Faithbase

The story of Christmas Day 6. The Beans, or the Background. The angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and tells him that even though he and his wife are well past their childbearing years, Elizabeth, his wife, will become pregnant and they will name the baby boy John. When Zechariah struggles to believe him, the angel says he will be unable to speak until the baby is born. The verse, Luke chapter 1, verses 57-66, the birth of John the Baptist. When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy and they shared in her joy. On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father, Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, no, he is to be called John. They said to her, there's no one among your relatives who has that name. Then they made signs to the father to find out what it was that he wanted to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, his name is John. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe and throughout the hill country of Judea, people were talking about all of these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, what then is this child going to be? For the Lord's hand was with him. The Steam What does this mean to me and how can I apply it to my life today? Family names were extremely important to Jewish people in this day. They always named their kids after family members. So the fact that Zechariah and Elizabeth picked John, not from their family tree, really gets the attention of the community. The Old Testament has a few accounts of God changing the names of some pretty key players in our faith. So when you think about it, a name really is a huge part of our identity. While we pick names for various reasons today, as parents-to-be, you can't help but picture who this little person is going to be as you think about their name. We do research on the meaning behind certain names, or we try to honor family members. I want you to do something for yourself today, and I know you've got a lot going on, but you're worth the few minutes this is going to take. Think about, or even list out, what you honestly think of when you look in the mirror each day. First, notice the physical appearance. We are absolutely horrible to ourselves. We pick out the thinning hairlines, the freckles we hate, the wrinkles in the lines that we're convinced make us old and ugly. What is it for you? Secondly, notice the deeper stuff. We label ourselves with not good enough, too angry, too selfish, not popular enough. What is it for you? Now think about it. Where did those perceptions and thoughts come from? The physical appearance stuff is 100% dictated by culture. Remember, in ancient times, women who were fat with pasty skin were considered more beautiful because it meant they were rich enough to sit around eating inside all day, not out working in the sun. Don't we wish we could go back to those days? But we allow society to tell us whether we are beautiful or not. The deeper stuff comes from our past. Mistakes we've made, struggles we've gone through, those things stick with us and cause us to think that we're inherently flawed somehow. Now for the truth. When God sees you, He sees the masterpiece He created you to be. He knows all about your past, your mistakes, the hurt you went through, but what He sees is the amazing person He created you to be, calling you His precious child. We have got to shift our focus in order to see the truth in the mirror, and you are allowed to forgive yourself. You're allowed to let go of your past labels. You can choose to change your thinking, and each time self-doubt or negative self-talk enters your brain, you can squash it. You can replace it with truth. Yes, I may be more on the quiet side of big groups, but I am a great listener, and people feel comfortable talking to me. I may have made some mistakes in my past, but I'm not really that girl anymore. I may not have hundreds of likes or followers on social media, but I have genuine, real live friends who enjoy my company. Seriously allow God to open your eyes to who you truly are, and allow yourself to fall in love with that person.