Those cold December days will be upon us before you know it!
We are giving you time to shop and prepare a few months in advance.
Everyone is getting ready for Christmas early this year. The fear factor on the streets is rampant; but don’t buy into it. Stay your course and trust that God will provide all that you need for a very unmaterialistic holiday season; no matter how you celebrate. Keep it real; we appreciate your business; but it doesn’t matter one bit to us if you don’t spend a penny. Remember what counts over the holidays: Salvation can’t be bought, and no one can stand in its way when you have it.
Salvation is everything and it is a priceless FREE gift of God.
For starters; let’s get a few clarifications out of the way. I hate having to repeat these things every season; but it feels necessary.
If you haven’t read the article explaining why a Seventh Day Sabbath Keeper, and someone who follows God’s Holy Days as a map of life (like myself;) would consider the possibility of keeping Christmas Day scheduled on December 25th (minus the pagan activities,) as well as celebrating Hanukkah simultaneously, and even incorporating a whole different concept of Advent into their seasonal calendar; you can find part of my explanations right here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/conception-of-christ/.
When you try to consciously live your life by what God has shown you in the holy scriptures over the years; at times things may get a little messy and off-kilter with the world. Don’t worry though because life also gets amazingly satisfying and more spiritually fulfilling in every way.
So; try to be open-minded and prayerful about my personal thoughts and beliefs you find here. I’m never going to insist that you agree with me; I’m just explaining the logic behind the products I pick today, which some may think “out-of-character” or a bit “off-sync” if they don’t understand my spiritual makeup.
It is true that, even though I have a very Hebraic heart, I’m also a follower of Jesus Christ and I love to celebrate The Annunciation/Conception of Christ on December 25th; because that is the day I think they happened.
Also; I love for my dates to speak truth when I celebrate things; otherwise they seem to be contradictory to the whole truth; and the Gospel is TRUTH.
If you believe, as I have come to see, that Christ was born during the Feast of Tabernacles, then you would only have to do the math (count backwards nine months) to understand that December 25th MUST have been the most miraculous day in which God planted a very holy seed inside Mary’s belly (the time of Annunciation and Conception.)
As I do perceive this to be (parallel with Resurection Day) the greatest miracle of all of the history of mankind; I would consider this moment in time to be a very important moment to celebrate.
Not to mention that Jesus fulfilled and expanded all of the meaning of Hanukkah; and the two stories just fit perfectly together, one fulfilling the other.
Long story short; I celebrate the annunciation and conception of Christ in December; and His birth nine months later during The Feast of Tabernacles in the fall of every year.
As for how I look at Advent; I see that process in a slightly different light too; as a time of months of annual transitions into a higher life in Christ by celebrating each stage of Christian growth.
In thinking of Christ coming again to earth (the Second Advent;) I always want to start at His conception, then compare life as a series of on-going stages of Advents (Hebrew years have many beginnings; not just one, but different beginnings and calendars for different things about life) which happen in patterns similar to the cycles of a woman’s pregnancy. So much of these stages of pregnancy symbolize the process of being “born again.”
In the nine months following the Conception and Incarnation of Christ (until the Birth in the Fall,) I tend to think of the times and stages and transitions of the birth of a child, followed by a time of growth and flourishment of purpose, proceeded by death, after which comes resurrection, and then eternity with God.
You can begin to see here all of the parallels and stages to a Christian’s growth, which I believe conform beautifully to the following of the Hebraic calendar’s Holy Days. Different Holy Days seem to represent different stages of a Christian’s development into a spiritual being.
After celebrating the full nine months of spiritual gestation, which lead to The Feast of Tabernacles and the miracle of Christ’s Birth that comes right at the end of The Hebrew year; I celebrate the renewal of the world through Messiah. Then; the whole process starts over again in December with the beginning of a tiny, little seed that grows into a Messiah for the salvation of the world.
So; when I celebrate Christmas, I’m confirming the fact that God sent us a Savior, One who would live among us and love us. I’m celebrating the fact that the miracle first began as a tiny seed inside Mary’s womb during the deepest darkest and most hopeless time of the year.
Our Great God loves reversals.
Almost every story in the Old and New Testament will confirm this fact.
On the most evil night of the year; when the pagans of mankind celebrated their perverse ways; God sent the reversal that we needed to change things; Emmanuel came to live in the womb of Mary.
That is how I began to think of the fact that Advent is all about how a baby grows inside its Mother’s womb until birth, which relates to how we as Christians grow in God’s grace and mercy until He returns again. Of course I’m celebrating the birth of Christ and the Second Coming of Christ (Our Hope) and yet; also celebrating the stages that a Christian life goes through until that happens; and how humanity as a whole has to develop for that moment to be allowed by God.
So; My Advent calendar incorporates nine months of Christian growth inside the womb of the Church (following the patterns laid out during each of The Holy Days in Exodus) and culminating with the birth of Christ at the time of The Feast of Tabernacles; then the hope and joy of spending eternity forever with God. It is a nine-month period of time instead of a four week period of time.
I hope you are still with me; we ARE going to get to the shopping part soon.
I’ll bet you’ve never heard the events that make up the celebrations of this season sound so different; but that is what and how God has led me to celebrate the seasons of my year; and all of these products we show here will probably relate to that same line of thought in some way, shape or fashion.
Some things will just be winter products though; because winter has turned beautiful in light of the changes that God has brought into the world. The symbolism of all I speak of here can be seen in all of these seasonal celebrations as we watch a dark, cold night in December turn into a glorious light-filled day of blue/blue skies with quiet, peaceful grounds covered in white sparkly virgin snow.
Our Father loves reversals.
God is constantly changing things; yet He always remains the same. Snuggle up to that thought as you browse our suggested products for this month.
Well; I didn’t mean to start preaching; so go ahead and find the products you need for this season.
Keep in mind that we are Amazon affiliates and we might make a small profit on any item you purchase; but at no extra cost to you.
Thank you so much for supporting our blog through these Community Store purchases. Every penny we make goes toward the software and equipment that it takes to keep this blog up and running; and towards the encouragement of the written inspirational publications we might decide to publish in the future; which are mostly gospel related.
Of course our own products are right the top of our list.
You can find the two latest books written by the writer of this blog here:
The workbook for THE GOSPEL HIDDEN IN GENESIS for small groups to use is still being prepared; but we hope to have it available to you soon.