MARY Christmas (Part 2)

(Part 2)

As mentioned last week, I’m trying to have a MARY Christmas this
year. In thinking about her life, I want to pass on what I’m learning
and hopefully challenge YOU to establish a Mary Christmas as well.

• Mary trusted in the midst of discomfort. In Bethlehem, Joseph and
Mary soon discovered the inns were filled with other travelers who
had reached the destination much earlier. Mary was reduced to
giving birth to her first child in a cold, dark, damp cave.

No medical staff.
No medicine or sterile environment.
Just a frightened young girl, her frightened husband
and a few noisy animals.

When we don’t understand to begin with,
and when our situation becomes uncomfortable on TOP of that,
we often tend to question whether we heard God correctly,
or maybe we question God Himself.

Mary simply continued to trust.
If YOU can learn to trust in the midst of hardship and discomfort,
God will bless you by teaching you things you couldn’t have learned otherwise.
God doesn’t always reveal His plans right away.

Often, when it sees as though everything is going wrong,
He is quietly working behind the scenes.
Can you trust Him when you can’t see what’s ahead?

Ask God to deepen your faith this Christmas.

Imagine the letdown after traveling for 70 miles in the condition
Mary was in, only to find out there were no more rooms available
and she’d have to give birth to her first child in a cave.
Do you really want to have a MARY Christmas this year?

Then we have to realize when we do God’s will, we’re not
guaranteed a comfortable life. We’re promised only that even our
discomfort has meaning in God’s plan.

We like to think that Mary was comfortable, because most of the
popular Christmas scenes picture her kneeling serenely by a manger
with a baby who’s glowing.

Chances are good that the King of kings was crying and
uncomfortable Himself. Stables were often crude caves with feeding
troughs (mangers) carved into rock walls.

Though Christmas cards picture a clean atmosphere with happy
animals in the background, the truth was that Jesus was born in an
extremely unsterile and filthy environment.

This certainly wasn’t the atmosphere the Jews expected as the
birthplace of the Messiah. They thought their promised Messiah
would be born into royalty.

But Mary didn’t limit God by her expectations, and neither should
we. God is at work wherever He’s needed in our sin-darkened and
dirty world.

That night, the world’s greatest birth announcement took place.
The greatest event in history had just happened:
The Messiah had been born!

For ages the Jews had waited for this, and when it finally happened,
the announcement came to some humble shepherds.
They were terrified, but their fear soon turned to joy.

First they ran to see the baby, and then they spread the word.

Jesus Christ is YOUR Messiah,
YOUR Savior.
Do you look forward to meeting Him in prayer and in His Word each day?
Is your relationship so special that you can’t help sharing this joy
with your friends and co-workers?

How do you see Jesus?
Do you still picture Him as a baby in a manger,
or is He your absolute Lord?

Let’s not underestimate Christ. Let Him grow up in your life!

One of the best ways to do this is by exercising a mature faith in His
plan—even in the midst of an uncomfortable situation.

Jesus may not meet the specific expectations you have for your life.
He may want to move you beyond your own dreams.
Again: can you trust Him?

Give God your human expectations and ask Him to replace them
with His dreams, plans and vision for your life.

They may not be more comfortable, but they will always be better!

Thoughts?