Oh just the simple thoughts of what a week from now will bring gets me excited. Not for myself but for my children and grandchildren. The twinkle in their eyes, the excitement in their voices, the quickness of their steps as they run down the hall to see a Christmas surrounded by presents. Oh how I remember those days as a child. The excitement was overwhelming. Try to sleep on Christmas Eve? Yea right! A virtual impossibility, at least for me. I slept with one eye open. Anxious and excited I would get up at 5:00 in the morning and wake everyone else up in the house. My older brother and sister did not appreciate this, but oh well, I was the baby of the family.
As I had children of my own, my excitement reignited as I would wake up at 6:00 to see if they were awake. If they wouldn't I would wake them up. I know I was a little extreme maybe. But I love Christmas and all it entails. I love buying presents and wrapping them. I love opening presents. The giving and receiving is just simply amazing.
Presents! Presents! Presents! As I stop to think about presents I can't help to turn my focus on those of us who may have no presents under the tree due to financial problems. Oh man does that bring back memories. Jerry and I's first few Christmas' saw no presents under the tree. With no jobs and no money, that was the last thing we could afford. Actually one of the first gifts our daughter Beky got from her grandparents was a giant box filled with baby food. They knew it would really help us out. It was a hard time for us financially but those memories today are priceless.
You see what I learned during those times was that it wasn't so much about the presents wrapped under the tree, it was the presence of God that was born to us on that day in a stable in Bethlehem.
Presents or Presence? For me it is all about the presence of God. Imagine standing in the presence of God! How amazing would that be? How life changing would that be?
Luke 1:19 And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
The angel Gabriel that appeared to Mary was one of the lucky ones who stood in the presence of God. He was a messenger of God, so I imagine he talked with God as well as standing in His presence. Back before the birth of Jesus, only a few chosen people (priests) could stand before the presence of God in the Temple, but since Jesus' birth, death and resurrection, we have the presence of God living inside of us through the Holy Spirit. That is amazing when I stop and think about it.
We don't need a priest to stand before the presence of God for us, we have the very presence of God inside of us. We can talk with Him and pray with Him, we can ask Him for His forgiveness and listen to Him and sometimes we can just be still and be with Him. I have been overtaken by the presence of God and surrounded by His glory quite often. It is so awesome to have that ability. So often we forget this ability or for some of us we are never taught this ability, but it is real. The presence of God on my life and in my life is overwhelming, to say the least. It is something I pray that I never take for granted.
So this Christmas season instead of focusing on the presents around your tree, focus on the presence of God that lives inside of you.
May the very presence of God invade your heart and mind this Christmas season. May you learn to be still and bask in His presence every moment of every day, in Jesus name I pray, amen!
Thank you for a beautiful reminder. Charlee
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