I hope all of your gifts have been wrapped, all of your lists are complete and all that you have left to think about are the ones you love.  The weeks passed quickly this year.  We cleaned up after Thanksgiving, set up for Christmas and now it is time to celebrate the birth of our Lord.  Time is fleeting and we can either spend it, or invest it.  I pray that you will have gained a great deal by the time we celebrate the New Year.

My prayer for you this week is that you will have a lot of time to put your feet up, ponder the meaning of Christmas and praise God for the gift of that baby boy in the manger.  God loved you so much that he gave you his one and only Son (John 3:16).  The most valuable gift mankind will ever receive is Jesus.  I pray that your holiday will be filled with his holy presence and his perfect peace.

In the midst of the Christmas activity, take time to be still and know that Jesus is Lord of all.  I suggest coffee, cocoa, a glowing fireplace or a candle on the coffee table.  Find warm socks, a comfortable chair and your favorite Bible.  Turn off the television, the computer and the cell phone.  Listen instead to the quiet and wait for the angelic voices to say, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”  Sit in your chair or walk the streets of your neighborhood and pray until you sense God’s favor has come to rest on you.  That is the gift that God wants to give his children this Christmas.

I recently taught a Christmas lesson and found a Christmas prayer by Wilda English.  I want to extend this as my prayer for each of you.

As I sit at my computer typing this Christmas blog post, I am picturing your faces.  Some I know now and others I will know someday in heaven.  To each of you, I wish you a happy and blessed Christmas.

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