Finding The True Spirit Of Christmas

This season that we set aside as a special time to remember and celebrate Christ's birth is a struggle for some... 

Many things have passed in the lives of each of us over time and some of those things as we pause to consider them, might also give us pause to grieve or question God - maybe only secretly in the deepest recesses of our hearts.

While some may find only cause for joy, wonder and excitement, there will be others suffering the weight of loss, loneliness and sadness. While some will be able to focus on the wonderful gift of God's grace and sacrifice to redeem men to Himself, others will be wrestling with guilt, addictions and anxiety. For those suffering or just struggling through life, there may hang a single question separating them from the God that they wish they could embrace fully, leaving them distanced if only somewhat, from the spirit of joy and peace that should reign at Christmas.

That question - "God, why?"

Some of the possible answers to what might happen to us begin in the first chapter of the book of Genesis. There, in the very beginning of man's presence on the earth, God gave man dominion over everything on it. From there, man defied God and in doing so, created a separation between God and himself - because Father God being perfectly holy cannot be connected to sin. Over millennia since, man has many many times, used that dominion and the free will that God also gave him, to inflict pain on others and in negative and destructive ways that have set in motion results that have had lasting effects. For many of the things that man might try to blame God for, through his own free will and dominion mankind has and continues to reap some of the benefit of his own actions. In simple terms and in some cases, mankind has messed in his own nest and would choose to blame God for the foulness and stench.

In other cases we might pause to consider that God's not short sighted, nor is He powerless to change the course of our lives and the pathways of the lives of others ... if we ask Him to. What we may forget at times, is that having given us dominion and free will, God will not likely step on the freedom that He's given us - we have to give Him permission through our prayer and conversations with Him. What we ask for in earnest and request in sincerity that agrees with His will, is most likely to catch His ear. But along with that, we also have to remember that for every promise that God has made to us in scripture there is a prerequisite - a thing that we must do, in order to allow Him to fulfill those promises. Our obedience in those things is the key to unlocking what we desire from Him.

Further still is the matter of God's plan and sovereign will. In some things, God will allow us to change what exists, but for others, His greater plan and those things that He ordained and set in motion from before we even set foot on this planet will not be changed. When confronted with those things, we have no other course but to trust that He is all that He's said that He is, that His wisdom in those things far exceeds our own, and all that He's said is true - including that He loves us... 

...Setting aside all of the other things in this short life, the fact that God loves us is at the very core of what we celebrate at Christmas.

It's because God loves us that Jesus came to this planet that man so terribly desecrated with sin. It was because God loves us that He humbled Himself before all - both in heaven and on earth (God did this!), and came to take on the sin that kept us separated from God and make possible all of those things that He's promised. It's because He loves us that He came to endure the terror of the punishment that we deserved - setting us free to once again enjoy God's presence - free of the filth that kept us chained to a fate worse than physical death and suffering. This and for no other reason is why we truly celebrate if we're in tune with God's heart.

It might sound quaint and old fashioned - repeated thousands of times (because it's always been true), that Jesus' birth and what He came to change for us is what we celebrate at Christmas. But it's also true that the special spirit that some fondly call the true spirit of Christmas ... is in fact the spirit of Christ. What our souls were created to seek out and embrace - what we're really searching for beyond the gatherings of loved ones, the gifts, the feasting and all of the trappings of celebration ... is the spirit of Jesus. And He's available no matter where we are, who we're with or without, what we've done or what's come into or has left our lives. So if you're missing the true spirit of Christmas right now, He's only one sincere and honest conversation away.

It might sound very old fashioned and far too easy to be true, but "Jesus is the answer". Connecting with Jesus, the Christ, is the answer to finding the true spirit of Christmas. You can call on Him any time.

May the Lord flood your heart and mind with peace and an overwhelming sense of His presence with you. May He bless you far beyond your expectations, fill your heart with joy, and leave you awash in His Spirit.

A Merry Christmas to you indeed! Because He came to redeem us, ... WE ARE FREE!

"No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8 (NLT)