Christmas Expectations?

C

Isaiah 49:23   “Those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”

Are you discouraged this Christmas? Maybe the bonus didn’t come through, the presents are few, and there are health issues. I was concerned about several things going on with our family, but after speaking to a couple a friends about their previous Christmas’s, I had to reevaluate.

One of my buddies recalled when he was 5 years old and lived with an abusive family and Christmas was just another day. No tree, no presents, no Santa and no food. Another buddy went into prison right before Christmas and there was no evidence of Jesus anywhere.  He did manage to take a pine branch back to his cell and put it on a ledge. His sister sent him some tinsel to hang on the scrawny limb. He made some little stick people to represent the manger and the Holy family. He had no one on earth to share Christmas but he knew he was part of God’s family. The good news, no the great news is he had given his life to the Lord and he shared Christmas with the baby Jesus. Here are his comments about Christmas day;

“I just sat and stared at the manger scene and visualized I was there. I imagined I was a shepherd who had heard the angels and went to search for the star and to find the Savior of the world. As we arrived at the manger, there were only candles lit, but there was a brilliant radiance coming from the star and a supernatural glow coming from the stable. I walked closer and bowed down as I watched the baby Jesus enter the world. I looked over Mary’s shoulder and the baby looked at me. I was mesmerized by His eyes and I could feel his spirit say to me “I have come for you!”

“I sat in my cell and cried and realized He came for me. He knew I would be in prison one day and He still came for me. I had nothing, no friends, no family, no presents and yet I had everything.”

John 3:16   For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.