Merry Christmas to My Readers

Dear Readers,

Today is a special day, the day we celebrate Christmas. This is what Christmas means to me. It is the day that the God who created the universe out of nothing left his throne room, where thousands of angels sang His praises every minute of every day. Where did He go? He went to a little, no account village in Israel to be born as a squalling baby to a poor teenager named Mary that no one had ever heard of. She and her fiancé were so poor that they had no room for Him to be born in, so He was born in a barn. They had no clothes to put Him in, so they wrapped Him in strips of cloth.

There were no special people there to witness His birth; she didn’t even have her mother there to hold her hand. So, the angels went out into the fields nearby and invited some of that society’s lowest to come visit – the shepherds. They were looked down upon because they were dirty, smelly and uneducated. They couldn’t do the ceremonial washing that others could, and they rarely went to the temple – after all, they had to be in the fields watching their sheep, right? Yet, these are the exact ones that the God the Father wanted to come and see His Son at His birth. He isn’t picky, or stuck up – He just wants people who will come and worship Him.

And life didn’t improve for that little baby. He had a brief time where people followed Him, and called out His name. But it says in John 2:23-25:

“Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.”

In other words, Jesus knew that the people would follow him and laud him one day, and turn around and crucify him the next, which is exactly what happened. Yes, Jesus knew he came to earth in order to be crucified. That is why he came. He came for ME and he came for YOU.

So, as a Christmas gift to my readers, who are either being abused right now, or have been abused in the past, I would like to share this thought with you. You are or have been treated worse than any human should ever be treated by someone who claims/ed to love you. This can seriously mess with a person’s self-esteem. It can make you feel as if you are worth nothing. And yet…the God of the universe did this for YOU.

I would like to share the words of a song I have just recently heard. It only plays at Christmas, but its truth is worthy of being heard all year long. Its called “How Many Kings” by Downhere:

Follow the star to a place unexpected

Would you believe, after all we’ve projected,

A child in a manger?

Lowly and small, the weakest of all

Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mother’s shawl –

Just a child –

Is this who we’ve waited for? ’cause…

How many kings step down from their thrones?

How many lords have abandoned their homes?

How many greats have become the least for me?

And how many gods have poured out their hearts

To romance a world that is torn all apart

How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the newborn Savior

All that we have, whether costly or meek

Because we believe.

Gold for his honor, and frankincense for his pleasure

And myrrh for the cross he will suffer

Do you believe?

Is this who we’ve waited for?

All for me…

All for you…

So, on this Christmas day, I just wanted to remind you, my friends, that a king stepped down from his throne, a Lord abandoned his throne, and a father gave up his son….for you.

Merry Christmas.

Caroline