What is Christmas All About?

What is Christmas all about?  Is Christmas any different from any other day of the year?  Often the most difficult place of evaluation or learning lessons is when I am in the middle of the circumstances.  I am backwards.  Because I am backwards, I live out an experience without realizing its full potential immediately.  Learning is not time limited, so therefore the following is a list I created using the format of the song:  “The 12 Days of Christmas”.   My hope is to share my thoughts, gifts and areas interest where my gifts foundationally originated.

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

A path of learning steps all along the way to eternity.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” Jeremiah 29:11-14

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”  Isaiah 30:21

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

A wing and a prayer has carried me here.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

The Three other than me. How time flies.

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3

“For in this hope we were saved. But if hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Romans 8:24-25

On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

Four-legged friends.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD arises upon you.”  Isaiah 60:1

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  Genesis 1:26

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

By age 5, kindergarten, I learned all I ever needed to know… hmmm?

“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”  Hebrews 12:15

“You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”  Matthews 5:14

On the 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

“Now We are Six”… books that shape my life.

“Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” Psalm 139:7-10

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying “This is the way; walk in it.”  Isaiah 30:21

On the 7th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

7 days in a week… tomorrow will come.

“If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.”  Psalm 37:23-24

“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.”  Genesis 2:1

On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

Food and fellowship… though I do not proclaim being much of a cook.

“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ ”  Mark 6:31

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”  John 10:28

On the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

Nine is magical.  Any numbers added together equal 9 is divisible by 9 (i.e.108; 1+0+8=9…108/9=12)  In accounting, a transposition error is divisible by 9.

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”  Romans 12:17-18

“I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.”  Psalm 57:2

On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

Decades of experiences.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.  He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.”  Psalm 23:2-3

A voice of one calling:  “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.  And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together.  For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”  Isaiah 40:3-5

On the 11th day of Christmas many true love gave to me:

The gift of seeing patterns and the willingness of creativity.

“Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.  Grace be with you all.”  1Timothy 6:20-21

“What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.  Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”  2Timothy 1:13-14

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

“It’s a Wonderful Life” love stories… true stories.  Life stories… Life Lessons

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generation.  Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”  Psalm 90:1-2

“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.  See to it that no one misses the grace of God and no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”  Hebrews 12:14-15

Seize the gifts daily within you.  Shine on not for a single day.  Light up each day!

“Here comes the sun…”  George Harrison