The true Meaning of Christmas

It's that time of year again. December has come and with it all the joys of Christmas. But what is the real meaning of Christmas? Is it the gifts under the tree, the lights in the windows, the cards in the mail, turkey dinners with family and friends, snow in the yard, stockings hanging in the living room, and shouts of "Merry Christmas" to those who pass us in the streets? Is this really Christmas?

For many people, Christmas is a time of sorrow. They don't have the extra money to buy presents for their children, family, and friends. Many are saddened at Christmastime when they think of their loved ones who will not be able to come home for various reasons. Turkey dinners may be only a wish and not a reality for some.

Yet, Christmas can be a season of great joy. It is a time of God showing His great love for us. It can be a time of healing and renewed strength. You see, Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child. God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to be born. His birth brought great joy to the world. Shepherds, wise men, and angels all shared in the excitement of knowing about this great event. They knew this was no ordinary baby. The prophets had told of His coming hundreds of years before. The star stopped over Bethlehem just to mark the way for those who were looking for this special child.

Luke 2: 4-19 says:

"So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."

Why did He come? Why did God send His son to this sometimes cruel and hard world? He sent Jesus to us so that one day, He would grow up to become a very important part of history. His story (history) is one of truth, love, and hope. It brought salvation to all of us. Without Jesus, we would all die in our sins.

Jesus was born so one day the price could be paid for the things we have done that are wrong. The Bible says that all have sinned. We are all born with a sin nature. We do things that do not please God. Through the sins of Adam and Eve, we have all inherited that sin nature. We need to have that removed. The only way is through Jesus. Jesus came so He could die on the cross for ALL of our sins. If we believe that Jesus died for our sins, we can ask Him to come into our hearts and forgive us. Then, we are clean and made whole. We can know that heaven is a place where we can go to when this life is over.

"But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong." I John 1:9

We can truly be happy at Christmas! No matter what may be happening, we can know that we are His children. We then become sons and daughters of God. Heaven will be our home one day.

Look at Christmas in a new way this year. This is the year to invite Jesus into your heart. You will then have a "Merry Christmas." The joy and peace you will receive will last all year as you look to God for all your needs to be met.

Jesus Is The Reason For The Season! Rejoice!

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A Christmas tale Fact or Faked

A lot of what is widely regarded as true about Christmas or held as a
tradition cannot or has not been verified, or, has changed through the years.
Even Christmas Day itself, Dec. 25, has been questioned about whether that is
the exact day on which Jesus was born. Skeptics have asked why would shepherds
be out in the cold watching their flocks by night during the winter. Those
skeptics have put forward the thought that Jesus may really have been born in
the spring instead. It is therefore little wonder that there are many fancy
stories and tales that are told about Christmas and the Christmas season.
The most common fancy tale that everyone tells, particularly to children,
is about Santa Claus, also called St. Nicholas. But even if it were accepted
that Santa Claus existed, where does he live and how is he able to get to all
the houses of good boys and girls on Christmas Eve?
In the United States, Santa Claus is said to have two homes. There is a
home in Torrington, Connecticut, which is used as a distribution point for Santa
and his many helpers, who are elves, to hand out gifts. And then, a second home
is said to be located in Wilmington, New York, and that is where Santa Claus and
his delivery reindeer crew are located.
But Santa can be visited in Cyberspace at anytime and what about the
widely held belief that Santa Claus really lives in a village at the North Pole?
The people of Finland also claim that their country is the official
residence of Santa Claus. That's because in Finland, you can actually visit a
village any time during the year and see Santa's workshop and observe Santa and
his elves hard at work as they prepare for their very important Christmas gift
delivery job on Christmas Eve. The only day when Santa's workshop is closed to
visitors is of course, on Christmas Eve.
Maybe a very smart visitor could visit Santa's workshop on the day before
Christmas Eve to see if there are any clues to how Santa and his reindeers plan
to make their trip the next day. That's because as the tale goes, in Finland
Santa Claus and his reindeers do not reach their destinations around the globe
by flying.
Finland welcomes visitors to Santa's workshop but there is nothing said
about whether visitors actually have any chance of having a word with the man
himself. While the chances of doing so are believed to be non-existent, among
the questions that inquiring minds could ask Santa is whether Rudolph is the son
of Donner (and to confirm the spelling - Donner or Donder) or whether Santa
spotted him in a different reindeer village one foggy Christmas Eve when he had
already started on his Christmas toy-delivery mission.
If mere mortals got a chance to question Santa, then he also would likely have
some questions for us humans. He may want to know whose idea was it to have
Christmas trees and for the gifts to be placed under them.
The tradition of Christmas tree as it exists today comes from Germany by
way of immigrants. But it isn't clear how the tradition really gained a foothold
in Germany. One story is that Christians in Germany during the 16th century
started to bring trees that were decorated into their homes. Some of those
Christians would build pyramids for Christmas. The pyramids were made of wood
and would be decorated with evergreens and candles if wood was in short supply.
It is however Martin Luther, a Protestant reformer, who is said to have
been the first to add lighted candles as decoration to a tree based on his
inspiration from the brilliant light of twinkling stars that shone through
evergreen trees as he walked home one winter evening.
As the legend goes, Martin Luther placed a tree in a primary room of his
house and placed wires with small, lighted candles around the branches of the
tree. And that is how, as the tale goes, the Christmas tree as known today, was
started.

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Why does rudolph get all the attention?

Maybe it's the undeniable alliterative appeal of Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer
that makes him the most known or popular of all Santa's nine flying reindeers.
It certainly doesn't seem as easy to come up with a similar catchy description
for the others - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and
Blitzen - as named in the song.
The story of Rudolph whose glowing red nose made him a standout, first appeared
in 1939 when Montgomery Ward department stores distributed about 2.4 million
booklets with the poem in the form of a story about "Rudolph the Red-Nosed
Reindeer." It was written by Robert L. May, who worked in the store's
advertisement or marketing department, to be used to attract more people into
the store. When the booklet was reissued in 1939, sales soared to more than 3.5
million copies. But it wasn't until a decade later, in 1949, that the story
really gained immense popularity when Gene Autry sang a musical version of the
fable. As a Christmas song, it is second only in popularity to 'White
Christmas.'
Rudolph, the ninth reindeer whose lighted nose guides Santa's sleigh through the
night, is now known worldwide as the song has been translated into more than 20
different languages and an animated television movie has also been based on the
story. Rudolph and his noticeable nose have also become the subject of jokes and
sparked more interest in reindeers which has led to much research into Santa and
the flying reindeers who pull his sleigh through the sky.
Along with the catchy rhythm of the lyrics, Rudolph's story is also appealing
because of the moral lessons it contains. As the story goes, Rudolph was
ostracized by the other reindeers, which laughed and teased him about his shiny
red nose. But on a foggy night, when Santa must have been concerned that he may
not be able to deliver his Christmas gifts around the world, Santa spotted him
and kindly asked if he would step to the front as the leader to 'guide my sleigh
tonight.' His shiny red nose would after all be very useful in lighting the way,
Santa thought. From then on 'all of the other reindeers loved him," and rightly
predicted that he 'would go down in history.'
Among the moral lessons the story can impart is that an attribute that is
perceived as negative or as a liability can be used for a positive purpose, or,
become an asset. It also makes the point that an individual should not let the
negative behavior of others define him or her and limit expectations of what can
be achieved. And it also illustrates how quickly opinions and attitudes about a
person can change.
The question still lingers however of where Rudolph came from. He is commonly
regarded as the son of Donner (or Donder), one of the original eight reindeers.
But the Snopes.com site rejects this however, saying that he dwelled in a
reindeer village elsewhere and it was there that he was seen by Santa who had
already started on his Christmas Eve journey to deliver gifts. And in a more
modern evolution of the story according to Wikipedia.com, an animation by the
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) introduced a son, named Robbie, of
Rudolph. That son has now become the tenth reindeer.
It's also interesting to note that the idea of Santa's sleigh being pulled by
reindeers was originated in the poem, 'Twas The Night Before Christmas.' That
poem tells the story of St. Nicholas, who is Santa, calling his eight tiny
reindeers by their names, as previously mentioned, just before he came down the
chimney of a house to start filling the stockings from a sack full of toys he
carried on his back.

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