The six letters of Christ fill the nine letters in Christmas. Christmas IS about Christ!
Yet, for some this holiday feels more like a hole-iday (ie: empty crib, miles apart from family or for some first holiday after a loved one's passing). But God still enters into our garden variety of gunk (illness, trials, heartache, grief ...) AND no matter what He relentlessly loves as we are.
Recounting the message of my Savior's birth DOES GIVE hope. Jesus comes not with a list of things for you to do, but with a list of things he has already done and will do. Jesus lifts burdens; he doesn't add to them ... When we see the face of God, it changes everything. - Max Lucado (Because of Bethlehem)
Crown, cradle, cross (see Philippians 2:7) -- God (heaven's crown) came down as Christ born of Mary in Bethlehem's barnyard, to Jerusalem's cross, where the tomb-stone was miraculously rolled back.
Christmas begins what Easter celebrates. The child in the cradle became the King on the cross. - Max Lucado (Because of Bethlehem)
~ Advent is an invitation to (prepare) our hearts, the Gift that surpasses all gifts (Immanuel - God with us). Like a child eagerly awaiting the event of unwrapping their gifts on the eve of Christmas or on the very day, Advent is a season of anticipation- beyond the tinsel and great tidings - hope, peace, joy, and love. King Jesus IS coming, am I leaning into receiving Christ Child with joy?
Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world.
The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son.
The only requirement is to believe in Him.
The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life.
-- Attributed to Corrie ten Boom
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