“My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant.

For behold, from now on all generations

will call me blessed; for He who is mighty

has done great things for me,

and holy is His name.

And His mercy is for those who fear Him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with His arm;

He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

He has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate;

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped His servant Israel,

in remembrance of His mercy,

as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham

and to his offspring forever.”

~Luke 1:46-55 (ESV)

Mary's Magnificat reminds us of how great, mighty and merciful our God is (vv. 49-50). And in spite of His greatness, Jesus chose to leave His throne where He was perfectly loved, obeyed and honored, and entered into His own creation.

The Lord Jesus...the Lord of lords, the King of kings chose for His earthly parents—poor, unknown, unpopular souls: Joseph and Mary.

The Lord Jesus...the Lord of lords, the King of kings chose for His first earthly place to lay His royal head—a filthy, smelly and lonesome feed trough.

The Lord Jesus...the Lord of lords, the King of kings chose to come to earth...the first time, in anonymity. But made Himself known to those who fear the Almighty (v.50): Joseph, Mary and the lowly shepherds.

The Lord Jesus...the Lord of lords, the King of kings owned nothing of earthly value, had no physical glamour that anyone would take notice and desire Him. He was not a motivational speaker that made people feel good about themselves (John 7:7, 1 John 3:12). But He faithfully and rightly proclaimed the righteousness, goodness and greatness of God the Father.

Yet, we, who are neither lords nor kings desire to enter a room, social media or anywhere—to be noticed, to be adored, to be followed, honored and admired. We desire to own great things both tangible and intangible. We say and do things that make people feel good in order to gain a following and we foolishly follow others who appear popular or well-liked. We'll listen to and share words from a popular person, but we won't listen to or share the wise words of an unknown (like a parent, an older sibling, neighbor or friend).

Let us repent of the desire to be known and well thought of. And let us repent from the desire to follow others just because they are well known and well thought of. Let us be like babes who desire pure spiritual milk so that like our Lord Jesus, we too may enter any place with a humble spirit, full or mercy and good fruits—with God's truth and love as our cornerstone.

Let us follow only Jesus—with gentleness and humility, full of grace and truth.

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied to your spirits. And may all of you have the greatest joy known to mankind—knowing Christ and being known by Him through saving faith. 

The prevalent thoughts and images about the "spirit" of Christmas usually involves: Santa Claus, worldly peace, sweets, merriment, feasting, lavish gift giving and receiving, the hustle and bustle of shopping and enjoying elaborate entertainment events to celebrate the birth of Jesus—the First Coming of Christ, the only begotten Son of God. But none of these things are found in any of the Old Testament prophecies or in the New Testament accounts of the great and glorious day that our Creator entered into His own creation as a humble babe.

Please don't misunderstand, I'm not saying we ought not enjoy celebrating Christmas. My family does. What I am saying is, the focus and purpose of our joyful celebrations should be the same as God's focus and purpose: to bring the Good News of eternal salvation by giving us Christ as a propitiation for our sins.

The true spirit of Christmas and the reason for the season according to God is: eternal salvation.

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel...Abraham said, 'God will provide for Himself a lamb for a burnt offering, my son.'

"I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a Light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness...He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then His own Arm brought Him salvation, and His righteousness upheld Him...And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,' declares the LORD.

"She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord...And it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ...for my eyes have seen Your salvation that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to Your people Israel."

~Gen 3:15, 22:8; Is 42:6-7, 59:16, 20;

Mt 1:21; Lk 2:11, 26, 30-32 (ESV)

The spirit of Christmas isn't about just being happy and more thoughtful to others than we would be any other time of the year. It isn't about making sure everyone says "Merry Christmas" rather than "Happy Holidays". The essence of Christmas is the Son of God, coming in human form, to save sinners from what our sins have earned us: the wrath of God, which is eternal damnation in Hell.

This is why Christ came the first time. This is the Good News. This is the peace of God. This was God providing His own Lamb for the final and only acceptable sacrifice—for the remission of sins.

We nonchalantly say "The reason for the season is Christ". But we don't finish the sentence. The reason for the season is Christ came to save sinners...like you and me. 

So let us, the beloved children of the Most High God, stop trying to make the world do what they can never do on their own; give honor, praise and glory to our Lord Jesus (Heb 11:6). And let us stop entertaining the worldly and ephemeral, warm and fuzzy feelings of Christmas through decorating our homes and mere acts of charity. Rather let us do what Christ came to do—let us engage in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, adorning our hearts with His Word, while doing good to others. Because this is the true spirit of Christmas and the reason for this season.

"I've learned so much from my mistakes, I think I'll make more" is a popular phrase that has appeared on many memes, tweets, timelines and even things like magnets, pins, and other items we can purchase. This seemingly harmless saying is actually very harmful. Most of us have read it someplace, and often, our initial response is to laugh, feel better about the genuine mistakes we've made and sadly, even the purposeful sins we've committed against our holy, kind, and gracious Father God. This is where it gets dangerous.

Do we all make mistakes? Absolutely! To err is human, right? Unfortunately, to sin is human too. And we all do it more than we'd like to admit...unless of course, a flighty little phrase like this one comes along and feeds our flesh the lies it desires—we can excuse our sins without repentance—and without a Savior.

We continually come up with new ways to make ourselves and others feel better about our sins rather than do what God says; repent. We say things like, "No one's perfect", "God knows my heart", "I'll ask for forgiveness later", and my all time least favorite, "Oh, no need to ask for forgiveness, we all do ______." That last one makes us all sound so holy and full of grace and mercy, doesn't it? But it's not holy, gracious or merciful. It's just our old, sin-filled, depraved heart and mind excusing the sin of others so we feel justified when we do the same.

I can't tell you how many times I've repented and asked for forgiveness for gossiping, being unkind, being thoughtless, responding in pride, being self-centered and...well, you get the picture (Rom 7:21-24). Most times, rather than receive the forgiveness I've requested, I get "No need to ask for forgiveness, this is a time for grace." What?! That's not grace, that's excusing my sin. And trust me, I don't need help making excuses for my sins. I'm already good at that. What I need is encouragement not to sin and not to make excuses when I do, but repent to God, then to those who've been injured by my sin. What I need is accountability. And that's what you need too.

Do we need to repent for mistakes? No, because mistakes aren't sins. For example, if I misquote someone because I remembered something incorrectly or give you wrong directions because I forgot to include a necessary turn, I'm not sinning, I'm simply human and can't do anything "perfectly". However, if I misquote someone on purpose, adding or subtracting what they said and adding my own twist in order to make my point, then that's manipulation (which is a sin). If I purposefully give you the wrong directions so you're late because I know it'll make you look or feel bad, that's a sin. Sometimes discerning what is and isn't a sin can be difficult for onlookers, but it's not for God and shouldn't be for those who are examining their hearts in the light of God's Word.

Motives (which can't be seen) often distinguish between sins and honest mistakes. But gossiping, being unkind, thoughtlessness, responding in pride and being self-centered are obvious sins many of us entertain, and excuse in others; as well as ourselves.

Repentance is a gift from God that leads the lost to saving faith, and provides continual sanctification for the saints, yet, much like unbelievers, we children of God, still find repentance repulsive. We call evil good and good evil when we accuse someone of being judgmental and unloving when they love us enough to pierce our sin-filled flesh with the Word of God and shine His brilliant light on our sins.

The most unfortunate part about our lack of desire to bear the fruit of repentance is that we keep ourselves from the peaceful fruit of righteousness that God works in all who are trained by His loving discipline. Since we can freely come to God confident He will forgive our sins (Heb 4:16), knowing we will possibly be disciplined but not punished (Heb 12:10, 1 Jn 4:18); why don't we daily, carry our crosses like Jesus commanded and kill the sin in our flesh?