Luke 2:3
So all went to be registered,everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David.
Government decree....
Everyone must register....
Roads are filled with travelers going in all directions.
People are talking...
Babies are crying...
Children are running here and there....
A wave of humanity all uprooted and scattered.
Some seem to be trying to make the best out of a bad situation.
Others wear their discontentment like a dark mask as if to warn those around "stay away..I've no wish to talk."
In the midst of all the hubbub and movement, there journeyed a young couple. They did their best to stay away from the large groups that had seem to be drawn together. Staying to the fringe of the caravan, the two were simply trying to make it to Bethlehem.
Little did anyone know or fully realize who it was that journeyed among them. They could easily tell the young woman was pregnant, but in no way could they discern that the God of the universe...the One True Living God was even now among them in the form of an unborn baby. I'm sure the young girl was asked about her pregnancy..."When is your baby due?" and "Is this your first child?" Soft with words and gentle in heart, the young girl tried to respond as best she could, but the future was as uncertain as it ever had been. Only the words spoken some nine months ago by an angel that announced to her that she would become the vessel, chosen by God to bring forth the Christ child brought comfort when the uncertainty reared its ugly head.. She had played that scene and those words over and over in her mind and heart,and still could not grasp the reality of what had happened, and what was to come.
How many people did Mary and Joseph pass along the way on this journey?
How many who were suffering with the struggles and hardship of life were aware that the answer to all mankind had been searching for had just them passed by. A woman pregnant with child would bring forth the answer.
life is like that isn't it?
As I have gone about this Christmas season, I look into the eyes and faces of those at the mall....in the department stores and grocery stores....I see the hopelessness that seems to cover every thing and most everyone. In fact, in society isn't the Christmas message translated that if we buy enough stuff then we will be happy and all our cares will disappear? Trouble is when the trouble disappears, the bills come due and we fall back into that dark pit of hopelessness. Like those on that journey to Bethlehem, totally oblivious to WHO was among them, or had just passed them by, we too do not see Jesus as we should. If we had the ability to peel back the curtain, we would see that the Hope of Glory is all around us. That the Spirit of Almighty God fills this earth and burns with a desire that all would come to know Jesus.
What does it take to have eyes that truly see?
Become like a little child. Not childish...but child like.
The belief that Jesus is the true Lord, and that He died to provide a way for us to have eternal life with God.
In other words...to believe beyond believing.
To believe not as the world has trained us to, but to open up our hearts and minds to receive the ultimate Christmas present...
Jesus, Himself.
Unlike the crowds that traveled around Mary and Joseph to be registered in a census, we have a greater reality than the birth of the Christ Child. We are totally immersed in the presence of God's Holy Spirit. If what is written in Joel 2 about God pouring out His Spirit on all flesh is true, then we are swimming in the Spirit of God. He fills every nook and cranny of human existence. The power and presence of God Himself is every where on Planet earth. And yet the human heart can become so cold and hard.....so indifferent and casual about its own spiritual state that it doesn't recognize what is all around.
Please don't allow the season.....
The rushing around and spending of money to rob you of the joy and Presence of His Spirit that God gives freely.
The world proclaims that there be "Peace on Earth and Goodwill To All Men." But the Word Of God says, "Peace on Earth and Goodwill to men(and women) upon who the Favor of God rests."
May this become a reality to us all during this time.
Merry Christmas from the "B's" in Attalla.
Vicki and Michael
God on you...
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