Jesus is the star of Advent and the Christmas season. We must focus on Him.
Imagine your birthday is just around the corner. But no one is acting like your birthday is coming up. Everyone is going about their business like nothing special is happening.
Then on the day of your birthday, you don't get a gift, wish or party from your loved ones. To top it off, you find out that your loved ones probably threw one heck of a party and you weren't even invited. That hits different and would hurt like hell.
But that's exactly how Jesus feels every time we don't celebrate Him during Christmas and Advent.
Some of us, especially young people, do not know the difference between Advent and Christmas. We use the term Christmas and Advent interchangeably most times.
Although we all might be more familiar with Christmas, Advent is also an important season to celebrate our saviour.
Advent comes from the Latin word "adventus " which means "coming". In the season of Advent, we prepare for the celebration of the Birth of Jesus.
As tradition or what we're used to, we use four Sundays or weeks before Christmas as Advent. In these four weeks, we remind ourselves of the true meaning of Christmas. Advent however has three significances in Christianity.
The first sign is the birth of Jesus. Jesus' birth brought hope for sinners and died for our sins. From the passages in the Bible, we know that Jesus' death brought healing to us sinners. "But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes, we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
The second significance is what we experience now. We need to accept that Jesus came for us and that was done out of love. To respond to this act of love, we accept Him as our Lord and personal Saviour in order to start a deep relationship with Him, which continues even more gloriously after we leave this earth.
The Bible affirms this in Romans. "Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" ( Romans 10:9)
The last sign is the second coming of Jesus. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus will come again for those who accept Him. It also tells us that Jesus will save those who believe in Him. "So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him." ( Hebrews 9:28)
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only son of God who came to earth as a man. He came to die for our sins that we will be saved from eternal damnation. His coming signifies hope and joy for the whole world and we can see this reflected in scripture. The hope that He will give us a second chance and the joy that He will save us. The only thing we have to do is accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.
● Meditating On The Bible
The Bible has passages that will help us reflect on Jesus. It is why we must not read but meditate on the Bible. By meditating, we understand what is happening in the Bible.
It tells us the reason Jesus came and why we must accept Him. It draws our minds to the glorious nature of Jesus Christ. This way, we reflect on Him and what he expects of this season.
Sometimes we are not sure of the verses to read during Advent and Christmas. We have nothing to worry about, for we can always use apps like Blessify. Blessify will guide us with verses to read this season by giving you daily Bible prompts, aimed at scriptures reflecting the reason for Christmas.
● Attending Service In The Church
The church should be the only place we should be at during Christmas and Advent. It's such a beautiful thing to be in God's house so we can celebrate the birth of His son Jesus Christ.
By going to church on Sundays and weekdays, we get to share our faith with others. In church, we remember the love of Jesus. We see it manifest in the life of the church members. When we see this, we are motivated to focus more on the Lord during this period.
● Praying
During the season of Christmas and Advent, most of us forget to pray. It should not be so because Jesus should be our focus. Most times, we are caught up in merrying and jollying that we forget to pray.
In praying for ourselves and others, our subconscious is on Jesus. We ask him to come into our lives and take over. Because we recognize that without Him, we can do nothing and, our lives will not be complete. We must not forget to recognize His supremacy over our lives.
Thanking God for all He has done so far is one good way to approach Christmas this time around. God has been so good and kind to us year in and out. If we do not thank Him, it shows we are ungrateful. It also shows we do not recognize the things He has done for us. Blessify is an app that can help you amplify your gratitude to God this Christmas, with its features of beautiful Bible stories and scriptures based off of Thanksgiving. You'll be on your way to gratitude in no time.
King in Heaven
Creator of Heaven and earth
We have come before you once more
We ask you to bless us with your presence
We know we have sinned against you
We can't even remember some of our sins
But we ask that you forgive us our sins
We pray it will not hinder our prayer
We adore for keeping us from the day we were born till this day
We adore you because you are God
We adore you because you have never failed your promise to us
We adore you because you have provided for us essential life materials
Father Lord, we ask that you continue to keep us
We ask that you reveal to us the true meaning of Christmas
We ask that you give us the right attitude this Christmas
We hope you grant us inner peace and peace with our neighbours.
We ask that you bestow in us the spirit of love and joy this season
We ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ancient of days
Creator not created
Master of the world
Your children are calling on you again
We pray that you answer us
We are not blind to the fact that we have sinned against you
We ask that you forgive all our sins
Both the ones we aware and unaware of
It will not be an obstacle to our prayers
We thank you for the gift of life
We live to celebrate another Christmas because of you
We thank you for the gift of provision
We thank you for giving your son to die for our sins
Without His death, we recognize that we would be guilty of sin
Thank you for taking special care of our needs even without asking sometimes
We ask that you continue to keep and provide for us
We ask that you help us so we can provide for the needy
We understand we are supposed to share your love this season
We pray you will give us the grace to do so
Thank you, for we know you have answered our prayers
Through Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen
In this season, it is usually a bit difficult to reflect on God and hold on to our faith because of the nature of activities going on right about the same time. However, we can't forget to reflect on Jesus this season. We must maintain and grow our strong faith in Jesus. The Blessify app makes it easier for us to reflect on God and enjoy the season because of its numerous inbuilt specialized features.
