The Christmas Story

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was a governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and 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 among those with
whom He is pleased!"

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.~Luke 2:1-20





Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him." When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him,
"In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers
of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
Who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found Him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship Him." After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 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."~Matthew 2:1-11

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope all of you have a great Christmas. Don't forget Who we are celebrating on Christmas. Not only are we celebrating His birth, but we are celebrating the reason of His birth. RelientK says it very well: "I celebrate the day that You were born to die so I could one day pray for You to save my life." He was born to die for us! That is pretty incredible. Praise God for the sacrifice of His Son - Jesus Christ, our Savior. Emmanuel. God with us.

Enjoy your Christmas - here are some pictures from my Christmas season



Merry Christmas! And as Tiny Tim would say - "God bless us - everyone!"

~Madison

The Amusing Innocence of a Child

I've been brought up in a Christian home from the day I was born. My mom and dad taught us about Jesus and the stories of the Bible as soon as we could understand them.
But then it started coming to the time when we would branch out.... we couldn't rely on our parent's faith. We had to believe for ourselves. I became a Christian when I was 6 years old, but needless to say, there's a lot you don't know or understand when you're 6. But my parents still instilled in me and my brother the importance of reading our Bible, praying, and the like. Well, when I was 8 years old, I decided it was high time for me to start using a prayer journal. And looking back now, I love seeing how small and innocent the desires and worries of a child are.
For example, here are some prayer requests I had one day soon after I started my prayer journal - "That my fish will be O.K. [note - my pet fish at the time usually looked like they were about to expire], that I will win a sweepstates [I meant sweepstakes] to American Girl place, that I will win my award for the birds study soon, that I can play with my dolls today, and that I will have a good nights rest tomorrow." You see. My prayer requests were rather childish. Flipping through I chuckle to myself at the way I put things. Like this: "That I will be able to play with my bear today (but he is small)." Or another one, "That I will get bunnies (two)." I was also quite a specific child, "That I will finish school at 3:00 or 3:30." Why did it have to be exactly 3 or 3:30? Couldn't it have been 2:45? Wouldn't that have made me more happy? Ah, the mind of a child is amusing.
But nonetheless....
I grew up.
And I stopped praying that I would be able to play with my toys.
And I went a little farther and a little bit deeper.

Paul was right, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways." ~1 Corinthians 13:11

Joy

Joy.
Christmas cheer.
It's about all you hear about this time of year.
And yeah, it's pretty cliched I have to admit.
I mean, we hear the same thing every single year, "Oh tidings of comfort and joy." Everyone sit around the fire and roast marshmallows and we'll all be happy, right?
I think not.
Lately, my life hasn't been exactly what you call "joyful." Nothing majorly bad, just regular things all teenagers go through, I guess. And I'm sure that not everyone around this time of year is singing "Have a holly jolly Christmas" and really means it.
But then joy kinda brings me back to what Christmas is about. Jesus. I mean, He is WHY we're supposed to be joyful right? I think a lot of times we just hear the word joy and it goes over our heads. I mean think about: Joy. True joy. Where does real, honest to goodness, bona fide joy come from? Well obviously from Christ. I know a lot of times, without even noticing I'm doing it, I just try to find joy in other things. In my friends, in relationships, in family, and even in this fun time of year. I look for joy in all the wrong places. Especially lately. And lately I have been looking at all the bad things going on in my life, and I'm thinking, "Why is this happening to me?" Well. Maybe it's because the things that are going wrong are the places where I was looking for joy. And maybe these tough things are really going to bring me to true, pure joy that only my Savior can give me.
As this Christmas season begins, I have really been evaluating where my joy is coming from. I have realized I haven't been seeking joy from my Savior, but from other things that are distracting me from Him. So from now on, whenever I start singing Joy to the World, I need to remember where I can only find true joy. Within the past few weeks I have just started thinking a lot about how lost I am without a Savior. I mean, I've always known that, but it has hit me so hard with all the tough things that I go through. And I have started lately trying to really focus in on finding my joy in Christ.
Also, I think a lot of us have a huge misconception of joy. We think, "Oh joy is being happy and jolly and frolicsome and smiley and delighted and dancy and giggly and ladedadeda all the time." Ahem. ~game show wrong answer buzzer~ That's not true. Joy is not just being happy. It's learning to be content in whatever circumstances we happen to have. Example: James 1:2 "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds." 'K hold it right there. Do you think trials are fun and happy and jolly and frolicsome... okay you get the picture. Well obviously they aren't. No. This joy is learning to be content in our circumstances, and realize that God is using these circumstances to build us up in Him.
So. I guess what you could say is I'm trying to learn right now how to be joyful in circumstances that are less than frolicsome. And I know that Christ will teach me how to do that, if I just trust in Him. And for those who aren't having a terribly jolly Christmas season thus far, just remember where to find your true joy, peace, and solace.
I'm learning a new sense of the word "joy."

Lovelovelove and Christmas cheer
~Madison