Searching for Christmas Joy when Christmas feels blue
How could the birth of a baby thousands of years ago impact my life today? How can this Child bring peace to my chaotic world? The answer is in the Name given to this baby born in a stable of Bethlehem.
Matthew 1:23 ESV
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).
God incarnate; is a big word that means God with flesh on. God–coming to this planet to live among us and bring peace to our broken world and comfort to our anxious hearts. The story began in an unassuming barn while the people slept.
The baby, named Jesus, grew and became a man, and while the people dozed in their indifference, angry men nailed Him to a cross for sins He didn’t commit. They did it to be rid of Him because the words He spoke revealed the bleakness of their souls. They thought the cunning plan was theirs; they didn’t realize God was using them to fulfill His. They would rather live oblivious to their need than be called out by a man who claimed to be the Son of God.
This advent, am I asleep to the ways of God? The peace the angels declared to the startled shepherds so many years ago can still calm my fears today.
Peace– Immanuel is with me.
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
