Romans 15:13, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Hello everyone, I pray as we get closer to Christmas that some normalcy has begun to settle in your household, and you will be able to enjoy time with family and friends. Throughout the past couple of years, the Lord has impressed upon me the depths at which isolation and solitude can affect, and to a more extreme measure, destroy a person’s mental and physical health. Isolation, if not overcome by the word and love of God, could overtake and eventually subdue a person’s very existence. When a person is in isolation without any depth of the Word of God within their soul, they may find themselves focusing solely on self. A focus on self without any outside intervention could open the door for a spirit of depression or oppression. Throughout the pandemic, we can see how the evil forces of this world worked through society as people became disconnected and separated from others. Let’s look at verse 1 Peter 5:8,”Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” When a person is isolated, they typically do not have the support or encouragement they find within a network of family, friends or fellow church members. Separation from family and friends that love you is not the will of our Father. His desire is that we would celebrate and support each other. We can see this in the celebration of the return of the Prodigal Son or even the Shepard that goes out to find the one lost sheep and leaves the 99 behind. God is a God of relationship and love. God desires we enjoy company with others and above all, we enjoy His company through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the reason for this season willingly gave Himself on the cross for our sins that we may have the opportunity to have a One-on-one relationship with our Creator. Jesus Christ opens the door that we may receive the free gift of salvation that is based on love, not works, not something that can be purchased, but something that has been freely offered. An unconditional love found in His redemption that forgives all wrongs and overlooks offenses. A true expression of love is not in expensive gifts or how much you can spend. This actually makes me think of a situation I saw several years back. You know those last minute runs to the store, in this instance the Dollar Tree. There was an elderly lady buying Christmas presents for a young boy and girl. It was a doll and several boy toys that were for younger children, but the emotion I felt from this simple act was beyond anything I could have expected. This simple act of love contradicted any excuse I have heard in the past when someone says, I did not have enough money to purchase a gift or did not have the time. You could tell this was the extent of what this woman could afford, but she was there, making the effort and more importantly, through her selfless giving, she was expressing a love that has no bounds. I tell this story not because she was spending money on gifts, but from the heart she was doing what she could within her means. It was the thought, not the amount that she spent. This world encourages people to run up credit cards and go in debt to celebrate what it has so cunningly changed to its perspective of what this season should be about. Through media and the influence of marketing, society has focused on gifts and the amount of expense when, all we are called to do is love, love God with all our hearts and love each other as we desire to be loved. Love can be genuinely found in a word of encouragement, a kind gesture, a hug, a thoughtful phone call, text, email, card or letter. Love is expressed in personal thoughtfulness and the enrichment a person finds when someone truly shows love from the heart. People know when you are sincere and when you are not, I would encourage you this Christmas to look inside yourself and ask why you are doing what you do? Are you conforming to this world and commercializing Christmas as pushed by society or are you walking in love, showing true affection from the heart when you share this season with family and friends? If you are conforming, the hardest thing to do is step out of the norm and be the difference, show the light and live out the Reason. The Reason is Jesus Christ and the season is for Love, His Love, an unconditional Love that transcends offense, unforgiveness and hurt. The love God showed when He gave His only begotten Son to be the sacrifice that you and I could not attain to.
I pray each and every one of you have a Merry Christmas and may the Peace, Joy and Love of Jesus Christ fill your time together and may His blessings pour out upon you all this next year!
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