Today we are rejoicing in the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ: our Redeemer, our Life, our Friend, our Advocate, and so much more.
We’ve examined each of the fruits of the Spirit in light of the birth of Christ. We’ve seen how love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are worked in our lives through God’s act of sending His Son to earth.
Now how do we sum it all up?
I can think of no better way than in the words of the angel – the messenger from Almighty God Himself.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. ~ Luke 2:10-11
Good tidings of great joy! The Savior is born!
And with His birth comes every good fruit of the Spirit into our lives.
That’s the gospel. That’s not only good news; that’s great news.
As Mary, may we keep all the elements of this news and meditate upon it in our hearts.
Yet that’s not all. It’s news we can hardly keep entirely to ourselves.
As the angels and as the shepherds, may we preach the gospel to every creature.
And so, from our family to yours . . .
We wish you a merry Christmas.
We wish you a merry Christmas.
We wish you a merry Christmas,
And a happy new year!
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin.
Good tidings for Christmas and a happy New Year.
May you go forth in the great tidings of His birth and may you possess all the fullness of the fruit of the Spirit in your life this year and for eternity!
Merry Christmas!
Find the rest of today’s Twelve Days of Christmas party posts here.
Christmas Eve . . . and we’ve reached the final fruit of the Spirit: self-control, or temperance as it’s sometimes rendered. Today’s Christmas carol is a famous one: Silent Night.
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve . . . and today we’re zooming in on the second-to-last fruit of the Spirit and how it relates to Christmas.
This fruit is one we sometimes wish we could skip over – or at least agree mentally but ignore it in our lives. Yet without this fruit, our Spirit-filled living falls short. The Lord our God is One, and as we live in His kingdom, His Spirit works all aspects of who He is in our lives.
This fruit is, in essence, humility. Sometimes it’s rendered meekness, sometimes gentleness.
Yet gentleness in today’s culture has a very different meaning than either of the other two words. Gentleness implies more to do with the way we treat others – more like kindness mixed with a lot of tenderness and care. Meekness and humility, on the other hand, both center more upon our view of ourselves and acting in accordance with that view. Yes, they go hand in hand; if you’re humble, you’ll be gentle – but there’s more to it than just that.
In a way, calling it “gentleness” only tones down the “ouch”-factor of this fruit by making it more palatable to our flesh and our pride.
Today’s fruit of the Spirit is faith – sometimes rendered as faithfulness. Faith and faithfulness are both essential parts of the birth we celebrate at Christmas time.
Where is the faithfulness of God to mankind shown more clearly than at the manger? Faithfulness is a covenant term. It’s a declaration of steadfastness, reliability, trustworthiness. It’s a statement that the terms of covenant will be kept – that the covenant partner will be 100%, unquestioningly loyal to the other, that the partner will always be there.
Through sending His Son as the Mediator, that’s exactly what God was revealed to be. Through providing the one way for restored oneness with God (in spite of our unfaithfulness to the covenant and constant breaking of its terms), He sacrificed Himself to bring us to intimacy with Him.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel is a reflection upon His covenant and His faithfulness:
Goodness! Where does one start with this fruit of the Spirit? Perhaps the words of Jesus Christ our Savior Himself are best to begin with: “There is none good but God.”
With this, we see immediately that we have no hope whatsoever of attaining this on our own. What goodness we may possess is still only “filthy rags” in the sight of God.
Perhaps we can best describe His goodness by meditating upon His holiness . . . the holiness that He allows us to fully share through the life of His Son.
And what better carol to assist us in our meditations than O Holy Night.
Did you ever stop to ponder that there’s an entire Christmas carol about a song? It’sa song sung by angels, heard by the world, caught into the hearts of mankind, and reflected by responsive hearts. This song is the entire theme of the Christmas season – for Scripture declares that the Baby whose birth we celebrate is our song!
This carol also perfectly encompasses the next fruit of the Spirit, which we’re examining on this seventh day of Christmas: kindness, or as some translations render it, gentleness. This kindness is the goodwill of God towards us channeled through us to others. It’s the message the angels brought: “goodwill toward men.” And where was this goodwill, this kindness, more perfectly demonstrated than through the birth of our Savior.
Today, let’s look a little deeper at what happened with that angel’s song, as told by It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. Examining the words of this carol provides valuable insight into a bit more of what we celebrate each December:
It came upon a midnight clear – that glorious song of old
From angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold:
“Peace on the earth, good will to men from heav’n’s all-gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.
The first verse introduces us to the song: “It came upon the midnight clear” sets the stage by describing the circumstances and setting for what follows. It is almost the equivalent of a story beginning, “It was a dark and stormy night…” However, this is a “midnight clear” – clear in memory, clear in its purpose, clear in its effect upon the hearts of men for centuries afterwards. There is no mistaking the words and source of this song!
What came? “That glorious song of old!” It was the song of Moses and of the Lamb, the song angels have sung around the throne since the beginning of time, the song the morning stars and sons of God sang the day the earth was formed, the song believers shall sing for endless ages of eternity – Yahweh is our song! This song has no beginning and no end; it grows evermore beautiful as years go by.
In this instance, the song came “from angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold.” Angels are merely messengers – ambassadors from God to mankind; and as such, the angels were singing the song of God Himself. Perhaps the harps may represent the hearts of men, silent to this point, until the angels set them ringing.
Furthermore, the song that they sung was heard by shepherds, recorded by disciples, and is today read by millions: “Peace on the earth, goodwill to men from heaven’s all gracious King!” Before the stunning beauty of the angels’ song, the world was silenced, touched by a solemn hush in the presence of the holy song from angels’ lips.
Have we spent time today hushed as the powerful song of Almighty God sings itself to us? Are we too rushed within our busy days to savor the stillness of listening to the angels’ song? Are we taking time to simply lay in solemn stillness, doing nothing but listening?
Sadly, few do:
Yet with the woes of sin and strife the world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel strain have rolled two thousand years of wrong,
And man, at war with man, hears not the love song which they bring:
O hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing!
The Song is not without opposition. Sadly, the powerful forces of sin, strife, and wrong labor their hardest to drown out the song. Instead of resting bathed in Song, the whole creation groans and travails until now, waiting for the adoption and redemption of the body.
Unfortunately, too many men and women have been completely deafened to the love song of Father that the angels bring to earth. Their ears are closed and they cannot hear. Only through the quickening and loosening work of Jesus Christ can their ears be opened to hear the Song. During His life on earth, He proved repeatedly that He is able to unstop the ears of the deaf.
This is not only for unbelievers; we are dependent upon His listening power every moment of the day. Each moment that we receive that grace and power from Him, we are enabled to hear His song. Are we receiving that hearing power from Him?
All ye, beneath life’s crushing load, whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing:
O rest beside the weary road, and hear the angels sing.
Is this a fitting description of your life? All of us, at some time or another, are bent low beneath life’s crushing load, toiling along the climbing way which is appointed for us. Each one of us is, at times, nearly overwhelmed by the necessary things of life – not to mention the burdens we place upon ourselves of those things in life that are not necessary. If you have ever for one second in your life felt this way, this message is for you! Jesus calls, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest!”
What is the call? It is to look! “Look now!” “Look unto Me, and be ye saved!” It echoes the example in the wilderness of the brass serpent on the pole, which, if anyone looked at, he would live and not die. Those who looked received immediate rest and relief.
“Look now!” Why continue to suffer in weariness when you can receive the ability to hear His Song this moment? Look now! “Glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing.” What are these glad and golden hours? The glad, golden hours are the hours of “resting beside the weary road and hearing the angels sing.” It is a choice: continue to toil on your own way, burdened by your own life and pained by cared, or else simply look and rest beside the weary road.
This is a beautiful picture of the strait path to which Christ calls us. The strait way is actually “resting beside the weary road and hearing the angels sing.” The broad way is continuing to toil painfully through our own way. Because human nature likes to “do” rather than to “be,” many there be which go in at the broad way. Relatively few choose to take the narrow way of surrendering all to Him in rest.
This is exactly what Mary did. While Martha was cumbered with many things and busy and troubled with much serving, Mary chose to rest and listen to the Song. Jesus commended her, saying that she had chosen the one thing needful. Martha, on the other hand, chose to continue carrying her burdens on the weary road – which led to frustration, condemnation, feelings of injustice, and a rebuke from Jesus.
Because we are so busy, distracted, and pained by toiling along with our own burdens, we cannot hear the love song from Father brought to us by the angels. When we choose to rest beside the road, our ears can hear the song – and the Song grants us the strength and grace we need both to keep resting and to live life. Which do you choose?
Why should we choose to rest and listen? It is because “the days are hastening on” – the days which prophets spoke of. These are the days spoken of in Peter: “Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” (I Peter 1:10-11). The days that the prophets foretold – the days that were, at this point, hastening on – are the days of the kingdom of God! That is what the Song is about!
The carol goes on to describe these days:
For lo! the days are hast’ning on, by prophet bards foretold,
When with the ever-circling years comes round the age of gold
When peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song which now the angels sing!
The kingdom of God is peace – peace resting in the Holy Spirit! When we “rest beside the weary road” and listen to the Song, allowing it to pervade and control our lives, we live within that peace. The kingdom has come in our lives.
However, the song does not stop with the angels! When we choose to stop and rest and listen to this powerful, life-giving, beautiful, perfect, loving Song, the Song echoes itself in our hearts! Now, because the kingdom of God is present in our lives, we give back the song the angels first sang!
We become (take on the identity of) messengers of God – messengers of the covenant and the life.
The Song brings extraordinary results in our lives, allowing us to live in God’s love, peace, rest, and kingdom. It replaces our cares with His care for us. However, it is not just for us. Even though we are to rest beside the weary road and soak in the fullness and beauty of the Song, we are not to keep it for ourselves. God designed us to repeat the Song to those around us. He desires everyone to enter into the fullness of the rest in His Song – and for some, that will only happen as we repeat the Song.
The sin, strife, and care of this world blind men to the song when the angels sing it – but perhaps they may hear the song as we sing it. The question, then, for us is – are we faithful to sing it?
The heart of this song is first to rest – first to rest and listen, then to sing to others. It does not matter if you do not think that others can hear it – sing anyway! Sing for pure joy of the Song in your life. Sing for Him. He is the focus – and He will echo and re-echo the song as He chooses.
That is the message of Christmas time – the message of the song. Rest – and sing – for Him!
~~~
Come back tomorrow for Every Night Holy.
Find the rest of today’s Twelve Days of Christmas party posts here.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ~ Luke 2:13-14
Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel. And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. ~ Isaiah 30:29-30
And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. ~ Revelation 14:1-3
‘Tis the sixth day of Christmas in our countdown to Christmas Day, and today’s Christmas carol goes hand-in-hand with patience, or longsuffering as it’s sometimes translated. The word indicates forbearance, fortitude, perseverance, endurance.
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
Christmas on earth – how quiet is the scene that is set! For hundreds of years, the world has groaned and travailed for some Redeemer to loose it from the sin that runs rampant throughout its lands and borders. All elements are here: the patience, the endurance, the fortitude, the long-suffering.
So often we want to escape that suffering – or at least shorten it. “If I must suffer, hurry up and get it over with.” Yet it is through the perseverance in the trials God allows that works in us complete dependence upon Jesus Christ. It’s how we enter into the fellowship of His sufferings.
In the midst of whatever difficulty you are facing just now, look to the Everlasting Light that beams even in the darkest places.
For Christ is born of Mary and, gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wond’ring love.
O morning stars, together proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth.
While the first verse gives the perspective of Bethlehem itself, verse two speaks of the view from heavenly places. Wondering love! Careful watch! Proclamations of joy! Songs of praises! Declarations of peace! Think how the angels themselves must have anticipated this moment.
How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is giv’n!
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still the dear Christ enters in.
Again perseverance and patience play out here. We desire immediate change. We want the saving event revealed and fully embraced at once. We want the fullness of the vision of glory right away – yet “how silently” God works! As Jesus declared, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21).
Rest, dear child, and embrace the silence and secrecy of the kingdom of God.
Where children pure and happy pray to the blessed Child,
Where misery cries out to Thee, Son of the mother mild;
Where Charity stands watching and Faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks, and Christmas comes once more.
All this isn’t just for Christmas Eve. It’s here. It’s now. True Christmas is the entering in of Christ into our hearts and lives every day. Where Charity stands watching – where Faith holds wide the door, darkness cannot stand in the glorious light of the gospel! That’s when the Spirit of Christmas – the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus Christ, born as a baby, grown into a man, and ascended into heaven – reveals itself in everyday life.
All the “good feelings” and “warm wishes” of the season may be nice, but ultimately they will fade if initiated by the will of humans. Even though that may feel like “the Christmas spirit,” in reality it is only a cheap, flesh-made counterfeit – a paltry imitation of the true Spirit sent to us, the true Spirit that desires to live itself within us every moment. Why be content with an imitation penny when the infinite riches of the Kingdom are at your disposal!?
This Christmas – today – embrace the Spirit of God, the Spirit whose fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, and more we will yet explore. Let that Charity of Christ watch over your life; let the Faith of the Son of God live itself through you, and you’ll be surprised to discover just how much richer Christmas can be.
The final verse of this carol is our prayerful response to Him:
O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in; be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
Be born in us today! Amen! May it be – abide with us this day, Emmanuel, that the fruit of the Christmas Spirit may abundantly crowd our lives every moment of every day, and every morning as we awake and find ourselves still with Him, we can truly say that Christmas comes once more.
Come back tomorrow for The Song of a Song.
Find the rest of today’s Twelve Days of Christmas party posts here.
It’s day five of the twelve days of Christmas series, and today we’re looking at the third fruit of the Spirit: peace – another foundational element of the Christmas season. “Peace on earth,” was the proclamation of the angel who carried the birth announcement from heaven to earth. “Prince of Peace” was Jesus’ prophesied title: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”
Yet so often “peace” seems like a foreign concept in today’s world. It’s a rush from one thing to another: paying the bills, working jobs, preparing meals, caring for family members (children or elderly), keeping the house warm, making sure the clothes are clean, battling pests, dealing with broken appliances, upgrading things around the home, decluttering, managing the checkbook and the calendar, keeping the car running, participating in social commitments, making sure children are properly educated, helping out friends, planning family gatherings, remembering special occasions, making phone calls, staying on top of social media, shopping, indulging in hobbies, and everything else that makes up “modern life” and fills up daylight hours.
With lengthy to-do lists comes heightened stress.
Plus, every day is filled with the unpredictable. Someone called in sick. A toddler used your furniture for a drawing board. The dinner burned. The car won’t start. You’re out of tape.
Sometimes life just seems like a series of dealing with one stress factor after another.
Yet Christmas offers us the reality of a glorious hope of something more.
The second fruit of the Spirit is, as much as love, a characteristic of the Christmas season. Joy! Joy everywhere! Joy to the world, in the words of the hymn. Even the very tune of this Christmas carol speaks of joy. Read again the lyrics in light of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. Each verse contains a declaration of TRUTH and REALITY of Jesus Christ, and the rest of each verse is our response to that truth.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods,
Rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessing flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders of His love.
The response to the Good News was joy from the beginning. Even the famous side characters of the Bible story – angels, shepherds, and wise men – responded that way:
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. ~ Luke 2
When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. ~ Matthew 2:10
Joy to the World! Yet . . . why so joyful? What is there about this event, this birth, this news to elicit such joy?
