Christmas joy

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: 

The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a 

son, and they will call him Immanuel.

~ Isaiah 7:14

    It's so easy to get wrapped up and caught up in all of the Christmas festivities that are happening this time of year. Shopping for that perfect gift. Wrapping each present so carefully. Listening to the joyous Christmas sounds.... There is so much happening that sometimes we just get stressed out. 

   That's not how Christmas is supposed to be. Christmas isn't about giving or getting... It's a time to remember the birth of our Savior. The one that God sent down to earth from heaven in the form of fragile infant. 

   The miracle of Christmas happened in a stable.

   The King of kings was born in a stable. Placed in a manger. The God who created the universe sent his perfect son down to earth in the form of tiny infant child. 

   God sent his perfect son, Jesus Christ, down to this crazy messed up world. Jesus sacrificed himself for us. Not only did he die such a horrible death for us, but he became one of us. He gave up his perfect self to be one of us. To live around the sin of this world, yet never be apart of it. He was perfect. 

   Christmas is a time to remember the birth of Jesus. Reflect on what really happened when Jesus was born. I think that sometimes during Christmas, we might just accidentally forget that Mary and Joseph were human. Mary was indeed a virgin, yet was only able to give birth to Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. 

   So many miracles happened that first Christmas. Jesus' birth was prophesied for centuries before it actually happened. When it did happen, a virgin was chosen to give birth to Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Jesus wasn't born in a palace of gold, he was born in the lowest of places. He was born in a stable. Among animals... Jesus was placed in a manger. 

  Jesus came to us as a humble, fragile infant. He came to experience life as a human. He came to die for us and take our punishment on the cross... Because without his death and resurrection, the payment would never be paid. 

  Jesus is the miracle of Christmas.