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Jesus has come; what now? Our Savior has come. Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem and Jesus was born. We spent the last two days celebrating Christ’s birthday and giving Jesus and those we love gifts.

Today, the day after seems like it should be our New Year. Because today should be different. special. What should we do today? What resolutions should we make?

Pray: We need to recommit ourselves to praying daily! And not just asking God for His Mercy or Help, but really spending time with our Lord. Just as we would spend time with a friend telling them about our day and listening to them!

Read the Bible: There is only one way to know for sure the story of God. It’s by reading God’s Word. God gave us so much. The history of our world, guidance for living out our lives and real hope for the future! We need to recommit ourselves to knowing God’s Truth (there is only one Truth )! And we need to read it every day!

Follow Jesus: Jesus left a roadmap for Following Him. He left guidelines on everyday living and He left a Hope for the Future, a Hope that we can count on.

Share Jesus, with others. Even if it is just by being extra kind. We need to let those we meet or see each day remember how nice it is to meet a person who Follows Jesus and wonder why that is. Maybe, just maybe, they will one day become Christians themselves :).

Call upon the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to give us the Gift of Faith. For Great Faith is just that, a Gift!

And we can love each other as Jesus loved us!

So often, churches don’t tell the actual events of Christmas in their sermons, but is so important for all of us 🙂

Mary, our Blessed Mother, was a young Jewish girl (some say about 15 years old). She lived in an outpost village of about 35 homes. Gabriel, one of God’s Archangels appeared to Mary and said, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:30-33

Mary wanted to know how this would happen

And Gabriel answered, “The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come over you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  For no word from God will ever fail.” Luke 1:35-37

And Mary said Yes 🙂:

“Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.” -Luke 1:38

But Joseph struggled a bit. According to the law, he had every right to have Mary stoned to death, but he did not want to. And then an Angel was sent by God and appeared to him and said:

“But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”. – Mathew 1:20-21

And so Joseph did 🙂

Mary and Joseph gave their lives to God and never looked back. We can give our lives to God today 🙂

And then the census came:

“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ” Luke 2:4:5

It was a 10 day trip. It is so hard to imagine how hard that must have been for the young couple! How hard it would be for us! No car, just walking or riding a donkey for 10 days at 9 months pregnant! And yet Mary complained not! I would have, lol.

And then, they finally arrived, but there was no place for them!

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,  and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” – Luke 2:6-7

And then there were the Shepherds:

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”- Luke 2:8-14

And then there were the Wise Men : 🙂

“When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹ And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.”- Matthew 2:10-12

Like Charles Spurgeon once said, it is so important to” believe what you believe”, if you want to share it. And this Christmas, what better thing to Give to another than the sharing of the True account of Christmas 🙂

Richard Wormbrand was born in 1909 to a Jewish family in Bucherest. He converted to Christianity in 1939 and eventually became a Lutheran minister, although he worked with many of Christians faith in many different denominations.

He was tortured for his faith and became famous for standing up at a meeting of Christian leaders and” denouncing government control of the churche”s. He was also famous for saying “Christianity and communism are incompatible.” He also helped to start the Voice of Martyers.

But Richard also said something that truly applies to our every day lives, “More souls have been won for Christ by preachers that did what little they could than by renowned evangelists”

This Christmas Eve, as we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ, God’s Great Gift to us :), we can also give to others. A warm meal, a toy, a plate of cookies, help in this storm that is coming…

As Richard said, sometimes more souls are “won for Christ” by simple acts of kindness and love 🙂

Merry Christmas Eve 🙂

For 400 years after Malachi, when God made it clear He would punish those who behaved badly, God did not speak! But many kept praying. Can you imagine, praying and waiting for 400 years? How faithful were they!

But they did have one very important thing in their favor, they knew their Hope was in God. Just as we know that our Hope is in God today 🙂

This Christmas, let’s let the Hope of the Holy Spirit come alive in our hearts and let’s share our Hope with others 🙂

Thank You Jesus!

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told is God’s Love For Us! No one has ever loved me as much as God; no one ever will :).

A good friend sent me this text, it described God’s Love so well:

“Know that I AM in you and you in Me. Nothing on earth can take this away. I will give you My Strength and Courage. I will give you My angels to help and protect you. I will give you My Holy Spirit Stirring in your heart, to share Me with others. I gave you My Son for Sacrifice for your sins. I will give you Eternal Life with Me for seeking My Face. I will give you My Peace now and forever. Amen!”

Wow! How could it be better than that?

This Christmas, let us celebrate how truly loved we are by God and share that love with others 🙂