I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

I love that even though there is a lot of focus on the secular — there is also MORE focus on the birth of Jesus everywhere I go.  I love hearing Christmas carols and hymns in the department stores!  The truth is proclaimed through songs over and over again!

People just seem nicer this time of year.

I also love decorating our home for the Christmas season.  It is fun filling up a normally bland palate with RED and GREEN.   The tree pictured below is on our sun porch.

But most importantly …

Luke 1:26-37
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”

There is no way any of us could imagine what Mary must have felt.   Wow, having a conversation with GABRIEL face to face would be shocking enough, but then to hear that a supernatural act of pregnancy was going to take place!  Though she must have felt alone, she wasn’t.  There was another miraculous event within her family — a sign to Mary of God’s power (because with God, NOTHING is impossible).

Luke 1:13
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

God’s timing was everything with the arrival of John the Baptist (Elizabeth’s son) and Jesus.   Elizabeth had waited past her childbearing years for a child to call her own, but God provided in His perfect timing.  He knew what was needed.  He saw the future and had a plan for John to prepare the way for Jesus.

I’m sure Elizabeth’s pregnancy gave Mary great hope and encouragement!  Both of them had blessings in their wombs yet both of them would lose these precious sons.   I don’t know if Elizabeth was still alive with John was beheaded, but Mary was there to watch her innocent Son die on the cross.

Yes, I love this time of year …

I look forward to reading this Christmas story again!   I’ll continue with this story on another day.

Please pray for our nation and for the peace of Jerusalem.