The Reason For The Season

 

Good Morning! I am so glad that you have taken the time to read today. I am sorry to say that this is not a post on "Friday Favorites" or sponsored content from BlogHer or P&G. Ah, I am pushing Friday Favorites, yet again! Stay tuned in for future posts on that subject at a later date.

For today's post, I am going to share Matthew 1:18-2:23. Please do not tune out after reading that last sentence! I know it is so easy, but I have good news to share with you all today about my Savior!

I am so thankful for this platform the Lord has provided. I am so thankful for all that has come from those I have met through my little corner of the Internet during the last six months. If anything, I hope to encourage readers, grow personally, learn more, and continue to meet other bloggers. I hope to inspire readers. But, I also want to live out loud a little more. I want to be a better light for Jesus in our dark world. I am not ashamed to live for Christ, but I fail so often to share Christ with others. Just the other day I posted on Letting My Light Shine More. I am going to strive to challenge myself to change things in 2013, starting with this post, today- December 22, 2012.

The Lord has blessed me beyond anything that I could ever deserve. He is the reason that I am here. Through Him, I have purpose. I have a blessed life. I have always lived my life with a knowledge of Him, but I haven’t always lived with His Presence in my life. I pray that if you are reading today and are not filled with the Spirit, take a moment to read all that is below. We are entering the week that Jesus came to Earth and lived among us. He came to share our sorrow, pain, trials, and joy. Although He is in on the throne in Heaven now, He sits on the right hand of God interceding for us every day, providing strength, comfort, guidance, and peace for those who seek Him. Jesus is a light and a hope for you through our sorrow, pain, trials, and joy in this world.

If anything this holiday season, I hope that you will remember Christ's birth. I do not think anyone could have said it better than my friend in the tweet below: "Christmas has to be about the birth of Christ. Nothing else is sufficient enough to command a holiday of this magnitude." This is full of truth. This is what Christmas is all about, friends!

 

2 Corinthians 9:15-"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift."

 

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

 

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."
 

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

 

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: "'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'" Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

 

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

 

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."

 

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

 

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."

 

So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

 

James 1:17- "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

Today, we are traveling to see my family in Louisiana. I am beyond excited to see my little sister and the puppies! I. Cannot. Wait. Y'all. Treasure your loved ones a little more while you can. After the tragic events in CT, and honestly, all over our world lately, I know that I want to hold on to those who mean so much to me while I can this weekend. I just might hug them a little tighter, a little longer. Let's not take one moment for granted. Like I posted on Monday in THIS POST, I am going to strive to let my light shine a little bit brighter than normal in 2013 starting now.

If you have not had a chance to check out how you can help those at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT, all the details can be found in THIS POST. As we wake up today and go about our normal routines, one week after the fact, remember to treasure all that you have been given. Some are not as fortunate as others this holiday season. We are blessed more than we know. This is not considered often in the midst of our daily routines.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends! I am going to try and update as often as possible throughout out travels during the next week or so. Once we leave Louisiana we are off to visit Tony's family. So, it will be a while before we are back in the comfort of our home. (Cue the pouting face...)
 
Until then, follow along with me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/Kalyn_Randolph) and Instagram (@kalynrandolph). Of course I will be documenting the entire time! :)

As always, until next time- Happy Blogging!