I give you 50 ish tips/year to help you thrive and survive at work and at home. Once/year at Christmas I talk about my Christian faith and what that means to me.
If that’s not what you want to read about, now is your opportunity to click away 🙂
It’s interesting that Christians are (often rightly) made fun of. They/we are imperfect people like everyone else. But, very rarely do I hear Jesus mocked, and for good reason. Here are a few things you may not know about him:
He was poor
The Bible makes this clear. His parents were poor, and when he died all he owned were the clothes on his back. Good to remember when people on TV when people tell you that being a Christian will make you rich 🙂
He was born to a single unwed teenage mother
She was engaged to be married to Joseph, but there was a huge cloud over that family because Mary, his mom, had a baby out of wedlock. This was a very big deal in that society.
He was born under the rule of a murderous dictator
Herod. Who had Jewish babies murdered because he was afraid of one of them challenging his authority.
He spent his first years as a refugee in Africa
His family fled to Egypt so Jesus wouldn’t be murdered.
He wasn’t white
Obviously. Don’t believe the pictures of white Jesus with the roman nose. He was middle eastern and Jewish.
He wasn’t handsome
The Bible says that there was ‘nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”
He was a king who lived a lifestyle opposite to almost any leader or ‘important person’ today
He was born in a barn, he didn’t travel in style, and he didn’t have any possessions.
He lived a hard life
He was despised and rejected, and ‘had no place to lay his head.’
Can you relate to any of this? Is life hard for you? Whatever your pain, Jesus felt it and more. He understands.
Despite all these things, he has affected our world more than any person ever has.
- He’s mentioned or honored by every major world religion
- Our calendar dates from his birth
- His teachings have shaped the laws and worldview of all Western societies
- Faith in his name has transformed individual lives and societies and continues to to do so to this day
So, do yourself a favor and learn about his life. You can do that by clicking here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtTnSMNtE44&ab_channel=Alpha
I have to include one more story of a psychopath who attempted to murder his father with a hammer and then found Jesus in prison. It’s an unbelievable story which gives insight into how a psychopath thinks, and perhaps the only power on earth that can change them. I think you’ll enjoy it. You can find that here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a6U-BF-T6g&ab_channel=OrangeLiving
So you have a poor, non-white, child of a single mom, who lived part of his life as a refugee. And was both brilliant, and completely consistent in how he lived and taught. Pretty compelling figure.
“I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all world history.”
-HG Wells
So however you celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful time of family, food and friends! And thanks for reading all year!
