Christmas 365 days a year...

Oswald SALGADO

In the sixth month of Elizabeth's ( Mary's cousin) 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, favoured 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 favour 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's 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.

The spirit of Christmas needs to be superseded by the Spirit of Christ. How many times we may have heard those Christmas carols, on TV programs. Many article written even in the news papers , but why cannot people understand the real meaning of Christmas. something is missing .Without having a personal relationship with Christ you cannot understand this . So that is why many people misunderstand. Jesus was born for everyone. Not for a group of people.

Message to address the need for a personal relationship with Christ. It makes us feel good for a time, but it doesn't last long enough to really change the world or even a human heart. What we need to do is allow the Spirit of Christ to rule in our lives, but the flesh rebels. The only way to be changed by the Holy Spirit is to trust, be patient, and surrender as a handmaid of the Lord.

We often talk about the night before Christmas, but what do you think about on the morning after Christmas? I've been thinking about this wonderful thing called "the spirit of Christmas." Have you noticed it? People's attitudes go through an annual change. People start talking about peace and goodwill. They go out of their way to give and forgive. Families get together.

We call this different atmosphere "the spirit of Christmas."

The sad thing about the departure of the spirit of Christmas - the kindness, the generosity, the peace and goodwill, the warm relationships - is that it is something we long for and look for deep down in the human heart. I suppose what adds to the disappointment is that such things, which we really enjoy, are ephemeral.

God gave his son for us, so we need to do something for God and people this Christmas.

We can't give anything to God with what we have. Material things are not important to Him. But how are we giving. what is our attitude? Why do we give? Out of Love or because we have. Many people like to give because others think highly about you. People can't see your hearts but God can see. All we can give to God is our heart this Christmas.

People may misunderstand Christians when they give. The Bible say that giving is a blessing than receiving. What you sow you will reap. That is a universal principle from the Bible.

Please notice the difference between the spirit of Christmas and the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christmas is annual; the Spirit of Christ is eternal. The spirit of Christmas is sentimental; the Spirit of Christ is supernatural. The spirit of Christmas is a human product; the Spirit of Christ is a divine Person.

The angel told Mary she was actually going to experience the birth of Christ through the Holy Spirit in her life. The angel said to her that the power of the Almighty through the Holy Spirit was going to rest upon her. The angel spoke to her and said that the one who would be born in her and of her would be the one whose kingdom would never end. The angel's statements should resonate with you.

The Bible teaches us that, in a way not dissimilar to what happened to Mary, it is possible for Christ to be born in people's lives by the Holy Spirit. Paul puts it this way: "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you" (Romans 8:11).

This probably is referring to what happens after we die, but it clearly relates to what happens before we die. Think of it for a minute: Is it possible that the Spirit of him who raised up Christ from the dead can actually come into people's lives? Do we believe that? If it is true, then the Spirit of him who raised up Christ from the dead comes into our lives to make Christ, if you like, to be born within us.

Paul, writing to the Galatians, used a dramatic term. He said to his beloved Galatians, who were giving him all kinds of fits, "My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you..." (Galatians 4:19).

In other words, the essence of Christianity is this remarkable truth: Christ came from heaven and died for us on the cross and rose again so that, in the person of the Holy Spirit, he might indwell our lives.

With God. If it is part of the divine will, it rests well within the divine capability.

You know what has to happen? You must become the handmaid of the Lord. You must say, "Be it unto me according to your Word. Lord, I want myself to be yours. I want to be available to you. I want to be expendable for you. I would like to be the sort of person in whom the life of Christ is seen in increasing measure. I want to be the kind of person in whom the kingdom of Christ is seen to be established more obviously. Lord, I want to be the kind of person in whom the works of the flesh are becoming less and less obvious.

In other words, I'd like to live Christmas 365 days a year."