Tag Archive | stealing Christmas

The thief who would steal Christmas…

Dec13

When Christ was born, Satan orchestrated his plan to destroy God’s Son. And although he failed, he hasn’t given up trying nor will he ever. Two thousand years later, his tactics may have changed but his goal remains the same. To steal any chance mankind may have to know about Christ, especially at Christmas.

I’m writing this to help us become aware of the deliberate plan of this thief to steal Christmas from not only those of us who believe in the birth of Christ but those who do not. With the party atmosphere prevalent wherever Christmas is celebrated, is it any wonder Christ gets left out of His own birthday celebration. And without Christ, the sadness and heartbreak experienced this time of the year by so many is even more accentuated.

Bringing it down to a personal level, the idea of celebrating Christmas this year has lost some of its luster. The loss of beloved friends and family members over the past year works to dampen my celebration. Added to that, two of our four children and their families won’t be able to make it home for Christmas. We are not even sure when the other two children and their families will be able to gather here at the farm. Likely my husband and I will spend Christmas alone. I’ll hang up the twenty stockings but only eleven will be stuffed with Christmas goodies and trinkets.

So as you can see, the thief who would steal Christmas from me is doing a thorough job of it. But I realize that dwelling on the negatives will give him just the ammunition he needs. While my circumstances surrounding Christmas 2023 may not lend themselves to joyous celebrations, they must not be allowed to give the thief opportunity to steal my joy. Not just for me but for anyone who looses sight of the Truth of Christmas.

Therefore, shifting my focus to the greatest gift ever given to mankind and to me personally, will be my default response when the thief strikes. And just as his plans were thwarted by God when Christ was born, so will his present day attempts at Christmas thievery fail.

Stealing Christmas!

Dec16

th-2

   Today, the circumstances of not being able to conveniently shop online for only a couple of  the gifts I needed to buy and have them speedily delivered to my home in just two days, forced me to join the horde of holiday shoppers in search of those two elusive gifts! For me, shopping within this context is anything but pleasant and is a constant challenge to resist the negative thoughts or fiery darts that attack my thinking. Thus a not so pleasant me was molded and shaped by my own thoughts! My face was set in a frown, I sighed a lot, and my patience wore thin.

   Sadly there was no fruit for my labors today!  And all afternoon I battled with negative thoughts. After walking out of the 4th store with still no treasures to claim, my frustration level, lack of patience, and all around bad attitude were steadily on the rise.

   The more commercialized we become during the Christmas season (which begins right after Halloween) the more I resent the effect this quest for gifts has on the Christmas spirit. I love Thanksgiving for all the reasons I’m beginning to dread Christmas. Thanksgiving is about being together as a family and guess what, “No gifts–just sweet togetherness!” And that is sweetly enough!

Do you see what was happening? My negative focus was producing a negative attitude. All I could think about was buying the gifts; not giving the gifts. A vast difference and not the attitude that would embrace the joy of Christmas, right?

I HAD TO MAKE THE DELIBERATE EFFORT TO RESIST THE NEGATIVITY!

  As I drove toward my home in the country, the grip of negativity began to lessen. I love driving past scenery where I see more land than buildings; where I see cows and horses grazing contentedly in their pastures. 

   In a more pleasant frame of mine, I arrived home. I opened up my computer and began reading a blog that helped me to recognize this day (with all that had transpired) as a gift. The blog went on to say that each day is all we get. I agree! And I was determined that I wasn’t going to allow the enemy to steal the gift God had given me in this day.

  So as we face this Christmas season, be aware of the enemy’s plan to aim the fiery darts of frustration, anger, greed, impatience, selfishness, etc. at us. Thoughts such as these will blind us, preventing us from receiving and sharing the splendid joy God has planned for all of us in this season. Giving into fiery darts such as I have mentioned will only allow the enemy to steal the Christmas God would desire for us to have.