Love, Jesus

What would it be like to wake up Christmas morning and find a gift under the tree from Jesus? 

I imagine it would be the first gift each of us would open. 

What would his handwriting on the tag look like? 

How would he wrap it? Would it be lavishly presented or very simple? 

The tag would probably say something like “Merry Christmas. Love, Jesus.” 

What would Jesus want to give? 

I wonder if we would tear open the package, anxious to see the contents. Or, would we take our time with reverent awe, not wanting the moment to pass too quickly? 

One thing is for sure: whatever Jesus wrapped up would be perfect. 

Maybe it would be: 

  • something amazing we had always wished for but had never bought for ourselves. 
  • a wonderful trip to see the most beautiful places he created. 
  • something we could eat that would provide a miracle of health or healing. 
  • a note containing the perfect words to say to someone we love. 
  • something we could put on a shelf that would be a constant reminder of his love. 

Jesus would give us our favorite gifts. 

Christmas wishes

What is your Christmas wish? Have you asked Jesus to give you anything this year? 

Sometimes we forget that Jesus loves us and wants to bless our lives with the best things. Jesus gives good gifts, but we don’t always know to ask for them. Not for ourselves anyway. 

Where did we get the idea that asking Jesus for things was selfish? Self-centered? Shallow? 

Why is it okay to tell Santa our Christmas wishes, but not Jesus? 

We should ask

Jesus was preaching the Sermon on the Mount when he taught his followers to ask. 

He said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7–11). 

Sometimes we focus on the what of these verses instead of the why. 

Maybe the key word in this passage is ask. Jesus points out that his Father wants to give and that his gifts are good things. He also points out that everyone who asks receives and everyone who seeks a gift from God will find one. 

Love, Jesus 

If you ask, there will be a gift for you this Christmas tagged “Love, Jesus.” It might be a thing, but most certainly it is a relationship. 

When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, he already knew the “good gift” that God had wrapped up for each of us. Jesus knew that his Father gives “good things to those who ask him.” 

Jesus makes something else clear: God waits for us to ask him. Why? 

Because the greatest gift of life is a restored relationship with our Father, the Creator of all things perfect. 

Ask again 

We are supposed to keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking. The gift of our relationship with God is a “never-ending” one. The Christmas gift tagged “Love, Jesus” is also given on the twenty-sixth, the twenty-seventh, and every other day of the year. 

Jesus gave himself for Christmas. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes and presented to the world with a tag that still reads “Love, Jesus.” 

If you are reading this blog, you probably know that. You probably have asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. You probably know that the greatest gift of life is your restored relationship to God through salvation in Christ. 

So, why did Jesus tell us to keep asking? We already have what we most need. 

Because the gifts from our restored relationship with God continue. We need to ask again, and again, and again because God wants to continually “give good things to those who ask him.” 

What should you ask for? 

We should ask for the things that the name of Jesus can provide. We should ask knowing that our answers will provide the greatest joy we can experience in our lives. We should ask for what Jesus wants us to have. 

Jesus knew he was at the end of his earthly life when he told his disciples, “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). 

Could it be that our greatest gift is the knowledge that we can always and forever ask God for what Jesus died to give us? 

Your gift

There is a box for you this Christmas with a tag that reads “Love, Jesus.” Inside is a promise that you can always ask God, for anything. 

Jesus died to give you that gift. Is it sitting on a shelf, or do you use it every day? 

God will always give you the best gifts. They will be what you have asked for or something even better. His gifts are always perfect and always what Jesus wanted us to have for our eternal good. 

Jesus said, “Ask God. All the time. Keep asking him.” Merry Christmas. Love, Jesus.

An Untraditional Christmas

My husband and sons have been sending around humorous texts about decorating for Christmas. Let’s just say that I enjoyed transforming our home into a very festive place more than they did. The fact they had to haul all of those boxes out of the attic and help wasn’t their favorite day of the season. I tried to make it more fun with hot chocolate and cookies, but their “bah-humbug” spirits remained. The Sunday sermon after Christmas decorating usually included a few jokes about an aching back, etc.

But not this year. Let’s just say decorating our home this year for Christmas wasn’t a Hallmark Christmas movie event.

2019: An Untraditional Season

It’s taken me several years to arrive at this spot, but I think I’ve made it! The kids are both married with homes of their own to decorate. We had everyone for Thanksgiving, so our Christmas will be pretty quiet. As a result, Jim and I decided to enjoy an untraditional Christmas season. We bought a small tree from Hobby Lobby and set it on a little table. We pulled a few more things out of the attic and called it done. It took about an hour to have our home ready for the season. We are in an “every other Christmas” mode and it’s kind of fun! Untraditional will become a new tradition for my home – but Jim, be warned – only every other year.

An Un-Hallmark Christmas

If you have read my blog for a while you know that I am a fan of the Hallmark channel, especially during the Christmas season. Apparently, a LOT of people are. It is the number one watched channel in December. The network has a website store where you can purchase Christmas socks that say, “Shhh, I’m watching a Hallmark Christmas movie” or a coffee mug that says, “Tis the season to watch Hallmark Christmas movies.” There are T-Shirts, pajamas, warm throws, games and an apron. I would like to own all of them, except maybe the apron. (It wouldn’t get much use.)

I’m seriously considering purchasing the kitchen towel, just so that my “guys” might finally understand my love of Christmas. The tea towel reads:  Things I Learned from Hallmark Christmas Movies: 1) Stop and smell the pine trees. 2) Family traditions are everything. 3) Christmas spirit is contagious. 4) Sprinkles are mandatory. 5) Good things come to those who believe.

The Most Untraditional Christmas

The success of the Hallmark Christmas movies should serve as a signal to all of us who understand the genuine “reason for the season.”  People want the traditions and values that are truly the product of a season that is about Christ. Interestingly, most don’t even realize that the traditional Christmas values were inspired from the biblical story of Christmas in Luke, chapter two.

Everything we value about the Christmas holiday is depicted in the original story. God made Mary and Joseph a family and made certain that they could raise and protect their newborn Son. The family faithfully loved each other and God. The skies were ablaze with light when the angels appeared. The shepherds knew that the baby who had been born was special, and God had sent his angels so they would be included in the story. Everyone has a place of importance at Christmas. The innkeeper found the family a spot at his inn, even if the best he had to offer was simply his stable. The Wise Men later brought gifts because they wanted to honor the King.

It is safe to say that the most untraditional Christmas was the first one. There will never be a replica of that day. But the values seen in the biblical story are the values the Christmas season is supposed to produce in our hearts and lives.

Jesus is the Only Tradition to Insist Upon

I think family traditions are wonderful but adaptable. Kids grow up, marry, and need to establish their own family traditions. To insist Christmas has to be the same each year is to insist it has to be done “your way.”

Traditions have great value, but only if they are shared traditions. Families combine at Christmas and occasionally collide. Keep some traditions and make space to enjoy a few new moments as well.

The only tradition that I will insist be kept is that Jesus be the King of the holiday. Christmas is about him. I won’t open the holiday to other faith traditions because Christmas is about Christ. I won’t sing songs to other gods because I know there is just one God. I won’t allow people to suggest I celebrate a holiday when I know Christmas is about a holy day.

The only tradition I will insist on for Christmas is that the celebration be focused on Christ.

My Favorite Decoration

I thought I was done decorating, but I wasn’t. The living room didn’t have its typical large tree, covered with memories of our thirty-nine years of marriage and family. I’m already looking forward to seeing those souvenir ornaments again next year. I did, however, need to get back in the attic and look for that special box where I keep a favorite decoration. 

Several years ago, my friends surprised me with a beautiful Lion and Lamb sculpture that I keep on my living room coffee table at Christmas. At the base it reads, “Peace on Earth.” I remember staring at it in a store window while on a trip with those friends. I loved it from the first moment I saw it because it seemed like God was saying, “This is the why of the holiday season.”

That Lion and Lamb represent the deepest meaning of Christmas to me. The prophet Isaiah foretold the coming Messiah’s birth and what it would mean to the world when he wrote, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6). Christmas is about the peace Christ was born to provide.

Peace on Earth

Jesus is the only tradition Christians should insist on. This year, peace is the theme of our untraditional Christmas. My little tree is just perfect. My quiet holiday plans are, too. Christmas is about Jesus and the peace he brought to earth.

Every other tradition we own will one day cease.  One year, the world will celebrate a final Christmas. Jesus is going to return.  Revelation 5:13 is about the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. That verse says:

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

The worship of Christ is a holiday tradition that will never end. May it be the focus of our holiday season this year and every other. Amen?  And all God’s people say, Amen.

The One Who Invented Christmas

The house was finally quiet after a wonderfully chaotic Thanksgiving Day. 

My daughter-in-law Candice suggested we watch one of her favorite Christmas movies, The Man Who Invented Christmas. The movie is based on the life of Charles Dickens as he penned his most famous novel, A Christmas Carol.

The movie was a fascinating look at the life and work of Dickens in 1843, the year he wrote his best seller in just one month. Dickens was in a financial crisis, and many people, his publisher included, were beginning to think he was a blocked, washed-up author. His past few books had not done well in the stores. Dickens actually had to pay to publish his Christmas story because his publisher said that Christmas was no longer a good topic in the industry. 

The movie is an adaptation of true events and an interesting look into the life, mind, and imagination of a gifted writer. How did Dickens invent and describe such interesting characters? What prompted Dickens to write A Christmas Carol? Why was he driven to extremes in his personal life during those days? 

I won’t give away those answers because you might want to watch this movie, if you haven’t already. The Man Who Invented Christmas was released in 2017, and I don’t know how I missed it. 

Maybe you did too?  

Did you know that you’re in A Christmas Carol?

I’ve always been a fan of great literature, and the movie was an interesting look at how some great literature was written. I can’t imagine using parchment paper, a fountain pen, and ink to create a book. I wonder what Dickens would have accomplished if he’d had a computer. 

Maybe if Dickens had owned a computer, he would have spent less time imagining, thinking, and planning his words. He spent a lot of time pacing the floor and walking the streets of London before he began carefully and meticulously writing each word in ink and waiting for each page to dry. I spend as much time deleting my words as I do writing them. Dickens didn’t have that luxury. 

One thing the movie makes clear is that each character in the movie was a reflection of Dickens himself. In other words: 

  • All of us are a Scrooge at some level, but there is hope. 
  • All of us know a Jacob Marley who died before finding redemption. 
  • We all can be Mrs. Cratchit and speak our minds more bluntly than we should. 
  • All of us know a Bob Cratchit who is faithfully doing his or her best. 
  • And everyone needs to pay attention to the pure-hearted Tiny Tim, who reminds us of the most important things in life. 

We can see a small part of ourselves in every character of A Christmas Carol. And we can all choose to remember why Christmas truly matters. 

A modern-day Christmas Carol?

If Dickens were writing his novel today, what would it look like? 

In the London of 1843, there was no middle class. People either had a lot or very little. Many of the poor resorted to crime in order to feed their families. If caught, their children suffered in the workhouses. Dickens had firsthand knowledge of those workhouses, and that’s why the subject is discussed in many of his novels. 

In 1843, many of the wealthy ignored, looked down upon, and abused those they didn’t see as worthy. But there are still Tiny Tims who serve as reminders of the real value of the Christmas season. 

Today, many of our priorities are revealed by the Black Friday and Cyber Monday ads that filled our inboxes this past week. Our calendar entries are a detailed list of what we believe matters. Our expenditures this month will paint a picture of our values. 

Do those thoughts give you peace, or make you cringe just a little? 

Wait, who invented Christmas?

I thought the movie title, The Man Who Invented Christmas, was an interesting choice. My first thought when I saw the title was “That’s Jesus, not Charles Dickens.” Even great literature doesn’t always point to the true meaning of the holiday. 

God invented Christmas. He wrote the story that has been the heart of the holiday for centuries. Charles Dickens turned God’s work into a book about good works. I think culture has been confusing the difference for a long time. 

“For God so love the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). That is the theme of the biblical Christmas story. 

The characters are more vivid than Dickens’: 

  • A group of shepherds who were the poorest people in society. 
  • An unmarried teen who is told she will give birth to God’s son. 
  • A fiancé who chooses to faithfully believe and serve. 
  • An innkeeper who finds a place for people in need. 
  • An evil king who tries to protect his throne by murdering innocent babies. 
  • Wise men who leave everything at home in order to search for the newborn King. 
  • And the all-powerful God of the universe who humbly reduces himself to be a dependent baby so that every person has the chance to choose eternity in heaven.  

A Christmas Carol is an amazing work of fictional literature. The biblical Christmas story is an amazing work of history. 

Take time today to consider his characters and the message he was providing the world. It’s similar to Dickens’ effort, but God’s message is holy and perfect. The Apostle Paul related that message well when he wrote, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). 

What will your Christmas story be this year?

We can all find ourselves in the characters of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. We can also find ourselves in the people who lived and experienced the biblical Christmas story. And all of us can use both stories as reminders of the deepest meanings of this holiday season.   

We are surrounded by, and one of, a cast of characters in our culture today. As Christians, we need to remember why we exist and that we are called to serve. We are God’s workmanship. We have been gifted to accomplish good works, which God long ago prepared for us. 

What has God planned for your Christmas season this year? 

Consider your past, your present, and your future. Ebenezer Scrooge did, and look how that journey changed him! 

Let’s remember the God who invented Christmas and why he did. Who knows? It only took Charles Dickens a month to write his most famous novel. 

What might we accomplish this December?

Expect His Arrival

We give the innkeeper a hard time every Christmas.

He is the sermon illustration for “not making room for Christ.” But, truthfully, he did make room. He gave Mary the best he could offer. He made room for her in his stable.

Jesus was born in a cave because the other people at the inn wouldn’t “give up” their spot. The innkeeper didn’t expect to serve God that day, but he did.

What They Didn’t Expect

Mary was a virgin, planning to be a bride. She didn’t expect to be pregnant before that was even possible. Elizabeth was old and childless. She didn’t expect she would ever be pregnant, but she was. Joseph was a faithful man and didn’t expect the complications that Mary’s child would bring to his life.

The innkeeper didn’t expect a woman in labor would show up asking for a room. Mary didn’t expect to give birth in a cave. The shepherds didn’t expect to see a great light and encounter angels that night. Mary didn’t expect to see those shepherds show up the next morning. Herod didn’t expect the magi would look past him when searching for a king.

John didn’t expect to see Jesus walk up and ask to be baptized. The apostles didn’t expect Jesus to ask them to abandon their plans and follow him. Mary and Martha didn’t expect Jesus to arrive, or they would have had the meal ready. The blind man didn’t expect to see, and the paralyzed man didn’t expect to get off his mat and walk.

The Pharisees didn’t expect Jesus to eat with the sinners. The people holding stones in their hands didn’t expect Jesus to write in the sand. Joseph of Arimathea didn’t expect to give his tomb away—and he surely didn’t expect to get it back!

I didn’t expect to find a Bible tract in the park one day that explained how to make Jesus my Lord. I didn’t expect I would marry a preacher. I didn’t expect we would leave our church to begin a ministry. I didn’t expect this life that I lead—and I’m so glad I’m not leading the life I expected.

Expect the Unexpected

I don’t know what to expect of Jesus in 2019. The only expectation I should have is for Jesus to surprise me next year as well.

The Bible says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 29:11). Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” We have God’s word that He will keep his word, and God’s word tells us to expect the unexpected.

In what ways is Jesus surprising you today? Or is Jesus doing what you have “expected” of him? Is your life filled with your plans or his?

Jesus told his disciples that his second coming would be unexpected. Why, after all these centuries, do people think they can guess when Jesus will return? Why has Jesus chosen to surprise everyone—for centuries?

Make Room

One of the last things Jesus told his disciples is the same thing he would tell his disciples today. Jesus said, “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44). He finished that lesson by teaching his disciples to be “faithful and wise” servants because that is who the Father will bless.

The only time Jesus ever announced his “coming” was the day he rode into Jerusalem to die for our sins. He announced his arrival to ensure his departure. The rest of history is a list of his “unexpected” arrivals. Are you ready for a few surprises in your Christmas holiday? Will you make room for him even if you don’t “have room” in your plans?

I continue to believe that one of the most important things to understand about Jesus is that we cannot understand Jesus. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and these earthly minds of ours can never comprehend his majesty or predict his plans. Our calling is not to understand Jesus; it is to accept him in faith.

The innkeeper made room for Jesus that day—he gave the best he could offer. Jesus will surprise you this Christmas too. Are you prepared to clean up a mess and make a place for him in your holiday?

Jesus said, “Behold I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20). Expect him to arrive.

In fact, he’s already at the door.

Our Christmas Baby

There is truly something miraculous about holding a newborn baby, especially when that baby belongs to your family.

Wells Denison was born last week, and he is already loved and adored by his family. He came into this world weighing in at eight pounds, twelve ounces and is twenty-one inches long.

The Denisons are feeling very blessed this Christmas season.

The First Christmas Baby

My thoughts naturally go to that cave in Bethlehem where our Lord was born. How much did Jesus weigh when he was born? Did he cry at his first breath too?

The person who wrote “Away in the Manger” and said “no crying he makes” wasn’t there. I’m sure Jesus spent some time crying because that is what healthy babies do. Crying isn’t a “sin,” so I have a feeling Jesus kept his parents up at night as well.

I write an Advent book each year, and I always have unanswered questions about the birth of Christ. The biggest question each year is always, “Why did God choose to enter our world as a baby?”

The best theological answer to that question is found in Hebrews 4:15: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Jesus came into this world as a baby because we do. Jesus came to live an entirely human life so that he could die for every sin.

Even though I know that is the theology of the Advent, I still wonder why. God didn’t have to save us that way. He is the Creator of all things and has the power to accomplish our salvation any way he chooses. Why send our Messiah to the world as an infant?

Even as I ask the question, I sense his answer.

A Glimpse of Easter at Christmas

As I held my new grandson, Wells, I held a glimpse of God’s perfect will for our lives. The only thing Wells needs is to be loved and cared for. He is completely dependent on others to care for him. Without his mom and dad, he wouldn’t have life. Without our heavenly Father and his plan for our salvation, we wouldn’t have life either.

The baby in the manger would grow up to become the sinless man, able to take away the sins of the world. He grew up like all of us, tempted in every respect as we are, yet remained without sin. Jesus would one day tell a Pharisee named Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

As I held Wells, I was reminded of what “born again” means.

When God saved our souls through Jesus, we were reborn in his eyes. We became like a newly born, innocent, perfect baby: without sin. We are completely dependent on our “Parent” for our salvation. We would die eternally without Jesus. A Christmas baby would become an Easter sacrifice because he was always a “sinless lamb.”

Wells will be two one day and throw a toy in anger. (Hopefully not at his brother!) Wells will make his choices, both good and bad, and I am already praying for the moment he understands that he will need to choose to be “born again.” Our Christmas baby will need to find salvation in the only perfect Christmas baby ever born.

But, for now, Grandma is going to join hearts with Mary, as she held her perfect baby.

Cradling Perfection

There are moments in life a person will “ponder” forever.

There is a lifetime of potential that we cradle in our arms and hold in our hearts and minds. There will be first steps, first words, and other milestones. My prayer is there will be declarations of faith, baptisms, moments of divine calling, and the work of the ministry for each of my grandchildren.

This Christmas I will hold my newborn grandson and think about what Mary pondered in her heart. All babies are miracles, but she knew hers was also a Messiah. She just couldn’t know what that would ultimately mean for her and each of us.

Spend a few moments this Christmas “cradling” the infant Messiah in your arms. He is the only child born who lived every day of his life with holy perfection. That Christmas baby is the sinless lamb who perfected each of us for heaven.

All babies are miracles, but only Jesus is our infant Messiah.

The Mission of Christmas

The viral photo of Sully, a service dog, lying in front of the president’s casket, touched our hearts. The caption read, “Mission Complete. #Remembering41”.

Sometimes a picture does speak a thousand words.

The country will pause from the Christmas season to honor the life of our 41st president this week. I’m praying the service and the media broadcasts will cause people to think about their own lives, with a Christmas perspective. All of us are born with a mission to complete. The greatest satisfaction of life is knowing we have accomplished what the Lord intended us to do.

When Barbara Bush passed away, I remember thinking it wouldn’t be long before her husband joined her in heaven. My grandpa died eight months after my grandma passed. One of the great blessings of getting older is gaining a better perspective on the important things of this life. Heaven looks more like home when the people you love are living there.

The president told his best friend, Jim Baker, that he wanted to go to heaven. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

I think President Bush desired to spend Christmas in heaven and God said, “Okay. We can do that.”

The Mission of Christmas

I was considering the Christmas story with a “Mission Complete” mindset. God had a great purpose for everyone that first Christmas, and they accomplished their mission.

  • Mary was preparing to be a wife when God asked her to be a mother too. She gave birth to the Messiah that first Christmas. Mission complete.
  • Elizabeth told Mary what she needed to hear. Those words of encouragement brought Mary great joy, when she most needed a strong faith. Mission complete.
  • Joseph planned to quietly divorce Mary when he found she was with child. Instead, he obeyed the angel, took Mary as his wife, and kept her safe. Mission complete.
  • The shepherds planned to look after their sheep that night. Instead, they saw a great light and went to look for a baby lying in a manger. They completed their mission by telling others what they had seen.
  • The wise men spent months following a star, in search of the king. When they bowed before their Messiah and honored him with their gifts, their mission was complete.
  • The angel Gabriel made sure that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus escaped to Egypt. The Messiah would live to become a man. Mission complete.

I found myself asking the Lord, “What is my ‘mission’ this Christmas season?”

Your Mission

There are always a lot of things that need to get done. But, I think President Bush would tell us the “whats” aren’t as important as the “whos.”

Maybe the question should be, “Who is my mission this year?”

I want to be able to say, “Mission complete.”

An important life will be remembered and honored this Christmas season. The grave of President Bush will be next to his wife and daughter’s graves at his Presidential Library in College Station. But his life is with them in heaven. Imagine their unique joy this Christmas as they celebrate the holiday with Robin again, after so many years apart.

Who has been on your mind as you read these words?

Jesus told his disciples, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Let’s spend some time listening for that voice this Christmas season and working to obey his calling. It would be a blessing to pack up the Christmas decorations in a few weeks knowing our holiday is over and that mission is complete.