As the Christmas season comes to its fullness, we are exhilarated by the music and the decorations and all the hype that comes with this festive holiday.  Many of us, however, are affected emotionally by the sentiment of the season as we remember our precious Childhood Christmas’s and the love ones we’ve lost. Christmas can be a very sensitive time of year for us.

Some us dread Christmas and even say that we hate it because our mate is gone and we have nothing to celebrate. The loneliness is everything it’s cracked up to be. But this is an emotion of depression brought on by the devil because we have everything to celebrate! And the only way we can do that is to realize what Christmas is about.

Our Heavenly Father kept His promise and sent Jesus to be our Saviour. Christmas marks the day of Jesus’ birth – it’s not the exact day, but it’s a common day that Christians around the world can give glory to God for sending Jesus to us.

“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a 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, goodwill toward men!’ ”  Luke 2:8-14

God promised Eve that He’d send someone to take away the sins of the world, and Christmas is the day that His promise came to pass. Jesus is that Saviour and because of Him we are bonded with our Heavenly Father and we now have a home in Heaven. Jesus left His glory in Heaven to come to earth to rescue us because He loves us. He was born in a barn on a cold winter’s night amongst the dirty animals instead of in a sterile hospital, and He lived in that barn for the following days until His mother was strong enough to continue travelling in the cold on a donkey. There was no nursery with pretty blankets and jammies to take Him home to, just a manger of hay. How gross is that – especially for a King? How many of us would want our babies delivered in a cold barn filled with germs and animals?

Jesus did it and took on this form of a man because He was the Saviour who would go to the cross and take upon Himself ALL of our sins and sicknesses and take them into hell. He could not get into hell on his own merits because He was without sin and you need to have sin to get there, so He took upon Himself OUR sins, and then hell’s doors opened wide for Him. Jesus paid the penalty of our sins with His own life.

When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden and disobeyed God by eating of the fruit that he was told not to eat, he lost the closeness that he had with God. God withdrew His spirit from him because Adam’s body and soul were then filled with sin, and the Lord can only live in a “Holy Place”. Darkness and light cannot live in the same house.

Jesus paid the price of our sins that separated us from God by taking them all into hell for us. Now, if we accept this sacrifice our hearts can be free-of sin and our bodies can be free of sickness so that we can be saved from the punishment of hell and be filled with HIS spirit, making us a child of God.

As believers, we have the greatest reason to celebrate Christmas!

Yet, many of us suffer sadness and loss during Christmas. Why?

Because instead of focusing on what Christmas is all about, and instead of giving God all the praise and glory for His incomparable gift of His own Son, we forget that and let the world creep in and steal our joy.

If our loved ones, who are now gone, knew God when they were with us, then they are basking in His presence this very second. We should be happy beyond words for them because they have made it through this life and are now with Jesus forever.

When we hear the choirs singing the beautiful songs in church this Christmas, and all the other carols that bring tears to our eyes, we need to realize that we are seeing through the glass dimly. Our loved ones who we miss and cry for are in the Christmas pageant in Heaven where the angels are singing gloriously to our King. So when we’re singing the Christmas carols and the songs of praise here, we should picture our loved ones singing with the angels in His presence in Heaven. Oh what a glorious night that was when Jesus was born. And what glorious day that will be when we stand together with our loved ones and are part of that Heavenly choir.

“O Holy Night” … by David Phelps

We miss their smiles, their laughter, and their presence as we prepare for our Christmas celebration, and we feel alone and hurt and even angered because they aren’t with us. But we must NEVER forget that they are not gone. They are alive and well and singing and celebrating the life that Jesus has given them as they give glory to God.

We must do the same thing. We need to remember to enjoy Christmas for what it is; a time to celebrate the gift of Jesus. Our loved ones in Heaven are singing to Him there and waiting for us to join them, so let’s not stop our singing to Him here. Let’s keep the attitude going here on earth and be part of the full Heavenly celebration of Jesus this Christmas.

“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

… Luke 2:14