On the Sixth Day of Christmas
Wow, Christmas is so close. I have one more present to buy. I hope I find it. :) We are looking foreword to seeing Dan's family. I can't wait to see the kids. That to me is the second most important part of Christmas. I am reminded that the difference in how children and adults view the celebration of Jesus' birth is sometimes similar to how we view Jesus Himself. Responsibility crowds in and I find myself seeing my time with God as a chore the same way I find preparing for Christmas a chore. I sometimes am thankful Christmas is over the same way I sometimes am thankful the church service is done or a ministry activity. I look foreword to having children so that I can instill that wide eyed wonder for both Jesus and His Birthday celebration. First though, I need to find the wonder for myself. I am aware of that this Christmas having no one to model for, I'm free to be as I am and I see that I need to be the change I want to see. So today I will make a bazillion batches of cookies and wrap all my gifts (after I shop for well, two more now that I think of it, maybe three :). I have hope for all of you this Christmas that Jesus can open your eyes to the true world He has for you past all the earthly junk that gets in the way.
May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13
On a final note, as I read over what I wrote I am reminded of the last scenes of the Narnia series. As the children and creatures pass through a door from Narnia and find that the Narnia they knew was only a shadow of the true Narnia. As the stand in this true place seeing it was as if sight had been fully restored though they never knew they were nearly blind. Their are many allegories in the Narnia series but this one sticks out for me. Before I accepted Jesus into my life and accepted His forgiveness, I thought what I saw was the real world, the truth, the way things really were. When I received the Holy Spirit, there was no pomp and ceremony or great flash of realization, but slowly God started clearing my vision and I started seeing that things were not as they seemed much like it was for the people of Narnia. I do not live for this world and die, but my eternity started the moment I believed. My battle or struggles are not against other people, but against Satan. I am aware that those I used to do battle with are actually captives in the enemies army. I was swinging my sword at the wrong place. Instead of anger when someone offends me or treats me harshly I can feel love and compassion because I know they are being deceived by the same enemy that deceives me. There is so much more, many things that I thought were true but now I have found the real truth. There of course is still a great many lies that I believe that God is daily revealing to me.
Excitement builds in me to describe all of this to you more, the scene in The Last Battle and what it means in my life but I stop here. I have hope in drums for you all as you experience the transformation of earthly eyes to eternal eyes.
May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13
On a final note, as I read over what I wrote I am reminded of the last scenes of the Narnia series. As the children and creatures pass through a door from Narnia and find that the Narnia they knew was only a shadow of the true Narnia. As the stand in this true place seeing it was as if sight had been fully restored though they never knew they were nearly blind. Their are many allegories in the Narnia series but this one sticks out for me. Before I accepted Jesus into my life and accepted His forgiveness, I thought what I saw was the real world, the truth, the way things really were. When I received the Holy Spirit, there was no pomp and ceremony or great flash of realization, but slowly God started clearing my vision and I started seeing that things were not as they seemed much like it was for the people of Narnia. I do not live for this world and die, but my eternity started the moment I believed. My battle or struggles are not against other people, but against Satan. I am aware that those I used to do battle with are actually captives in the enemies army. I was swinging my sword at the wrong place. Instead of anger when someone offends me or treats me harshly I can feel love and compassion because I know they are being deceived by the same enemy that deceives me. There is so much more, many things that I thought were true but now I have found the real truth. There of course is still a great many lies that I believe that God is daily revealing to me.
Excitement builds in me to describe all of this to you more, the scene in The Last Battle and what it means in my life but I stop here. I have hope in drums for you all as you experience the transformation of earthly eyes to eternal eyes.
Comments