No Place Like Home

Tis the Season for giving and receiving gifts, preparing and serving holiday foods, dessert and special candies. It is also the season for having company come to your house. Some company comes over for a meal or dessert and coffee, other company comes to your house to spend a night or two, but either way the idea of “company’s coming” sends most host families into a “get ready for company” mode.

If you house is like mine, the “get ready” mode includes cleaning the house from top to bottom cleaning the carpet and tile, bathrooms, and making sure all the beds have clean sheets and the bathrooms have fresh towels. Then there is the preparation of food, which includes agreeing on a menu and shopping for all the ingredients to prepare the meal(s). Having company over during the holidays is a big deal. Most families look forward to company coming during the holidays for weeks or months and they plan and prepare for days making sure everything is just right for their special guests.

Most of the time the special guests who come for the holidays are extended family members or older children who are coming home for a good visit. The anticipation of children and family coming to your house for the holidays grows and grows as the day of their arrival draws closer and then before you know it your special guests which you have planned for are in your home and all your planning for preparation goes into action as you play the part of host or hostess during the holiday visit.

You know how all that experience feels especially when you are looking forward to family members coming to your house. The anticipation, the joy and happiness upon their arrival, the celebration of family being together. Can you imagine what God the Father is going through as He looks forward to all of His family coming home to spend eternity with Him?

Jesus says in John 14, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Imagine for a moment what it will be like when all of God’s family goes home to praise God in His house. You talk about a party…. A family reunion…. A celebration!

So this Christmas season as you celebration the birth of Jesus and as you prepare for and enjoy family take some time to look forward to the time that you will be able to stand in the presences of God in His house and know that you are home for eternity. Then you can truly say, “There is no place like home!” I bet God gives the best hugs ever.

Love God. God Love Others.

The Christmas Transformation

Just after Thanksgiving it happens in neighborhoods all over town and throughout the country…the Christmas Transformation. The Christmas Transformation is the process of changing the everyday look of a house into a house which reflects the spirit of Christmas. As you drive around town at night you see everything from a simple candle placed on a window seal to houses being completely outlined with lights to houses which resemble the Griswold’s house in the movie “Christmas Vacation”. Some homeowners go to all the trouble to cut out Christmas characters and place them on their lawn. Some have music playing outside. It really is an interesting process to witness. Some of the families who decorate their house go to a lot of person trouble and they take up a great deal of time and energy. Others simply call up a Christmas Light decorating service to do all the work for them, which seems to be the way to go if you can afford the service.

As you drive around the city you will find that some neighborhoods have almost every house decorated for the holiday season and then there are neighborhoods like the one I live in where most of the houses have little or no decoration. For some families the idea of going to that much trouble to change the appearance of your house for one month is just too much work for too short of time. I know for many homes the amount of effort which is put into the decorating of the house is in direct proportion to the number of children in the house and their collective ages. It seems that the older your children get or the fewer children you have at home the less likely it is that you will do any decorating unless of course the grandchildren are coming and then all bets are off.

The Christmas Transformation… what a process… but is it what the season is all about? This season of the year that brings about a short pause in our busy lives to reflect upon the birth of the Christ child should in some way bring about a transformation within the hearts of all those who believe in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. This is a wonderful time of year to be reminded that those who wear the name Christian have a story to tell and it is a story which has the power to transform an ordinary person into a child of the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is a story that has been told millions of times over the last 2000 years. It is a story that has changed the hearts of people of all races and from all places. It is a story that has changed the direction of entire nations of people. Most of all it is a story that can take the hardest heart and turn that heart into one who loves God completely.

So this year as you and your family drive around town looking at all the beautiful Christmas lights which brighten up our spirits for a few short weeks remember the real reason for the season is to remind you of the story that has the power to change the world forever. You have a story to tell so go ahead… tell it…let the world know the reason you have joy in your heart everyday and not just for a season. Tell you neighbors how they too can have peace on earth. Go ahead…. Tell the story.

Love God. Go Love Others.

Welcome to Our World

Recently my wife and I attended a concert which mainly featured songs for the Christmas season. Most of the music was familiar to me, but one of them was new to me and it was a very beautiful song called “Welcome to Our World”. The lyrics are:

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child
Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home
Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world
Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born
So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

I have to tell you, I love this song even though I have only heard it once. Though I love the song I will take one issue with it, this world is not ours, it is His. “This is my Father’s world” and everything in it and on it belongs to him. As a matter of fact you and I belong to him – we are his creation made in his likeness and in his image. My plea this day is simple, live in such a way as to welcome Jesus into your life each day.

You see it is one thing to say, “Welcome to our world” please help us and save us. It is an entirely different thing to welcome the Lord Jesus Christ into your life daily and allow him to move you and work through you to glorify the creator of the world - God the Father. Your daily prayer should be to allow Jesus to control the thoughts of your mind and the words of your mouth and the actions of your hands and to in every way possible help you to present yourself as a living sacrifice to the Father.

In this Christmas season share the Joy of Jesus living in your life with those who are living around you. Encourage everyone to welcome Jesus into their life and celebrate the gift from the Father to the world he created and loves.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Love God. Go Love Others.