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Vol. 2005 Issue 12 ~ December

Dear woman, wife, mother, sister, friend, creation of God --- do you know what God most wants us to 'get out of' Christmas?

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men and women on whom His favor rests." (Luke 2:13-14)

Do you see it? Each Christmas, God wants the glory. And each Christmas, God wants to give us peace. Peace. In the midst of your craziness and all the preparations, above all things, He wants to fill your heart and life with peace. It sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? And even maybe a bit of 'how can that be?', right?

I believe a key phrase in that verse is 'on whom His favor rests'. Ahhh, I knew there was a catch. You have to be a woman on whom God's favor rests. Well, then, you can count me out. There is no way I measure up. Especially around this time of year --- I'm nowhere near good enough in my abilities to choose just the right gift for the right person at just the right price, nor am I able to unstressfully host a holiday gathering in my home, nor can I manage to dole out enough good tidings to those less fortunate. And don't even get me started on how my patience capacity seems to cut itself in half somehow mysteriously in December. Nope, I am not a woman on whom God's favor rests. So, I guess I can't get any of that peace He's talking about.

Well, Merry Christmas anyway.

Wait a minute! That doesn't seem right. God is not a God of 'you better live up to my standards on your own or else!' (Thankfully.) God is a God of grace! (Again, thankfully!) He knows we can't measure up on our own. And we don't have to. If we enter into a personal relationship with Christ - not just with the baby Jesus of Christmas, but with the man and Savior He grew up to be - then we can become a woman on whom God's favor rests. It's nothing we've done. It's all about Him.

This Christmas can be your best Christmas ever. Let me rephrase...if you have never done so, you can tell Christ you are sorry for the wrong you have done throughout your life, you can thank Him for coming to earth to die on the cross for you, and you can ask Him to lead your life and become your closest Friend...and if you do that, then this Christmas can be your most peace-filled Christmas ever.

So now I say...Merry Christmas, ladies. Have a sweet, peaceful Christmas.

© Elisabeth K. Corcoran, 2005

If you prayed to accept Christ for the first time, Elisabeth would love to hear about it to celebrate with you! You may email her at info@elisabethcorcoran.

Submitted on : 1-Dec-2005