Rejoice At ALL Times

Rejoice At All Times.

We need to get into this practice while the time upon us is not yet so severe.

“And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God works ALL THINGS TOGETHER for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.” Romans 8:27-29.

All things, not just the things that make us feel good, or that we think are good. Our Lord’s higher purpose is why He calls upon us to “Make sure that no one repays evil for evil. Always pursue what is good for one another and for all people. Rejoice at all times. Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:15-17. This has been forgotten in the current form of religion that deceitfully encourages “your best life now.”

May God have mercy on us and open our eyes!

Yes, the walk is harder to bring into reality than the talk.  “As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” 2 Corinthians 6:10.

To rejoice in such times is to surrender to God’s eternal highest and best for us with a sacrifice of praise.

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A Prayer to Begin the Countdown to the Holidays

 

Lord, please let my eyes be opened that I may see all that I have to be thankful for, and lift from me the blindness that propels me into a habit of complaining. I ask Your forgiveness for the many times I have indulged this tendency and Your all powerful help to dispel it.

I know that Your love and goodness are boundless. Your grace is perpetual and ever extending itself into my life. For this I give You thanks, as without You I am nothing and can do nothing.

Let me be filled with Your Holy Spirit, so that my heart may be pure and my eye single, and that Your kindness and generosity may radiate from me. Let me ever be mindful of and in harmony with Your will of perpetually bringing forth in me the likeness of your Son Jesus Christ, our only Savior and Lord, in Whose name I pray.

Amen.

Thoughts on the Holidays

     Again the time approaches. Will it be holidays, holy days, or mind numbing “holly daze”?

      I love celebrating Christmas for the Christian observance of Christ’s birth that it is. What I refuse to participate in is the way it’s been hijacked by the commercial world. We don’t send cards nor do we gift anyone but our grandkids. (Shocked?)

     There are some simple strings of lights on the patios, and that is likely all the decorating that will be done, other than maybe some special candles being enjoyed for a quiet glow to celebrate the coming of the Light of the World.

     I don’t bake cookies – who needs all the GMO flour and sugar???

     When we stopped buying into all the hype of the holidays, and took it back to being a sacred observance of the Lord Jesus’ incarnation, all the stress disappeared.

     You can celebrate as you please, of course. It’s up to you. But that’s how it is at our house, and we’re a lot happier for it. No depression, blues, or anxiety in this either…

     “How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is given. So God imparts to human hearts the blessing of His Heaven…”