Holidays

We can be tired, weary and emotionally distraught, but after spending time alone with God, we find that he injects into our bodies energy, power and strength - Charles Stanley

I love my quiet time with God. Weather it is 15 minutes or hours spent I cherish my quiet time with God. He gently reminds me all the time that I am loved and that through him I gain strength to fight battles everyday. We live in a a fallen world and some days the fallen world puts me flat on my face before God. In these time I am reminded of Jer. 29:11 I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

No mater what I am facing God is there to give me my hope back. And after battling everyday in this fallen world I need my hope back at the end of the day.

We are approaching the holiday season and all that comes along with it. Anxiety, worries, stress and then on the flip side of that thankfulness, feelings of being blessed and of course being reminded of why we celebrate at all. All these competing feelings all rolled into one.

I know Satan wants me to be stuck in the anxiety and the busyness of the season but God is there to show me the many things I have to be thankful for. Josh. 1:9 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. God is there in the middle of the mall when you only have so many dollars to buy so many gifts. When you are preparing a meal, a feast really, and you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders for everything to turn out perfect. God is there in the middle of it all. We have to chose to believe Phil. 4:13 I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. And we have to choose to believe it when the Devil wants us to forget what the holidays are really about. For some of us the holidays is packed full of stress because it’s the one time of years that all the family and all the different personalities of all the family come together. It can make for some pretty interesting dinners. I have to be reminded over and over again We are to love one another. Ps. 103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. Therefore we should be also. I repeat again We are to love one another. Sometimes that’s a tall, tall task and I get that and I am convinced God gets that to but that doesn’t excuse our actions. It doesn’t mean we get to be ugly to each other and God condone it. Our God is an awesome God and we need to fall back in his loving embrace and give him all our headaches and heartaches. So this holiday season take a few extra deep breaths. Talk to God. Tell him you need a little bit of extra strength. He will provide. Matthew 6:31-32 Therefore do not be anxious, saying what shall we eat? or what shall we drink or what shall we wear?…your heavenly father knows that you need them all. God will provide.