But, I will say this...more important than if I feel like it's Christmas, giving and receiving gifts, having a decorated tree, or seeing R.J. "enjoy" Christmas, is the fact that for the first time in my life I actually really understand what Christmas is all about. It was God's perfect plan that He would be glorified by the birth, crucifixion , and resurrection of His only begotten Son. It was God's plan that through Jesus Christ he could be both Just and Justifier of sinful men. On December 25th I would tend to focus on just the birth of Christ and superficially acknowledge the crucifixion, burial and resurrection that followed. However; things have changed in my life and I fully see the picture as it should be viewed. Without the birth of Christ there would have been no crucifixion where he bore the wrath of God the Father, that we all, as sinful man, should have incurred. There would have been no resurrection and the conquering of death . There would have been no ascension in to heaven and the promise of his coming back. All these things are included in the Christmas story because at the heart of Christmas is CHRIST. We cannot acknowledge Christ at Christmas without acknowledging the purpose of His birth. And when speaking about Christmas it would appear that the Gospel would have to be shared in order to tell someone about the meaning of Christmas.
So, no, it doesn't feel like Christmas is 3 days away; at least not the same feeling I had in the past. But what has replaced these feelings is the knowledge of truth...the truth of His birth and all that it encompasses...the Gospel.
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Hey Shawna, thank you so much for your prayers. I know that that's the best thing anyone could do for me, thank you. Yeah, I'm just being silly. I went to the study at Bailey's house. It went pretty well mostly. I gave the lesson about what Christians meeting together are for (Hebrews 10:24-25, Hebrews 3:13, and others) and we read a little mission statement i put together and we talked some. Next week Chase is teaching. I would like to come over soon, I've been trying to call Aaron and I left him a message the other day asking when I could bring ya'll's present over, but I guess he didn't get it. I understand. Whenever ya'll have free time, I don't want to take any time away from you busy parents. I'm excited about what it is. I hope ya'll will like what I got ya'll. I hope RJ enjoys what I got him. Thank you so much Shawna. That makes me so happy to know you're praying for me. I love ya'll and can't wait to come over.
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