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A sharing of my heart and my home from a Christian perspective

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Sunday 23 November 2008

Spiritual Sundays - What Do you Believe In?


Today is rather an off day for me because Hubby and I didn't get out to a service. We are both fighting a bug in our systems and decided to stay at home and mend.
I've been pondering what to share today and the question, "What do you believe in?" keeps coming to mind.
Throughout the stores this time of year, we see the words Believe, Hope, and Love among others, on the shelves and it got me to thinking about that; the word Believe, I mean.
When I was a little girl, my parents, my father in particular, made Christmas a very magical time. They decorated the house to the hilt and my brother and I were especially well behaved at that time of year so that the big jolly fellow dressed in red would be sure to leave presents under our tree.
I was eight when I found out there was no such thing as a real Santa Claus and I was devastated! My mother tried to convince me that the little neighborhood boy who told me there was no Santa, was actually telling me a fib and to not pay any attention to him.
Well, the bubble had been burst and from that day on, Santa was only a figment of my imagination. The disappointment in finding out the truth however made an indelible impression upon me. I felt that my parents had betrayed me. My beloved grandmother had passed away so I couldn't go running to her with my million questions. I had to reevaluate all of my beliefs. I had to search for truth on my own.
From the time I was a little girl, we had gone to church and I believed in God and wanted to live for Him. Somehow I knew in my heart that He was real and that He loved me and cared about everything that happened in my life.
I remember I was nine years old when I wrote a poem to Jesus telling Him how much I loved Him. It was Christmas Day, after all the gifts had been opened and my mother was getting dinner ready. I was lying on the floor in front of the tree, penning the words to my poem when my mother walked in and found me doing that. She didn't understand why a nine year old would be doing such a thing; it wasn't normal behavior! She thought I should have been colouring in my new colouring book or playing with my new doll; anything other than what I was doing. The truth of the matter was, Jesus was real to me and I somehow knew He would never disappoint me, lie to me, or leave me. I BELIEVED in Him and I wanted to tell Him so in my poem.
So, what does the word believe mean? The dictionary defines believe as: to accept, to rely upon, to have confidence in, to have faith in. The scripture verse Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."
We never promoted Santa in our home while our boys were growing up. We wanted them to know the truth from the get-go. At Christmastime, our focus was on Christ and why He came. My children did not suffer from not believing in Santa Claus but instead they valued the true meaning of why we celebrated the season. They believed in Jesus and in His miraculous birth.
Christmas isn't about presents, eating fruitcake, and going to concerts although those are all a very enjoyable part of it. So my question today is, "What do you believe in?"

Our Bridge Builder
A Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes,
Lying in a manger-
To some He is the Son of God,
To others, He's a stranger.
It's sad to think that all don't know
His true identity-
That He is both true God and man
Who came to set us free.
If only they would recognize
The power of His name,
It would change their lives forever,
They'd never be the same.
For only He can bridge the gap
Left open by our sin.
He alone can welcome us
To heaven from within.
How blessed are they who understand
The reason why He came.
How blessed are they who put their trust
In Jesus' precious name. - Frances Gregory Pasch

The Lord bless you and make you a blessing this week!

7 comments :

  1. What a great post. I can identify with the Santa thing. My cousin told me when I was about the same age as you were when you were told there was no Santa. I was so mad at my cousin and devastated to find out he had told me the truth. Somehow I never felt like my parents lied to me. It was more like a fairy tale thing that was good while it lasted. Like you I had faith at an early age even though I didn't start going to church until I was about 10. In fact, it was my idea to start going to church because I had heard about it. My mother was glad to take me and neither one of us ever looked back but sadly we never did convince my Dad. Anyway, to make a long story short (too late for that I guess). Jesus really is the reason for the season and I wish more people recognized that fact.
    Have a great Thanksgiving.
    Charlotte

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  2. Hi sandi..
    Happy Sunday (((Hugz)))
    I think I was in quite little when I realized Jesus was the reason for christmas. For some reason I was never a big fan of santa lol. But I'm sure glad I got to instill Jesus and the meaning of Chrsitamas to my kids as soon as they could talk and ask questions. In this times of world events and all that is happening in the schools how so important they know about the Lord.

    Hugz Lorie

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  3. How beautiful your post is today, it's exactly what I agree with. It's sad and difficult to see Christ being taken out of Christmas, the reason for the season. We as Christians need to be sure that never happens, in a Christian way of course. Great thoughts, thank you.

    Have a wonderful Thanksgiving,
    Blessings,
    Kathi :)

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  4. Good post. I have just read the other comments on this post and I agree with you and them. Our family has always known the reason for the season but many sadly do not.

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  5. When I see the little "believe" signs, I hope that the people who display them are "believers"

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  6. I hope that you and your husband are feeling better soon. Now that I am older and my kids are grown I think that I would tell them there is no Santa. I worked with someone that was devastated as well and decided to tell her children there was no Santa. I respect that decision now that I'm a bit older and may of choose to do the same if I were to do it over.
    God Bless you,
    Ginger

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  7. We told our children that Santa was a game. (So was the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.) This way, we never lied to them, and they never had that shock. Because of this, we focused on the nativity at Christmas time. Our children still got gifts, but not from Santa. Happy Spiritual Sundays. Come see me offering.

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