You Can Have it All This Christmas!

Each year I work hard to make sure at least one present under the tree is something that the recipient really wants. I want them to be excited when they open the package. I want them to ooh and ahh and show delight in the contents.  While it may be something they “need”, still I want it to be fun.  While it may be something they asked for, still I want them to be surprised. My desire is to bless them. One of my grandsons asked me to open the presents now – why wait? Indeed, the expectancy of the looks on one anothers’ faces at the tree makes me all the more eager to participate in the gift exchange. Sometimes I wrap the presents and think that later I’ll get around to putting labels on them. This is a big mistake because I might forget, and have in the past, what was in the package and who it was for. So I’ve found myself opening the occasional package to remember.  Other times we adults have gotten tickled as little ones open packages and spend their time playing with the box, totally ignoring the gift that was inside!  

I know that Christmas isn’t always everything it’s cracked up to be. There are the issues of living life in a fallen world. There may be sorrowful things in your life. Adult children living away from God’s will, family members in failing health, jobs that no longer bring meaning, bills that keep piling up, spouses that grow cold and indifferent. Hurts and agonies and frustrations run rampant, it seems maybe even more so during this season. Christmas may not hold all the wonder it used to, but isn’t there something redeemable in this season turned so commercial? Isn’t there somewhere in the recesses of our hearts that we humans can find solace and hope and wonder again?

Maybe it’s time to put down the wrapping paper and the ribbons. Lay aside the long to-do list. Put aside the pile of bills for just a moment and ponder again the wonder of all that we can find in the Christ Child. All our hopes and dreams begin and end in Him and if we let Him, He will make not only Christmas, but every day a blessing in Him.   

Oh beloved, run to your Savior! He’s calling you so gently, so lovingly, so earnestly! It’s imperative that you rest in the love of Immanuel, for He is God with us! In this world you may find starkness and sorrow and little or no fulfillment, but in Him…. In Him  you will find all your hearts’ desires realized. In Him you will find all the comfort you could ever ask for. In Him you have rest for your weary heart, peace for your worried soul and joy for your sorrowing mind.  In Jesus, God will meet our every need, through Jesus we will be given every provision, and from Jesus we will receive every blessing God can give.

He says to you this morning, I AM your source of Light in a dark world. I AM your source of blessing in a world full of curses, I AM your provision in a world that is meeting less and less of your needs. From Me, in Me, all that you need is found. Rest in Me, rejoice in Me, for I AM all you will ever need and more.

While you may not find all you need under your tree, in your home, at your office or in your relationships, IN CHRIST you have it all! Now isn’t that worth celebrating and giving God the glory! Thank Him this morning as you rehearse all that you are in Him for He loves you extravagantly and He’s for you eternally! Wow, Immanuel, God with us – what a Savior, what a King, what a Love!

Colossians 2:9-10 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

Isaiah 9:6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Colossians 2:7 Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

2 Corinthians 4:6 For it is God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 130:7  O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows.

Lamentations 3:24  I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”