Every year when people of faith think about Christmas, most of us only focus on the baby that was placed in a manger after His birth. Our Christmas cards, our Christmas Services, Our Christmas programing all reflect the little baby Jesus who was born on Christmas day.

However this verse spends very little time on the birth of Christ and moves immediately to things like...the government being on His shoulders, Him being the Prince of Peace, the increase of His government having no end, Him sitting upon the throne of David and Him having a kingdom that will be established and sustained with justice and righteousness now and forever!

However our Lord Jesus came into the earth, not to create a gift-giving holiday, but to re-establish the kingdom, the government or the rule of God Almighty in the earth through His family who have made Jesus Christ the Lord of their lives.. In the passage above from Isaiah 9, we see this phrase: "...of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end". The word government here could be translated "rule". The word peace is shalom, which means health, prosperity, safety and well-being. It comes from another Hebrew word "shalim", which means nothing missing, nothing broken, every bit and in every way, completely whole! If there is a lack of health, peace, prosperity, safety, well-being in our lives in any area of our lives, it is the result of God's limited rule in our lives. If something is missing or broken, it is the result of how we have limited God's right to rule our lives in that particular area. As we increase in our understanding of the kingdom of God better and allow God's rule to increase in our lives, then God's shalom or health, prosperity, security, safety and well-being will increase in our lives. God's "governmental policies" are contained in His Word, the Bible. The more that we allow our Lord Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit to bring our lives in line with His word (not religion), the more whole, complete, healed, peaceful, safe, prosperous and full of well-being that our lives will become!

We are doing a unique teaching on Christmas this year that will radically transform how you view Christmas, Christianity and Church for the rest of your life. You will understand that what most Christians have is religion, which focuses mostly on ritualistic task (outer actions such as make-up, the day that you attend church, or in what name or manner you were baptized). But Jesus came to give us a relationship with God that would bring radical and revolutionary transformation to us personally and then to radically transform the world through us. You were called to reign in life as a king because of the birth, the life, the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17)! As we allow God's rule to increase in our lives, by placing a priority on understanding and operating in line with God's kingdom, we have the promise that then, and only then, God would make sure that all of personal needs would be supplied!

Rather than going broke this Christmas (as some of you have in prior years) by trying to keep up with the Jones and purchasing a whole lot of things for a whole lot of people who may or may not appreciate your sacrifice, I want to encourage you to join us this Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. at the Carson Double Tree Hotel to learn more of the true meaning and purpose of Christmas. Then whether you make this a huge shopping Christmas or not you won't feel guilty for not doing enough because you understand the true meaning of Christmas. Also you will be able to allow God's rule to work in you and through you so that you can walk in your full authority and dominion as a member of the family of God and allow God's authority and power to flow through you to transform your world, the world around you and wherever in the world that God's Spirit leads you!