Christmas within the Heart

​Hello everyone…and a very happy and blessed Tuesday to you all! You know…it’s hard to believe that we are only days away from Christmas. One thing about Christmas this year; is that it has seemed very different to me. It seems like the spirit of Christmas has been taken away, due to the virus and everything else that’s happening around us.
One day, as I was sharing these thoughts with a friend, I was reminded as to how Christmas isn’t only a holiday that we celebrate once a year…but it’s a holiday that we hold deep within the heart…and if we have the true meaning of Christmas within our hearts; then nothing or no one can take away that spirit that connects us with Christmas.
A Bible verse that God has used many times in my life is found in 2 Corinthians 4:16…and we read… "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is renewed day by day." 
Even though we see, feel and experience life in a different way; that doesn’t mean that all hope is gone. Maybe life right now isn’t the same as it once was; but we must remember that God is still working deep within the heart, to sustain…strengthen and bring about a newness; that can keep us pressing on from one day to the next. The way I see it is that even though the virus and other things have distorted the spirit of Christmas this year; that doesn’t mean that it has deadened the heart…and taken away what has always been there. I think that sometimes, we allow our view of life to convince the heart that life has changed, when actually; we should be allowing the heart to change what we see around us.
I remember a time in my life, when the feelings and thoughts of the past had attempted to take away the spirit of Christmas from me. The heart was so broken at the time and life seemed so different; that I just couldn’t get into Christmas that year. It was at that particular time in my life, when Jesus brought Christmas to me. Instead of focusing on the materialistic part of Christmas and what I was missing out on; Jesus brought Christmas to my heart in a very simple way that I will never forget. As my husband and I sat in a hospital room…eating the take out that he had worked so hard to bring to me that day; life began to change for me…and the heart began to see that even though life had changed around me…there was still a place within me that remained alive…a part of that broken heart that truly could once more feel and experience the spirit of Christmas…only this time, in a brand new way.
You know…even though life can make us feel as if it has changed for the very worst; that doesn’t mean that what has been stored up within the heart has been taken from us. I think that if we could just look beyond the moments that are attempting to make life seem different…and celebrate what is stored up within the heart; then I truly believe that we wouldn’t experience so much of the change that has taken place around us…and the moments that are attempting to bring us low.
I don’t know about you; but I have set up a nativity within the heart…that is shining brightly within me…and one thing I know…no matter how different Christmas may seem this year; nothing can take away what is lit up within the heart…Amen!
Have a great day…and may you truly find Christmas to be alive within your heart! God bless!
It’s Always & Only Because of Him…
Diane