True Light of Christmas

I'm excited to welcome guest blogger and award winning writer Jenny L. Cote today, who shares her thoughts on the true light of Christmas. Welcome, Jenny!

What is it about lights and Christmas? Usually we decorate our tree first on Thanksgiving weekend, then finish the rest of the house. This year, we did it backwards. The decorations were up a week before the tree. We got the tree in the house, but it sat undecorated for two days. Until the tree was adorned with lights blazing forth in glory from the fir branches, neither it nor the other decorations had any "power" on their own. Without lights, the house just didn't feel like Christmas. With lights, the house is the epitome of Christmas.

Our love for light is integral to who we are as humans, and it’s where everything began. Light comprised the first day of creation: And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:3).

Light enables us to function and to get things accomplished. It gives life to plants which in turn fuels life on earth with life-giving oxygen and food. It provides the world a 24-hour clock by which to turn from day to day and season to season.

Light reveals things hidden in the dark. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. (Psalm 19:8b)

Light removes fear, and guides us along the right path. The Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear? (Psalm 27:1a) Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Fear thrives on the unknown, and it can no longer thrive when it is exposed by light. Darkness cannot exist when light is around. Light conquers darkness.

I think the true question is, what is it about THE Light and Christmas? Isaiah penned a beautiful prophecy about Jesus' coming: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. (Isaiah 9:2a)

When I wrote the scene of Jesus’ birth in my novel, The Prophet, the Shepherd, and the Star, I took the liberty of having God’s voice mightily exclaim, “LET THERE BE LIGHT!” For that’s exactly what happened. Jesus even said it himself: I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

But John tells us that, In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (John 1:4-5)

This picture is the best
depiction of Christmas
I've ever seen because
the reason for the light
on the tree is revealed.

So many people have powerless Christmases because they don’t have the real Light in the home of their hearts. They don’t understand it. Oh, they may have the tree up and lights in the windows, but that gnawing emptiness of going through the motions leaves them, well, in the dark. If that’s you, let me give you the greatest gift I could ever share with you this Christmas: LET THERE BE LIGHT in you. Let Jesus in and you’ll be lit up like a Christmas tree all year long. When you let baby Jesus grow up and do what he came to do for you at Easter, there will be no more fear of the unknown, because light conquers darkness.

I hope your Christmas is merry and BRIGHT.

~Jenny L. Cote, http://www.epicorderoftheseven.com/

If you have a prayer need, please share in the comments section or e-mail me confidential requests. I'd love to pray for you. The Christmas season can be a particularly rough time for some folks, especially those who've lost loved ones. If you're in this situation, I'm lifting you up in prayer today.

Shalom,

Laura ✞