It’s great to be back from a little blog break!  I figured that since everyone else was going to be taking breaks that I might as well take one and I enjoyed it, but missed getting to talk to you guys or ya’ll for those of us in the south.

We just finished up our month of Thanksgiving and now we are headed full steam ahead into Christmas.  How many of you already have the decoration thing going?  I love Christmas!  I love the lights – I even “redneck” up my truck with lights.  I love the music – one of my favorites is “Mele Kalikimaka!” by Bing Crosby And The Andrew Sisters.  Here are the words:  “Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day.  That’s the island greeting that we send to you – From the land where palm trees sway.  Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright.  The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night.   Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii’s way To say “Merry Christmas to you.”  And I love presents!  I love to give them and receive them!

As we head into this season of hustle and bustle, let’s all make sure to remember and remind each other of what really makes Christmas special and that is the gift of God only Son to you and me!

To remind you of all of God’s goodness – enjoy the song and video from Youtube!

Do You Struggle? This should be a great week for most folks, but I am getting a sense that many of us are struggling, even with a short week.  This morning in my devotions, I read this Scripture and thought that it might encourage and grow some of us!  I hope you find it as motivating as I did.  “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”  2 Timothy 1:7

Two Things To Consider! Look at what God has given us and look at what He has not given us.

What God Has Not Given Us! Let’s first take a look at what He has not given us:  He has not given us a “spirit of timidity”  The Bible teaches that we were created in God’s image.  God did not create us to be weak, afraid or powerless.  God created us to be powerful, loving and disciplined!  God did not give you weakness, He gave you strength.  Whatever you have to face today – God has given you the power to overcome it!  Live in and thrive through that power!

What God Has Given Us! God has given us power, love and discipline.  You were created in the image of God.  Who or what can you think of that is more powerful than God?  We have the power of God flowing to and through our lives.  Don’t take His power for granted and don’t dare waste it!  God has given us love.  He loved us before we could ever love Him.  God is love and His love should flow to and through our lives.  Open your life to God’s love and share and show that love everywhere you go.  God has given us discipline.  Discipline is what allows us to grow and develop all that God has given us.  Don’t run away from discipline, run into it and you will discover a strength that you only dreamed existed!

You Are Special! You are special and God proves just how special you are with what He has and has not given you.  Live in the power of that reality today and enjoy the victory that God has provided!

A Very Good Word! This morning in my devotion time – these two verses really impacted me!  11 But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:10-11

Get Away From That Stuff! Verse 11 begins by telling us to “flee from these things, you man of God!”  We have to make a choice in this life – Who or what are we going to pursue?  When it says to flee from these things, it is talking about the wasted arguments for dominance, pursuit of riches and personal satisfaction that is talked about in the earlier verses.  We can pursue self or God.  Pursue self and you will lose yourself!  Pursue God and you will find yourself and so much more!

How To Pursue God! If you want to pursue God, then you must chase after the stuff of God!  We have been given a list to get us started!  (righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.) Impressive list!  Think about how your life would change if these were the things that you put your energy into pursuing!

It’s Not Easy! We can’t pursue God without a fight and our fight is not with Him, but with the world and often times ourselves!  We need to “take hold of our eternal life” and appreciate it for all of the amazing gift that it is!

We Can Do This! Nobody ever said that the Christian life would be easy, but it can be full of blessing – if we will take the time to live in surrender to Jesus.