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To all readers and friends of BDBO, Happy Holidays!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more.”
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MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Bene, hope your holiday’s were merry and bright!
Confusion reigns over the meaning of christmas. ‘Father christmas, Santa Clause’ and the many variations of the theme are in truth a fantasy not a reality and so therefore we feed what are in effect lies to our children. A lie therefore that has somehow become a ‘part of the fabric of life’. Why is it that when we discover that we have been lied to it, for the most part, it is accepted and left still to ‘lie’ in that place. So it is with many of the lies we seem to accept as ‘normal’. Religion is no exception to the rule. Do we accept lies or go in search of the truth and in the process of that searching begin to understand the greatest lie of all , that we are in the hands of deception and need a greater truth that transends all others yet still holds true to its origins in the process.
To give at this time means many things and in truth the gift should be us not necessarily what we bring along with us for yet in the gift will we see somewhere deep in a heart his gift waiting to be brought out of a place of ‘fear and ‘alone’ into a place that will find rest and acknowledgement for its griefs. LOVE NEVER FAILS it just gets buried in the great burdens the enemy gifts us as we journey.
MAY PEACE REIGN AMONG US
When Jesus reveals his truths he leaves no one hurt behind him just a greater need for the love that comes with that truth and the passion that drives a journey into its very heart. The veils of deception are being lifted with his great capacity to hope not ours to be ever in the deceptions of an enemy who has no hope of love save his own.
God Bless from a heart that yearns and a hope that never fails to express its longing for more of the same.
Why do I always feel like I need to take a shower after Christmas is over? (spiritually speaking)
The concept of beatification (sainthood) is suspiciously similar to the practice of deifying certain people after death, engaged in by pagan Rome.
The origins of Santa Claus go back to “Saint” Nicholas, so I understand, who was elevated to “sainthood” by the newly formed Roman Catholic church under Emperor Constantine. Gives me pause to think – are we training our children to worship a false, essentially pagan, deity when we get them to believe in Santa Claus?
I’m sure most people are aware that the celebration of Christmas itself is tied to an ancient pagan holiday.
A few months ago the Lord gave me a deliverance surrounding Christmas – this year’s holiday season has tested this deliverance for me and I’ve discovered that the Christmas music which always in the past seduced me into the “Christmas spirit” has absolutely no draw on me this year! I also found that I preferred to not have a Christmas tree, whereas in the past it would have been unthinkable not to have a tree.
Looking at the fruit of this holiday, there is a lot of depression, suicides, increased sickeness, increased crime rate this time of year, and who can deny the greed and rampant materialism that is manifested, and debt – not to mention the bondage that is obvious when people (especially women) feel so obligated to be overextended in terms of time, money and energy? I have a sense that this holiday for many kind of anchors them and sets them up for the whole year, like the hub of a wheel – they would be lost without it, as I used to feel – which in itself indicates idolatry. The hook, for many, is our childhood emotions, the Christmas season constantly pulls and drags us back into those nostalgic happy feelings of childhood – what’s wrong with that is that it can keep us from leaving childhood behind and maturing the way the Lord would have us to. (just look at the way people “parent” their children nowadays for an unhappy example – they are like children raising children and unable to set an adult viewpoint as the compass that the kids need for direction)
All these things make me feel that we as Christians would be wise to examine and seek the Lord for truth and guidance regarding the celebration of Christmas.