It’s now officially the Christmas season. Many of us will be celebrating. We will buy gifts for the people we love. We’ll listen to Christmas music. We’ll attend parties and Christmas shows. And then, that day will come, December 25th, when we will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Aww, but there will be those, who oppose such a celebration. There will be those, in our ranks of Christians, who will say we should’t celebrate Christmas.  To them I say, “bah humbug!”

More and more, there are attacks on Christmas. For many reasons, I have heard people say they won’t celebrate Christmas.

Is it a sin to celebrate Christmas? Are we wrong?

Is it a sin to celebrate Christmas? Nope. Not hardly. There are only two Christian holidays that coincide with our Christian faith: Christmas and Easter. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth. Easter is the celebration of His death, burial and resurrection from the dead.

First of all, what did God do with Christ’s birth? Well like any celebration, you want people there TO celebrate. So in the Bible, Luke 2, God shows us how He invited some people to come celebrate the birth of Christ. God sent an angel to some shepherds. The angel was kind of scary, as he had light all around him, So the angel had to calm the shepherds down and tell them not to be scared. The angel announces the good news to the shepherds: a Savior is born today. Go see Him. Here’s how you’ll find Him. Then to really top off this announcement from the angel, a whole multitude of angels appear, and they’re singing! This baby born is a really big deal. Angels are in the sky singing about it.

This was a monumental moment for the shepherds who spend the days and nights out on green pastures watching their sheep. Since the angels showed up, they realize, they should go check out the baby. I mean, if a bunch of angels have come to tell you to go check out this baby and they sing about it, wouldn’t you want to go? So they go and find the baby just as the angel had said.

Then some smart, rich dudes come find a star in the sky and decide it leads to something significant, so they go follow the star and find the baby Jesus (Matthew 2). They know this baby is important, so they bring some very important gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

So God is sending out messages to all kinds of people announcing the birth of Jesus Christ. There are angels in the sky, singing about it all. Wisemen bring gifts. I would call that a celebration. And why wouldn’t there be a celebration? The Savior has come into the world to save us all from our sins. He has come to offer up His life, so that those who accept Him, can have life and life more abundantly.

So if God is having multitudes of angels, singing about Jesus birth. And if God is sending out wisemen to come see Him. And if God is announcing to shepherds that a Savior is born, I think we can safely say celebrating Christmas is a good thing. So Merry Christmas to you all.

Happy Thanksgiving. This week is thanksgiving week. I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving day.

God is so good and for that I’m thankful. I’m still waiting on God to answer a lingering prayer, but in this waiting time, I feel God’s presence in my life. Each time I stray away from the facts of God’s love for me, He pulls me back with some kind of reminder that He is here and He loves me. I’ll get an encouraging word from a friend. The pastor will speak a message that seems to be talking directly to me. A sense of well-being will come upon me, making me know that God is here, near me.

I am thankful that God always remains faithful. As I go up and down in my feelings, God comes near to me and remains the faithful and true God He is. He never changes. So I’m learning to be more consistent in my reliance upon Him.

My son has a slight tear in his meniscus. He needs surgery and we weren’t sure when that should be. I’m now coming to the conclusion that I pray about it, then wait for God. So my son tore his meniscus at the beginning of October. His knee swells up when he spends too much time walking on it. Well we have an HMO, and had to wait a long time to see the orthopedic doctor. When we finally did, he scheduled an M.R.I. More waiting, and then my son finally got it. After the M.R.I., the orthopedic doctor’s office called and scheduled an appointment with the surgeon at the end of November. I called them and asked if there was any way to move it up, my son is really struggling with the swelling. They called and were able to move it up by two weeks.

So we finally got to see the surgeon, six weeks after my son injured himself. As we sat with the surgeon, I began praying for the Lord to give us the perfect time for my son to get surgery. Well the surgeon was hesitant about doing surgery. The orthopedic doctor had warned us that this surgeon doesn’t rush into surgery and waits. He wanted to wait six more weeks. I kept praying for God’s timing. I sat quietly in the corner, praying.

Suddenly, the surgeon makes a 180 degree turn and says he just so happens to have a cancellation on Monday, a week a way. He advises us to take it with the knowledge we can cancel. Otherwise, it will be another six weeks before he can operate. It was like we were talking to two different doctors. Yes, we’ll take the surgery. I pray a prayer of thanks to God.

So this waiting time has taught me to wait on God. To truly wait on Him. I used to say I did, but often didn’t. But as I wait on God everyday, knowing He loves me, I actually wait on Him for everything. It’s just so much easier to live life like that. I am grateful to God for this waiting time, as it has taught me so much.

With all the demonic movies that come out of Hollywood, people assume the enemy comes into our lives like a screaming demon. That he possesses people, while they scream and levitate. He attacks people by jumping out at them or hissing at them in the middle of the night. I think these Hollywood movies lull us into a state of complacency. Unless, the enemy is physically attacking us, he’s not here, wrecking havoc on our lives, so we think.

But the enemy comes as an angel of light. He uses people, to come into our lives. These people flatter us, “love” us, and deceive us. The enemy’s moves are subtle, extremely subtle. He puts people into our lives to seduce us. And ever so slowly, he wraps invisible chains around our legs until we are completely under his control.

When someone enters the believer’s life and the believer now spends their time lying or deceiving others, the enemy has a foothold. God is not the author of chaos. The devil is. When disharmony and discord enter into a believer’s relationships, you can count on the fact that the enemy is working in that person’s life.

The enemy is the father of lies. He lies to his victims, telling them whatever they want to hear. He tickles their ears with compliments. Compliments are hard to resist.

There’s this mud, on Alaskan beaches that acts like a heavy duty vacuum cleaner. To the unsuspecting person, the mud looks solid. But once you take one step onto its surface, it will suck your boot right down and it will take a herculean effort to pull it back out of the mud. The enemy acts just like the mud. It looks innocent at first, but right away, a person can get sucked in.

God warns us in scripture, over and over to stay awake. To be on the alert. God knows how the enemy works, so He warns us constantly. He tells us to be aware, to look out, to stay awake. We’re in a war and we can’t afford to let the enemy have the upper hand.

For me right now, the enemy is bringing me down with discouragement. I’m in this waiting time and when I let my guard down, I can get so discouraged. I can let doubts invade my brain. I start feeling hopeless. If I catch it, I quickly quote scripture in my head. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. That’s what I must do. There are so many times I want to feel sorry for myself. But then I remember my God. I remember that He loves me. I remind myself that He’s heard my prayers. When I do this, the discouragement begins to fade away.

But I’m not going to lie to you. It’s hard. Like a soldier, during a war, I need to stay awake, stay alert, just like God tells us to. I need to look around, so the enemy can’t take me by surprise.

If you are going through something right now, let scripture be the balm that comforts your soul. Start quoting scripture in your head like God loves us. Because God does. The enemy doesn’t love us, he hates us. Only God loves us. Remember that!

 

Why does God have us wait? Why must we go through the waiting time? I think I have figured some of that out.

The waiting time is because God wants us. He wants us to know Him, to be close to Him. He tells us to have no other gods before Him. He tells us to worship Him and Him alone. To come taste and see that He is good. Don’t love someone or something else. They can’t give you what I can. God tells us He gave His life for us.

He loves us. He tells us He is good for us. He tells us our lives will be so much better if we draw close to Him. He says He came to give us life and life more abundantly. The waiting time gives God room to show us His goodness.

During the waiting time, He wants to show us His love. He gives us peace, peace beyond all understanding.

The waiting time is fellowship with God. It’s communion with Him. When we are in need, everything else fades away. We see Him more clearly. We are helpless, so we cling to Him. Because all the other things that have taken our attention have faded. We are sitting near Him, leaning in on Him. The waiting time gets our attention.

The waiting time allows God to prove to us that His word is true. We must come to terms with who God is. We change God in our minds, but God never changes. We must come to terms with who God really is. He never leaves us or forsakes us. Most often, in the waiting time, we don’t believe that. My first reaction was, He did leave me. Where did He go? But He has said He would never leave me or forsake me. So I can choose to believe the lie that He left, or believe the truth, that He never left. Every lie that enters my mind, I have to choose the truth. I have to remember what God says about Himself. Each time we are told to wait, we are slowly coming to terms with who God really is. For our finite minds, God is higher, greater, bigger, more powerful than we can ever imagine. So piece by piece, God slowly reveals Himself to the believer in the waiting time. I recall truths, He has said in His word. I can trust them. His truths are comfort to me.

God told us to rest. The waiting time is a call to be still. God says to be still and know that I am God. God is in the stillness. Just like Moses, God wasn’t in the wind or the storm, He was in the stillness. The waiting time is stillness. God wants time with all of us. Our lives get so busy and loud, it often leaves no room for God. The waiting time causes us to be still. The waiting time is a time of rest. It is a Sabbath in our lives.

As I draw near to God during this waiting time, God is faithful to His word and brings me comfort and peace. God IS good all the time.

The waiting time is a difficult time. During this waiting time, I’ve felt the enemy in my life. Discouraging things keep happening and then I wonder where God has gone. Is it not enough, I’m struggling waiting? Why isn’t God protecting me?

Then I remembered Jesus. After He fasted for forty days, THEN He was tested. When He was hungry and physically drained, THAT’S when He is tested. It wasn’t when He was well rested, well fed. He was tempted when He was physically starving to death. Imagine what that would feel like to not eat for forty days. And His first test? The enemy comes along and asks Jesus to turn the rocks into bread. He asks Jesus who has not eaten for forty days, to turn the rocks into bread. Imagine trying to resist that.

When I remembered that, it began to make sense to me. During the waiting time, is when the enemy comes into our lives. Not because God hates us and wants to bring harm. It is during this time, He wants us to draw near to Him. He wants us close and then closer. Our strength won’t come from within ourselves. Our strength will come from Him.

God warned us that the enemy prowls the earth like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. God warns us to prepare ourselves for war. He doesn’t leave us unaware. Over and over in scripture He speaks about the enemy and what the believer must do to be careful and protect ourselves.

But why do we have to fight the enemy when we are the most vulnerable? I thought about this and thought about this. Why have Jesus tested, when He was forty days starving to death? It comes back to Who is going to do the fighting? Can we stand alone and fight alone? No, we can’t. I must rely upon God for absolutely everything. He WILL protect me. He WILL be my SAVIOR. I am vulnerable right now. The enemy can see that. So I must completely rely upon God. I must hang onto Him and let Him be by protector. God wants me near Him, looking to Him for everything.

This is when the enemy wants to move in and lie to me and tell me how God doesn’t care. And that’s when I have to fight the lies and quote scripture in my head. When we resist the devil, he will flee. I must practice the things I know to be true about living the Christian life. I need to be aware of the enemy and what we must do to defeat him.

Jesus had to go through major testing because He was going to be our Savior. He was fully man and fully God. His tempting shows He had to go through testing too and won. That’s Who I put my faith and trust in – a God who was tried and tested and didn’t give in to the enemy.

So I hide under God’s wings during this waiting time. When I peek out from under them and see the enemy, I just need to go back under His wings and He will protect me. I just can’t believe the lies and I can’t leave the protection of His wings over me.