often walked away from? For those who don’t know him, you visit a church or call a pastor at some local church and ask to speak to someone or maybe a godly person you know.
But for those who know Christ it should be a time of preparation to this grand day the world celebrates as Christmas. It should be a time we refocus, and examine our lives, our decisions, our goals and our hopes for the new year. (I know, where is there time to do that?). That’s part of the problem. We are too busy for genuine reflection. Too emersed in the worlds view of Christmas and living to even know the presence of peace in our lives. We hurry up and do it all so we can sit in front of the tree with our family and open presents and enjoy family. And feel guilty when it's over that there wasn’t any room at the inn…our house…our heart for the newborn king. What was our gift for Jesus? That I believe in him?
I know as a parent; all I really want from my kids for Christmas is their time and a little attention…some hugs and a few kisses and hand holding or a snuggle watching an old movie or family movies. I believe that Jesus wants exactly the same thing. Each of those requires intentionality…but even more, a humility of who Jesus is… and even more importantly who Jesus is to us and how are we sharing our love for him with those that we love. You see, that includes even the worst of situations… and places them before the Christ child because he brings not just hope but redemption, healing and a sense of hope to fill our future and also fulfill it.
Maybe our ties with family are not what we would want. Maybe your list of friends is kind of short and you feel the emptiness of being too alone. Friends and family are awesome, but they will never, truly, fill that empty spot in your heart completely. It was made for God…to be filled with God… and nothing else can do that. Our friends come and go, and even our family can move away, or pass away but Jesus is always there calling us home, offering us peace and solitude, hope and forgiveness, and grace for the new day. Hope for a better tomorrow when we align our dreamswith his purpose for living.
He is with us not just at Christmas or Easter but every day, every minute to talk and give us what only her can. His personal presence. He came to give you himself, the Prince of Peace. He came to live in you and place in you the hope of glory…He is ever calling for some snuggle time with His kids. And although we don’t always know it, our souls are crying out, straining for His Holy Spirit to fill us. Sadly, that can’t fully happen until we get rid of the junk the world has deposited and we have hoarded, because we haven’t allowed room for the baby, Jesus, in the inn of our lives. You can change that right now.
Lord help me to pause and seek your face. Help me to stop…completely and give my life over to you. Help me to long for you above all else…your presence, your love, your council, your direction,and the fulfillment and peace that can only come from you. Lord help me to give my presence to you.
(574) Chris Tomlin – O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Lyric Video) – YouTube
