Is “Christ” in your Christmas?  Every year we as Christians ask this question as we acknowledge the birth of Christ and what it means to us and the world whether they accept Him or not.

As Christians, we know that Jesus died on the cross (it wasn’t on a Friday), rose on the third day in order to save us from the penalty for the sins we’ve committed.  If you’ve been born into this world – you have sinned.  There are no exceptions.  God knew this and that’s why He sent Jesus to do exactly what He did.  This was God’s greatest gift to us because He loves us so much!

So even though we know that Jesus’ actual birthday is not December 25th, we’ve adopted that day to say “Happy Birthday” to Jesus, as we celebrate and thank Him for what he did for us! I’m not sure about you but I’m glad about it!

All of that being said, when we look around during this time of year, all of us have seen what many call the commercialization of Christmas.  People think it’s more about Santa Claus, reindeer & Rudolph, and snowman who come to life.  They are more concerned with receiving gifts than giving gifts as Christ gave us the gift of salvation.  What part do you play in this commercialization of Christmas?  We expect it from those who don’t believe in Jesus Christ, but what about those of us who do believe in Him yet still play into this commercialization?

So, how are you making sure they you keep “Christ” in your Christmas?  Many, many people work extremely hard all year round to help those who are struggling to help themselves.  For example, they help people who are left homeless, and those in rehabs of all types (homeless, drugs & disabled).  These people help and volunteer in hospitals, while some help and volunteer in prisons, etc.  These people show and give the love of Christ all year long.  So to show your appreciation of all that they do, it is a good idea to help these people out by making donations and volunteering at least once per year yourself.  That would be a great way to keep Christ in your Christmas!

Let’s look at a few other ways you can make sure you keep Christ in your Christmas!

• Get a gift to Jesus for his birthday. Yeah,  I hear you talking,  how can I give a birthday gift to Jesus?  Well, the answer is simple.  In 2 Samuel 24: 23-25: ²³ Your Majesty, Araunah[a] gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”  ²⁴ But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels[b] of silver for them. ²⁵ David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped (niv). So as you can see David was not willing to offer a sacrifice to God that didn’t cost him something.  That means it wasn’t cheap or it meant something special to David.  So ask Christ what He wants for his birthday and give Him that.  Just like you would do for any other birthday gift that you would buy.  For example, He may ask you to spend more time with Him.  If he does, put that time/day on your calendar and treat it like you would any other date or appointment that you don’t want to miss.  Easy right?

• With your family, sit together and read a Christmas story in Luke 1:5-56 through Luke 2:1-20. It’s too long for me to insert here so I’ve included links for you, so all you have to do is just click on the scripture above.

• Make the focal point of your Christmas decorations the Nativity Scene. If you don’t have one, you can make one of your own!  This will be a great project to do with your family and friends.  Click here to get you started.

• Put together a group of your family and/or friends to go visit someone who may be alone during the holidays. Maybe someone in a nursing home or hospital or maybe an elderly or shut-in neighbor.  That would really bless them and you as well!  They don’t have to be the same faith as you. You are just there to show them the love of Christ.

• Forgive someone who hurt you. Now, don’t get excited.  I’m not saying that what they did to you was OK.  I’m saying you give yourself a gift when you give up your right to get them back.  That’s God’s definition of forgiveness!  This helps you release the pain and bitterness inside of you, and frees you to heal and move your life forward!  God will take care of the person who hurt you and His revenge is better than yours!  The bible makes it clear in Romans 12:19; ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^[a] says the Lord (niv).

• Lastly, include a single person or someone else who would be spending Christmas alone to spend it with you and your family. For example, an out of town college student who may be friends with one of your children or even someone from your church.  Maybe even a neighbor.  Ask God for direction in this.

These are just a few ways to get you started!

As I sit here watching a TV show about a holiday light competition (I love holiday lights) I see how many of them did not include Christ. So as a talked to God about it He reminded me that it doesn’t matter what others do, it only matters what I do.  So it prompted me to review how I include Christ in my Christmas and my daily living.  So let me know how you are keeping Christ in your Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Do you have anything to be thankful for?  Thanksgiving is over and your bellies are full.  Nobody wants to go any way near a scale because you know you ate too much! LOL.  So as you sit with your bellies full, your pants unbuttoned or unzipped with your feet up chillin while watching the game, I’ll ask you again, do you have anything to be thankful for?

This is the time of year that people get extremely depressed more than any other time of year.  Why is that?

The most obvious reason is because this is the season to spend time with family and friends that we love and who love us.  But what about people who for whatever the reason have no one to love and no one to love them?  Did you take anytime today to think about them?  Are you one of them?

A lot of people are dealing with social isolation because of the disconnectedness in their lives. This can be due to circumstances beyond their control.  They may even be in that situation due to choices they have made, but either way, shouldn’t we at least take the time to say a prayer for them?

What about those who have suffered various types of losses; such as death in their families, loss of a job, etc?  How do we show them that wherever they find themselves, if they are still breathing, they still have the power with God’s help to change their situation? Let’s talk about what it looks like.

Are you living your life knowing that, if you are still alive God has you here to solve some problem on this earth?  Are you living your life knowing that no matter your current life situation you have the power of God inside yourself to achieve that purpose and goal?

So let’s start there.  How do we live understanding that no matter where you find yourself, there is someone on the planet that has it much worse than you.  So we can’t waste time feeling sorry for ourselves.  And we can’t let those around us do it either.  We have to keep our focus on God and what is good in your lives.  And no matter the situation we may find ourselves in there is something good in your lives.  The bible says it like this in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (amp) ¹⁸ in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Keep in mind that there is power for the change you want when you obey God’s word.  It doesn’t have to make sense to you, just do anyway & see what happens.

If you don’t believe me ask God to lead you to a place where you can volunteer and help others.  Would you like to trade places with one of them? Or just watch your local news.  Have you ever heard the saying I was crying about not having shoes when I met someone who didn’t have any feet?

So whether your thanksgiving was good or not, we have to stop complaining about what is missing in our lives and just start celebrating what is good in our lives.  Even if you have to dig real deep, we all have something to thank God for.

I’ll use myself as an example.  The Sunday before thanksgiving my husband and I have to rush my dog Joe (everybody who knows me knows I love my Joe) to the emergency animal hospital.  He was yelling out in pain, shaking like crazy nonstop and he would not eat or drink anything.  It costs me $120 for them to tell me that they had no idea what was wrong with him.  But if I gave them even more money, $300 – $650, they could run all these tests.  I have already asked God what was wrong, so I decided to wait to hear what God had to say about it.  I just wanted to make sure Joe was not going to die.

The next day I had to pay the dentist $100 to get my teeth cleaned & a filling but I found I also need additional dental work.  The braces will be $4000 and I need it least one of two crowns at about $400 – $800 apiece.

The same day I had to help a family member with a legal issue that cost me 500 more dollars.  No one else in the family had any money.  Now remember this was only Monday.  On Tuesday I had to see my eye doctor and this cost another $35.00 and another $30.00 with my insurance for the prescription she gave me.  And if that wasn’t enough, she informed me that I now need laser surgery in both of my eyes.  You would think that was enough wouldn’t you?  Well it wasn’t!  That night our refrigerator just stop working – we just got it fixed a month ago so we had to get a repair guy in on Wednesday because thanksgiving is Thursday!  So what was the verdict?  We needed a new refrigerator!

I’m not sure how you do things but I’m just like most people.  I save my money during the year to buy gifts during the holidays because I love celebrating and spending time with my family.  I also want to be in the position to help people too. But now I had to spend that money on the things I just told you about to help myself.  So what did I do? I did what it says in Philippians 4:6 (amp) ⁶ Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God.  Sooooo I took a deep breath, I thanked God because at least I had the money for me to use.  I then asked him to return the money I just spent. Then I used that money to get the things that I needed.

And if that wasn’t enough, one of my best friends needed financial help so I loaned her some money ($400) with interest of course lol.  We already have a standing agreement; it was the timing of it that made it bad.

And in spite of all of this I had a great thanksgiving!  We spent Thursday with my in-laws, they are always great & the food was amazing as always.  My husband & I went to his friend’s birthday party on Friday.  I cooked dinner on Saturday with friends & family over at my house.  Then on Sunday God told me what was wrong with my dog Joe – it was his prescription food at $40 a bag.  He also told me what to do about it and in spite of all of this, I still feel & know that thru it all I am so blessed!

This is why I say that no matter where you are in your life keep your focus on the things that are good in your life!  If you feel you have nothing to be thankful for – that is a lie!  But if that’s how you fee,l you must be willing to make the changes you need to in order to bring into your life the things that you need and want! Check out Psalms 20:4 (amp) May He grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans. You can live the life you want!  God will help you if you let Him!

I hoped by sharing my situations with you, you now have incentives for the New Year.

Happy holidays to all of you! Now let me ask you just one more time.  Do you have anything to be thankful for?  Of course you do!