New Year New Beginnings

Making this shout-out to one and all as we enter 2021 🎉 following the tumultuous year of 2020. Where Christmas celebrations have passed 🎄🎁 and the New Year has been greeted by the welcome party of ooooh's and ahhhh's lighting up the sky. You know what I'm talking about 😉🧨 with some being lighted up hours earlier for the new year to come sooner 😜 which I cannot blame at all.... 

However what is common at each New Year is the making of New Year Resolutions. That moment of intraspection when we look back at the past year and consider what we would like to change about ourselves or what we do 🤔 and I imagine this question is being asked...not just on an individual level 👤 but also on a collective level 👥 a country level 🇬🇧 and a global level 🌍 with our shared experiences in this pandemic and in lockdown 🏠

2020 presented us with its challenges, let 2021 be the year we meet them ✊🏆 OR from what is said in the 'Joker' (Batman) meme that is being shared recently, 2020 opened our eyes 👀 and now in 2021, we are coming back 😜 hopefully with the knowledge to help us to do better 👍 and NOT how to take over Gotham 🤣

That said...the point still stands as the famous proverb goes that with knowledge comes power 💪 and with that power, we can make informed decisions. We pray 🙏 that 2021 will be a better year, a peaceful year BUT there are still Q's to ask....and there are still Q's to answer.

Q1: What does the season of Christmas mean to you?
Q2: What do you want from this New Year?
(Repeat these questions as you are reading)

Now the obvious question you'd be asking...or the thought that is across your mind, why am I talking about this now?! Am I just too late to the Christmas celebrations 🥂 that I must miss out on the Christmas Pud and must eat Humble Pie 🥧 instead....or even worse! Christmas has passed so the gift/present 🎁 under the tree is beyond my reach! 🚧🚫

My answer? Not a chance 😜 OR as the Apostle Paul would say, God forbid! HOW can we, as man, constrain and limit the season to a single day and then contradict ourselves when we say/sing 🎶 'I wish it could be Christmas everyday' 🎶 when it CAN! That being the reason why we should broadcast it still! 🔊

This leads me to think about what we enjoy at Christmas time 🎀 and what we find at Christmas time. While in any other time in the year where acts of kindness and being jolly raises questions 🤔 of 'what's he after?' or 'too good to be true' or 'that's totally fake', it's more permissable at Christmas. It's reaction is much more warm and we enjoy the Christmas spirit 💝 and companionship, of the coming together 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 ....of the food 🍖...and love in the mistletoe 🍒 (imagine the right leaves 🤭)

Why though? To an extent, Christmas is like every other day in the year to be potentially fake with our 'happy face' 😊 and alternating with 'mister grumpy face' 😠 (like Alex the Lion on Madagascar) to question what is our true face? I'm 💯% certain that if attendees to your party only participated for the food and other guests, you would be dismayed when the party is yours. Likewise you would be upset if your guests gave each other presents and you were given none...

Now I'm not saying that Christmas Day is Christ's Birthday for no man knows 🤷‍♂️ However it is widely recognised as the Season for remembering when 🎵"A blessed Angel came" 🎶 "While Shepherds watched their flock by night" 🎶 then "Christ is born of Mary" 🎵 (Otherwise known as the Nativity). This however is NOT the end of the story as the Twelve Days of Christmas lead onto Epiphany at its climax, 🎵"Then entered in those wise men three" 🎵 upto Lent and Easter to remember Christ's death, burial and resurrection ✝️

However, you may notice that commercially, the 'Twelve Days' end on Christmas Day and you will find now in your local supermarkets your chocolate eggs and bunny rabbits 🐰 for Easter. I mean that's bizarre 😵 and I really don't understand that! I challenge you that if you read but one of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke in particular), you will find the support of Jesus flourishing to the point that the Jewish rulers had to tread carefully around him during his 3/4yr ministry.....only for Jesus to not be 'profitable' anymore and call for his crucifixion right at the end 😔 YET hardly a week can go by before WE crucify Christ!

(Take a pause) 

Q1: What does the season of Christmas mean to (me) ?
Q2: What do (I) want from this New Year?

You will find above the questions I asked earlier but personalised. I will invite you to do the same, whether you share it with me or let it settle in your mind, it is your free will that will decide ❤️

However for me, the Christmas season is the beginning of everything. This is where we learn that God himself came down from his throne on High, entering the physical realm and suiting himself up in flesh and bones as Jesus [John 1:1,14] to sustain his life on Earth. Same way we need a Spacesuit to sustain our life in space 👨‍🚀 and we learn that this Act of God (recognisable in real legal terms) was a gift giving exercise, given out of love [John 3:16a]. The original present & the original mistletoe & like all classic shows/movies, you can't beat the Original 😜🤣

I mentioned before how I might be late in writing this and that it was like missing Christmas Day and the presents that was beyond reach. However with the Original, it is never beyond reach! and what's more...if you unwrap this PRESENT 🎁 it's got what inside?! Is this not profitable?! 

1. Life eternal [John 3:16b] which Roman Emperors could only dream of.... 
2. Blessing; as his birth fulfilled earlier prophecy in the Old Testament [Genesis 12:3b]
3. Peace; as he was prophecied as the Prince of Peace [Isaiah 9:6]

What do I want in this New Year? I want peace with whatever may come....and to give me confidence, I need his blessing especially when confidence in World Leaders is at 🎵"an all-time [low]" 🎵 + this can only be achieved by a 24/7 hotline 📞 BUT while you may be open to the baby Jesus in the manger at Christmas in December ....and the crucified Jesus on the cross in March/April....you need to be open to the living Jesus to provide for you throughout the year. Where is the Peace once you've crucified the Prince of Peace? 

He is the Christ in Christmas.
He is the X that marks the spot, the X to which I mark my ballot 🗳️ in Xmas.
He is the dependable friend that while he may not be your best friend, he's your fallback guy always and forever. He promised that [Matthew 28:20b] even when he appears to not be the 'cool kid' in the back of the classroom.

Boris Johnson spoke of Christmas as Hope but 🎵"In Christ alone all hope is found"🎵 and so if you are looking for Hope this year? if you are looking for Peace this year?

This year that we enter with anxious minds and YET how can we forget of 2.6M cases of Coronavirus in the UK alone (more if consider worldwide), 75K did not make it through the year. You did.

I don't know about you, as I don't know who will read this 😜 but I give God thanks for you that you are alive 🙌 that I am alive 🙌 and I will pray 🙏 that he will comfort the brokenhearted as he said he would [Psalms 34:18] to all those who have lost loved ones 😢, give rest to the weary as he said he would [Matthew 11:28] to those who are struggling...and strength to your hearts [Psalms 27:14] that I need say no more 🙏

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