God's Great Gift ...

Christmas is tomorrow!!!! I think about all of the anticipation we always have in the days leading up to the big day & I can't help but wonder about how God must have felt in the days leading up to the birth of Jesus!!! I can't imagine the excitement in heaven as the Father & the angels awaited the moment Christ was born ... what a sweet celebration there must have been!

"And there, in the stable, amongst the chickens & the donkeys & the cows, in the quiet of the night, God gave the world his wonderful gift. The baby that would change the world was born. His baby Son.

Mary & Joseph wrapped him up to keep him warm. They made a soft bed of straw & used the animals' feeding trough as his cradle. And they gazed in wonder at God's Great Gift, wrapped in swaddling clothes, & lying in a manger

Mary & Joseph named him Jesus, 'Emmanuel"' - which means 'God has come to live with us.'

Because, of course, He had.

That same night, in amongst the other stars, suddenly a bright new star appeared. Of all the stars in the dark vaulted heavens, this one shone clearer. It blazed in the night & made the other stars look pale beside it.

God put it there when His baby Son was born - to be like a spotlight. Shining on Him. Lighting up the darkness. Showing people the way to Him.

You see, God was like a new daddy - He couldn't keep the good news to himself. He'd been waiting all these long years for the moment, & now He wanted to tell everyone."

{The Jesus Storybook Bible p. 182 & 184}

God as Father ... a proud, new father ... announcing the birth of His Son with a beautifully bright star & a host of singing angels! I love to think of Him that way! How excited He must've been. Know what? I think He feels the same way about each one of us, too! Proud to call us His & so excited when we ask Him into our life.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

And remember ...

Jesus is the piece that makes all of the

the other pieces fit together.