Our Christmas cactus is exploding like fireworks with blooms in celebration of the season. Photo by my wife, Kris! I can almost hear it singing and shouting, “O holy night! The stars are brightly shining. Oh night divine! Let all within us praise His holy name! It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!!!!!!”
Is it any wonder? The people who heard or knew of Isaiah’s prophesies concerning His coming waited 700 years for Him to come! Isaiah prophesied that the Lord Himself would give them a sign of His coming. ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.’ Which, of course, means God with us! Isaiah 7:14. And ‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ Isaiah 9:6. And ‘But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.’
Isaiah 53:5. Bible scholars say there are over 300 prophesies about the birth, life and ministry of Jesus!
They were waiting and waiting for the one who would be their ‘wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of peace.’ The one who would bring them salvation, healing and peace!
And even the angels were excited to see this day. God sent one to speak to some shepherds ‘living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks’. How many years did this angel wait to share this good news!!! Talk about mental constipation! The angel appeared to them and ‘the glory of the Lord shone around them’. WOW. Can you imagine what that was like? And, after having to wait for so long, he exploded like the Christmas Cactus with the good news and said to them in an extremely celebratory voice, ‘I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS THAT WILL CAUSE GREAT JOY FOR ALL THE PEOPLE.! TODAY IN THE TOWN OF DAVID A SAVIOR HAS BEEN BORN TO YOU; HE IS THE MESSIAH, THE LORD!’
Luke 2:8-11.
Celebrate this day, HE HAS COME!
And in fulfillment of another prophesy of Isaiah, Jesus reported, ‘The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor!’ Matthew 11:2-6.
This beautiful Christmas cactus also blooms in celebration of those ‘sinners who repent’!
As Jesus said in Luke 15:10, ‘In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’ Luke 15:7.
Did you know that a Christmas cactus needs a long periods of darkness to bloom? It needs its beauty sleep, a minimum of 14 hours a day of total darkness to develop its blooms. My wife put ours behind the closet door in October!
It exploded in blooms after coming out of darkness! What a great metaphor!
Those ‘sinners who repent’ also came out of darkness! The scripture makes this clear. ‘Because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.’ Luke 1:78-79.
And, ‘You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.’ 1 Peter 2:9. And remember, if my wife would have left our cactus behind the door in darkness, it would have died! Have you come out from behind the door? Then you too can celebrate the birth of Christ who made it possible for ‘you who were once in darkness’ to come into the light! Your buds are ripe!
BLOOM!
Do yourself a gigantic favor and listen to David Phelps, singing ‘O Holy Night on Bill and Gloria Gaither’s ‘Christmas in the Country’ show on You Tube.
He will lift you straight into Heaven!!!
Bill and Gloria Gaither – O Holy Night (Live) featuring David Phelps!
