The Heart of Christmas

What is the heart of Christmas?  Is it the children, helping the less fortunate or being with family?  Also, what is the significance of the baby Jesus in a manger that we observe in holiday plays and hear about in Christmas carols?  Is it just a nice seasonal story or does it mean something? 

Words like the Incarnation, Virgin Birth and Immaculate Conception do not show up in most Christmas cards but these words contain the heart of the season.  World history uses them to describe only one person – the birth of Jesus. 

The Scriptures declare Jesus existed in heaven from eternity as God the Son.  Then one day, through a carefully crafted plan, God the Father sent His willing Son from heaven to earth.  He took the form of a seed that was implanted by His Holy Spirit into a specially chosen young woman – Mary.  She was pure having never lain with a man.  The news of her approaching pregnancy did not come from a doctor, but an angel.  He said “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son” (Luke 1:30-31).  Soon she conceived by the hand of God and months later, a host of angels announced the birth of this miracle baby to a lost world.     

This extraordinary historical account has its share of skeptics.  Some argue it is biologically impossible.  Others doubt, calling it a myth equal to the stories of Greek mythology.  God’s miracles have their critics because they cannot be explained in a classroom, under a microscope or on a calculator.  If they could, they would not be miracles.        

Why was this virgin birth necessary?  First, for the forgiveness of our sins.  We carry the weight of our guilt and shame every day.  It is a heavy load.  Yet, only one man is the vessel by which forgiveness can come – Jesus.  His Deity from conception made it possible. 

Second, in order to show us the way.  Jesus could have descended from heaven and bypassed a birth.  Instead, He chose to enter our world as a baby becoming one of us.  He took on our weaknesses and was subjected to our temptations.  Then through His eventual death and resurrection He showed us we can overcome through trust in Him.  He became our way to victory.     

The heart of Christmas is Jesus.  His miraculous virgin birth is our triumph.  May Jesus be your HOPE FOR TODAY during this Christmas season.

HOPE FOR TODAY-Spells, Magic & The Supernatural

I was visiting with a young woman whom I had lost contact with for several years. As we caught up about her family, work and faith she said, “I’m a pagan.” It surprised me. I never had anyone tell me that before. After our conversation I asked myself, “What does it mean when she calls herself a pagan?”

According to the Pagan Federation it is “a follower of a polytheistic or pantheistic nature-worshipping religion.” In simple terms, it is someone who believes in many gods and goddesses and deification of nature. The religion has a number of distinctions like nature worship, rituals, spells, magic and exploring the supernatural.

In October, pagans celebrate one of their most sacred events – Samhain. When Americans are trick-or-treating on Halloween, pagans world-wide will be honoring their ancestors through various rituals believing the supernatural veil that divides this world and the next can be crossed.

Many experts say paganism has grown from a few thousand to upwards of 1,000,000 since 1990. Books, television shows, movies like Harry Potter, and the Internet have helped expand paganism among women and our youth.

The religion reveals a spiritual searching that has been common to the human race for centuries. Many have travelled the path of paganism seeking rest for their soul through the supernatural only to find emptiness at each turn.

Only Jesus can satisfy the longing of the soul. When He gave His life as a sacrifice on a cross then rose again from the dead a few days later, He ended the need for a man-made system of spiritual rituals.

Once a pagan jailer was in a desperate place when he pleaded, “. . . what must I do to be saved?” which was followed by a simple answer - “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:30-31). No longer do we need to bear the burden of trying to do or say the right thing to find rest for our soul. We just need simple faith combined with surrender wholly to Christ. We need to yield our allegiance to Him, who is Lord of all creation. If you do, His gift of rest for the soul and adjoining mission of service will be yours. Discover His gift and may Jesus be your hope for today.