Blessed Christmas Day to all of our readers.
I will never forget my first Christmas after coming to know Jesus personally. The season’s activities were the same as before, but their impact on my heart was so gloriously new. The words of Christmas carols I had sung all my life were now fraught with meaning. The Scriptures read in church filled my heart with a deep thankfulness for the love, grace, and humility of my Lord.
And as I celebrated this feast with family, the Spirit of Christ within me filled me with so much joy that I experienced a deep desire to talk to everyone about him. That was the Christmas when I understood that Emmanuel, God with us, was now God in me.
And so, for forty-five years now, I have celebrated two advents at Christmas time — the coming of God’s humble, obedient Son into this world as a baby, and the coming of the powerful, indwelling Spirit of the resurrected Christ into the hearts of all God’s children.
This Christmas season, I hope you experience anew the wonder of God living in you. It is a present you can enjoy every single day for the rest of your life. May the Spirit of Christ fill your heart with joy as you ponder the amazing truths revealed in the Christmas carols and Scripture readings you hear today. And may you spread that joy to others throughout the upcoming year.
Father, thank you for sending Emmanuel to us to be our Savior so that it is now possible for us to be indwelt by Christ through the Spirit! May this Christmas be a time of rejoicing in your amazing love as we consider the extent of your desire to be with us and in us both now and forever, amen.
Go Deeper— On this day of rejoicing, why not take the time to reflect on all that Christ desires to do in and through you by reading this article about the Spirit’s work in our lives?
Photo Credit: Gareth Harper