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Christmas Essay

Come, all ye faithful!

by Jessica on December 21, 2009

in Christmas

photo by vladdythephotogeek

photo by vladdythephotogeek

Originally written December 24, 2005.

Come! Come all you adoring fans. Come all you who are faithful. Come righteous. Come longing. Come old and young alike. Tonight is the night. Your salvation has come this very night! Proclaim the way, proclaim the day, proclaim Christ our King is born! God’s kingdom has come and His will be done. Make no mistake of that

Oh Holy of Holies, Merciful and Mighty…God of high and low, come as we call upon your name. We want to see You lifted highest. Come, o come Emmanuel. God is with us and goes before us as we proclaim His name and praise him, praise him all you glorious hosts!

We hymn God the Father,

We hymn God the Son,

We hymn God the Holy Spirit.

Holy and undivided, perfect in unity.

O taste and see that the Lord is good all ye faithful. Praise the name of the Most High, glorious in heaven above. Angels sing on high, voices echoing,

“Gloria, in excel sis deo!”

Glory! Glory to God in the highest!

Praise Him the name above all names who took our sins upon his throne and set himself in a lowly manger and then on the cross, a cross meant for the highest sinners, a cross of treachery. The perfect and holy Lamb of God, say that one more time the Perfect and Holy Lamb of God, pure and spotless before the throne of God came in such a way, in such a manner that man did not recognize him. Though earthly kings feared him few took notice until the appointed time. Think of it, Mary sat as a young woman with God himself on her knee. How lowly our Savior had to come to save us. Do we not recognize the power of His life, the power of His death? Do we not recognize that God’s mercy is so great? So great that it’s beyond measure! It’s higher than the mountains and deeper than the deepest valleys.

God is God in the highest. He came to save us when we didn’t even think we needed saving. We, a people so ignorant of our own wrongdoing, were unaware of God’s massive mercy and grace. He came “to save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.” O what tidings of comfort and joy that does bring to us, to those who believe! O children of God, believe, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!

What is the crux of our faith? Do we believe? Do we honestly know without a shadow of a doubt that God came to earth as a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. God—yes, God! —was wrapped in the clothes that barn animals were wiped down with! Oh children of God, can we not see it? Have we not heard? He gives strength to those we are weary, to those who put their hope in him? He is our Beloved Savior who has come to ransom us. Yes, yes we were captives—captives of Satan and sin! The most blessed Heavenly Father came to redeem us, to bring us back from exile. Do we know, I mean honestly from our heart with true emotion, that Jesus came to set his people free?

Do we know that this season of Christmas, festival of Christ, is for Christ and because of Christ? We didn’t do anything to deserve a celebration. We have no merit on our own accord. We have done nothing—no thing! So, why? Why do we have some many presents and parties and songs and whatever apart from Christ at this time? Why, why can’t we have just two days reserved for blessing our Heavenly Father and the gift of salvation and life without getting the self involved? Without counting how many presents are under the tree or what people are going to think about what we’re wearing to Christmas dinner or if someone likes what you got them for Christmas? Who cares about those things! This is Christ! This is Christmas! Have we missed it altogether? Has the Body of Christ forgotten to worship him? Has His own Bride so believed the lies of Satan that Christ is all but forgotten in Christmas?

O children of the Most High, I implore you…change your hearts! Love the Lord your King. Make His name be exalted! Take time to bring forth His Word and just praise Him. Praise Him in awe and wonder. O passionate hearts, find truth this Christmas in the only Truth. Christ the Lord is born, he is born and he lives.

O praise Him, praise Him, praise Him!

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“Haste, haste to bring him laud…”

by Jessica on December 20, 2009

in Christmas

photo by swissrolli

photo by swissrolli

Over the last few years I take an hour or so on Christmas Eve to reflect and write what I’ve come to call my Christmas essay. Usually fueled by hymns, they often reflect what’s on my own heart. This is the first of the essays originally written December 24, 2004.

—-o—-

It is the evening of our Savior’s birth. What are we going to do? What action does this occasion require of us? Perhaps none if you do not call Jesus your Lord. But for those of us whom Christ is our King, what will it be?

“Haste, haste to bring Him laud
The Babe, the Son of Mary!”

Laud is the highest praise; that is what we should be giving our king, and not only at Christmas but all the year through. Luke 1:46-48a, “And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.’” That’s why we praise Him. That’s why we hurry to bring Christ laud. He has saved us from our lowly ways. We should be rejoicing and glorifying the Lord with our soul and our spirit because of the awesome gift of mercy, grace, and life he so willingly and lovingly bestowed upon us. We didn’t deserve it, not in the least bit, but God loved us any how, and He made the sacrifice anyway.

This birth we celebrate was a promise that generations had been waiting for. Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Not only is Christ’s birth a fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14, but also the beginning of the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. Christ has come to set us free from sin and death.

“Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.”

Hebrews chapter four talks about those with sinful, unbelieving hearts not being able to enter the rest of our long-expected Jesus. If we keep unbelief in our hearts we won’t be able to enter into this blessed rest (Hebrews 3:19). “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it [...] Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:1,11).

So, while the heavens and nature sing,

“Let every heart prepare Him room…”

We need to take the time to reflect during this season to see the awe in our glorious God, lowing himself to be a baby in a stable. We need to see our lowly state in front of a perfectly holy and majestic King. We need to see our great need for Him. We are truly undeserving and yet…and yet Christ sill came and lived a perfect life and died to fulfill God’s payment of our sins and rose the third day for the resurrection life we are now able to enjoy. Because of Christ’s humble state and glorious offering of His life,

“God and sinners reconciled.”

Let us be able to praise Christ’s name in the highest and know that He is the Light that shines quelling our fears and meeting the true desires of our hopes and dreams.

“Yet in the dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in Thee tonight.”

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Christmas Essay: December 24, 2004

by Jessica on December 24, 2007

in Christmas

It is the evening of our Savior’s birth. What are we going to do? What action does this occasion require of us? Perhaps none if you do not call Jesus your Lord. But for those of us whom Christ is our King, what will it be?

“Haste, haste to bring Him laud
The Babe, the Son of Mary!”

Laud is the highest praise; that is what we should be giving our king, and not only at Christmas but all the year through. Luke 1:46-48a, “And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.’” That’s why we praise Him. That’s why we hurry to bring Christ laud. He has saved us from our lowly ways. We should be rejoicing and glorifying the Lord with our soul and our spirit because of the awesome gift of mercy, grace, and life he so willingly and lovingly bestowed upon us. We didn’t deserve it, not in the least bit, but God loved us any how, and He made the sacrifice anyway.

This birth we celebrate was a promise that generations had been waiting for. Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Not only is Christ’s birth a fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14, but also the beginning of the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. Christ has come to set us free from sin and death.

“Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.”

Hebrews chapter four talks about those with sinful, unbelieving hearts not being able to enter the rest of our long-expected Jesus. If we keep unbelief in our hearts we won’t be able to enter into this blessed rest (Hebrews 3:19). “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it [...] Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:1,11).

So, while the heavens and nature sing,

“Let every heart prepare Him room.”


We need to take the time to reflect during this season to see the awe in our glorious God, lowing himself to be a baby in a stable. We need to see our lowly state in front of a perfectly holy and majestic King. We need to see our great need for Him. We are truly undeserving and yet…and yet Christ sill came and lived a perfect life and died to fulfill God’s payment of our sins and rose the third day for the resurrection life we are now able to enjoy. Because of Christ’s humble state and glorious offering of His life,

“God and sinners reconciled.”

Let us be able to praise Christ’s name in the highest and know that He is the Light that shines quelling our fears and meeting the true desires of our hopes and dreams.

“Yet in the dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in Thee tonight.”

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