Today’s Devotional – December 16th (How To Celebrate Christmas)
By admin On February 8th, 2021.
.
Today’s Devotional – December 16th
.
.
.
.
How To Celebrate Christmas
.
.
.
.
.
.
The world has its holidays, and they really know how to celebrate! And the premier holiday in the western world is, of course, Christmas.
.
All the colored lights, and decorations and the traditions and music, and all these with snow, hopefully. It is a dazzling combination! And then when the big day arrives, there are the many presents to open, and the grand feast afterward!
.
What could be better than that!?
.
Harbour City front entrance stairs Christmas trees wikimedia share-alike lic.
.
.
.
.
.
PAGAN ROOTS
.
Now, having said all this, most realize that this holiday (was actually spelled “holy day” in past times), has its roots in paganism. And many of us are familiar with Hislop’s much-maligned book, “The Two Babylons”, in which he did an amazing job of documenting the origins of the major Christian holidays.
.
Now most churchgoers celebrate Christmas with great enthusiasm, and so, today’s devotional is not so much for them. But there are many others, who are earnestly striving to be faithful to God’s Word and are confused about how to handle this non-biblical holiday.
.
The Two Babylons – Alexander Hislop – Wikimedia – Public Domain
.
.
.
.
.
.
DIFFERENT SITUATIONS
.
For those who do not have families, they may wish to entirely abstain from this holiday, altogether.
.
That would certainly not be wrong.
.
And for those with families, and a spouse in total agreement, they may wish to turn this holiday into an opportunity to hand out Bible tracts and take a basket of food to families in need or visit those in nursing homes.
.
Johansen Viggo – Radosne Boże Narodzenie (Joyful Christmas) – wikimedia – US public domain.
.
.
.
.
.
“OVERSIGHT, NOT BY CONSTRAINT”
1st Peter 5:2
.
For those parents who are not so much in agreement about how to celebrate this holiday, the Christian will undoubtedly be the one to make most of the concessions.
.
Listen… “Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way!” 1st Corinthians 13:5 (Amp. Ver.).
.
But isn’t this what the Christian life is all about, anyway? In so many of life’s situations, a Christian must keep silent, so as to, “not rain on other people’s parade” as they say. And silence is usually the best course to take when in the many questionable situations of life in a world of unbelievers.
.
Bringing Home A Christmas Tree – Wikimedia – Public Domain
.
.
.
.
.
JESUS: THE HEART OF THE ISSUE
.
As we behold Jesus, we see that Jesus did not “nit-pick” about the many wrong things which His professed people did. But instead, He always went to the heart of the issue. His main concern was the purposes of the heart. Jesus realized that when the heart is made right, then the many outward manifestations of sin and questionable side-issues would also go away.
.
And so, Jesus tried to redirect His conversations with people, to the core issue…the motives of the heart.
.
.
.
.
.
.
A NEW HEART IS NEEDED
.
And thus, it is with Christmas. It is not unbiblical traditions which are the crux of the problem.
.
To attempt to correct others on these side-issues, is like trying to remove warts, instead of finding the deep-seated root-cause.
.
It is “a new heart” which we all need!
.
Wart Removal – Wikimedia – Public Domain
.
.
.
.
.
“FIRST CAST OUT THE BEAM OUT OF THINE OWN EYE”
.
And the Christian, instead of picking on his spouse or children for their sins, should instead strive with all his (or her) might, to overcome the flesh; to overcome the world. Because it is “my heart”, which God is concerned about, as far as my Christianity is concerned. And the battle for the souls of my spouse and my children should be fought in my “prayer closet”, and not in the presence of my family. And instead of following Christian psychologists, and other well-meaning advisers, the Christian should seek after personal victory over the sin which enslaves him (or her).
.
For we have a promise… “Blessed is every one that fears the LORD; that walks in His ways. For you shall eat the labor of your hands: happy shall you be…Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.” Psalm 128:1-3 Yes, by seeking an ever-closer relationship with God, the Believer may see his or her family receive God’s spiritual blessings!
.
.
.
.
.
A GENTLE BREEZE! NOT A GALE-FORCE WIND!
.
And in the meanwhile, we may strive to make, not only the holidays, but every other day of the year a true joy for others to celebrate with us.
.
Yes, to make life as pleasant, and breezy, and comfortable as possible for each and every other household member, should be the motto of every Christian who lives in a family setting!
.
And then, in the privacy of our own heart, we can freely pursue that deeper measure of love and holiness to our God.
.
Family eating meal – Wikipedia – Public Domain
.
.
.
.
.
24/7/365 CELEBRATION…”Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice”
Philippians 4:4
.
But here’s the most amazing truth of all!
.
You see, it’s so sad that the world only gets to celebrate Jesus one day of the year. But here’s the wonderful thing: we Believers get to celebrate Him, 24-hours-per-day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year!
.
If only the world knew what they were missing!
.
USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain
.
.
.
.
.
TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Help me to become Christ-like in the area of my tongue. Help me to use restraint in what I say. “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.” Psalm 141:3
Prayer – Anna Blunden – For Only One Short Hour – Wikimedia – Public Domain
.
.
.
.
.
READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Vanity Fair” & The False Prophet”, and you may also read…December 8th (Lead On Softly!)
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
.
.
.
.
THE END
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
.
.
.
Tilt your head to the left
.
.
Do you see a man’s face?
.
.
It’s that proverbial “Man in the Moon”. We’ve always taken it for granted. But now we’re learning that God is responsible for creating this Nocturnal Watchman. You see, God has etched Signs in the Moon, long ago. A story? Yes. And just now He is revealing those Signs. Just now He is telling that story. Listen to what Scripture says…
.
God promised that His covenant with David (who represented Christ) “shall be established for ever as the Moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.” Psalm 89
.
.
.
.
.
READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Moon Into Blood Trilogy: 1st Face: The Night Watchman”
.
.
.
.
.
TOMORROW:
“December 17th (The Little Evergreen Tree)”
Abies nephrolepis (Evergreen Tree Wikimedia share-alike license
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
20+ MINUTE AUDIO JEREMIAH STUDY
.
ALL‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS 650+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY THROUGH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH EACH DAY ON THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL.
.
THIS IS STUDY #348 PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…
.
.
Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.com – Public Domain
.
.
Click on image credit links below each photo, for licensing names, details, and tags, etc.. Most Images cropped & reduced in size.