MERRY CHRISTMAS! (and Luke 2:11)

 Hello All and Merry Christmas!

Another holiday right around the corner (next week!)  The holidays are turning into a blur for me, how 'bout you?  Every year I find it harder to keep up with them - why is that?!

I have been busy, busy, busy these past few weeks.  Worked like crazy on my Christmas cards so I could get them mailed out as soon as Thanksgiving was over. I almost succeeded.  I think I mailed them out a week or two after.

They were a lot of work, but I think they turned out nice.  I made 54 of them.

As soon as they were done, I got busy in the kitchen making Christmas cookies!  I made 12 different kinds, while at the same time got the idea in my head that I needed to cut back on my sugar consumption!  Seems like the wrong time of year to do that, but if you think about it, this is the perfect time to do it because it's way too easy to mindlessly overload on sugar during the holidays.  If I'm keeping track of my sugar, I keep myself under control!

Most of my goodies are kept in the freezer, but some of them get taken to our church potluck.  Chuck took a platter of them to work yesterday.  Otherwise, I am keeping only a few samples of each on my counter.  Yeah, my counter is holding 12 different kinds of goodies.

I've also been playing with my newest toy:  my Stampin' Up! Mini Pocket Envelope.

They are the perfect size for holding those Ghirardelli squares!  I don't know why, but those G squares are my favorite things to dress up!  I made these out of leftover Christmas wrapping paper, which happened to be double-sided.  The other side had penguins which were perfect for fussy cutting for this project!

So, as I've mentioned in my last post, we are going to Fairbanks for Christmas.  The forecast is showing temperatures hovering around ZERO, which is actually warm for Fairbanks, so I am glad that it won't be -30 because Steph wants to take us ice fishing on the Chena Lakes.  It'll be a new experience for all of us, so we are excited. I'm not a (red) fish eater, but I'm informed that they do stock the lake with some white fish too, so I hope we catch some of those.  They stock the lake with silver salmon, king salmon, grayling, Arctic char, and I can't remember what else.  So we had to get fishing licenses because we didn't have any.  I've never had a fishing license before because I've never been officially fishing before.  So when we went to Sportsman's Warehouse to buy our licenses, he told me that I qualify for a free permanent fishing license because I'm 60!  WOW!  It makes me feel old, but it's the first time my progressive aging has ever done me any favors, so ......yay for me!

As for quilting, I haven't been working on that Christmas "mystery quilt".  I've been too busy messing around with my stamps.  But I did start another project - sigh......another unfinished project lying around.  I saw the pattern and I like it, so I wanted to make one in both Christmas colors, and Halloween colors.  It's going to be a table runner.

I am hand-sewing it, and after I get it done I'll make the Halloween one - I already got all the squares cut out.

By the way, did you vote last month?  Hmmmm?

I guess it's too late now for your answer to matter.  I'm just glad that season is OVER!  What a time that was!

So I want to switch gears now because I had something on my mind this morning when I was studying my Greek.  This morning I was working on Luke 2:11 which should not be separated from verse 10.  It was totally unplanned to be working on Luke 2 during the Christmas season - it just randomly happened that way.  I know that a lot of people think about Jesus this time of year, so in light of that, I just wanted to put down my thoughts.  This little baby is born, totally normal and human like you and me, but in verse 11 Luke gives Him three titles without even giving His name (Jesus).

 

1.  He calls Him "Savior".  The word "savior" indicates a rescue of some sort of danger.  We are all in danger of sin which will destroy us if we aren't rescued from it.  This little baby is our SAVIOR.

2.  He calls Him "Christ".  The word "christ" means "anointed" in the Greek, and it means "Messiah" in the Hebrew.  Prophets, priests, and kings are ceremonially anointed.  Jesus was all three of these things.

3.  He calls Him "Lord", which means "Sir", or "Master".

This little baby was just born and was already designated to be all these things - Savior, Christ, and Lord!

In verse 10, the angel tells the shepherds that this news is a great joy TO ALL PEOPLE BECAUSE (in the Greek, verse 11 starts with "because") there is born to you Savior, Who is Christ the Lord.

Isaiah 9:6 says "for unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given".

John 3:16 says God GAVE His only begotten Son.

Jesus is a gift to the whole world and it is good news BECAUSE He is Savior, Christ, and Lord.  Christmas isn't just about presents, but if it was, Jesus is the only gift that matters, and He is all these things for everyone in the whole world.  

 It's a sad shame that so many people do not accept the best gift ever.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!