Laced With Grace

It is a classic. How the Grinch stole Christmas.

We have all read Dr. Seuss’s book to our children and watched the movie on television. The story about the funny looking green guy who gets so annoyed at the people from Who-ville, so annoyed at their joy, laughter and Christmas spirit that he decides that he is going to take all of the fun right out of their Who-ville spirit and steal away their Christmas. He had the notion that if he stole their presents, their trees, their decorations and food that all of the Who’s in Who-ville would have nothing left to celebrate. They would have no joy. No fun. No Christmas spirit.

But the Grinch didn’t understand what Christmas spirit was, now did he?

It isn’t about getting presents, or dressing up in our finest red dresses. It isn’t about the tinsel, the lights or even the star on the tree. It isn’t about singing carols, going on sleigh rides or drinking hot chocolate on a cold night. Christmas spirit is not what we DO, or what we SAY or even what we BRING. Christmas spirit is what we KNOW!

“And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at His birth!” LUKE 1:14

Even though the Grinch stole all of their “things”, the one thing he could not steal was what was in their hearts.

We may think that there aren’t any real Grinches in this world, but we are wrong. We all have to contend with a Grinch that not only attempts to steal our Christmas spirit but every day, 365 days a year, 12 months a year, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, there is a Grinch who tries to steal our spirit of Christ! One who seeks to steal, kill and destroy! (John 10:10)

Just like Dr. Suess’s Grinch stole presents, the Grinch I am thinking of, the enemy, also tries to steal our presents. God has given each of us special talents and gifts. The enemy hates that. It disgusts him. It really, really annoys him to see us use our gifts for Gods glory. So what does he do? He packs up his sled and gives it his best shot to take away what God has given us. He will not relent until he has stripped us of every thing that God has bestowed upon us.

He knows that taking our cars, our homes and our clothes will not be as devastating as losing our kids, our spouses, our hope, our faith and yes even our spirit. He tries to use every trickery in his bag to get us to lose our joy, lose our smile, lose our faith, lose our trust in people and in God.

But when we put our hope and trust in God, there is nothing that can shake us. We may lose our material things, but no-one, and I mean NO-ONE, not even the enemy, can rob us of what lives in our heart and our soul. Nobody can steal Christmas when Christmas lives within our hearts.

May you experience the joy of our Savior this Christmas and in all the days to come. He IS joy and that is something that no Grinch can steal!

You’ve heard the sappy old comparison before:

There was no room in the inn for Jesus (Luke 2:7). Is there room in your heart for Jesus?

Yes, the question is a bit corny and overdone. But I’ve been thinking about it seriously for the last few days. With the busyness of my life, am I truly giving Jesus top priority?

Let’s ask another question, very relevant to the season:

Is there room in your Christmas for Jesus?

Seriously. After all the garland and ornaments. In the midst of all the meal-planning and baking. After Christmas cards and shopping and wrapping and party-going… is there room in your Christmas for Jesus.

Do you have a “to-do” list for Christmas? If so it probably includes things like addressing the cards, baking the pies, cleaning the guest room, and decking the halls. Maybe your list is a shopping list and you will spend the next two weeks at the mall, WalMart, and the grocery store. Then you have to bring it all home and wrap it or cook it.

I certainly am not against gift-giving and celebrating. In fact, I’m all for it! I’ve been shopping and cooking the last couple of weeks. I also have a party or two on my calendar. But God has impressed me recently with the need to keep the reason for Christmas my top priority. “Jesus” should be at the top of every list.

How can we do that? How can we participate in the fun holiday traditions without allowing them to overshadow the reason for the celebration? We must constantly be on guard against it and we must also be intentional about keeping Jesus in the forefront.

Here are a few of the things our family has done over the years to keep our focus on Christ at Christmas:

• We hang the Christmas Nail on the tree and talk about the truth that Jesus came to die. (This page shows you what the nail looks like and the poem that goes with it. You can also make your own with ribbon and large nails or spikes found at the hardware store. I’ve even given them away as gifts!)
• The nativity set is our most cherished Christmas décor. It gets prime location!
•  We give to those who are in need through an organization like Operation Christmas Child.
• We attend Christmas Eve services. We worship Jesus before the gift-giving.
• We bake a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve day.
• We read the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke before heading to bed on Christmas Eve.

I would love to hear about the ways you and your families keep your focus on Christ at Christmas. Let’s talk!

Merry Christmas!

Kathy

A couple of months ago I heard a song called, ”The Maker of Miracles” and my mind started running through all the miracles connected with Jesus birth. Miracle after miracle. I started wondering if as we celebrate the Christmas season if it puts God in a miracle mood.

As the days of November came and went, I started noticing every time I opened my Bible, I saw a miracle. I realized it’s not Christmas that puts God in a miracle mooed, Christmas puts me in a place where I see them more.

What exactly is a miracle to you?

To me it’s a special display of God’s power, one that is either seen or felt. Sometimes we see a special display of God’s power in our lives and we recognize it as a miracle. Then sometimes the miracle is when we are able to stand to our feet and keep going by the power of God. I think especially of people who lose a child or a spouse, and they know that it’s only by the power of God that they can keep going, a miracle. We like the ones that are seen better than the ones that are felt, but both are miracles.

Are you hoping for a miracle in some area of your lift this Christmas season? Maybe, you have given up hope of a miracle. Do you know the first time hope appears in the Bible is connected with a woman who desperately needed a miracle?

In Joshua 2, we find the story of Rahab , a woman whose who live was about to be literally destroyed, and she needed a miracle. She asked that God would spare her and her family from all the destruction that was coming. If your familiar with the story, you may remember Rahab helped the spies escape by letting them down a rope.

Then she let them down by a rope through the window… Joshua 2:15 ESV

When you see that word “rope” in the original language it means exactly what you think the word rope means. But as she talks to the spies the word changes to cord, a very different word from rope.

Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down… Joshua 2:18 ESV

They are talking about the same physical object, but the word changed from “rope” to “cord”. The word cord is ‘tiqva’ in the Hebrew, meaning hope. Every other place we see ‘tiqva’ it reads as hope.

Rahab had a choice to make, she had to decide what to do with the hope that she held in her hands. As she tied her hope in her window for all to see in reality she was tying her hope to God. Biblical hope is always tied to God.

Our hopes when we tie them to God will see a display of His power ~ a miracle that is either seen or felt. Rahab tied her hope and then had to wait. I wonder if as she waited if she was like us, a full range of emotions during the waiting time. Do you think she felt like giving up as she waited? Do you think she thought about taking that cord out of her window and doing something on her own? Really do you think the idea of hanging a cord out the window for all to see is how she wanted her miracle to come? Personally, I would have preferred if the spies had said something like, ‘we’ll wait while you get your family and then we’ll hide you in a safe house.’ Not, have a scarlet cord hanging out the window hoping when they came to destroy her people they would spare her.

Can you imagine her voice wavering as she explained to her family that she had placed her hopes for the future in a cord in the window?

This Christmas, maybe like me you have something you need a miracle in, would willing to tie that hope to God, realizing we always get the miracle. Sometimes it’s one we see and sometimes it’s one we feel, but never will we be abandoned when our hope is in God!

I taught on this the other night and went into much more detail of some principles we can pull out from this section. If you would like to hear it you can click here for the audio or here to listen via itunes, both are free also.

Merry Christmas!