Meaning of Christmas - LOVE

I love seeing pictures or short videos of little ones as they figure out things in this world that is new to them and then get up on their feet and slowly make the moves that will soon have them running their parents into the ground in exhaustion!!

It's an adventure watching their little personalities develop and the unique ways they develop in their relationships.

God has done the same with us.  He is delighted in His plan for our lives and then our ways of learning how to live into that great plan

John the Baptist was a person for whom God also had a plan.  He was used by God to get people ready for the coming of Jesus to earth to give them new life. John’s message was one of repentance and preparation for the way of the Lord. 

Here's the reaction of John’s father Zechariah as he looked at his little son, one who had been announced to him by an angel and who arrived, just as God said.

And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.

Luke 1:76-79

For Zechariah, for John, and for us, God has so many good plans just awaiting our ability to understand what God is showing us and then to walk in them – and get better and better at it as we live out our unique and individual lives.

Loving God, This Christmas season and in the coming year we want to grow in our life with You as we share the message of how You have given us true life. 

We have found the reason to live as we’ve found relationship with You.  We’ve experienced Your tender mercy, seen light, and been guided into the path of peace. 

Thank You for making us awake and alive to You. We give You permission to fulfill Your purpose for our lives each day.  Live in us that we may have life in You. Amen

In these days as we approach Christmas, let’s make room for gratitude to fill our hearts so full that we joyfully share with others.  Let’s live to echo the words of the joyful Christmas song:

Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere.  Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.