The Book of Life

The Holy Bible is a very important book given to us by God through the words written by man. It is such a vital tool due to the fact that each word breathes the Word of God.

                     With the Bible we get to read and know about the stories of how much God loves us. This is most especially about the story of the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. This is what the Bible is focused on, about the how Jesus Christ was born and how he changed humanity. It is showed us the birth of Christianity.

                                    The Bible tells us about God's eternal plan of salvation through His Son, which entails the forgiveness of all our sins and the hope of an everlasting life with Him in heaven. Furthermore, this life giving manuscript tells us about the true meaning of life and our purpose of living for it explains our own existence.

                                                                                         Not all the stories in the Bible are factual. Some are considered symbolic. They may contain truths but there are also parts that mention symbolisms. It is noted that during the earlier times Before Christ, there is no paper and pen invented yet. This makes every story at that time, delivered only by word of mouth. When the scriptures were made, this was the only time when stories before hand were ever put in writing. So, the reality on how the stories traveled from one person to another has its variations. Amidst all these, the Bible is still considered as the best book ever written.

                  Being unique in itself, the Bible was written for a period of almost 1,600 years by exceedingly forty authors that come from various stations and backgrounds of life. However, what makes the Bible amazing is how it kept its unity and constancy. This can only come from the almighty power of God. Moreover, the Bible is reliable with the teachings it can provide. Though written by different authors originating from different countries in the world, there are stories in it that has maintained its accuracy for it has passed certain tests of evidence.

             With this, reading the Bible is truly essential for our daily living. It gives us purpose and meaning. It cans even shed light to dim moments we may have experienced or are we may still be experiencing. "Like water, it quenches our spirit's thirst, and like food, it nourishes our soul".

Christmas in Different Parts of the World

Christmas is celebrated in different ways and different traditions all over 

the world. USA, India, Canada, England, New Zeeland, Australia, all have 

their own styles of celebrating the Christmas. Every 25th of December we 

recreate the birth of Jesus Christ, no matter what part of world we are in. 

The Christmas festivals offer the message of friendship, humanity, wealth 

for world and a direction of honesty and kindness. The day is also an 

occasion for a great fun time and fervor. We celebrate the days of 

Christmas, decorating the trees, spreading the colored lights, partying, 

caroling, cooking, exchanging gifts, sending Christmas greetings and 

making snowmen. Every year is the same and we are the joyful to repeat 

the ritual every time.

The whole week from 25 December to 31 December, 

people are in the mood for celebration. They spend a part of this time 

decorating. You will find on all streets various artificial lights. Homes are 

also decorated with different ornaments and the material showrooms are 

filled up with gifts items, food, recipes products, decorations, trees of 

various sizes and more that anyone can cover during Christmas celebration. 

As you visit different countries and destinations, you will find the 

Christmas in different nuances and musical tones, depending the unique 

tradition and culture.

Every country follows special traditions and customs to celebrate this 

magical event. In some parts of India, Christians use light small clay oil 

lamps as part of the Christmas decorations. At the same time, some of them 

decorate their houses with mango leaves and other people decorate the 

banana trees during Christmas, instead of the classic tree. Christmas 

celebrations in Europe also have their individuality.

Here, Christmas is celebrated with the national holiday and all the people, 

no matter their religion and ages, enjoy it with every single breath. 

Christmas carols, parties, Christmas trees and the arrival of Santa Claus are 

common in the whole Europe and in western countries as well. Christmas is 

one of the universal occasions celebrated with plenty of joy all over the 

world, by each community. However, respecting standards and rules about 

this celebration is not mandatory. People can choose to celebrate in their 

own styles, regarding the interests and preferences.

For the rich part of society, instead of organizing family parties, getting 

together, they prefer to book cruises tours, where they celebrate 

Christmas in a luxurious style. Some people even prefer to spend the 

Christmas days in an exotic warm place, away from any snowy or windy 

winter.

The way people celebrate Christmas changed over the years, but the 

essence remained the same. Some of us may lose through un-significant

details, feeling nervous and too busy, forgetting the simplicity we have to keep these days. Merry Christmas and lets celebrate with all our families, no matter what culture we are!

The Purpose of Jesus Birth

                   

Ultimately, the purpose of Jesus Christ was to save us from our sins. Consider the scripture that we discussed earlier.

Matthew 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

We have to realize that salvation is more than the "I'm going to go to heaven when I die" mentality in order to understand the full context of this purpose. We were originally created in the image of God but sin separated us from God. Consider the following scripture.

Romans 5:19  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

So by the obedient act of Jesus Christ suffering and dying on the cross, many can be made righteous (in right standing with God, i.e., justified). Jesus provided a way for us to be reconciled to God.

The Birth of Jesus

An Angel Visits Mary

One day about 2,000 years ago an angel named Gabriel appeared to a young Jewish woman named Mary. Gabriel told Mary she would have a son, Jesus, who would be the Son of God! Mary was confused and worried about this sudden news, but she had faith in God and said, "I am the Lord's servant; let it be as you say."

Journey to Bethlehem

Mary and her husband-to-be, Joseph, lived in a town called Nazareth. But they had to travel to the city of Bethlehem to register for a census ordered by the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus. Both Nazareth and Bethlehem are in the country now called Israel. It is about 65 miles (105 km) from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and the trip probably took them several days.

When Joseph and Mary got to Bethlehem, there was no place for them to stay because the inn was already full. They ended up spending the night in a stable, a place where animals were kept. There was probably fresh hay on the floor that they used for beds.
                                                                That night, Jesus was born. There was no crib, so they laid baby Jesus in a manger, a feeding trough for animals. The manger probably had fresh hay in it and made a nice bed for the baby.
                           
                                Shepherds Visit Jesus

That night, some shepherds were in the fields near Bethlehem, keeping watch over their flocks of sheep. An angel appeared to them and gave them the good news that a Savior, the Messiah, had been born. The angel told the shepherds they could find Jesus lying in a manger. Suddenly a whole group of angels appeared saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
                                                                                  The shepherds hurried into Bethlehem and found Jesus in the manger, just as the angel had told them. After they had seen Jesus, they spread the news, and everyone who heard was in awe.

                              Wise Men Visit Jesus



Some time later, wise men, or magi, from eastern countries saw a star in the sky that signaled the birth of a new king. They came to Judea, the region around Jerusalem and Bethlehem, to worship Jesus, the new king.
A man named Herod was the king of Judea. He called the wise men to a meeting and told them to find the new king so he could go and worship him, too.
              The wise men continued on to Bethlehem and followed the star until it was directly above the house where Jesus was. They found Mary and Jesus in the house and knelt down to worship Him. They brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, some of the finest things in the ancient world. Frankincense was burned to make a sweet smell, and myrrh was an expensive perfume.
                                                      After visiting Jesus, the wise men had a dream that warned them not to go back to King Herod, so they took a different route home.

Journey to Egypt

King Herod lied when he told the wise men he wanted to worship Jesus. He was afraid this new "king" would replace him as king of Judea. He did not understand that Jesus would grow up to be king of God's spiritual kingdom, not king of Judea.
                                             What Herod really wanted was to find Jesus and kill Him! Herod was furious when he realized the wise men had not come back to tell him where to find Jesus. He sent his soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all the children under two years old, thinking Jesus would certainly be one of the ones killed.
                                                                 But God had told Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt. Joseph took Mary and Jesus to live in Egypt where they would be safe from Herod. Joseph, Mary and Jesus stayed in Egypt until Herod had died, and then they returned to Nazareth.