"The spirit of Christmas needs to be superseded by the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christmas is annual; the Spirit of Christ is eternal. The spirit of Christmas is sentimental; the Spirit of Christ is supernatural. The spirit of Christmas is a human product; the Spirit of Christ is a divine person. That makes all the difference in the world."
Stuart Briscoe
And what a difference that is!
The spirit of Christmas is temporal, for sure.
Most people are back to "business as usual" today, the day after Christmas.
The Spirit of Christ is eternal.
God, Is, With, Us.
Forever.
The Spirit of Christ doesn't come and go on an annual basis.
It is not a holiday that we either choose to celebrate or not.
The spirit of Christmas is birthed in human minds, created by human hands, bought at shopping malls, wrapped up by human hands, celebrated annually in homes, by the tree with Christmas music playing - the perfect picture imagined by human minds.
The Spirit of Christ is a person.
He was not birthed in the mind of man.
He was not created by human hands.
He can't be bought.
He can't be wrapped.
He entered the world in the least perfect place imaginable - a lowly stable, surrounded by animals and earthy smells, not the smell of cinnamon, cloves, eggnog and pine trees.
And because He was not conceived in the mind of man, we don't always know what to do with Him. We may try to deny Him, take His name out of the holiday, try to ignore His presence in all ways possible, but we can't destroy the Spirit of Christmas.
He willingly gave His life on another tree, at another time.
We can't take His life because He gave it willingly.
"For God so loved the world. . . He gave. . . . "
This is the true Spirit of Christmas.
Love gives. . . eternally, not annually.
Love gives. . . , supernaturally, not sentimentally.
Love comes to us not through human minds.
Love comes to us in the form of a person, a divine person,
the person of Jesus.
He is still with us today, the day after Christmas,
and will continue to be with us through all the days of this coming year and years to come.
He continues to be with us after all the carnage of Christmas has been cleared away.
He continues to be with us after all the presents are gone from under the tree.
Long after all the food has been eaten and our stomachs are more than full.
Long after all the trappings of Christmas are put away for another year.
He continues to be with us.
He will never leave us nor forsake us.
Will we. . . leave Him?
Will we store Him away with the decorations
until this time next year?
Will we. . . forsake Him?
Will we forsake Him when the next "new thing" comes along or
when the next trial assaults us?
Let us take Him with us into this new year.
Emmanuel
God. Is. With. Us!
And what a difference that is!
The spirit of Christmas is temporal, for sure.
Most people are back to "business as usual" today, the day after Christmas.
The Spirit of Christ is eternal.
God, Is, With, Us.
Forever.
The Spirit of Christ doesn't come and go on an annual basis.
It is not a holiday that we either choose to celebrate or not.
The spirit of Christmas is birthed in human minds, created by human hands, bought at shopping malls, wrapped up by human hands, celebrated annually in homes, by the tree with Christmas music playing - the perfect picture imagined by human minds.
The Spirit of Christ is a person.
He was not birthed in the mind of man.
He was not created by human hands.
He can't be bought.
He can't be wrapped.
He entered the world in the least perfect place imaginable - a lowly stable, surrounded by animals and earthy smells, not the smell of cinnamon, cloves, eggnog and pine trees.
And because He was not conceived in the mind of man, we don't always know what to do with Him. We may try to deny Him, take His name out of the holiday, try to ignore His presence in all ways possible, but we can't destroy the Spirit of Christmas.
He willingly gave His life on another tree, at another time.
We can't take His life because He gave it willingly.
"For God so loved the world. . . He gave. . . . "
This is the true Spirit of Christmas.
Love gives. . . eternally, not annually.
Love gives. . . , supernaturally, not sentimentally.
Love comes to us not through human minds.
Love comes to us in the form of a person, a divine person,
the person of Jesus.
He is still with us today, the day after Christmas,
and will continue to be with us through all the days of this coming year and years to come.
He continues to be with us after all the carnage of Christmas has been cleared away.
He continues to be with us after all the presents are gone from under the tree.
Long after all the food has been eaten and our stomachs are more than full.
Long after all the trappings of Christmas are put away for another year.
He continues to be with us.
He will never leave us nor forsake us.
Will we. . . leave Him?
Will we store Him away with the decorations
until this time next year?
Will we. . . forsake Him?
Will we forsake Him when the next "new thing" comes along or
when the next trial assaults us?
Let us take Him with us into this new year.
Emmanuel
God. Is. With. Us!
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