Merry Christmas, everyone. Today we celebrate the birth of our Messiah, but did you know that when the wise men fell to worship the King of Kings – the young child was about two years old. 

I suppose I knew this but never really pondered it. Why? Because like most everyone, I visualize baby Jesus in a manger with the shepherds and kings standing at the manger with the star shining brightly above. (Matt KJV 2:11, 13, 16)

Why is it so hard to move past the stable this time of the year?  When I have my birthday each year, my close friends and family celebrate who I am, not the baby I was. Which by the way, I was told that I cried a lot.

Please allow me to think out loud here (text think). Could it be that the enemy of our soul wants us to think of a powerless baby when we think of Jesus this time of year?

Or how about Easter (Resurrection Sunday)? We limit our thinking of the beating, the hanging, the dying, and even resurrection three days later. Please understand my heart. The total work of the Cross is enormous! Jesus paid the price that we could never pay on our own (Heb 10).

Isaiah 53:4-5

Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes, we are healed. 

But there is more!

My husband got me several gifts this year, but I returned to what I was doing after opening the first. I was thrilled and grateful for the gift he got me but wanted to finish writing Christmas cards for my neighbors (still trying to finish my ‘to-do’ list).  Then, from the other room, I heard him ask, “Hey, when are you going to open the rest of your gifts?”

Isn’t it like us to get preoccupied with our ‘to-do’ lists and miss out more? How often do we look at Christmas through the lens of commercialized glasses? When we are busy with our ‘to-do’ list, we miss out on the ‘more.’

Christmas is more than a baby in the manager, and the Cross is more than the sacrificial atonement for our sins.

There is much more to ‘following’ Jesus than accepting his extravagant gift.

So, starting in the new year, I will share the “more” that I have discovered with you. My heart is to equip you with the tools that I have found hidden in the scripture between His miraculous birth, sacrificial death and resurrected life. We need to understand our identity in Christ, we can walk in our original mandate; take dominion, and cultivate.

Someone suggested that I start a little pod-cast or rumble video titled: 3 minutes with me. Though I have no idea how to do such things, I will follow Holy Spirit’s lead.

Let’s move past the manager and beyond the Cross and experience all God has for us. Merry Christmas, and happy, healthy new year!