I Believe: A Devotional

One of my favorite Christmas songs is "I Believe" performed by Natalie Grant. It begins: 

In a land far away, time stood still long ago...

As a woman, I think the lyrics to this song appeal to me, because right from the beginning, it sounds like a magical fairy tale. Can you relate? How many times as little girls did we watch "Cinderella" or "Snow White" or "Sleeping Beauty" dreaming of the day "our prince would come?" As a very small child, the stories were magical...true love, "happily ever after," talking animals. What could be better? Flash forward ten years, and the fairy tales were still watched, but then my heart made a desparate, fleeting wish for the prince to come. For me it was to rescue me from the mean girls at school. I could relate to poor Cinderalla and her evil step-sisters (and no, I'm not talking about my actual sisters!). Others of you were perhaps waiting to be rescued from bad family dynamics, poverty or other unfair situations beyond your control.  Flash forward another five (or maybe it was ten years for you), and I realized, somewhat bitterly, how untrue these fairy tales were. No one lives "happily ever after." Hearts are broken in love. The evil people do not always get what they deserve, and in fact sometimes they get rewarded for their bad deeds. The stories truly became fairy tales. 

The song goes on: 

There were shepherds in fields 

Or at least this how the story goes

The story goes

Woman with child and an inn with no room

Born in a manger foretelling a tomb

This is how the story goes

But it's more than a fable

And it's more than a fairytale

And more than my mind can conceive 

The world will tell us that Christianity is a fairytale religion, something we've made up to make ourselves feel better about the chaos that surrounds us. The world will tell us that the Bible is nothing more than a story book about a "good man" who walked the earth then died, giving us some good moral standards. 

What do you believe?

The song goes on:

Two thousand years

Still the story lives on
God's gift to us
Sent to earth 
Wrapped in flesh, 
His only Son
His only Son

Christmas is the "most wonderful time of the year" for many people. Christmas feels magical, what with all the lights and the snow (or fake snow - ha!) and of course all the wonderful food. Maybe for you, Christmas doesn't seem magical or wonderful. Maybe this year you're dreading the holiday...maybe you're missing a loved one or you're strapped for cash, and you don't know how you're going to make it as "magical" for your kids as you'd like. Maybe you hate Christmas every year, the commercialism or maybe the weight gain from all those special holiday treats (that fear comes from personal experience!). You see, though, all these things are so trivial in God's grand scheme of things. Let me be clear: I am NOT by any means saying your pain, grief or stress is trivial. I personally know and understand how much it hurts not to have a loved one around during the holidays. What I am saying, is many people, including Christians, tend to look at Christmas as a "fairy tale" time of year. Baby Jesus lying in a manger, peace on earth, good will toward men. It can be very "feel-good." God longs to woo us to see His big picture. It's more than a little baby lying peacefully in a manger. It's about the Savior that God offered for all humanity.

The song continues:

The heartbeat of heaven

Confounded our wisdom
But it's still the simple truth that sets me free

I believe

The Wisemen saw
The baby boy
the angels called teh Son of God
Heaven's child
the great I Am
Born to take away my sins
Through nail pierced hands
Emmanuel has come
And I believe

Precious child how can it be

That God's great plan for His story
Would send You to the lonely tree
That You would come for one like me

Jesus Christ, born as a baby, worshiped by shepherds and wise men while the sky was filled with angels - that is indeed miraculous. That He would step down from His place in Heaven and become a lowly child - that's amazing. What confounds wisdom even more than that, though, is God's ultimate plan for this sweet baby was to experience every imaginable human circumstance, including emotional and physical pain beyond our own understanding for us. 

The last verse of the song

I believe in a cross, I believe He came for one, He came for all

Heaven's child became a man, gave His life for me
In spite of all I am
I believe, I believe,
OH, I believe!
Christmas lives in me
I believe

You see, we celebrate Jesus Christ this time of year, because He was born to be "pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds, we are healed." This precious baby came, so that you could experience a spiritual rebirth and be pure, like a baby, before God. Pure from all your sin. Pure from the guilt that just won't let go. Freed from slavery and death. Jesus said in John 3, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'" Christmas is a celebration of God's Son, fully God and fully Man. He knew what He was getting into when He put on skin and lay in that manger. And He did it for YOU. When He went to that cross as a man, He looked down through history and He saw your face! Jesus longs for us to admit that we are sinners in need of a Savior and to call on Him in full belief that He is the One who saves, confessing our sins before Him and asking Him to change us from the inside out. We who have accepted Christ carry the miracle of Christmas in us year round. 

- Does Christ live in you? If you'd like to make sure He does, contact me. Don't wait; let Him in and see how He makes all things new!

- If you are a Christian, how will you actively respond to Christ this season by making Him the focal point of your celebrations in your own heart and in your family?

- Those of you who are grieving, who are in pain this Christmas season: will you take to heart the promise that Jesus experienced grief and pain and that you can turn to Him in full honesty and expectently ask for His comfort, and even His joy this holiday season?  

Your prince has come, girls! It's more than a fairytale, even if it confounds our human knowledge. You can be part of the most epic love story every told.