The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - All I Want for Christmas

Episode Date: December 16, 2022

What do you want for Christmas? During this time of year, there is a lot of emphasis on what we want. However, not many people know what it is in life that will truly make us happy and what we really need. Jeff shares that the answer to what we want and need can be found in God. Snippet from the Show Jesus is the true gift that we receive at Christmas. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

Welcome to the Jeff Kaven Show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together in living as activated disciples. This is show 301, All I Want for Christmas. Well, thank you again, my friend, for joining me this week. as we discuss on this show, the Jeff Kaven Show, everything we can about scripture and becoming a disciple and getting to know the Lord's voice in our life and living a life that is above and beyond anything we thought we could do. That's what being a Christian is all about. That's what being a follower of Jesus is all about. That is a disciple, or what I like to call an activated disciple. I want to talk to you today about this phrase, all I want for Christmas. You know, there's been a lot of

songs out there for sure. All I want for Christmas, my two front teeth. Well, that only happen once. But there's all kinds of songs about Christmas and gifts and mistletoe and Santa Claus and Rudolph and so forth, candy, eggnog, everything. But I want to talk to you about something that is really deep within your heart, something that, I guess, cuts through all of the noise out there. right now and the politics and, you know, we've got so much going on with the fall of FTX. And there's people wondering who they can trust and what's the future look like. I want to cut through all of that today. And I want to talk to you and your heart, all I want for Christmas. And I'm going to ask you that question in just a little bit. And so I want to kind of guide you to that

place. By the way, I do have some scriptures today. And if you do want scriptures, if you've been with me, you know the show notes are worth it right there. I give you all the scriptures and any kind of quote, I put those in the show notes, and all you've got to do is text my name, one word, Jeff Kaven's, J-E-F-F-C-A-V-I-N-S. And you can text that to the number 3-3-7-7. How biblical can you get? 3-3-7-7. So you get the show notes, and I like to remind you of that. every show because a lot of people will listen to the show in the car or they're running and they want to remember that verse but they don't have a pen in hand or paper so i've done that for you well i should say our our incredible team at ascension presents they did it for you and uh kudos to them

so you know in 1994 you know that song mariah carey uh saying that song all i want for christmas and that song, there's been a lot of polls taken, and that song seems to rise to the top now every year. I mean, in some circles, it has eclipsed Holy Night, it's Eclipsed Santa Claus is coming to town and all those songs. And it's estimated that it has sold over, get this, 14 million copies. 14 million copies. But the thing that really caught my attention about that song, All I Want for Christmas by Mariah Carey, is a study that was done in 2016 by The Economist.

And the economist took a look at that song, and they guessed, it's a guestimation. They guessed, and it's a very educated guest, as to what she would make, you know, on royalties on that song, and anything related to that song that comes back to her, how much would she make per year from one, song. Take a guess. What do you think it is? If you guessed $100,000, way low. Five hundred, way low. A million, way low. Million and a half, way low. Two million, way low. Two point five million per

year from that song. That's amazing, isn't it? All I want for Christmas. I don't want a lot for Christmas. There's just one thing I need. I don't care about the presents under the Christmas tree. I just want you for my own more than you could ever know make my wish come true all i want for christmas is you well it goes on and on and i'm not going to sing that i do do neil diamond from time to time but i do not do maria carrie i don't sing her songs very well i never do publicly but uh the reason i brought up that song is that the time for christmas is a time where people start to think what they do want. And Christmas, actually, as you know, is really all about Jesus. And it's about Jesus being born over 2,000 years ago. And somehow, some way, we turned it around and started

giving each other gifts and kind of forgot about Jesus. And certainly today, you know, right about Thanksgiving time, everything changes around. All kinds of decorations come out. The storefronts are different and it's just all about getting each other gifts and credit cards and and in a lot of cases people buy things for others that those others didn't really want and so there's an art now to returning gifts and getting what you wanted and then people started to just give people gift cards and said here you go get it because we don't know what you want more importantly they don't know what you need. What you want and what you need are two different things, aren't they?

Sometimes I say, I want something, but the truth of the matter is I don't really need it. I may say to someone, boy, I'd really like to have this as a gift. I want that. Where my wife, as she was listening in, she'd say, honey, that's not what you need. That's what you want, but what you really need is fill in the blank. So Jesus is the gift. The whole issue of Christmas is the birth of God through the Virgin Mary 2,000 years ago. That's Christmas.

It is a Bethlehem story. It's the story of the shepherds. It's the story of Jesus being born in a cave in Bethlehem. God became one of us, and he paid the ultimate price for our sin, and he showed us how to live. And he came for you in accordance with the will of the Father. He came for you. And so I just want to focus for a moment here on Jesus is the gift.

He is the gift. He is the gift of life. He's the gift every morning when we wake up. He is the gift to the world. For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son. that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life. You know that verse. John 316, that's the baseball verse right behind home plate.

For God's so loved you. I'd like you just to put your name in there for a moment. I'm going to pause when I say that. I just want you to say me, like in you, okay? For God so loved that he gave his only begotten son for you. for you my friend so i want to ask you a question what do you want for christmas not what what do you want someone to give you but what would it be like if you could ask jesus for anything most likely it's not going to be a physical thing most people that's an interesting little study right there but

most people if you give them the ultimate ask of jesus they're not going to say a car they're not going to say a new home most likely they're not going to say physical things but if it is physical, it's likely related to security and peace of mind. You know, I want a place for my family so we can be secure. But most people, if you ask them, what do you want from Jesus? It's going to typically be an intangible thing. It's something intangible. It's something that brings a peace, a joy, a happiness in their life.

We started learning about this when we were kids, didn't we? we started asking when we were kids we started to focus but as a child as a child we're focused on what we want not what we need we're focused on what we want and so santa claus is the is the focus of the big ask right he's the focus of this ask this list that we have prepared for him we all know what it is like to visit santa claus from growing up you remember that you i went through some pictures the other day, and I have some of the most embarrassing pictures of me when I was in kindergarten. My parents thought it was cute. Not so much now.

But I remember all those early times of going to Santa Claus, and you dream before you go to sit on Santa's lap. Perhaps you write down a list of things that you want, you know? Kind of like Ralphie on the Christmas story. He wanted that Red Rider rifle, you know, that BB gun. And that's all he could think about. And his life was consumed with getting that BB guy. He wanted that.

His mom and dad didn't want him to have it. His teacher didn't want him to have it. Even Santa didn't want him to have it because he had shoot his eye out. They didn't think he needed it, but he wanted it. So you practice asking, and you make sure that the most important thing is on the top of the list. You tell others. You tell others what you're going to ask for. Then that day rolls around and you meet Santa and you're nervous and you make sure you might even have your list.

He says, ho, ho, ho. And what can I give you, little Jeff? And you, at that point, you say exactly what it is that you want. And he says, you've been a good boy. All right. And I don't know if I don't remember Santa ever gave me the absolute you got it, kid. But he said enough to make me hope. that that's what's going to happen.

So afterwards, you tell other people, and then when Christmas rolls around, you know what your mind will be on, right? You wake up in the morning right away. You want to go look around that tree and see if Santa came through. Well, that's what we did as children. We ask for what we wanted.

We ask for what we wanted. But now we are mature. Now we're adults. And now the focus is on, what do you need? What do you need? We'll talk more about that. Right after this, you're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. The most important person ever to walk the face of the earth.

The source and summit of all things Catholic. But do we really know him? Hi, I'm Dr. Marchalino D'Ambrosio, sometimes known as Dr. Italy. For 30 years, I've taught about Jesus in Catholic University classrooms, on TV, and on radio. And I've been surprised at how Catholic. fascinated with so many of the unique features of the rich Catholic tradition seemed to take for granted the very basis of it all, the person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

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Welcome back. We're talking about our meeting with Santa. And when we were kids, we asked Santa what we want. But prior to the break, I mentioned to you that now that we're adults, now that we're mature, now that we are beyond childhood, now it's not what I want. Now it's what I need. It's what I need. And what you wanted came from Santa.

What you need comes from Jesus. I remember sharing Christ with a woman who was, I'll just say she was quite hostile toward the Catholic Church. This was about three years ago, four years ago. She was very hostile about the Catholic Church. When she learned that I was Catholic, this was at an outdoor dinner place, when she learned that I was Catholic, she got angry and she started talking to me, and I started to share with her the good news, the chrygma, the proclamation of the gospel. God loves you. Has an amazing plan for your life. Sin has disrupted this plan in a big way. Jesus died for you. He died for you, and he's asking you now to completely and radically reorient

your life to him. When I shared the gospel with her, I shared the gift of Christmas with her, it was about 20 minutes after the conversation began. I looked at her. and I asked her this question. I'll use the name Helen. It wasn't Helen, but I'll use that. I said, Helen, if you could ask Jesus for anything, and if he were here in the flesh today, and you could ask him for anything, what would it be?

And she looked at me, and her face changed, it became soft. She looked down, and then she looked over at one of her friends that were with her, and then she looked down and she looked back up at me, and I could see that her eyes were filling with tears. And then her chin started to quiver and her lips. And she looked up at me with tears just right at the edge of falling out of her eyes, and she looked and she said, I just want to be happy.

And I said, Helen, me too. me too most of us would say i just want to be happy and you know what i believe jesus wants you to be happy i believe jesus wants you to be whole and healed i believe that he wants you to experience shalom in your life i really do and so now we turn our attention to the asking jesus who is the gift given to us by the Father at Christmas, if you could sit with Jesus, like John rested his head on the breast of Jesus, it was so close to Jesus, if you could ask Jesus for anything this Christmas, for anything, what would it be? What would it be? We're going to do that at the end of this show. We're going to ask Jesus. I'm going to walk you

through that. I'm going to do it myself. Because I think Jesus is the, let me say that differently. I know that Jesus is the gift. And I know he wants to give us life and life more abundantly. I know that. And we're beyond the toys, aren't we? We should be. We're beyond the toys. We're beyond the things. We are in great need. In great need. Listen to this. Matthew 7. Jesus said, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be open to you. For everyone who asks, receives. The one who seeks finds. And to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. and then he backs that up by saying which which of you if your son asks for bread will give him a stone

or if he asks for a fish he'll give him a snake if you then though you are evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him so in everything do to others what you would have them do to you for this sums up the law and the prophets isn't that beautiful when i read that It's just so plain. It just reminds me that God has given us his son as a gift. And contained within that gift is everything that we need, every aspect of your need, whether it's peace, whether it's contentment, whether it's wisdom, whether it is love, whether it is empathy, whatever it is, Jesus has it. patience. Whatever you would ask for Jesus for Christmas this year, it is within him. And he gives

himself to you in the Eucharist. That is so beautiful. Matthew 21, 22, these will be in the show notes. Jesus says, and all things you ask in prayer, believing you will receive. You know, I put a tremendous confidence in Jesus' word, and that when we pray according to Him, His will, and Lord, may your will be done, and we ask, according to his will, I am confident that he hears me, and I'm confident that he is going to answer my prayer. I'm not saying he's going to say yes to everything I ask because, well, I'll be honest with this. Sometimes my ask is more in the want side than the need side. But when I cry out to God, and I cry out to him and say, I need this in my life, I need this in my children's lives. I believe he hears us, and I believe that he will put things into motion.

I believe that. Faith is when we make mental assent and we agree with God and His will, and then we entrust ourselves to Him. Psalm 37-4, delight yourself in the Lord, and he'll give you the desires of your heart. That is beautiful. So I just, I just wanted to take the time today to say, I love you, and Jesus loves you. And this year for Christmas, I know it's so busy, man, some of us are still recovering from Thanksgiving, right? It just, there's so much, there's so much that we gain so little. And we need to push through all of this.

We need to cut through all of it and just focus on. on Jesus and you specifically you leaning against the heart of Jesus and Jesus holding you in his arms and saying ask me for what you need and I'll give it to you ask me for what you need ask me for what you need the entire climax of the song all I want for Christmas by Mariah Carey is she wants a guy. That's it. She wants a guy. For you and me, that guy is God. That guy is a creator of the universe. That guy is your bridegroom. That guy is the one who made this sacrifice so that you could live for eternity. That, my friend, is the gift of all gifts. And today, you and I can pray right now. As we lean back on the breast of Jesus, we can say Jesus. Jesus. This is what I'm asking for this

year. Maybe that's not just for you. Maybe it's for your family, your kids, your parents, coworkers, neighbor, whoever. So I want to pray with you right now. And I want to pray with you. And as I pray, I'd like you to pray with me. And then at one point in the prayer, I'm going to ask you to just vocalize wherever you're at. If it's in the car, running, taking a walk, morning devotions, whatever. I want you to verbalize today what you are asking Jesus for. What is the need in your life? Remember, we're older now.

This isn't what we want. This is what we need. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, I thank you today for every year for Christmas, that we have an opportunity to celebrate the great incarnation where you changed everything. And you came and you dwelt among us to show us how to live and you offered yourself up as a offering for our sin. You have set us free. You have given us eternal life. What more could we really ask for? But in the midst of this journey, Lord, there's so many things that need in our lives.

And, Lord, we just cut through all of the noise and all of the commotion of the Christmas season to look you in the eyes and say, Jesus, I need you. I need you more than ever. And, Lord, if I could ask you for anything beyond you, if I could ask for anything that's found within you, it would be. I want you to just focalize that right now, my friend. Jesus said to you right now, what do you need? I want you to say it right now. What is it? Amen. Lord, we ask you at this time of the year, you are the great gift. We thank you, Lord, for giving yourself to us. And we have mentioned to you, what we need in our life.

And we exercise our faith today. We believe all things we ask for in prayer, believing we will receive. We delight ourselves in you, O Lord, and we know that you will give us the desires of our heart. You'll give us the right desires of our heart. My friend, I love you. And over the next couple of weeks, I do have shows, small shows, over the next couple weeks, before the new year.

so stay tuned and remember all i want for christmas is you jesus god bless you look forward to talk