Enough with the Christmas, Already...But Are You Sure?

I'm guessing that many of you have already beaten me at this but I'm supposed to be taking down my tree today.  I'm sitting here looking at it...sad to see it go but ready to clean things up and get the sadness over with!  So...I'll spend some time with you and tell you what I've been pondering these last few days and then...I'll put on my Christmas music one more time, and start taking her down and packing her up until next year.

I've still got a few presents sitting around the house that aren't officially put in there proper places and a couple of gift cards that I can't wait to spend.  I kind of love it when I still have something like that to look forward to after all of the excitement and feasting has passed, don't you?

Well....I guess that's one of the things that excites me so about Christmas....Jesus, our gift, born for us...is the gift that keeps on giving!  More than the bottomless pop and fries that you love to see on a menu.  More than a gift card that refills itself every time you use it.  More than the 50 million lottery jackpot or a free vacation a year for the rest of your life.

Jesus...gives to us what our hearts truly need.  Even if we are confused about what we think we want or need...He has for us, what He knows, is the deepest longing of our heart and He has it for us in a never ending supply, available to us every minute of every day for the rest of our lives and beyond.  And all we have to do is ask.  That just blows my mind.

Let's just break that down into two little things, even though there is soooooo much more.
From the 2nd verse in Ephesians 1:

We couldn't survive without GRACE and I wouldn't even want to without PEACE.  Thank you Jesus!
And EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING....come on sister, I can't even imagine what all that might be...and as Hans Solo said, "I can imagine quite a bit".  But if we even started to open that package here today, you know that I would never get my tree down!  We might have to save that one for another day.

Ephesians 1:2-6


Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.  In love
he predestined us for adoption as sons (or daughters) through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose (or good pleasure) of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

We were wanted before the beginning of time.  We were chosen and adopted by the King of the Universe.  And we have been accepted and blessed in the Beloved.  It's beyond my wildest dreams.

So there you have it...my current ponderings.  I'll be meditating on these few verses for at least a week, so if you have any thoughts  feel free to banter back with me.

Love to you all,
Julie