Shalom and Happy Channukah (day 7)

[EileenMomGranny]

Last year Channukah חנוכה and Christmas co-incided on the calendar, as we celebrated both. This year on the calendar, Channukah comes first.

This is the beginning of our second year enjoying the blessings of living in God's time and on His calendar, and celebrating His Feasts for us.

My oldest daughter shared this "Forward" with me this week:

After careful consideration I decided to renew your friendship contract for 2010. I like you.

Kind of reminds me of the meaning of Channukah.

Saturday I began the morning in our home with my kids and greeted my youngest daughter (16 yrs old) with our weekly: Shabbat Shalom. Her response to me was Happy Channukah!! WOW. It was the first day. I knew it, we've been preparing for it and expecting it. I'm so delighted it is her choice to begin the greeting. By the afternoon my youngest, my son who is 14 (for a few more days) says to me full of joy and excitement, Mom, I LOVE Channukah!

We're celebrating the gifts God has aleady given us. Like Galatiains 5:22-23, Philippians 4:6-9, Matthew 5:3-12, 2 Peter 1:3-4, 1 Peter 2:9, Romans 6:11-14... endless blessings in every aspect of our lives and relationships.

Since Channukah really isn't about giving gifts, but I am "weaning us off" the old traditions, I'd been praying about what to do this year.

Finally decided I would buy the kids gum. I NEVER ever buy gum. So it would be something special to associate with this holiday for us. They each picked out 4 packs of their favorite flavors (15 sticks in each pack). Enough for the 8 days, including enough for them to share with others. The sharing part has been their idea. Such awesome symbolism of how God's gifts in us overflow and bless others, too. I never imagined where this would lead, but this is our experiences with DOING Channukah.

Saturday afternoon my son was soooooooooo excited about this, that he wanted to share with me. I'd asked him if he knew what the Fruit of the Spirit of God's Holiness in us means.

His answer just blew me away:
love
truth
obedience
guidance
I'm nearly crying again now as I'm sharing how much God is blessing our family. This is from my teenage son, out of his own experience of the truth and relationship with God!!!!

He offered me some of his gum.

Then he decided to make me a gift.
Simple, but WOW.
He took a sheet of notebook paper, put the words
truth love obediance guidance
across it,
got out some tape and put one wrapped piece of his different flavors of gum above each word
(Foil wrappers, green, gold, pink, blue)
VERY pretty
then he signed it at the bottom right
Happy Channukah
by James
for the best Mom

Then he decided to add 4 more pieces to the artwork/gift. And made crosses out of them. (I noticed this brought the total pieces of gum up to 8, one for each day for the Celebration.)

The cool part for me is that I get to enjoy the gum inside each wrapper and will still have the wrappings left, the image still intact on the artwork gift.

Channukah is the annual sequence of eight days set aside to praise and thank God for His miraculous powers. 2 Peter 1:3-4    1 Maccabees 1-4
Begins on the 25th Day in The Ninth Month (God's Biblical Calendar) and runs through the 2nd day in The Tenth Month.
The Celebration of the Rededication (Channukah) of the Temple/Tabernacle/Priesthood
1 Cor 3:16
Leviticus 8-9
Exodus 25:8- Chapter 30
Exodus 36-40
1 Peter 2:9
Jesus (Yeshua) was in Jerusalem during the time of Channukah: John 10:22

Shalom and Happy Channukah (day 7)
John 8:31-32
Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Channukah is NOT one of the 7 Annual Feasts of God, but is based upon history.
Purim (book of Ester) also; celebrated in the Spring.
These are celebrations of God's deliverance, and setting the redeemed free from oppression (slavery to sin, the power of deception, death.)

I've finally gotten over mourning the end of all the traditions and beliefs that had us deceieved and that do oppress the redeemed (Daniel 7:25 AMP) when they're allowed to rule and/ or influence our lives ( thoughts, habits, choices.)

The pagan holidays of "Christmas" and Easter, whose dates and most of the rituals and traditions I've grown up with associated with them I've been learning are based upon demon-worship, child sacrifcies and sexual perversions. Established LONG before the birth of Yeshua, which definatley was not on December 25, nor even during the winter time. I also have gotten over mouring the ignoring of the traditions for Halloween. That used to be my favaorite holiday of the year. Before I met Yeshua. Talk about a GREAT EXCHANGE: deceptions and distractions that suck life, to super abundant life and absolute truth.

Now that I've "stepped back" away from the commitments and obligations and emotional attachments associated with the whole "Christmas" thing, God has shown me how blessed I am not to be sucked into all that stress, and I am now truly grateful that once again, Yeshua has set me free from another deception, since He is now Lord over our lives and time.

God is so faithful, and has blessed us through trusting Him throughout this past year - in so many ways I never could have imgined, through the experience of doing life and time God's way.

HalleluYAH!!

[eema.gray]

Dec. 16, 2009 at 10:38 AM

Historically, Hanukkah was probably a delayed celebration of Sukkot.  The Macabbean Jews couldn't observe that festival because it was one of the pilgramage festival and the Temple/Jerusalem were over run with Greeks at the time; also because they were fighting at the time the festival occurred.  So it only seemed natural to them that when they finally won back the Temple, they would celebrate Sukkot, out of season, yes, but with great thanksgiving none the less for having restored the Temple.

I'm a Jew by choice and this time of year is SO hard; I love Christmas carols and Hanukkah just don't have the same aural appeal.