It is that time of year again: Christmas. It should be all about acknowledging the birth of our Savior, Jesus, and to be thankful for our salvation. We should also meditate on how God will forgive mankind because of Jesus' sacrifice by coming to earth and dying on a cross. He was raised from the dead on the third day and whoever believes on Him will have eternal life. Only now, Christmas is more about family, presents, and food than it is about serving our Lord Jesus Christ. Those things aren't bad, but it's not what we are supposed to be celebrating. It should be about our thankfulness to God, and how to make our relationship with Him and church our highest priority. This year, I pray you have a Merry Christmas and that you remember we are celebrating the birth and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Take a moment and look up Romans 10:9-13 and pray it out loud. Let Jesus know how thankful you are to Him for His sacrifice. Merry Christmas!

Just a thought, God bless.

PSS

For the last couple of weeks, I have been discussing disappointment and its effects and consequences. It robs us of our hopes, dreams and future plans. It causes some people to give up and quit. We must transition from an attitude of disappointment to one of gratitude. They both take effort, but one is good and helpful, and the other isn't. Gratitude is a feeling of thankful appreciation for favor or benefits received. We need to realize that life is a gift given to us to make a difference in this world. We should spend it wisely. In our world, people living a life of disappointment seem more and more prevalent than those of us who work to be thankful and stay thankful. We have to refuse the long-lasting effects of disappointment and realize it's our choice to stay there or move forward. This Christmas season, I pray we would all find something to be thankful for and concentrate on what we DO have rather than what we don't. Expectations founded on wrong principles and ideas are at the root of disappointment. Let's have an expectation of what God's Word actually says rather than the statements of the world.

Just a thought, God bless.

PSS

You and I cannot allow what we don't understand to change what we know to be true. Disappointment means: 1.) To fail to fulfill the expectations or wishes of; 2.) To defeat the fulfillment of hopes, plans, etc.; 3.) Thwart, frustrate, sadden, disillusion, or dishearten. Disappointment will cause you to question everything you believe in, including yourself. It is the thing that will lead to discouragement and self-doubt. If we strive to develop the right attitude when disappointment comes, (and believe me, it will come at some point) we will be able to grow through it. It can strengthen our faith and cause us to be more dependent in God's ability OR it will cause us to shrink back. When we accept the fact that we will encounter disappointment in our lives, we will never allow it to cripple us and become negative or critical. We will look at it and know it will pass. We can and will recover from it. Be on guard to disallow temporary setbacks to become a full-time setback.

Just a thought, God bless.

PSS