While this can be such a fun and exciting time of year it can also be exhausting.  The kids are on break and there are always last-minute things to do and the cooking and baking and preparing for either travel or maybe relatives coming and sometimes you can feel like you need a vacation after it is all said and done!  It can also be a difficult time for those who will be spending their first Christmas without a loved one who has passed.  Make sure to take some time for you to just be still and allow Him to help you rest in Him.

Jesus was all about making sure that there were times to get away from all of the hustle and bustle and have quiet time and time to rest.  God the Father is also very adamant about taking time for rest that is why He gave the command to take one day a week and rest, it’s for you.  God set that time because He knows that our bodies and minds need that time to just relax from everything that taxes us physically, mentally, and emotionally.  So, Jesus is inviting you to make sure you take time for yourself during this busy time.  Take the time to have fun, to laugh, to enjoy the people you love, and to just relax.  This is a great time to pull out some board games and play them as a family.  I remember one year when my parents were still here and we were all home for Christmas and we (their adult children) decided to play this game called “Spoons” at the dining room table.  I don’t remember all of the rules but there were spoons in the middle of the table and it was somewhat like musical chairs in the sense that at a point in the game, everyone had to grab a spoon and if you didn’t get one you were out.  Well… at one point when we were all grabbing for spoons one shot off the table and almost hit the glass on Mom’s china cabinet!  All of a sudden we all reverted back to being children when Mom walked in to see what was going on and then we all cracked up laughing.  It’s those times and memories that last a lifetime though.  God wants you to have fun and enjoy life and family.  

If you are struggling this year make sure you give yourself some grace and don’t push yourself beyond what really needs to be done.  Ask God for His guidance and peace.  He loves you and He is saying you can rest in Him.  If you have lost someone dear to you take some time, if you are up to it, and share some of your favorite memories.

So, while you are hustling to get things done, don’t forget to take time to rest and relax.  Too often everyone gets so caught up in the hustle that they miss the enjoyment of the time together and once the holidays are passed it’s all just a blur.  Don’t let that happen to you this year, make sure you get some time alone with Him and time with your loved ones!

Christmas is approaching quickly!  I love this time of year because everyone seems happier and there’s excitement in the air.  I would just like to encourage you to remind yourself and your family Who you are celebrating and the reason He came.  If you dig into Jesus’ birth, you realize He wasn’t born on December 25th, in fact, that date was chosen because of other pagan celebrations, but the important thing is that we are celebrating the birth of our Lord!  We are celebrating that God provided a way for us to escape eternal judgment for our sins.  He loves us so much that He sent Jesus.

This is such a special time of celebration it would be a shame to allow your children and grandchildren to miss out on what and who it’s all about.  It’s not about getting that perfect gift, especially if it means you are going into debt to do it.  Do that for their birthday instead if that’s what you desire to do, but strive to keep Jesus the focus!  Santa Claus is unfortunately a tool satan uses to not only distract from who we are celebrating, but too many children have been greatly hurt by the lie of it, and some even question then whether or not the story of Jesus is just a story as well.  When my son was only two years old an adult that I didn’t even know argued with him about the existence of Santa until I stepped in.  Then he tried to tell me I was robbing him of the fun but I explained that I wanted my children to grow up knowing that I was always telling them the truth so they would know that Jesus is real!  It breaks my heart to hear how so many children are devastated when they find out years later that it was all a lie.  Children love gifts they don’t need a make-believe character they will be even more happy that it came from you!  If you do the Santa thing, I am not trying to condemn here I am just trying to encourage you to please take some time and pray about it.  We need to start taking the ground back that satan has robbed us of with children, he is after them in so many ways.  Weigh out which is more important to teach them ~ that some mystery man brings them gifts that you go in debt for or that Jesus the Son of God came to earth to save us from our sins.  That mystery man doesn’t love them, but you do and Jesus sure does!  Jesus gave us all the best gift ever!

Remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:14,  Jesus said, “Let the little children come  me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Let’s be intentional in our focus this year as we celebrate Him!  Let’s strive to make it a time of taking the opportunity to share Him with those who don’t know Him!  Ask Him for ways to serve others to show His love and keep Him the center of your celebration!  His best is yet to come!

What is it that you are fearful of today?  There are so many things that satan will throw at you day after day until if you allow it to, it will consume you!  Are you fearful that your husband will cheat on you?  Fearful that your diagnosis will come back as cancer?  Fearful because of the area you live in?  Are you in fear of losing your job or maybe you have and you are wondering if you will ever find a new one?  All of these things are legitimate fears that we face, but what are you going to do with yours?  I am speaking here from experience, I am by no means making light of anything that has you bound up in fear or has stressed you out! Life is full of heartaches, struggles, and fearful stuff because we live in an imperfect world and there will always be heartaches and struggles as long as we live here, but God is still on His throne and He wants us to bring all of these things to Him!  Make sure that the things you are believing about your situation aren’t lies from Hell or all of the “what ifs”! 

Remember who it is that you serve:  Isaiah 43:18-19 says; This is what the Lord says ~ He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”  Just because things haven’t seemed to go your way in the past, or maybe you have lived a life of abuse and neglect, doesn’t mean that you have to continue to experience the same old thing!  God wants to do a new thing in your life!  He can make a path where there is no path just like He did through the waters for the Israelites!  He can make a way that never seemed possible to you before!  Nothing is too difficult for Him!  

So, take today and do what you can.  Pray and ask Him for direction and wisdom for your situation instead of sitting there in fear, be proactive!  If you fear that your spouse could be heading down a wrong path, seek counseling now and start praying together and reading a devotion together every day.  If you fear where you live, pray and ask God if it is time to move and if so for Him to make the way clear!  If your diagnosis comes back unfavorably pray for wisdom for treatments; there are natural doctors out there who have had remarkable outcomes for cancer and other situations ~ I am living proof of that!  Do something, if there is something to do when it comes to what you are fearful of but pray first and seek God’s face!  If you want things to turn out differently this time, maybe you need to do things in a different way!  Ask God to go before you and prepare the way just like He did when He led the Israelites out of Egypt!  He didn’t just leave them at the edge of the Red Sea to be killed by the Egyptians, He made a path for them through the water, not only a path but dry ground for them to walk over on ~ they weren’t even muddy for having had to go through the sea!  He can do the same for you so don’t give up hope!

Quote: “Your past is important because it brought you to where you are, but as important as your past is, it is not nearly as important as the way you see your future.”  ~ Dr Tony Campolo

Simeon was so excited to see Jesus that day and He knew exactly Who He was and why He came!  He came to earth to be our Savior!  John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” He loves us that much!

Let me encourage you to focus on that!  This holiday season, whether you are celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah or maybe you don’t celebrate any of it, let’s all focus on Him!  This is not a time to argue or get hateful about differences it is a time to share the love of God!  There are more than enough things to argue about on social media pages, but why?  I have come to the conclusion that you aren’t going to change their opinion, they are as set in their mind as you are, so what is the point of arguing?  Share His love!  Share your love for Him and let His love speak to the hearts of those around you!  Pray for the people that you know are lost and without Christ because that is what matters!  Pray that God will give you opportunities to show His love to others and that He will fill you with His love and compassion for other people!  Live a life that is different!

The world is a crazy place right now and we need to be focused and praying for opportunities to be a light in all of the darkness.  We as Christians need to set our minds on showing His love and being the godly examples He has called us to be.  There’s enough hatefulness out there, choose to show His love.  Don’t worry about whether or not they agree with you on everything.  Live a life that is full of God and His holiness and love! BE the example! Pray that He will guide you into honoring Him in all that you do!

There’s no going back if you are truly following Him!  Life is difficult, to say the least, and can be overwhelming at times.  Whatever you have faced or are facing today, as the Bible says, “came to pass”.  That means you can’t live there.  

What was one of the things that really irritated God with the Israelites after He brought them out of Egypt?  It was their grumbling and complaining about having left Egypt.  Seriously!  They cried out in Egypt to be rescued from their slave masters who were beating and even killing them, yet when they looked back they wanted to focus on the “crumbs of goodness” instead of the amazing things God was doing and how He was miraculously providing for them.  They kept focusing on the past instead of where God was trying to take them even though the past was terrible.  

Sometimes when we look back we may dwell on the tidbits of good and that is ok, to remember, but you are called to keep pressing forward into all God is trying to move you into.  You cannot focus on your Egypt and gain the Promised Land!  You can learn from your past, but if you choose to live there you are going to be absolutely miserable!  Even if your past was good, you still can’t live there. If you have been wronged by someone and you need to forgive them don’t put it off, it’s only hurting you more, and if you have forgiven them, move on!  Don’t let satan hold you back by dwelling on it, that will just make you frustrated and keep you stuck. Take the good and figure out what it was that made it good, but you cannot recreate your past, people and times change so it is time to focus on what God is calling you to, not where He brought you from whether that was good or bad!  

God loves you and He has a plan and just like He told the Israelites, you need to move forward and stop trying to relive the past.  The New Year is almost here and you have a choice ~ will you focus on the past or are you going to allow God to move and grow you into all He has prepared for you?  The choice is yours.  Growing, maturing, and being stretched by God isn’t easy, but He is with you and will guide you if you will just seek Him!  He doesn’t expect you to figure out every detail, He expects you to do what He puts in front of you to do today and trust Him.  Our life here on earth is short so what’s it going to be?  Are you ready to become all God created you to be or are you going to analyze what was in your past?  If there are things you need to process, by all means, find a Godly Counselor to help you do that, there are some things you really need someone to help guide you through so you can process it correctly.  If you need help finding a great Godly counselor you can go to www.aacc.net and search for one in your area, don’t put it off.  Once you have worked through what you need to work through though, don’t keep dwelling on it, ask God to help you move forward.  His desire is to move you into all He created you to be, not leave you wallowing in your past regardless of whether your past is heartaches or victories, you can’t live there anymore, you are called to so much more and if you will just let go and follow Him, you will find that truly His best is yet to come in your life!

1) “O God, you are my God; 

I will seek you eagerly.  

My heart thirsts for you, 

my body longs for you in a land parched and exhausted, 

where no water can be found. “ 

I don’t know about you but I have a list of people that I really look forward to meeting when I get to heaven and David is probably at the top of the list ~ outside of God, and Jesus, etc. (the obvious). I love reading the Psalms because so often we look at the great heroes of the Bible and we think they were somehow “different” than we are.  It’s like we think that God made them out of some sort of “special mud” compared to us and yet they are all men and women just like us and that is why I love reading what David wrote.  In this particular Psalm he was in the desert and clearly needed water and food and yet his response was to seek God and to praise Him!  He had serious needs and his response was to praise and that’s why he was considered a “man after God’s own heart”.  

(2-8) “I used to contemplate you in the sanctuary, 

seeing your power and glory; 

for your grace is better than life.  

My lips will worship you.  

Yes, I will bless you as long as I live; 

I am as satisfied as with rich food; 

my mouth praises you with joy on my lips 

when I remember you on my bed and meditate on you in the night watches.  

For you have been my help; 

in the shadow of your wings I rejoice; 

my heart clings to you; your right hand supports me.”

That’s how David responded to struggles.  He didn’t get angry with God or rant about the fact he hadn’t done anything wrong and yet he didn’t have what he needed ~ he didn’t have the basics he needed, food and water!  His response was to praise God because He knew in his heart that God was his rock ~ his answer!  He looked back and remembered all of the things God had done in the past and that encouraged him and that was what drove him to praise God in every situation whether it was good or bad!  God is God and He doesn’t change and the majority of the time when we struggle it is either a bad choice we have made or a bad choice someone else has made.  We need to be determined to grow in our faith and walk with Him both in the struggle and in the good times!  Every opportunity is an opportunity to grow if you just ask Him to show you what you can learn from it, even when things are good there’s always something we can learn.  

(9-11)  “But those who seek to destroy my life~

May they go to the lowest parts of the earth.  

May they be given over to the power of the sword; 

may they become prey for jackals.  

But the king will rejoice in God.

Everyone who swears by him will exult,

For the mouths of liars will be silenced.”

This is the other reason I just love reading what he wrote because he didn’t hesitate to be real about how he felt about his situation.  He went to God with his frustrations, he didn’t hold anything back but when he did, he did it with respect for Who God is.  He didn’t rage AT God, he vented to him about his enemies knowing that God would vindicate Him.  We can learn so much from David and Psalms because no one is exempt from struggles or people doing things wrong that affect our lives, but how we respond to those things is important. 

So whatever season of life you may be in right now, I would just like to encourage you to ask God what you can learn so you can have a closer walk with Him.  The reason David could say and do the things he did was because he walked so closely with God.  It’s the choices we make on a daily basis to grow that will make all the difference.  God has a plan for your life and the only way to achieve it is to walk with Him and then you can truly know that His best is yet to come!

Quote:  “First we make our attitudes, Then our attitudes make us.”  ~ David Waitley

God would rather you were hospitable than for you to feel you have to present yourself as perfect. For some reason we, as a society, seem to have come to a point of feeling we must always present a perfect front or we may be unjustly judged. How sad that perfection has taken over in ways that cause us to miss out on valuable time we will never get back with other peoplel. How hospitable are you?  How open are you to “little interruptions” in life? I have never once heard anyone say after a loved one passed, “It really troubles me that I wasted so much time having them drop in to visit.” You never know how much time you have with anyone so don’t miss out because something isn’t perfect! If that matters to someone then God will deal with them!

It is incredible how much things have changed over the years!  When I was growing up, our house was clean but not perfect and it was a common thing for friends and family to just drop in! My parents loved spending time with friends and family. How often does that happen to you now?  Do your friends or relatives feel as though they can just drop in at your house?  What a refreshing break that can be!  Just make some coffee and tea and sit and talk and laugh, it’s wonderful!  That is what is missing so often in our lives today!  We are missing the important, unplanned interruptions in our hectic, crazy lives!  As a result, we miss out on some of the best fellowships!  Do you ever have “company” just drop in or are all of your “events” scheduled?  Does your house have to be perfect and in order to have someone over?  I think we easily get too caught up in having to present that “perfect” front and we are missing out!  We are so busy that even the thought of having our hectic day interrupted sends chills up our spines!  How sad! What is so important that it is worth missing out on time with friends and family?

The same is true with your walk with God!  Are you open to His unplanned interruptions in your life or does He always have to be squeezed into your schedule?  Do you allow Him to speak into your life or are you too busy telling Him what you need Him to do?  I think we all do that at times because we get too caught up in our circumstances and we miss out on what He has to say.  Sometimes those interruptions are for things you need to pray about or people you need to pray for and you certainly don’t want to miss out on that! Sometimes those interruptions may be something as simple as His putting something beautiful in your path that He would love to have you just stop and enjoy it for a moment.  Don’t miss out on that fellowship with Him because you are just too caught up with life!  Slow down!  Pray today and tell Him that you would welcome Him to interrupt your day!  Ask Him to open your heart and mind to those things when He does!  Sometimes we are so used to just blazing through our day and not seeing Him in it that we have to retrain our brains!  Ask Him to make it obvious to you!  He loves you and would love to walk through life with you on a whole new level of fellowship if you will invite Him into your every day! 

Quote: “Life begins when you do!’  ~ Hugh Downs

Be nice!  I would love to just leave it at that, but somehow 2 words for a devotional seems a bit short!  Seriously though, being nice almost seems to be a lost art these days!  Even walking through the grocery store the other day, I noticed different people who seemed to have a “chip on their shoulder”!  They forced their way past other people, one lady was moving along as though, she and her daughter were the only ones in the store and she was wearing an obvious scowl that said, “stay out of my way and don’t talk to me!”  So I asked God, “what is up with all of the hatefulness and anger in these people that they don’t even smile a polite ‘hello’ as they shove people out of their way?”  And He said, “just be nice.”  

It doesn’t matter really, how other people behave, you only answer for yourself.  Let God take care of them!  But think about this for a moment:  you don’t know what is going on in their life!  Maybe that woman who couldn’t smile at you and seemed rude was preoccupied with the fact that she has cancer and who will take care of that daughter walking with her if she doesn’t make it.  Maybe that person who cut you off was distracted because they were consumed with the fact that their spouse just filed for a divorce!  Maybe that woman who fought with you over that item in the store for Christmas was trying to buy it for her child who has a life threatening disease!  Maybe that man just lost his job and is overwhelmed with how he is going to take care of his family!  You just don’t know what they are facing on the inside, even if they are mean all the time, it is still coming from a deeply wounded heart that only God can heal, so show them some love and kindness!

When you get up in the morning ask God to give you a clean heart and a right spirit.  Ask Him to show you opportunities to show His love to others!  Ask Him to help you check your reactions to other people so you can set the example and show His love!  People are usually mean when they are hurting deeply so try to keep that in mind so you don’t respond in a way that just causes them more pain!  Ask God to fill you with His love for people so they too can know that in Him, the best is yet to come!

Quote: “It’s not the things you get but the hearts you touch that will determine your success in life.”  ~ Simple Truths  www.simpletruths.com  

If you have never read the Book of Esther I would encourage you to take the time to do it this week!  It is a short book with only ten chapters but it is packed with so many examples of God’s faithfulness even though He is never really mentioned.  It’s as though He is hidden within the entire Book and yet He is silent.  Not once do we find where it says, “And God told Esther….” Or “And God told Mordecai…” and yet even in His silence they knew He was there!

Have you ever experienced a time when God seemed to be silent and you just felt as though you weren’t hearing from Him or getting any obvious direction? You go to church and you leave feeling the same way you did when you walked in, you read your Bible, and ~ nothing… your whole life just feels dry and God is silent.  Is He mad?  Does He really care?  Did you hear Him wrong so now you’re just on your own to wander in that wilderness? Those are all of the lies that satan will try to use on you.  So, what should you do?  You Trust, Wait, Continue to Listen, Remind yourself, and Pursue!

~ Trust Him and His character ~ He is always faithful and He is always moving forward and working on His plan for your life!

~ Wait on Him and His timing and while you wait do what He has put in front of you to do.  There’s something and even if it seems small, do that.  Another great thing to do while you are waiting is to take a look around and see who you can encourage or help.

~ Listen because during this time you don’t want to miss the whisper…

~ Remind yourself of all of God’s promises and what His word says about what you are facing!

~ Pursue Him ~ God wants to be pursued by you!  He wants you to dig deep ~ over and over He has told us to seek Him.  Have you ever played “Hide and Seek”?  He wants you to pursue Him like that ~ don’t give up until you “Find Him”!  Don’t decide like Abby used to when she and Raiden were little and he wanted to play hide and seek so she would let him hide and she would go do something else for 10-15 minutes before going to find him. 😂 Seek Him with your whole heart ~ He’s there!  He hasn’t forgotten you.

That famous line, “for such a time as this”, is used a lot and the reality is ~ it should be, but you need to internalize it!  He sees you!  He calls you by your name!  He knows and cares about every detail of your life.  You are not less than whomever it is that you have put on a pedestal in your life.  We can all be guilty of that, I have often looked at other writers and speakers and have thought, “If only I could…… like she does”.  Hmmmm… God didn’t want you to be like that person on your pedestal or He would have made you like her.  Guess what she has her share of insecurities, struggles, faults, and other everyday things in her life just like everyone else.  No one is exempt from struggles in this world.  It all comes down to the question of whether or not you are putting your “Yes” on the table so God can show you all He created you to be and do and give Him your best! We are all called by God for “Such a time as this.”  We are called for His purpose and that is to draw others to Him and to bring Him glory through our lives.  You can rest assured that even if there’s silence, He is still there, He is working out His plan, He loves you and you just need to be faithful, continue to pursue Him with your whole heart, and trust Him through it all.  Our time on earth is short so let’s do all we can for Him, no pity parties because we aren’t seeing what we want to see yet, just a hot pursuit to find Him and serve Him with all our hearts!

Time ~ How often do you have days when it feels as though there just isn’t enough of it?  Sometimes it is because there’s just so much on your plate and maybe other times it’s because of the time you are enjoying spending with a loved one or doing something you enjoy.  Whatever the case may be, I know we have all had times when we just felt as though there just wasn’t enough “time”.  

I think we can all agree that our time here on earth is short really when we think about eternity and every day our time on earth is a little shorter so just as we are called to be good stewards of our money we need to be good stewards of our time. While it may not be most people’s favorite topic, sort of like budgeting money, there are such huge benefits to taking control of your time for your sake!  God has really burdened my heart to be more intentional in how I spend my time.  Sometimes I have a difficult time balancing my time.  I bought a day planner created by Zig Ziglar that has a chart in it to see how balanced you are with your time for your life’s priorities. In order to have success in your walk with God, your family, finances, your career, and your physical and mental health, there must be a balance.  It can be so easy to get caught up in one area and neglect others and then we find ourselves having to put out fires in those areas we neglected.  It is also easy to get caught up in what I call “mindless” activities if you feel overwhelmed with stress and then everything suffers and you find yourself beating yourself up for having wasted your time and now something else in your life is a mess.  Satan loves to help us rob ourselves of our time.  One of the most successful tools satan likes to use is our electronics.  It blows my mind how many young adults there are that are so addicted to gaming that they will stay up half the night playing and then they can barely function at work or in their homes.  That’s not from God.  It’s also easy to get so caught up with work that your family pays the price because you are absent.  Let’s face it the list could go on and on but the wonderful thing is that we have choices and the ability to balance all of those things so we can honor God in all of those areas.

God is a god of order, not chaos and when we balance our schedules there’s order.  He didn’t call you to be stressed out because you have over-scheduled yourself and your family.  When I was in High School my parents didn’t allow me to join in every sport there was I had to choose because they knew that everything else in my life would suffer if I did.  It is ok and it is vital to teach your children to have balance in their lives.  Too many families are living life at a break-neck pace and they are overwhelmed and stressed because of it!

Now, here’s the sad thing about not having balance in our lives; which area do you think is the first one to take a hit when there just isn’t enough time?  Ninety-nine percent of the time it is the time with God.  The absolute most important time of your day gets sacrificed with the intent to do better tomorrow.  Procrastination is a killer and I can be as guilty as the next person at times.  Satan loves to push for us to put off things we should be doing regardless of how big or small it may be because then he knows he can play with your mind telling you what an awful person you are for not having done what you should have.  He’s a jerk!!!  So with Christmas coming and the New Year just around the corner I would just like to encourage you to set priorities for how your time is spent and determine that in this new year that is coming to ask God to guide you as you set priorities for you and your family so you can make the absolute most of your time.  Ask Him to help you find the balance you need, He will be happy to guide you!