Weekend Words (Advent)

At this time of Advent, leading up to Christmas, I will include a post from my Our Daily Bread booklet: Christmas - Quiet Moments for the Season...

The Gift of Joy 

Read Luke 2:8-12, 16-20

During the Christmas season it's easy to be swept along by the flood of frenzied gift-buying.  Our motive may be commendable - we want to show our love for family and friends.  We may even argue that the exchange of expensive presents reflects God's gift to us of His Son and is a way to spread yuletide joy.

According to author Bill McKibben, though, we may be robbing ourselves and others of deeper and longer-lasting joy.  When the giving is over, we find that the gifts didn't bring the sought-after satisfaction.

McKibben and some of his friends began to encourage others to limit their total holiday spending to a fraction of what they had spent in previous years.  By taking the emphasis off gift-giving, they believe they will be able to concentrate more on the real reason for Christmas and to enjoy the season.

When the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds outside Bethlehem, he told them, "I bring you good news of great joy" (Luke 2:10).  The news that brings "great joy" even today is that the Savior has been born (v.11).

Have we lost sight of what's really at the heart of Christmas?  Let's take time this season to focus on God's gift to us, and to share that joy-producing news with others.

- Vernon Grounds

From Be Still and Know...

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name." (Psalm 100:4)

The Thanksgiving season is a special time of giving praise and thanksgiving to God.  Once a year, a day is set aside for expressing thankfulness, but for the children of God each day is a day of thanksgiving.  The basis of our thanksgiving comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.   "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift" (2 Corinthians 9:15).

As we enter into His presence we are to "be thankful" and "bless His name."  We are to come before Him with thank-filled and praise-filled hearts.  God's mercies are new every morning but it is easy to forget to thank Him.  A thankful heart is not dependent on the material things we possess but on the blessings that come from the Lord.

As we pause to thank Him for the blessings of the past year, we must not forget to thank Him for the lessons we have learned through our difficult times.  We are not to be thankful for just the pleasant, easy things, but ALL things.  "IN EVERY THING give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Our thanksgiving is to be continual, not just on Thanksgiving Day, but each day through the year.  "Giving thanks ALWAYS for ALL things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20).

Thanksgiving expresses gratitude for what God does for us.  Praise is our attitude towards God because of who and what He is.

 It has been said, "We're so concerned about tomorrow that we fail to be thankful for today."  As we praise and thank Him at all times and in everything, the minor notes of trouble in our lives become major chords of triumphant victory.  May our lives be such a hymn of triumphant praise to HIM today. 

This video never ceases to bring a smile to my face :)