My wife and one of my daughters had just left our home to go Christmas shopping, and I had the home to myself for the next few hours. I began to think about all the events coming up and the shopping I still needed to do. I'm going to need a vacation in January just to recover, I thought. My mental calculator was going into overdrive trying to figure out how to stay within the budget and still make everyone happy without breaking the bank.
In the middle of this, I had the thought … keep it personal at Christmas.
I thought this is strange, everyone knows that Christmas is a time of shop-till-you-drop and go until you can't go anymore. But the thought of keeping it intimate and meaningful at Christmas persisted.
I meditated on this thought of intimacy in the Christmas story. I soon realized just how personal Christmas truly is. First, we have a young girl named Mary, who has an encounter with an angel. After a brief discussion, she agrees to have a child by the Holy Spirit … and a divinely private and personal thing occurs, she conceives. (
Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, "Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!*" Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. "Don't be afraid, Mary," the angel told her, "for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel* forever; his Kingdom will never end!" Mary asked the angel, "But how can this happen? I am a virgin." The angel replied, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What's more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.*" Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true." And then the angel left her.
OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)
)
Mary's soon to be husband, Joseph, has his own face-to-face visit from an angel of the Lord who informs him as to what has happened, and encourages him to marry Mary. (
Matthew 1:18-25
This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement* quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,* for he will save his people from their sins." All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet: "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son,and they will call him Immanuel,* which means `God is with us.'" When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.
OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)
)
We all know the next part of the story found in
Luke 2:1-18
At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David's ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger." Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, "Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased." When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go to Bethlehem! Let's see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds' story were astonished,
OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)
. There was no room in the inn; the place was packed with people, not a private place at all. Eventually, a small, intimate shelter was found. It was a stable and there the birth of Jesus took place.
Later, shepherds showed up, telling of an encounter with angels and they came to see what God had done. The thing I would like to point out is there were only a few shepherds, maybe as many as 12. In other words, there were a few personally chosen people who came to the stable that night.
Then, in
Luke 2:25-38
At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying, "Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!" Jesus' parents were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby's mother, "This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul." Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four.* She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.
OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)
, a great example of the affection and individual relationship God desires with those who love Him takes place. Simeon, a devout and righteous man, and Anna a woman who worshipped God day and night have a life-long desire fulfilled. They have their personal time with Jesus. This happened in the middle of the Temple, even though hundreds of people were going about their business all around them.
Finally, the visit of the Magi (
Matthew 2:1-12
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men* from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose,* and we have come to worship him." King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?" "In Bethlehem in Judea," they said, "for this is what the prophet wrote: `And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities* of Judah,for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.'*" Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!" After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)
), who traveled from the east and they sought out the King of the Jews. When they found him, they had an intimate time of worship.
So, here in the midst of one of the greatest events of all eternity, God takes time to be personal with His people, to those who had an intimate relationship with Him. God's desire for mankind is to have a close relationship with Him. He waits patiently for us. Take time in the midst of all the shopping, parties and events this Christmas season to spend some personal time with Jesus.
Remember that Jesus wants to spend time with you. Just, take a few minutes, get still, and invite him to come as you wait on him. If you do this, you will find a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God. You will also find a truth in Christmas that will change your life.
Richard Spangler has been in active Christian ministry for over 40 years. He began working for CBN in October 2003. His service includes the CBN Prayer Center and teaching in Ministering Spiritual Gifts and Higher Living Leadership Seminars. Richard Spangler founded Lion’s Voice Ministries and authored Adventures in The Spirit: A Series of Prophetic Visions, which is available from Amazon.
