CHRISTmas is COMING!!!!

I know, I know its only December 3^rd but I absolutely LOVE Christmas. I have been holding out on playing Christmas music or wearing Christmas outfits until after Thanksgiving and now its finally time I can start.  I am so excited! One of my favorite things about Christmas is buying people gifts. I wish I could buy every person I know a present. It brings me so much joy to find a special something for a special someone!  However I really feel embarrassed when people thank me for the gift. I just want it to be a secret like it was really from Santa. Since the season is just beginning and I really want to make sure I keep the right attitude in mind. I want to keep the focus this year really on Jesus! This really helped me realize what Christmas is truly about.

“The true message of Christmas is that God came to us: " 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us' " (Matthew 1:23). The message of Christmas should be Let us worship because God is with us. The first Christmas gifts were not from the wise men to the Child. Rather, the first gift of Christmas was the gift of Jesus Christ from God to us: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). The message of Christmas means this: You will never be alone in life again. Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our home with him" (John 14:23). That is an amazing statement. God the Father and God the Son are saying they want to make their home with you and me. Jesus said, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). That is a promise to all people. Why? Because of Immanuel—God is with us.”(Greg Laurie)

In my mind I have always been like: Oh yeah Christmas is about Jesus and how He came to earth as a baby. However this just showed me in such a deeper way that without Christmas we would be alone. There wouldn’t be a reason to celebrate and there would be no joy in the season. It would just turn into another cold, dark day in December. Jesus really gave us the only reason to celebrate and I really want it to be about His presence and not the presents. I want my thoughts and actions to be evidence that He is actively working in my life.  

Christmas means so much to me. I love when my family gets together and just enjoys each other’s company.  My favorite tradition is that my grandma always makes a birthday cake for Jesus! This year however is going to be different because it means even more to me than it ever has before!