Real Life is Better Than Fiction

Nativity But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:7-8 When we think of nativity, Christmas automatically comes to mind. A nativity is simply the place, condition, and circumstances surrounding a birth. The Nativity is the place, conditions, and circumstances surrounding the birth of Christ. The Place – Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which fulfilled prophecy. What a lowly place for the King to be born. Herod, evil as he was, was used by God as a tool. He was taking a census of the people, requiring them to return to the city of their birth. So Joseph packed up himself and a very pregnant Mary, to go to Bethlehem, thus fulfilling one prophesy of Jesus being born in Bethlehem. The Conditions – While most of us were born in the sanitary conditions of a hospital, Jesus w...

Rejoice Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4 Rejoice – to take joy in, give joy to, take possession of When an angel appeared to Mary and told her that she would bear a child – out of wedlock – how did she respond? She rejoiced. That would probably not be the response of most young women today had they had the same experience. They would probably scream, holler, cry, etc., but not Mary. Mary rejoiced. Mary knew the Scriptures, as is evident in her song. Here she quotes the Old Testament 15 times. She rejoiced because God was giving her a gift, not only a gift just for her, but for the entire human race - past, present, and future. She rejoiced that she was the vessel God chose to use. While she was proud of this fact, she was not conceited. On the contrary, she was very humble. Mary was spending time with her cousin Elizabeth when she sang this song. I can't help but wonder if she needed a little bit of time to escape and soak up ...

Emmanuel Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Matthew 1:23 This story, like many stories I tell, was taken from a real-life scenario from a friend of mine: While our son Kev was being wheeled into surgery, he just kept crying for his bear he had named Baby Jesus. Although Evie was only getting tubes, Kevin was having a more serious surgery. To be honest, that bear that had been dragged through the mud, into stores, many doctor visits, and finally into the hospital, had unknowingly become my security blanket that day. I remember the empty feeling I felt as the nurse took Baby Jesus from me and took him off to the operating room to comfort my own baby. I know, it was an inanimate object, but just the feel of Kev’s ugly, scrawny, yet loved bear was somehow giving me comfort when I didn’t have my own baby in my arms. I sat there in the waiting room for a few minutes feeling empty and alone wh...

Ornament They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever. Psalm 112:9a Each year our trees look more and more beautiful as we place ornaments all over them. One year, while bringing home our Christmas tree on a very windy day, the tree blew off the top of the car, damaging the top portion of the tree. Once we placed the tree in its stand at home, we had to do a little doctoring to make that tree even somewhat presentable. Some strategically placed ornaments helped as well. Other people may not have noticed, if they didn't look too closely, but our family knew the truth behind it all. Sometimes people are the same way. We dress ourselves up in nice clothes and put on a little make-up to improve our appearance, but all that preparation does nothing for what's on the inside. We may think we're fooling people, and we may be, but we can never fool God. He knows all about us, inside and out. This Christmas season let's not jump ...