There has been only one Christmas–the rest are anniversaries.”
              –W.J. Cameron

    “And coming in, he [the angel, Gabriel] said to her, ‘Greetings, favored one!  The Lord is with you.’  But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.”
              –Luke 1:28-29 (NASB)
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I know, it’s not the Psalms.  Monday is normally our day in the Psalms, but since it is Christmas season I thought I would forgo that study until the first of the year.  Why? ‘Cause:

         “Christmas times a-comin’…
         Can’t you hear them bells ringin’, ringin’,
         Joy, joy hear them singin’…
         Christmas times a-comin’.”
                   —Bill Monroe

This is the season!  This is the time when we celebrate the coming of the Child to earth.  There is so much to the story and to begin to comprehend it is futile, but we must try.  
    I was pondering the other day–what was it like in heaven?  I know that God doesn’t scurry around, but what of the angels?  What do they think?  Jesus, the Son, on the throne one day, and the next He is a baby in a manger.  He goes from riches to rags.  In fact, what was heaven like those nine months when Jesus was in the womb?  Maybe they went about whispering to one another, “Why does the Holy One want to become a man?  That’s crazy, they are lower even than us.”  We can see they were excited from the verses in Luke when they appeared in the heavens; they wanted to see how justice and grace would be served out on man.
    Wonder of wonders!  The spiritual realm must have all been astir; both the heavenly realm and those of the darkness.  Was the throne vacant?  No, for the Father was there.  Was Jesus a prodigal, leaving the Father?  No, for He was sent out.  The Father was very aware of where He was and what He was about.  But something was different.  The Son of God was now on earth, living, walking, working as a man.  Fellowship with the Father now took the form of prayer.
    From the start Satan was after the Son.  Herod sought to kill Him, but Joseph was warned (aren’t we glad that Joseph had a heart and mind to listen to God?) and left Bethlehem for Egypt.  For sure, the mysteries of God are not comprehensible.  
    God, all parts of the Trinity, were involved in this miraculous, sacred event.  Here is finally the opportunity for man to be reconciled back to God.  Man will be able to once again walk with God.  Not exactly the way Adam did in the Garden so long ago before the Fall, but here is the Son of God bringing about something new–the showing of God’s grace.
    He came into this darkened world of sin; this world controlled by the evil one.  He was to bring the Light of God to men.  John 1:1-5, may be the key verse of all Scripture.  But for now just concentrate and contemplate on verses 4-5.

         “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (NASB)

Man still does not comprehend it.  Christmas lights ablaze should help us take to heart that Jesus, the Light of the world, came to save humanity.  But the darkness does not comprehend it.  Jesus came to destroy the bondage brought about by sin.  But the darkness still does not comprehend it.  Oh, that the Holy Spirit would open the eyes of men so that they could see the Light that came from heaven.
    This Christmas open your eyes to the “Light” as He comes to you.  He does not shine it in your eyes, but in your hearts.  Open your heart and let His light shine on you during this Christmas season of 2019!

Now, Lord, I’m not too sure why You create men like him.  Maybe they are meant just to test the rest of us.”
              –Stephen Bly (Friends and Enemies)

    “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.”
              –Proverbs 8:13 (NKJV)
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Probably the most despicable thing a person can do is to hate someone else.  Hate is a by-product of bitterness and rebellion against God’s Word.  Hate causes people to do rash things, to become vengeful.  Hate is reflected on the individual from the ugliness in the heart.
    I am currently seeing more hatred than ever before in my lifetime.  People call for love, reconciliation, and peace, yet they promote hatred.  A case in point is the current political situation in our government.  Most all work has ceased simply because of hatred.  Not likely a person, their agenda is one thing, out-and-out hatred is another.  When someone comes along to rattle the agenda of the elite, hatred is often the reaction.
    There are other outcries on the land, many legitimate and many do not have much sense.  There are troubles along the border, there are homeless in the cities, there are those in power circles promoting the breaking of national laws.  What is going on?  Why the chaos?  “Chaos, chaos…out of the chaos shall come the superman.” (Nietzsche) Or as Paul would say, the man of lawlessness will soon appear.
    It reminds me of the words of one of Christmas carols:

         And in despair I bowed my head:
         “There is no peace on earth,” I said,
         “For hate is strong and mocks the song
         Of peace on earth, good will to men”
                   –Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Hate does indeed mock the word of the angel that Christmas morn of long ago.  Peace on earth, bah–humbug.  There is no peace, there is only turmoil, strife, hatred, mockery.  The person who says there is peace must be a lunatic.  Hmmm, or is it the other way around?  Peace rests upon those who seek and serve the Lord.  The One who came so many years ago to bring peace; the One who wears the title “Prince of Peace”, is near to those who serve Him rather than those who mock Him.

         Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
         “God is not dead, nor doth he sleep,
         The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
         With peace on earth, good will to men”

    This season when you hear a bell ring, do not think that an angel is receiving its wings.  Nice story, completely false.  Rather, think of this truth–“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep.”  God’s truth will come to pass.

         “Mock me, will you?—I’ll mock you!”
                   –Proverbs 1:26 (TLB)

So listen to the bells!  They cry outloud that God is alive, well, and active in this world.  He does sleep or slumber, in fact He doesn’t even get sleepy.  Peace on earth may sound hollow to some, but the His children is rests deep in the heart, therefore, don’t let the world trouble you.

Soon the years are gone and all there is to remember is a lot of empty struggle, and one is too old to enjoy what was gained.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Westward the Tide)

    “He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; [a]and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it…”
              –Romans 14:6 (NKJV)
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I came across this short, but very insightful sermon.  It is worth passing on and letting you ponder on it.

         “It is a good thing to observe Christmas day.  The mere making of times and seasons, when men agree to stop work and make merry together, is a wide and wholesome custom.  It helps one to feel the supremacy of the common life over the individual life.  It reminds a man to set his own little watch, now and then, by the great clock of humanity which runs on sun time.
         But there is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day, and that is, keeping Christmas.
         Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you; to ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world; to put your rights in the background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground; to see that your fellow-men are just as real as your are, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy; to own that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life; to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness–are you willing to do these things even for a day?  Then you can keep Christmas.
         Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and the desires of little children; to remember the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old; to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough; to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear on their hearts; to try to understand what those who live in the same house with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you; to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you; to make a grave for your ugly thoughts, and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open–are you willing to do these things even for a day?  Then you can keep Christmas.
         Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world–stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death–and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love?  Then you can keep Christmas.
         And if you keep it for a day, why not always?
         But you can never keep it alone.
                 –Henry Van Dyke

I remember going through several trying nights while out camping.  I always figured I could make it through one night.  If that is true, then why not the opposite?  Instead of trying to make it through a night, why not live for a day? And if one can live for a day, why not make it a lifestyle?  If I recall right, Bing Crosby once said, “that if we don’t have Christmas in our heart, all the snow in Alaska won’t make it white.”
    Christmas signifies giving.  Why not give of yourself this season and always?

He had noted that some people who railed at the law’s interference in their own affairs were mightily pleased for it to show up when trouble arose.”
              –Elmer Kelton  (The Buckskin Line)

    “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
              –John 16:33 (NKJV)
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This is the Christmas season and the world is in turmoil; the nation is confused and is full of chaos.  Where is the peace?  I thought that Christmas was to be a time of peace.  What does it say in Luke?

         “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
                  –Luke 2:14 (KJV)

I think that part of the problem is that we have a misconception of peace.  Our perception is only partially correct.  Peace is not necessarily about the absence of trials and conflicts.  For to have true peace there must be justice.  If you have followed the character of Miles Forrest over the years you would know that he struggles with his duties on this earth of “bringing peace.”  To have peace there must be justice.  When there is safety in a town there is law and order.
    I came across the following in my reading.  It is worth sharing and worth contemplating.

         “The peace of God is transformative.  It changes us from those who would use oppressive power to a people who nurture and tend.  The peace of Christ moves us into new places.  This holy peace requires that we change and move, not stay stagnant.
          Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the trust that God can transform conflict into reconciliation.  Peace is not calm because the disparate voices are silenced, but the courage to stand within the waters of righteous anger, hear the wails of suffering, and work for change.  Peace is crossing from the bank of oppression to the side of justice, and having the faith to walk in the shifting sands and strong currents that would make us turn back, except that God call us to the side of love…every single time.”
                   –Laurie Brock (Living Well Through Advent)

    The verse in Luke might indicate that peace is for everyone, but in studying the Scriptures we know that is not true.  There is peace available for everyone, but some will fall under the displeasure of God and receive His wrath instead.

         “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”  (NASB)

         “Glory to God in the highest [heaven], and on earth peace among men with whom He is well pleased [men of goodwill, of His favor].”  (AMPC)

To receive this peace is to recognize Jesus Christ as the Prince of Peace.  We must first be at peace with God before we can be at peace with our fellow man.  Peace comes through a walk of faith–knowing that God is in charge and we can rest in Him and be at peace.  Justice is there for Christ paid the sentence for sin.  Man can have peace even though the world and the nation is in turmoil.  Turn to Christ, walk in His Word, trust in the heavenly Father.  Isn’t it ironic that to have true peace you must go to the Cross?