{"id":21301,"date":"2024-12-16T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=21301"},"modified":"2024-12-15T05:54:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-15T11:54:38","slug":"where-is-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=21301","title":{"rendered":"Where is Jesus?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I was pleasantly surprised and joy-filled when I walked through the corridor to our apartment and saw this beautiful nativity set and the large characters displayed. It warmed my heart and soul!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This nativity scene and those in our homes are more than decorations. They are invitations to reflect on the heart of the Christmas story. But what happens when the baby in the manger is missing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years ago, my four-year-old granddaughter discovered that baby Jesus had vanished from my nativity set. Her frantic cry, \u201cWhere is Baby Jesus?\u201d filled the house until we found Him. Her big brother (5-years-old) had mischievouly hidden Jesus from her. Oh me!<\/p>\n\n\n

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That moment stuck with me, and I\u2019ve often wondered: could Jesus be missing from more than just our nativity sets? Could He be missing from our hearts, our homes, and our daily lives?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Christmas story is much more than a manger scene. It\u2019s a picture of how close Christ wants to come to us. His first stop was Mary\u2019s womb, and He makes the same offer to us: \u201cIf you\u2019ll let Me, I\u2019ll move into you.\u201d Just as Christ grew in Mary until He was delivered to the world, He desires to grow in us — until His presence is seen in our actions, words, and choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this season, life can feel overwhelming — conflict, busyness, and distractions swirl around us. Yet, like Mary, we\u2019re invited to pause and reflect on the miracle of Christ\u2019s birth. We\u2019re called to make room for Him, not just in a stable or a nativity set, but in every corner of our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Jesus feels distant, take a moment to ask, \u201cWhere is He in my life?\u201d Is He missing from your conversations? Your decisions? Your relationships? The good news is, He\u2019s never far away. Just like we searched for baby Jesus that day, He\u2019s waiting for us to welcome Him back into our hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Christmas, let\u2019s make every room in our lives a Bethlehem. Let\u2019s allow Christ to dwell in us so fully that we \u201cdeliver\u201d Him to our world through our love, grace, and kindness. When we do, every place we live becomes a place of hope, joy, and the glory of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChrist in you, the hope of glory.\u201d (Colossians 1:27)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was pleasantly surprised and joy-filled when I walked through the corridor to our apartment and saw this beautiful nativity set and the large characters displayed. It warmed my heart and soul! This nativity scene and those in our homes are more than decorations. They are invitations to reflect on the heart of the Christmas…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[22423,600,1210,30976,6973,1769,537,4248,1720,1392,30975,40,8372,5217,257,30974,4249,4064,4250,30973],"class_list":["post-21301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-baby-in-the-manger","tag-baby-jesus","tag-blog","tag-christ-in-you-the-hope-of-glory","tag-christs-birth","tag-christian","tag-christmas-story","tag-colossians-127","tag-encourage","tag-facebook","tag-grow-in-us","tag-inspiration","tag-inspire","tag-make-room","tag-manger","tag-marys-womb","tag-nativity","tag-nativity-set","tag-where-is-baby-jesus","tag-where-is-jesus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21301"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21304,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21301\/revisions\/21304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}