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Where Do You Find Your Real Christmas Joy?

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It Comes from the Inside, Not the Outside, No Matter How Much “Stuff” You Have

It’s almost Christmas.

Last night my wife came to me and said, “Do you realize Christmas is next week?” I told her that I did know that. She said, “I can’t believe how close it is. I’m not ready.”

This is a common sentiment this time of the year…okay, every year.

It seems that the conversation of time going by faster is a familiar, not just at this time of the year. I don’t disagree that it certainly can feel this way. But time is not moving any differently than it ever did.

The time issue is more about us trying to squeeze in too much. I believe we’ve been given exactly the right amount of time to do whatever we’ve been put here to do. The problem is with how we spend our time rather than how much we have.

And so much of what we’re trying to squeeze in, is the wrong stuff.

This issue only increases with Christmas.

The focus can become the activities, events, competing with the neighbors when decorating and gifts…rather than family, friends, celebrating and the real gift of Christmas.

There is a story about a little boy who only wanted a specific red toy truck for Christmas. This truck was had the boy’s full focus. Nothing else mattered. There under the tree was that red truck on Christmas morning. All the other presents were overlooked. He had his truck.

Later that day the little boy came to his dad crying. His truck was broke. Through his sobs, he said, “My Christmas is broke.” We can sure tell where his focus was. His whole Christmas was wrapped up in that truck.

Our Christmas focus can end up being in the wrong place if we aren’t careful.

We need to have the kind of attitude that Paul exhibits in Philippians 4:4-7. He wrote, “Always be filled with joy from the Lord…Don’t worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks for what you have. And because you belong to Christ Jesus, God’s peace will stand guard over all your thoughts and feelings. His peace can do this far better than our human minds.”

He wrote this while in prison.

You would think we should be able to be joyful, living the blessed lives that we live.

We need to take Paul’s passion to heart this and every Christmas.

This is where real Christmas joy comes from!

What Does it Mean to Prepare the Way for Jesus?

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It’s About Getting Things Ready for Him to Move in

What if you had a close family member that needed a place to live. You decided that you were going to let them move in with you. What would you need to do to get ready for them?

You would need to make some changes to accommodate them, but they’re worth it.

In Luke 3:1-6 John is telling us how to prepare for Jesus moving into our lives. We will need to make some changes…but He is worth it.

Preparation involves knowing and doing.

There’s a story from the Old West when some Apache Indians stole a paymaster’s safe from the calvary. They knew it contained precious gold that was valuable. They tried all sorts of things to open it. They beat it with tomahawks, drug it behind their horses, heated it in a fire, tried blasting it with gun powder and finally threw it off a cliff.

Despite their efforts, nothing worked, they finally gave up and left it behind.

Later the Army found it and in a few minutes the paymaster had it open using the combination.

What the Indians were unable to do with a huge effort and struggle, the paymaster did simply with a few twists of his wrist.

He was able to do this because he knew the combination.

We need to know the right combination to open ourselves up so that Jesus can move in.

This combination includes repentance and commitment to righteous living.

Repentance is reviewing one’s actions and regretting past wrongs and committing to actions that show and prove the change. Righteousness is the perfect holiness of Christ. It is an essential attribute to the character of God; quite literally meaning “One who is right”. Think of it as the polar opposite of sin.

Gift cards are popular at Christmas. The problem is that too often they never get used. Half of Americans have unused gift cards averaging $300 per household. There are billions of dollars of unused gift cards floating around out there.

What good is a gift if it goes unused?

We’ve been given the Gift, but we have to use it, or it’s no good.

Don’t let your gift go to waste. Open yourself up and prepare for Christ to move in.

The Worst Thing We Can Do Is Nothing

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We Are Living in The Grace Period

According to Wikipedia, a grace period is a period where a penalty or other action is waived after a deadline or an obligation has passed. This can apply to the starting of a new job, paying a bill, a rental agreement or the meeting of a legal requirement. All of us have experienced the benefits of a grace period.

In Luke 13:6-9 Jesus tells a story about a man who planted a fig tree. After three years the tree had not produced any fruit. The man told his gardener to cut it down. The gardener asked the owner to give the tree one more year. He would work the soil around tree and fertilize it. Then if in another year it still isn’t producing any fruit it will be cut down. This was the tree’s grace period.

Many of us go through life, just like this fig tree, doing nothing and wasting our talents. Too many times we don’t believe that we have what it takes. We think that for something to be valuable, it has to be fabulous and incredible. This isn’t the case. If we all would do the little things that we have the chance to do, the accumulated result will be amazing.

We need to do what we can, where we can, whenever we can.

Too often we hide our gifts afraid that we might make a mistake. Jesus shows us how wrong it is to waste our talents in the story of the three servants, Matthew 25:14-30. In this scripture a wealthy man gives three servants varying amounts of gold (some versions refer to this as talents) to care for and use while he is gone. When he returns two of the three have used their gold (talents) wisely. They are rewarded for this. The third hid his, so the wealthy man took it away and threw the man out into the street. There is a price for not using the gifts we have been given.

Every day is full of opportunities to use our gifts to help others by:

  • Providing a service or product through our vocation
  • Listening to others
  • Getting involved in ministries
  • Treating people with respect
  • Loving our family and friends
  • Smiling at someone
  • Teaching and leading
  • Saying a kind word
  • Donating goods, services and money
  • Opening a door
  • Saying thank you
  • Saying you’re welcome

God has given each of us a purpose. He expects us to use the talents we have been given to fulfill this purpose. As long as we are alive, we should work to accomplish His plans. Each of us is living in the grace period.

Choosing to do nothing with our gifts is the worst thing we can do.

The Ultimate Gift Card, Be Sure to Use It

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We know that God loves us, but can we understand how much? How much He really, really loves us? I mean think about it.

He gave everything for us. He left the peace and comfort of His home in heaven for us. He suffered for us. He died…for us. THIS IS LOVE! “They Will Know I Love Them Because…”

When reading Luke 3:1-6 previously, I read the making roads straight and the leveling of mountains and filling the valleys, but didn’t make the connection that it is my responsibility. My responsibility to, “be baptized… Prepare the way for the Lord.” I’m the one that is supposed to move mountains and fill valleys.

But do I have what it takes? Yes I can do this! All things are possible through the Lord, Mark 9:23, Luke 18:27, Isaiah 41:4. We just need to believe and do our part. Satin wants us to think that it’s too big for us to do. This keeps us from doing our part. If we will ignore him and work together we can move mountains with our little shovels.

There are a lot of gift cards given this time of the year. These can be great gifts…if they’re used. Not so much, if they aren’t. There is $44,000,000,000.00 worth (yes that’s billion) of unused gift cards since 2008. The average household has $300 worth lying around. These pieces of plastic aren’t much value if they aren’t used. The same is true with the spiritual “Gift Card” we have been given. If we don’t use it, it will go to waste.

They “Will Know I Love Them Because…” of the “Gift Card” given. Don’t leave your “Gift Card” lying around unused.