December 2003

WHERE OR WHEN WAS JESUS BORN?

Amid the controversies that surround the Birth of Christ;
Traditions for this Great Event have many souls enticed.

The trees and tinsel, ornaments, bright lights and decorations,
Festive foods and present-shopping fill imaginations.

“What will I get?” children wonder; “What will Santa bring me?”
With each gift-wrapped box they ask, “What can this wondrous thing be?”

The air is full of Christmas carols, and smells of Christmas cooking,
With shoppers rushing to and fro, and in store windows looking.

If all these things bestir your soul, enjoy them while you may,
No accusations do I render on this Christmas Day.

For Jesus wasn’t born to burden souls with condemnation,
His Father sent His only Son to bring the world Salvation!

So let all those whom Christ has freed from holiday traditions,
Be tender toward the ones who need such futile repetitions.

For soon enough the Lord will teach them in His loving way,
That nowhere does His Word decree the Feast of Christmas Day!

In Truth, the Scriptures do not tell what Day our Lord was born,
We only know it had to be an early, darkened morn.

For He’s the SUN of Righteousness, the BRIGHT AND MORNING STAR
Who led the Magi to Himself from foreign lands afar.

In God’s own time this DAY-STAR will lead ALL creation to Him,
Then all will freely offer Him the praise and glory due Him.

Our God indwelt a fleshly form to overcame the same,
He did this for to manifest the Glory of His Name!

He first cast seed into the earth, and made Himself a man;
And from that man He formed a woman in His Perfect Plan.

He set them in a garden where the serpent came to tempt them,
While He could have prevented this, He chose not to exempt them.

[“Except the Seed (which is God’s Word) fall in the ground and die,
It bears no fruit! But if it dies, Its fruit shall multiply!”]

So God subjected His Creation to that deadly “fall”,
To show the world how LOVE DIVINE could triumph over ALL!

He sowed His Seed a second time in Jesus, called The Christ;
Then on a bloody Cross that Lamb of God was sacrificed!

But Love Divine raised up His Son through Resurrection Power,
To sit upon His Throne again, in that, His Finest Hour!

And that same Christ is being born today in hearts of men;
That one-by-one the world would be turned back to God again.

Let’s put away the childish things that mortal men embrace,
And turn our gaze to look into our Heav’nly Father’s loving Face.

He wants us all to learn the Truth, that Truth make set us free
To rule and reign with Jesus Christ throughout Eternity.

December 25th is not the Day of Jesus’ Birth,
No shepherds ever graze their sheep on frigid, dormant earth.

In winter, nature sleeps in death; in spring, it comes alive;
Then lambs are born and led to lush green pastures where they thrive.

The stable where The Christ is born is man’s humanity;
The humble heart is where this “meek and lowly One” must be;

The manger, where God’s Word is laid, [a trough where beasts once fed]
Is man’s own mouth that once spoke forth the words of one who’s dead!

The Christ Child brings us Gifts of Life, and Love and wealth untold-
And these include the gifts of myrrh and frankincense and gold.

The gold is Christ’s own Deity He wakens in our heart;
The frankincense is every Prayer His Spirit does impart;

The myrrh is His Anointing that our death-to-self requires;
By this, alone, can we endure God’s Purifying Fires!

Remember God is Spirit and is worshipped by the same;
“In Spirit and in Truth” is how we bear His Holy Name!

No more we see a man of flesh Who walked as men of earth;
Our glorified Redeemer has regained His Royal Worth!

Let’s celebrate His Birth “IN US” with daily introspection
Meditating on His Life, and Death, and Resurrection!

Finally, remember this: however you perceive Him,
Celebrate His Words of Life, and let your heart believe them!

Love the Son of Love Whom God has birthed within your soul;
And love your neighbor, as yourself-- that you may be made whole!

And let us join together as one many-membered voice,
And celebrate Christ’s Birth in men, LET ALL THE EARTH REJOICE!

Amen and Amen!