Here's a Thought

I will go ahead and warn you. Most of these blog posts will probably be about Christmas over the next few days. I take a chance with this approach. Most people are already tired of hearing Christmas Carols. However, I will try to keep a fresh perspective for you.

We see a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger, and we know we are loved. Is there every any question about that? We hear Jesus talking about God loving the world so much that He sent His Son, we look back into the narrative to see Him being held in His mother's arms, and we believe this wholeheartedly. When does this change? How is it that our view of the love of God gets so distorted by the time Jesus gets to the Cross, then magically readjusts after the resurrection? Am I the only person that ever asks these kinds of question?

Personally, I believe that someone or something has convinced us to look at these events differently. Somehow we swing back and forth in our understanding. We see we are loved, we believe God is angry with us, and then we are loved again. Back and forth. Side to side. We struggle to grasp the understanding that there is nothing that Jesus does or endures that does not proceed from the heart of the Father.
In His birth - you are loved.
In His crucifixion - you are loved.
In His burial - you are loved.
In His resurrection - you are loved.
In His ascension - you are loved.
In His being seated at the right hand of the Father - you are loved.
How is it that we can go through this season thinking anything different? The birth of Jesus was proclaimed as Good News for the entire world. A Savior had come. The Anointed One had arrived. Peace and good tidings will flow.

I really don't want to spend a lot of time focusing on what could have caused us to think differently. I simply want to stir you to think for yourself. I want you to determine that you will not allow anything or anybody to convince you otherwise. You have been, are, and will be loved by your Heavenly Father. The Cross demonstrates, according to Paul, that God loves us. That He was willing to endure the hostility of sinful man. That He humbled Himself, to the point of dying on a Cross, so we would be redeemed, rescued, reconciled, and restored.

The birth of Jesus is a moment in time. Much like many others moments. It points us to a greater reality. It demonstrates the lengths that the Father was willing to go to in order for us to be saved. His birth, His ministry, His death, His resurrection - all ways in which the Father has put Himself on display. All means of convincing us of His heart. All a part of the Father's plan to restore humanity.

Take some time during this season to reflect upon these truths for yourself. Don't allow the story of His birth to become commonplace. His arrival signified the beginning of a new creation. The world would not be the same. Drink in every moment. Bask in the Father's goodness. See the hope of the world lying in a manger. And give thanks to the Father for this indescribable gift.

"God became a man. While the creatures of the earth walked unaware, Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb.

The Omnipotent, in one instant, made Himself breakable. He who has been spirit became pierceable. He who was larger than the universe became an embryo. And He who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl...

God had come near.

He came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conquerer, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. The hands that first held him were unmanicured, calloused, and dirty.

No silk. No ivory. No hype. No party. No hoopla.

Were it not for shepherds, there would have been no reception. And were it not for a group of stargazers, there would have been no gifts."

- God Came Near - Max Lucado