Where's Jesus?

After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. (Luke 2:43 NIV)

I just can't believe this happened! How could a parent lose their child? Even more crazy, they didn't notice it right away! They thought he was with friends or relatives. I can't explain it, but I will guarantee when they realized he was lost they were beside themselves. I am sure Mary and Joseph were frantic when they couldn't find Jesus.

Wouldn't that be wonderful if we had the same feelings about spending time with Jesus. We so often forget all about Jesus in our daily lives. We might not even look for him for days or months. There is no sense of urgency, there is no frantic need, and there is no real search. Usually, we head back to find Jesus when things slow down, when our lives aren't busy with shopping or holiday cheer. 

During this Christmas season, don't forget Jesus. Find time to spend with him, pray, meditate, study the word, praise him with songs and joy. Share him with others. Don't go through the best part of they ear without your savior!

Do you believe?

I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.” (John 8:24 NIV)

I got a question the other day from a high school student, asking if I believed in Santa Claus. My stock answer is yes. To not believe in Santa Claus is tantamount to not believing in Christmas. From the secular view, you can't believe in Christmas without Chris Kringle. Our view point, how the jolly old elf might look changes over the years, but we always believe in him. 

More important than believing in Santa Claus, you can't believe in Christmas without believing in Jesus Christ. Forget Santa, Jesus is where Christmas turns magical. You never look at Christmas the same way after you accept Jesus in your life. To think the creator of all things would choose to come to Earth, to be with us, in the form of a baby, is miraculous and filled with wonder. 

Believing in the baby is just the start. In order to have eternal life we must believe that little baby went on to die for us, for our sins. It's the only way. Christmas only makes sense if we follow the story to the death and resurrection. I pray you and your family will believe in the whole story of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus!

I hate Xmas!

and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2 NIV)

I am loving this Christmas devotional by Harvest Ministries. Today the discussion was about Xmas. I literally hate it when people use this term. I am not as upset when people use "Happy Holidays" . Using this term around our Jewish brothers and sisters or people from other faiths is understandable. But, really, if I use a "hearty" a Merry Christmas, how does that offend them! I'm not forcing them to believe, just greeting them out of my love. But the devotional didn't spend a lot of time debating these Christmas greetings. The point was: Shouldn't we be equally outraged at what our own Christian family has done with this holiday? I know very few Christians that don't promote the Santa Claus, reindeer, snow filled version of Christmas. 

Instead of getting bent out of shape because someone uses Xmas or Happy Holidays, shouldn't we look at our own attitudes and celebration of this holiday? Manger scenes used to be prominent through out neighborhoods in our country. Go to your local Home Depot or Lowes or Meynards, you can't buy a manger scene. I even had difficulty finding an Angel, but I have one. We should work hard at keeping the true meaning of Christmas in the forefront of our lives. Manger scenes should replace snowmen, the star of Bethlehem should replace the Christmas wreath. The three wisemen should replace Santa Claus and jolly snowmen. We should take this time of year to Praise God openly with evey bone in our body, with every resource we have. To emphasize anything beside the birth of our savior weakens the beautiful gift of Gods son!

Join me in celebrating our saviors birth, not the joy of shopping, not the joy of Santa Claus, not the joy of snow fall or sleigh rides. The holiday is to celebrate the coming of God to live with us here on Earth! Praise God for his wonderful love.

Christmas Encouragement by Greg Laurie

Copyright © 2011 by Harvest Ministries

I promise

the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, (Romans 1:2-3 NIV)

God loves you and he has promised to be with you. The bible is filled with verses Those promises are the center of the Christmas season. Our society doesn't value a promise like it used to. Promises to love someone forever in marriage is not taken seriously. Promises to children are destroyed through divorce and family turmoil. Politicians are better at breaking promises than keeping them. God ALWAYS keeps his promises. 

I am so thankful for a reliable, loving God who has a plan for my life and promises life eternal for those who believe. He sent his son to us that we would see those promises in action. I am honored and humbled by his impact and involvement in my life. May we all remember God's wonderful promises during this Christmas season. May we, as christians, honor our promises and take seriously the commitments we make. The impact of breaking our promises damage the witness we have and may keep the lost from coming to know Jesus. Your number one promise should be to love and serve Jesus. Keep that promise and live in eternity with your loving, Heavenly Father.

Don't stop at Christmas!

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. (1 John 2:28 NIV)

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Now we make the trek to Christmas Day. 25 days to celebrate the greatest event known to man! As yet! I just started a new devotional for Christmas from my friends at YouVersion Bible Ap. 

(The devotional is fCopyright © 2011 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved and is called "Christmas Encouragement by Greg Laurie." I would like to thank Harvest Ministries With Greg Laurie for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: www.harvest.org.)

I will be reading this devotional and share my own thoughts of the readings from now until Christmas. 

The first devotion proposes this thought:  We may be ready for Christmas, but are we ready for the return of Christ? 

So much preparation goes into Christmas. We need the right gift, the perfect decorations, the ideal weather ( not too much snow to prevent travel, but enough for a beautiful winter scene), family events modeled after Norman Rockwell, and peace throughout the world. We need snowmen, twinkling lights, jolly old Saint Nick, and flying reindeer. In the midst of all these puzzle pieces we miss the grand picture, the birth of our savior. Beyond that picture, which we miss more often than not, the even greater picture: the return of this tiny babe from the manger is lost to the world. That is the real story. The babe is going to return and it's going to happen soon. Are you ready?

As Christians we are more caught up in this miraculous FIRST Christmas story than we are the glorious future that lies ahead. We are so caught up in the magic of the beginning, we lose the truth of the reason the story is amazing at all. The birth of Christ just starts the story how God wants us to be with us for eternity. He came down to be with us, sacrificed himself for us, so that we might have eternal life and recieve it upon his even more miraculous return. Even WE miss the real meaning and we miss the grand opportunity to share this wonderful story this time of the year. 

Jesus is coming again, we need to be ready. We need to prepare for that glory by helping others receive Jesus, beg forgiveness of their sins, and dedicate themselves to a life centered around him. Forget the first coming, the best is yet to come! The virgin birth , the wisemen, the shepherds, the angelic host all mean nothing without the second coming of Christ. If we just believe the story of the first coming without the truth of the cross and without the REST of the story, we are doomed to die and doomed to separation from God forever. Don't stop at the beginning, finish the story, accept Christ as your savior and the Christmas story will live in you through eternity!