December 18, 2018
Have you ever come across a construction site where the men were laboriously laying a tile floor, one of those mosaic floors with thousands of tiny tiles that create a picture when finished? While it’s being put in place, the picture isn’t clearly visible, because as they work, the men use a cement mortar to fill the area between the tiles, and the grout often leaves a gray film over the whole masterpiece that hides the beauty of all that’s been done. At the end, it is finally cleaned off to reveal the picture in its full beauty.
That’s so much like the way the Lord works in our lives. In His all-knowing wisdom and love, He understands exactly what we need and He goes to great lengths, with so much intricate detail, to provide things for us—sometimes even before we realize how important they’re going to be to us.
Often He uses the struggles of life—like economic difficulties, or personal struggles and lacks and mistakes—to work in ways we aren’t expecting. We don’t always realize how He’s preparing us, or understand why He has allowed something “gray” into our lives, like the mosaic as it’s being developed. But that only makes the final revelation of His loving and attentive care to our every need all the more profound and beautiful.
Around Christmastime I find myself thinking about Jesus coming into this dark world to make it light for us. Christmas is a special time of year! More than the beautiful Christmas lights and Christmas music and Christmas cheer, it’s a reminder of His love and goodness. It’s a celebration of when it all began, when He came to earth to save us.
It’s wonderful to meditate on God’s amazing love and goodness, His willingness to give us His good gifts, and His all-knowing love in bringing things into our lives at just the right time—including the difficulties, the “nos” or the “waits,” or what may seem to be delays. He knows what’s best for us in every season, in every circumstance.
I’ve often wondered if He likes to reveal His presence in our lives at Christmas even more than at other times. Maybe it’s because it’s a time when people may be thinking about Him more than usual, and so He likes to honor their faith. Or perhaps He just wants to encourage us around the time when we’re celebrating His birth. To me, Christmas is a wonderful time to reflect on His greatness and power, as we praise and worship and adore Him!—Maria Fontaine
*
God’s goodness hath been great to thee. Let never day nor night unhallowed pass, but still remember what the Lord hath done.—William Shakespeare
*
Thank Me for this past year. Thank Me for the blessings, and thank Me for the tests and challenges that strengthened your character. Thank Me for the love that you received from others, and thank Me for opportunities to show love to others. Thank Me for everything.
It brings Me joy to hear your thankful praises. They bond your heart with Mine and draw us closer, and they can make this Christmas the best you’ve yet experienced. And it doesn’t have to stop after Christmas. Whenever something happens that makes you happy or makes you feel loved, thank Me for that gift. Then it will be a personal gift exchange between you and Me. I give you blessings to make you happy, and you make Me happy by giving Me thanks, and every day will be like Christmas.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy
*
Christmas is more than a day at the end of the year,
More than a season of joy and good cheer,
Christmas is really God’s pattern for living
To be followed all year by unselfish giving.
For the holiday season awakens good cheer
And draws us closer to those we hold dear,
And we open our hearts and find it is good
To live among men as we always should.
But as soon as the tinsel is stripped from the tree
The spirit of Christmas fades silently
Into the background of daily routine
And is lost in the whirl of life’s busy scene,
And all unawares, we miss and forgo
The greatest blessing that mankind can know.
For if we lived Christmas each day, as we should,
And made it our aim to always do good,
We’d find the lost key to meaningful living
That comes not from getting, but from unselfish giving.
And we’d know the great joy of Peace upon earth,
Which was the real purpose of our Savior’s birth.
For in the Glad Tidings of the first Christmas night,
God showed us the Way and the Truth and the Light!
—Helen Steiner Rice
*
Growing in joy calls for regularly thinking about and meditating on God’s goodness and love for us. Joy is an outgrowth of our reading, believing, and acting on God’s Word; of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us; and of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. Christian joy is living life within the conscious framework of God’s love and care for us, facing the ups and downs of our lives with deep faith that the Lord is always there, comforting and caring for us; and being glad, rejoicing, that we are always under His loving care.—Peter Amsterdam
*
The goodness of God endures continually.—Psalm 52:1
Published on Anchor December 2018. Read by Simon Peterson. Music taken from the Rhythm of Christmas album. Used by permission.
Copyright © 2024 The Family International