5 Minutes with Jesus is a daily devotional series for people in the midst of real life, whether facing anxiety, grief, questions of purpose, or simply needing encouragement and connection. Hosted by Sheila Walsh, each five-minute episode offers Biblical truth, honest reflections on faith and emotions, and closes with a moment of prayer.
Closed captions
Show Timecode
| Sheila Walsh: The Real Gift of Christmas | 5 Minutes with Jesus | December 25, 2025
- I really encourage you this christmas.
- 00:00:00.256 --> 00:00:03.026
- Find a few minutes away from all the noise and the hustle.
- 00:00:03.026 --> 00:00:07.497
- And just sit in the presence of the christ child.
- 00:00:07.497 --> 00:00:12.102
- And remember that things were pretty bleak on this earth.
- 00:00:12.102 --> 00:00:16.506
- Until that day when the angels split the sky
- 00:00:16.506 --> 00:00:19.843
- And brought good news, good tidings to all people.
- 00:00:19.843 --> 00:00:24.180
- Peace on earth.
- 00:00:24.180 --> 00:00:29.052
- So barry and i were married in december,
- 00:00:29.919 --> 00:00:32.222
- Which meant that our very first
- 00:00:32.222 --> 00:00:34.124
- Christmas together, we'd only been together
- 00:00:34.124 --> 00:00:35.992
- For about a couple of weeks. i was so excited.
- 00:00:35.992 --> 00:00:38.962
- I've always loved christmas, and i couldn't
- 00:00:38.962 --> 00:00:42.165
- Wait for us to decorate our very first tree.
- 00:00:42.165 --> 00:00:45.535
- And so we went. and we got a tree.
- 00:00:45.535 --> 00:00:47.170
- I insisted on being a real tree.
- 00:00:47.170 --> 00:00:48.972
- I didn't want a plastic one.
- 00:00:48.972 --> 00:00:50.373
- I wanted a real tree
- 00:00:50.373 --> 00:00:51.508
- Because my mum had
- 00:00:51.508 --> 00:00:52.642
- The same little poor tree that we brought out
- 00:00:52.642 --> 00:00:55.645
- And dusted every year.
- 00:00:55.645 --> 00:00:56.913
- I wanted one that smelled like christmas and it was beautiful.
- 00:00:56.913 --> 00:01:00.850
- And so we got ready to decorate it.
- 00:01:00.850 --> 00:01:02.886
- And as i'm putting ornaments on, barry said to me,
- 00:01:02.886 --> 00:01:06.623
- Those are not equidistant.
- 00:01:06.623 --> 00:01:09.292
- I was like, i have no idea what you're talking about.
- 00:01:09.292 --> 00:01:11.227
- I said, what do you mean?
- 00:01:11.227 --> 00:01:12.529
- He said, well,
- 00:01:12.529 --> 00:01:13.396
- That one's two inches from that one,
- 00:01:13.396 --> 00:01:15.165
- And that one's four inches from that one.
- 00:01:15.165 --> 00:01:18.001
- And i'm like, i know.
- 00:01:18.001 --> 00:01:19.202
- Why does that matter? and he said, they have to be right.
- 00:01:19.202 --> 00:01:21.838
- I locked myself in the toilet
- 00:01:21.838 --> 00:01:23.139
- And thought, lord, what have i done?
- 00:01:23.139 --> 00:01:25.175
- I've married a crazy person.
- 00:01:25.175 --> 00:01:27.610
- So let's fast forward to just,
- 00:01:27.610 --> 00:01:30.914
- I don't know, a couple of weeks ago.
- 00:01:30.914 --> 00:01:33.049
- Barry had been looking at,
- 00:01:33.049 --> 00:01:36.319
- Nativity scenes that go in the in the front yard.
- 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:39.923
- And we live in a townhouse.
- 00:01:39.923 --> 00:01:42.125
- It's not very big.
- 00:01:42.125 --> 00:01:42.992
- We have a fairly small front yard.
- 00:01:42.992 --> 00:01:45.562
- And he was looking at these huge and and i'm like, barry,
- 00:01:45.562 --> 00:01:48.031
- We can't put that up in our yard.
- 00:01:48.031 --> 00:01:49.732
- I mean, that will cover the whole yard.
- 00:01:49.732 --> 00:01:51.801
- You know what our neighbor's going to think.
- 00:01:51.801 --> 00:01:53.636
- And he said, well, last year we only put out nutcrackers.
- 00:01:53.636 --> 00:01:57.006
- And that does not speak of the gift of christ for christmas.
- 00:01:57.006 --> 00:02:00.476
- I was like, absolutely right.
- 00:02:00.476 --> 00:02:02.312
- So could you get one that's not too big?
- 00:02:02.312 --> 00:02:04.547
- And he said, so he was looking at them
- 00:02:04.547 --> 00:02:06.349
- And then he came across one and he said,
- 00:02:06.349 --> 00:02:07.750
- Look at this merry and joseph and the baby and the angel.
- 00:02:07.750 --> 00:02:11.521
- And i said, well, that's, that's lovely.
- 00:02:11.521 --> 00:02:13.323
- And the colors are fairly muted and they're not too big.
- 00:02:13.323 --> 00:02:16.793
- And he said, okay, i'm going to order that.
- 00:02:17.660 --> 00:02:19.462
- And then he said, i think i'll order the three wise men.
- 00:02:19.462 --> 00:02:22.599
- And i'm like, no, we do not have room in our yard
- 00:02:22.599 --> 00:02:26.169
- For the three wise men.
- 00:02:26.169 --> 00:02:29.539
- Apparently he thought we did.
- 00:02:29.539 --> 00:02:31.908
- So when i came home from a trip,
- 00:02:31.908 --> 00:02:35.111
- There's mary and joseph
- 00:02:35.111 --> 00:02:36.746
- And the baby in the yard, and they look lovely.
- 00:02:36.746 --> 00:02:39.182
- And it's a nice way of saying
- 00:02:39.182 --> 00:02:40.483
- This is what christmas means to us as a family.
- 00:02:40.483 --> 00:02:43.920
- But on the other part of our lawn,
- 00:02:43.920 --> 00:02:46.389
- We're the three wise men.
- 00:02:46.389 --> 00:02:48.391
- Barry had obviously got them from a separate company,
- 00:02:48.391 --> 00:02:51.661
- As they are not in proportion
- 00:02:51.661 --> 00:02:54.397
- To mary and joseph and the baby jesus.
- 00:02:54.397 --> 00:02:58.501
- They looked like three huge
- 00:02:58.501 --> 00:03:01.170
- Monsters about to attack the holy family.
- 00:03:01.170 --> 00:03:05.408
- I remember looking at and just thinking, oh my gosh,
- 00:03:05.408 --> 00:03:09.145
- Nothing has changed.
- 00:03:09.579 --> 00:03:10.747
- We've been married for 31 years and nothing has changed.
- 00:03:10.747 --> 00:03:13.383
- And then i thought, you know what? that's not right.
- 00:03:13.383 --> 00:03:16.219
- Everything is changed.
- 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:18.988
- You know, i remember
- 00:03:18.988 --> 00:03:19.822
- In the first years of our marriage
- 00:03:19.822 --> 00:03:21.090
- Where things would happen and i would think it's a disaster.
- 00:03:21.090 --> 00:03:23.593
- And how are we going to make it through that?
- 00:03:23.593 --> 00:03:25.895
- One of the things that i've learned through the years,
- 00:03:25.895 --> 00:03:28.431
- And with each christmas
- 00:03:28.431 --> 00:03:29.632
- That we've gone through together, is the beautiful work
- 00:03:29.632 --> 00:03:33.036
- Only god can do in a life.
- 00:03:33.036 --> 00:03:35.772
- I don't think there's any place other than marriage
- 00:03:35.772 --> 00:03:39.742
- That really gives us a space and grace
- 00:03:39.742 --> 00:03:42.345
- To become more like jesus.
- 00:03:42.345 --> 00:03:44.347
- Because with friends or people at church,
- 00:03:44.347 --> 00:03:46.316
- You know you can put a good face on things for a while,
- 00:03:46.316 --> 00:03:49.719
- But you know, and then you're good
- 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:51.721
- And you come home and the real you comes out.
- 00:03:51.721 --> 00:03:53.389
- But when you're married, you're there.
- 00:03:53.389 --> 00:03:55.591
- All, all of you is there.
- 00:03:55.591 --> 00:03:56.959
- The good, the bad and the ugly.
- 00:03:56.959 --> 00:03:59.696
- And one of the most amazing things to me,
- 00:03:59.696 --> 00:04:01.597
- Because i want to say this to you,
- 00:04:01.597 --> 00:04:03.232
- Who maybe feel a little discourage this christmas,
- 00:04:03.232 --> 00:04:05.935
- Maybe is you're looking forward to family coming.
- 00:04:05.935 --> 00:04:08.338
- You're thinking things are not the way they should be.
- 00:04:08.338 --> 00:04:10.873
- Maybe there's some broken relationships
- 00:04:10.873 --> 00:04:13.109
- Within your family,
- 00:04:13.109 --> 00:04:14.277
- Or there's some tension between you and your husband, or
- 00:04:14.277 --> 00:04:16.779
- You and your wife.
- 00:04:16.779 --> 00:04:18.648
- To me,
- 00:04:18.881 --> 00:04:20.016
- That's where the gift of christmas really comes in.
- 00:04:20.016 --> 00:04:23.252
- Christ came to bring peace on earth.
- 00:04:23.252 --> 00:04:27.256
- Not that we would be just nice to one another,
- 00:04:27.256 --> 00:04:30.693
- But that we would realize that every single one of us
- 00:04:30.693 --> 00:04:33.496
- Is on a journey to become more like jesus.
- 00:04:33.496 --> 00:04:37.066
- I was thinking about my husband this morning and,
- 00:04:37.066 --> 00:04:41.337
- You know, he said, there's a few more boxes arriving.
- 00:04:41.337 --> 00:04:43.539
- I have no idea if we're probably getting camels
- 00:04:43.539 --> 00:04:45.375
- And donkeys and goodness knows what,
- 00:04:45.375 --> 00:04:47.977
- But the great to me, the christmas miracle is
- 00:04:47.977 --> 00:04:50.913
- The love that the lord has given us for each other.
- 00:04:50.913 --> 00:04:53.883
- Because let me just tell you, we have been in times
- 00:04:53.883 --> 00:04:56.085
- And seasons where i thought, we're not going to make it.
- 00:04:56.085 --> 00:04:58.221
- It was too hard. we're two different.
- 00:04:58.221 --> 00:05:00.390
- But when you have two people
- 00:05:00.957 --> 00:05:03.493
- Who both love jesus and have said, okay,
- 00:05:03.493 --> 00:05:06.629
- You are not going to fix me and i am not going to fix you.
- 00:05:06.629 --> 00:05:10.066
- But we both could come to the lord
- 00:05:10.066 --> 00:05:12.301
- And we both can learn how to forgive
- 00:05:12.301 --> 00:05:14.637
- And how to let things go.
- 00:05:14.637 --> 00:05:17.073
- It just makes for it.
- 00:05:17.073 --> 00:05:19.175
- Makes for a christmas miracle every day of the year.
- 00:05:19.175 --> 00:05:22.478
- And so that's kind of my prayer for you.
- 00:05:23.312 --> 00:05:24.814
- And honestly, from all of us here at tbn and your tbn family,
- 00:05:24.814 --> 00:05:28.818
- We're praying that this christmas you would
- 00:05:29.685 --> 00:05:32.188
- Experience the peace of christ in a deep and meaningful way.
- 00:05:32.188 --> 00:05:36.259
- We get crazy busy and we run around
- 00:05:36.259 --> 00:05:38.494
- Getting everything we think we need
- 00:05:38.494 --> 00:05:40.129
- And spending too much money and ordering too much food.
- 00:05:40.129 --> 00:05:43.966
- But i really encourage you, this christmas,
- 00:05:43.966 --> 00:05:46.903
- Find a few minutes away from all the noise and the hustle
- 00:05:46.903 --> 00:05:51.374
- And just sit in the presence of the christ child.
- 00:05:51.374 --> 00:05:55.978
- And remember that things were pretty bleak on this earth
- 00:05:55.978 --> 00:06:00.416
- Until that day when the angels split the sky
- 00:06:00.416 --> 00:06:03.719
- And brought good news, good tidings to all people.
- 00:06:03.719 --> 00:06:08.057
- Peace on earth.
- 00:06:08.057 --> 00:06:10.293
- That's my prayer for you and for your family this year.
- 00:06:10.293 --> 00:06:13.663
- You don't have to get everything right.
- 00:06:13.663 --> 00:06:15.898
- If you burn the turkey a little bit, it's
- 00:06:15.898 --> 00:06:17.767
- Okay. you don't have to have
- 00:06:17.767 --> 00:06:19.368
- The perfect sides of the perfect gifts.
- 00:06:19.368 --> 00:06:22.438
- But i used to hate that as a child.
- 00:06:22.438 --> 00:06:24.373
- We had one aunt weigh up north, and she would give my brother
- 00:06:24.373 --> 00:06:27.543
- Things like, a tennis racket or a table tennis set.
- 00:06:27.543 --> 00:06:31.447
- She would knit me a hat, a really ugly hat.
- 00:06:31.447 --> 00:06:35.384
- You don't have to have the perfect presents.
- 00:06:35.384 --> 00:06:38.354
- Every single one of us who have placed our trust in
- 00:06:38.354 --> 00:06:41.224
- Jesus has been given the perfect gift.
- 00:06:41.224 --> 00:06:44.494
- And that is christ himself.
- 00:06:45.094 --> 00:06:46.896
- Let me pray for you
- 00:06:46.896 --> 00:06:48.931
- All. and i just want to say
- 00:06:49.532 --> 00:06:50.566
- Thank you that you are the gift of christmas.
- 00:06:50.566 --> 00:06:53.703
- I thank you that you were willing
- 00:06:53.703 --> 00:06:55.004
- To leave the glory of heaven to come to a place where you knew
- 00:06:55.004 --> 00:06:59.175
- That you would be treated so poorly, betrayed and executed,
- 00:06:59.175 --> 00:07:03.679
- But you did it because you love us.
- 00:07:03.679 --> 00:07:06.616
- So i pray right now for anyone who's listening, who's facing
- 00:07:06.616 --> 00:07:10.753
- Difficult situations in their life, difficult things
- 00:07:11.787 --> 00:07:14.223
- With family, challenging times in marriage,
- 00:07:14.223 --> 00:07:17.059
- Challenging times with their children.
- 00:07:17.059 --> 00:07:19.328
- Lord, would you give us the space
- 00:07:19.328 --> 00:07:21.163
- And grace to rest in your peace this christmas
- 00:07:21.163 --> 00:07:24.367
- So that we can remember that when you came, you spoke?
- 00:07:24.367 --> 00:07:27.803
- Peace on earth, peace to our families,
- 00:07:27.803 --> 00:07:30.806
- And we speak that over our life.
- 00:07:30.806 --> 00:07:32.341
- So in jesus name,
- 00:07:32.341 --> 00:07:34.944
- Amen.
- 00:07:35.177 --> 00:07:35.177
