A good question, leading up to Christmas, you see Christmas lights, people shopping, trees with skirts of presents, a time for family and friends, charity work and a time for being jolly, Ho Ho Ho. To many people it is a wonderful time of year.  However, to more people than I would like to count, it is just time off for some silly holiday, that should not be elevated above the rest.  Opponents of Christmas fight tooth and nail in an attempt to eradicate Christian beliefs from the face of the Earth; through hate, spite, fairness and the perversion of law that is even creating false victims of those who might hear Christ’s message.  False claims twist its message that is 180 degrees opposite of the actual message God intended to bring us through His Son’s birth. When we do not defend the truth and God’s voice is silenced by our silence; the results are seen all around us.  How can a message of love be hated so much, a message that bridges the gap between our Heavenly Father and us and etches a story of love upon our hearts once accepted.  It should not only be discussed on Sunday’s.

A message told to me even in the face of my rejection years ago. I cannot count on my hand the number of people and even strangers that answered my cries to God.  When my heart was at the breaking point in sincere desperation, looking for something to stop the pain or provide an answer to situations in my life: God showed up in some manner. When I look back, some of the most unlikely persons brought to my stoop to deliver a message or warning. I cannot deny, that God used people who were not afraid to speak or sacrifice their time for me at God’s prompting.

When we stay silent in fear of speaking up for Christ to avoid causing a stir, or allow others to tell us how we are to share our beliefs so not to offend, there is one less miracle that day. You might be the instrument God intended to use to reach a person you saw upset in a checkout line to answer their prayer. The waitress that served your dinner last night, you knew something was wrong but never asked.  The person you saw sitting off by themself in a crowed place and all of a sudden felt compelled to go over to that person and reach out to him or her, only to regret it later that night as you looked back.

If you are, a Christian that has felt the love of God in your heart, you know there is no denying that you have completely changed from the person you once were.  HOWEVER, if you remain silent about the best gift in the world and only discuss it amongst your closest friends, we end up losing an opportunity to ignite the fire in our own hearts as well.

There are hundreds of people you will meet in the course of your week who have not heard of Christ, only a message of churches  or may have heard a twisted message of Christian beliefs, that are silently looking for the answer to their lives. They have a yearning in their heart and they do not know what to do with it. Something is missing and they have no idea how to deal with the emptiness.  However, I believe no matter what many may say publicly, many cry out to the God of Abraham silently.  A cry from the wilderness, a lost soul who does not need a sermon, a set of rules that teach us to be good citizens or be told to go to church  on Sundays.  They need to see his manifest presence when they cry out, “God, if you are real reveal yourself to me!!”

Will you act when you hear God prompt you into action?  Will you be the voice to lead those strangers to a place they can see and feel the love of Christ.  Will you be God with skin on?  We are not only responsible to welcome them at the door, but, we need to bring them to the door as well.

As Mordechai told Esther as she debated if she should approach the King with her concerns, “Perhaps you were placed in this kingdom for such a time as this?”

No matter where you are, not matter what you are doing, when you hear God compel you into action do not second-guess it, just do it. Risk it, even if you think it might be a mistake.  If you are reluctant to move when called, you need to search your heart to find the motivation of your reluctance.  If it is because  your have a greater fear of man over the Fear of God then the answer is clear, walk out your Faith!  No matter what happens, when you speak for Christ from the storyline etched on your heart, as I have done here, a miracle awaits you and the person placed in your path.

So what is the gift of Christmas? It is YOU! God presented his Son to us on Christmas; will you let Jesus present you?