He had a broad face, and a little round belly
That shook when he laugh’d, like a bowl full of jelly:
Santa’s little round belly is covered by his bright red suit, which is held together by a beautiful leather belt, which no doubt has been a centerpiece of his wardrobe for centuries!
You have a mighty belt as well, which has been a centerpiece of the Christian life for over 2,000 years, the belt of Truth!
The belt of Truth holds everything together because it is not only God’s Word:
John 17:17
Sanctify them[a] in the Truth; your word is Truth.
The belt of Truth is also the person of Jesus:
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the Truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Without the belt of Truth tight around our core, we will undoubtedly get caught with our pants down! Who wants that?!
For Christian warriors, the belt of Truth holds everything together, including a place to hold your weapon, which is the Sword of the Spirit, or the Word of God!
Without the Truth as a strong foundation, everything will fall apart.
Do you have the belt of Truth fastened tightly around your core? Or has it been loosened up so many times that it has fallen off completely?
Our culture has a way of convincing us that we need to loosen up that belt a bit and make room for its ideas (which are lies). This insidious creeping of cultural and moral change (in the name of progress) is egregious to our Lord.
How do I know this?
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
It is comforting to know God never changes, and his truths don’t change either. The more we read and see those truths, the more accurately our lives are informed.
Christmas is a beautiful time of year to come back to the truths of our Lord and Savior and recommit our lives to Him, who is the author of all Truth.
SECRET SURPRISE
Santa’s Belt of Truth Game!
We are going to create a game based on the concept of Truth, but with a Christmas twist!
These adorable cups look like Santa’s suit and belt!
You can purchase these in mini or large sizes at your local grocery store. I recommend a larger size like the 16 ounce size here.
For the belt, you can use black ribbon or strips of black construction paper.
The fancy jewel is nice, but we can get away with a construction paper buckle in gray or yellow (silver or gold) glued on the black belt.
Make seven Santa belt cups.
The next step is where it gets fun and YOU get to be creative and decide what you want to do!
These seven truths will be the launching pad for our game.
Idea #1
Write or print the seven phrases on a small squares of paper and tape it to a popsicle stick. Put one stick in each cup (you can tape it to the inside of fill the cup with rice and stand the stick in the middle).
*Bounce a ping pong ball until it lands in a cup. Whichever phrase is in the cup is copy work for the day.
OR
*Use as a discussion point for Bible time and look up verses that support the phrase. Share times when you applied this truth in your life and what happened.
Idea #2
Print or write multiple copies of each phrase, fold and fill cups with phrases (each cup will have all the phrases).
Each child draws a paper out of a cup and must look for applications of that truth in the family, or in current events during the day. In the evening, share observations with each other.
Example:
Susie draws, “Truth is meant to be shared with others”.
During the day a neighbor friend comes over to play. Susie listens as the friend shares she lied to her parents. Susie is able to tell her that Jesus loves her and wants her to be adopted into his family. He also wants us to be honest and never lie, and encourages her to tell her parents the truth.
What ideas have you come up with using the cups and phrases?
These table scapes are an inspiration for you to consider hosting a Christmas luncheon!
Use the Santa belt cups at each place setting. You could write one of the phrases or a verse on the back of each cup in black Sharpie.
Most of the images on the internet are very elaborate, but a children’s Christmas luncheon could be very simple and everyone would have a grand time!
See you back on the blog tomorrow for day #22!