How to Have a "Mary" Christmas
Luke 2:8 And there were shepherds living
out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An
angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around
them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to
them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be
for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior
has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be
a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a
manger." 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly
host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the
shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing
that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." 16 So
they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the
manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word
concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and
all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and
pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which
were just as they had been told.
This was
an awesome time for Mary. She had been chosen…not just picked to be a
player…she was chosen to carry the savior of the world in her womb. She had
been in the presence of the angel of God, telling her these words from Luke
1:28: “greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!”
Literally!!!!
Understandably
she was somewhat “frightened” by these words and unsure just what “highly
favored’ meant. It was then that the angel continued…
“Do not
be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give
birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and
will be called the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will
reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end”.
Now Mary
was in a relationship, just not THAT kind of relationship so this news was a
bit unsettling. The explanation that the angel gave did not bring much more
help…’The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you.” The angel went on to say, even your relative, Eliz, she’s
going to have a child too. She thinks that she is barren but I tell you that
she is already 6 months pregnant! Nothing is impossible with God!
To have a M-A-R-Y Christmas you have to hear that nothing
is impossible with God. NO THING is impossible with God. We live in a culture
where people do their own things and many times people get hurt. We have
homicides, burglaries, abuse, domestic violence all of which are serious. We
also have spouses that are not in fellowship with Christ, bosses that verbally
abuse us and make us feel small, and friends that somehow seem to throw water
on our dreams just when they start to catch fire. No Thing is impossible with God. The key in that sentence lies in
the last two words…WITH GOD. When you walk IN Christ…when he lives in
you, you find more power, more love and more fulfillment than you thought ever
possible. Like Mary you FIND FAVOR. PS 5:12 tells us that the Lord blesses us
and surrounds us with that favor. It simply means that acts of kindness come
your way, preferential treatment, approving attitudes encamp around
you…everything lines up for your benefit. Now I know that this is a hard thing
for many people to digest today…they’ve been discouraged for so long, they’ve been the object of scorn
and attack for so long and have learned how to live by maintaining themselves
in their present condition.
When you treasure up, you are accumulating thoughts of all
the wonderful treasures that have been done for you. Imagine today, that you
and I could start treasuring up all of the precious and wonderful things that
God has done for us…that we could gather those things in our mind and lock them
away as treasures. That we could become so filled with all of the "treasures” that there would be no more room for things that were not valuable.
Imagine being so full of value and worth that you had no more space to hold
feelings of worthlessness. Mary
gathered up in her mind all of the words that had been said, the angelic
visitation, the future life of her son…her place in God’s plan.
I try to make a decision every year before we really get into this
holiday to have a MARY Christmas. I begin connecting with people that I had
unfinished business with. Some I must forgive, some I ask to forgive me. I confess with my mouth
that Jesus Christ is Lord and I believe in my heart that God raised him from
the dead. I completely believe that NO THING is impossible when he is in the
equation. Like Mary, I FIND FAVOR. I feel like I am in the center of incredible
blessing and freedom that only comes through Christ. I not only man-up to my
responsibility, I treasure up all of the things that He has said and is saying
to me and I think on those things. Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble,
whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. 9 Whatever
you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into
practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
I’m having a Mary Christmas and I pray that you are too.
It’s not too late. We have a few weeks to finish up this years business and go
into the next one with a fresh start.
Let’s work together to have a Mary Christmas!
