On the 4th day of Christmas...the Christmas tree

As you can probably tell I love Christmas! It is my most favorite time of year. Every month this year when the calendar hit 25 I let everyone know exactly how many months it was until Christmas. I love the decorations, the pretty lights, the movies, the music, the sweets and the tree! In a way it's like Christmas decorations are focused around the tree. Who decorates for Christmas without a tree? I sure don't. We have a few different Christmas trees we put up in our house. I love decorating them and thinking about the memories each ornament has.

Even the tree points to Christ. If you haven't learned about the history of Christmas I recommend you do that. A few years ago I heard a Sunday school lesson about it. I learned some great things. Today I want to talk about the tree. It's not Christmas without the tree. :)

There are 3 ways to look at it. Take a look at your tree:

1. it has 3 sides. There is the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. You can't have one without having the others. 

2. The tree of Calvary where Jesus died for the sins of the world. The greatest tree of all! I am thankful He died for me!

3. Christmas trees aren't like the other trees...all the other trees I see have bare branches. Christmas trees stay green all year long. Like our Lord they never change with the changes of the seasons. 

What do you see when you look at your tree?

Below is a little poem I wrote. Come back tomorrow for more :)

On the third day of Christmas- Good tidings of great joy...meeting baby Jesus

Don't you love how different God's mind is from ours. Of all the people in the world he sends the angel to the lowly shepherds who were watching over their flock. He sends the angel to tell them the Savior is born and to invite them to go visit him! I never really noticed this before tonight but Jesus is a shepherd (the true shepherd) and the first people besides Mary and Joseph to get to meet the Savior were the shepherds. The wise men came later when Jesus was around 2 years old. I love how God always uses the little, the young, the dumb, the poor, those who are nothing special and he makes himself real to them and shows them his glory! They were told first hand that "peace on earth and good will toward men" had finally come! And because they went and search for the babe in the manger they got to welcome sweet baby Jesus to earth. Just think of it, the one who would die on an old rugged cross just 33 and a half years later, they got to see and worship as a newborn baby! I think that is so awesome!

Here is the account of the shepherds:

 Luke 2:8-17 KJV

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them:and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not:for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

God loves to show himself to those who he knows will humbly bow before him. Luke 2:20 says: And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

 They had seen Jesus, been with Jesus and they didn't hide it. They went and told about his birth. Meeting the Savior changed them and it changed me too.

I wasn't there the day Jesus was born, I wasn't there the day he died, and I wasn't there the day he arose from the grave...but I'm so thankful for the day I met him! On May 10,2009 I met this Savior and he gave me peace indescribable, he gave me joy unspeakable, and he gave me love unfathomable! Despite my extreme unworthiness he sent the Holy Ghost to speak to my heart; he led me to an old fashion altar where I bowed my knee and my heart and became his forever. I am glad I know what Christmas is really about. He came to die for you too. ❤ 

Check back tomorrow for the 4th day of Christmas :)

On the 2nd day of Christmas- letters to God

Little kids love writing a Christmas list or letter to Santa. I love the movies where the kids don't write a list but an actually letter to santa. A letter is so much sweeter than a list. I was never taught to believe in Santa (and I'm thankful for that...why would any parent want to lie to their child...and then we wonder why there are so many unbelievers. If parents are lying about Santa how can kids be sure they're not lying about God. Just sayin'.) but we do write out lists to give to our parents each year. It helps them with the shopping. Haha. It's nice to sit down and write what you want.

 But maybe this year instead, write a letter to God. A prayer letter, a thankful letter, a love letter whatever you want. We need to remember Christmas isn't about getting "things" like iPhones, new cars, or clothes or whatever you might be wishing for; it's about the birth of our sweet Savior. Every year we celebrate his birthday and we get the gifts but He gets nothing. I for one have no gift I could give him in return for all he's given me but I can thank him. For some reason it makes him happy when we say "thanks" or "I love you Jesus." Joy stands for Jesus, Others, Yourself. Christmas is supposed to be a joyful time. The only way it can be is if we make it about Jesus and others and then yourself last.

 

I found this great pic of google...please read the the letter closest to the top. If you can't understand it here is what it says: dear God, I love you so much but your love is impassable, it is called unfailing love, it is powerful. Your love is awesome and insane. ❤ This child is wise! 

**Also something nice to do would be write a letter of encouragement to someone else. Show someone you care for and love them through your words. Words are so powerful and sometimes we forget that. You can heal a broken heart with kind words but also break a heart with harsh words. Christmas can be extremely hard for some people due to financial issues, loved ones who've died, and just because life. Write a letter and ask God what you should say and give it to someone, anyone, even a stranger. It just might give someone the Christmas spirit. 

Until tomorrow, I hope you have a very merry day!❤ 

On the first day of Christmas- O come let us adore Him

Christmas is my favorite time of year! I love everything about it. Over the next few days I will be posting different Christmas posts...12 days of Christmas. Hopefully they will be short and sweet so it won't take too much time to read. Today I will tell how Christmas is about adoring. It's the only time of year we get to hear songs about our Saviors birth. Each song says something a little different but each one is about Him.

I like the old songs that actually have meaning.  

Adore means:

• 1 : to worship or honor as a deity or as divine
• 2 : to regard with loving admiration and devotion
• 3 : to be very fond of

Matthew 2:11 King James Bible

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him:and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.  (Emphasis added)

During Campmeeting a few months ago Bro Brian Mcbride preached out of Psalm 134 about blessing The Lord even in the night season. In this Psalm the word bless means to bow the knee and adore. Are you adoring the Savior this Christmas season or have your lost the Christmas spirit? The devil has made Christmas into a "holiday" and continually works hard to overwhelm people with the things of Christmas and cause them to miss what it's all about. In the song below it says joyful and triumphant come to Bethlehem..remember who you were before you met him and remember through him we can be full of joy and victorious..and on top of that Jesus is more than worthy of our adoration! We are to honor him everyday. Don't lose your devotion to Christ because your too busy. Slow down, bow the knee and adore Him. Like the verse above says the wise men traveled a very long way and when they got to Jesus they fell down and adored him. 

Please read the words to the song. And check back tomorrow for more about Christmas :)

O  All Ye Faithful

O come, all ye faithful,

Joyful and triumphant,

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.

Come and behold Him,

Born the King of Angels!

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord.

Sing, alleluia,

All ye choirs of angels;

O sing, all ye blissful ones of heav'n above.

Glory to God 

In the highest glory!

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord.

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee,

Born this happy morning;

Jesus, to Thee be the glory giv'n;

Word of the Father,

Now in the flesh appearing,

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord.

Attitude of gratitude and hand turkeys

Since yesterday was thanksgiving I wanted to write about what I am thankful for...words can't tell all I have and no longer have all because of Jesus. I had a nice thanksgiving with my family and hope all my readers did as well. My daddy had to work yesterday so we ate later than we normal would but all in all we had a great day. I wanted to write this yesterday but didn't get to. 

Each year we try to do something to tell what we are thankful for. We've done a thankful tree a few years, thankful journals, one year we just went around the table and told what we were thankful for but this year I wanted us to do something funny and show our creative side...so we each did a hand turkey! It was really fun and funny! My poor daddy thought turkeys had 4 legs ;))) we had a great laugh at that!  I got a few pictures. Enjoy.

 My daddy's *notice the legs lol!

 Mine...and yes I did draw a cupcake!

 My brother Josh's hand turkey...he drew 4 legs too lol

 My bro Caleb's..my moma added some details to it lol

 My brothers friend hunter joined us for thanksgiving dinner...this is his turkey. He looks like a vicious turkey lol

 My sister mandalyn's turkey

My moms turkey...she writes so neat!

We had fun drawing these and then reading them aloud. As you can tell we have so so much to thank The Lord for! He has been way to good to me. Just the fact that I had a family to eat thanksgiving dinner with yesterday makes me more blessed than most! I kept thinking of more to write on my turkey. Last year I heard a preacher say "thinking turns to thanking". If you think about it you always have something to thank The Lord for.  

1 Thessalonians 5:18

In every thing give thanks:for this is the will of 

God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

1 Chronicles 16:8

Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name,

make known his deeds among the people.

Thanksgiving day is over but God wants us to give thanks each and every day. Don't get to caught up with buying Christmas presents and forget what it's really about. Don't forget to thank Him for...the good, the bad, the yes's, the no's, in every thing give thanks...it's his will and he works all things for your good. 😊