Are You Ready For Christmas?

Are you ready? We hear that question a lot at this time of year. Are you ready for Christmas? And that usually means "have you finished your Christmas shopping?" Or "are all your decorations up?" Or "have you finished the cookie baking?" Or.......you can fill in the blank.

The question reminds me of a sermon I heard a few years ago on this topic. In fact, I think the pastor may have titled his sermon "Are You Ready for Christmas?" But what he was talking about had nothing to do with decorations or shopping or cookie baking!

His point, and one I think we would all do well to remember, is that being "ready" for Christmas has very little to do with shopping or cookies or trees. It has everything to do with Jesus. And with a right relationship with Him. Being ready for Christmas is about focus......about remembering why we are doing this in the first place.....about celebrating Jesus!

Stop for a moment and think about how you celebrate Christmas. What are your Christmas traditions? What events or activities or foods or traditions are part of your celebration? What are the “always” parts of your Christmas? In other words, if you were asked about your Christmas traditions, what would you say is always part of your celebration?

What would you say is the most important thing about Christmas for you?

We spend a lot of time and energy and money each year on decorating and gift giving and baking. We spend a lot of time thinking about those are special to us, and about what gift we can give to show just how much we love them.

Should we not also do the same thing for Jesus? It’s His Birthday we are celebrating! We hear so often that Jesus is the reason for the season. If that’s true, and it is, then what are we doing intentionally to focus our attention on Jesus during the Christmas season?

When we redirect our energies away from the hustle and bustle, and focus on Jesus, on who He is and why He came, then we will be ready for Christmas!

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.” 

(John 1:14 KJV)

Transition

 

Transition. I hesitate to use that word, since it has such a different cultural connotation than what I mean. But here in the Feaster household, it’s a week of transition. Of change. It's time for the shift from fall décor and pumpkins to Christmas trees and holly. Many people began November by putting up a Christmas tree. For us, the tree goes up after Thanksgiving. It has been our tradition since our very first Christmas.

This is the week we transition from the season of Thanksgiving to the season of Christmas. Even though the malls and discount stores and TV commercials have been pushing Christmas on us earlier and earlier each year, now that Thanksgiving is past we are officially in the Christmas season.  

This week leads us to the first Sunday of Advent. Although I didn't grow up in a church that talked about Advent, at least not that I can recall, and we didn't light Advent candles in our church back in my growing up years, as I get older I find myself drawn to that tradition. To the way it focuses our attention on what we are really celebrating during this season of the year.

While we enjoy our snowmen and our Santas and our elves, that's really not what the holiday is all about.  This is a season to celebrate the birth of our Savior. To celebrate Jesus! Even though it is unlikely He was born on December 25, or even at this time of year, this is the time we celebrate that event.

Whether or not your particular church has an Advent wreath, and whether or not you have an Advent wreath in your home, you probably use candles in your Christmas decorating around the house. Even those candles are a reminder to us of what Christmas is all about. Jesus, the Light of the World, is the reason we are celebrating.

In many churches where an Advent wreath is part of the celebration of Christmas, the candle that is lit on the first Sunday of the Advent season is the Prophet's Candle. It's a time to focus attention on what the prophets had to say about the coming of the Messiah, and how these prophecies are fulfilled by the birth of the Christ Child in Bethlehem.

This week, as you are transitioning from Thanksgiving to Christmas, why not take some time to find a quiet place and read some of these Scriptures yourself. Maybe you could even light a candle. Set aside the hustle and bustle of the holiday season for just a moment and reflect on the One whose birth was foretold so long ago by the prophets.  

Read the prophecies. Reflect on how they are fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ. Let your spirit be renewed by focusing on what Christmas is really all about.

It's a good way to transition into the Christmas season.


"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:  Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." 

(Isaiah 7:14 NASB)

 

 

"Come, thou long expected Jesus,

born to set thy people free;

from our fears and sins release us,

let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,

hope of all the earth thou art;

dear desire of every nation,

joy of every longing heart."

(-Charles Wesley)

Never Forget

 It’s Veteran's Day, a day when we remember and honor those men and women who have served in our nation's military. I'm glad there is a day set aside for this purpose, but I also think it's sad that we don't remember them more often. That we don't think about and honor those men and women, and their families, who sacrifice so much on our behalf. Who pay the price so we don't have to. We must never forget that freedom isn't free, and that many have sacrificed much on our behalf.

Freedom comes at a price. A great price. And not only the freedoms we enjoy as American citizens, but our freedom in Christ as well. May we never forget the great price that our Savior paid that we might be free from sin. May we never forget what it cost Him. May we never take it for granted.

We so often take our freedoms as Americans for granted. Shame on us! And shame on us when we treat our freedom in Christ that casually as well.

May we live this day, and every day, with gratitude for all that is ours in Christ Jesus. May we never forget what it cost.

"For you were bought with a price."  (1 Corinthians 6:20 ESV)

"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  For he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed."  (Isaiah 53:4-5 ESV)

It’s November!

The calendar says it’s November which, for many, means it’s time to decorate for Christmas. I am not one of those people. I prefer to celebrate holidays one at a time. This is not meant as criticism on my part; it’s simply a matter of personal preference.

In any event, November is something of a mixed bag for me. For these last several years, every time the calendar turns to November, I start to get a little uncomfortable. A little stressed. November brings with it some bad memories. It was in November 2016 that I suffered a hemorrhagic stroke. While I have no memory of that event or of many of the days that followed, I’ve seen the pictures and heard the stories, and I know it is something I never want to repeat. Of course, it is completely unreasonable to think it could happen again simply because it’s November. Even so, November brings it all to the surface.

Despite that, my overwhelming thoughts this month are gratitude. Extreme gratitude. Because November is the month we celebrate a day devoted to giving thanks, and because I have so very much to be thankful for, I want to focus November on gratitude. On counting my blessings. On giving thanks. I don’t want to rush past that to the next holiday, as special as it is.

When I was in the Neuro ICU, my husband was told I might not wake up. He was told that if I did wake up, I would face severe challenges. But God had other plans for me. And today, my reality is very different from that gloomy prediction. I walk without assistance. I can read and write and talk better than anyone ever expected. I still deal with some aftereffects of the stroke, but most are not visible except perhaps to those who know me best.

This month I celebrate that I am a stroke survivor. And it’s all because of God’s amazing grace!

Thinking About Clutter

Typically on Monday mornings my thoughts often turn to clutter. Around here,  Monday mornings have generally been devoted to laundry and decluttering, but since cancer entered our world, all my normal routines are out the window. Here we are on Thursday, and the Monday tasks and the Monday clutter are still here. If you know me at all, you know that clutter drives me crazy! I’m just hoping this week’s clutter doesn’t spill into next week.

Even with all the challenges I’m currently facing in staying ahead of the clutter, it occurs to me that it's much easier to deal with physical clutter, as challenging as that often is, than it is to deal with the stuff that clutters our minds.

Last week I spent some time cleaning out some closets and dresser drawers. I got rid of a lot of stuff that was no longer useful or needed. Worn-out shoes. Clothes that no longer fit. A past-its-prime toothbrush. Stuff that is no longer useful and had become just more clutter.

Sometimes it's a challenge to determine what to hold on to and what to let go. I can't make decisions about what to let go of in your closet. But here are a few ideas about what to hold on to.

Hold on to your memories.

Memories are precious things. If you've been in the position of watching someone you love lose their memory to Alzheimer's, as I have, then you are aware what a treasure the memory is. And having my own stroke-related memory loss, I know that memories are a treasure. We can't hold on to every photograph or ticket stub or souvenir; for most of us, space doesn't permit that. Nor do we want to become so anchored to those memories that we miss life in the present. But we can treasure the memories! Revisit them from time to time. Share them with others. Enjoy them!

I often find myself wishing I knew more about my parents or my grandparents in their early years. Wishing I had asked them more questions. Wishing I had listened more closely to the stories they told. Some day our children may feel the same. Share your memories and the stories of your family history so it can be passed on from generation to generation.

Hold on to relationships.

In our culture, it's all about the stuff. All about how much we can accumulate. All about what kind of car we drive or what kind of house we live or what kind of electronic devices we have. It's all about our technology.

I sat in a doctor's office waiting room a few days ago, and as I looked around, I realized every single person in that waiting room was staring at their phone. There was no conversation. Not even any eye-contact. Just staring at the phone.

Look around at your next family gathering. Are people talking to each other, or are they glued to their electronic devices? We need to make an effort to reverse this trend in our culture! People are important! Let's never lose sight of that.

Relationships matter. And nothing is more important in developing and holding on to our relationships than personal interaction. Texting and tweeting can never take the place of the human voice. Of actual conversation. Of real sentences that are more than 40 characters in length. Of a smile or a hug. Don't let technology rob you of what's most important.

Hold on to Jesus.

Our culture would seek to marginalize or trivialize our Christian faith. Christians in our culture are often viewed as weak or out of touch or not terribly bright. Even so, our relationship with Jesus is the most important of all our relationships. It's a relationship that must be held on to, cherished, and nurtured.

How do we do that? The same way it has always been done. By spending time with Him in prayer (conversation). By spending time with Him in Bible study (getting to know Him). And by fellowship with other believers (church attendance). These are the building blocks of growing our relationship with Jesus and of holding on to that relationship.

A relationship where there is no communication doesn't last long, does it? It's hard to have a relationship with someone you don't know, isn't it? A "lone-ranger" relationship isn't really a relationship, is it?

Know your priorities.

When we're decluttering around the house, we get rid of things that no longer are useful or have value to us. We are able to do this because we understand what does have value.

The same principle holds true in our relationships, particularly as concerns our relationship with the Lord. When we know our values and our priorities, we are more easily able to clear our minds of things that don't line up with those values and priorities. We are able to declutter our minds based on these priorities.

And what is the priority for the Christian?

"Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness."  (Matthew 6:33a NASB)

Take action.

I cleaned out my closet. I got rid of the clothes that didn't fit, the purses I never use, the shoes that were worn out.

I cleaned out my bathroom cabinet. I decluttered it by disposing of the empty mascara tubes, the eye shadows I didn't even like, the empty lotion bottles, the worn-out toothbrush.

The same thing needs to happen for you and for me in our thinking. We need to get rid of the clutter.  We need to toss out anything that doesn't line up with our priorities. No matter what the voices of culture would tell us we need to be thinking about or what our opinions should be in order for us to be politically correct, we need to make certain that our thinking is lined up with the plumb line of the Word of God.

Today would be a good day to start doing some decluttering.

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus......"  (Hebrews 12:1-2a, NASB, emphasis mine)