I love the Christmas story! It never gets old. I have fond memories of my Granny reading the Christmas narrative every year. We gathered at her house on Christmas Eve. A huge family in a tiny house with oodles of food and lots of boisterous people. But there was one moment each year, just before we opened the presents, where we would congregate in front of the Christmas tree and everyone would get silent for Granny to share the Christmas story. Then all hell broke loose! Presents were distributed, wrapping paper flew everywhere, and Christmas was over. But not really, because the Christmas story is never over.

The Christmas story is literally crammed full of powerful lessons. I encourage you in the days leading up to Christmas to spend time reading the Christmas story (Matthew 1:1 – 2:23, Luke 1:1 – 2:40, John 1:1 – 18). Quiet yourself and everything around you, read through the narrative, and let God teach you some of the compelling lessons. During the next few weeks, I’ll blog about some of those teachings. Here’s the first message:

YOU ARE NEVER TOO YOUNG OR TOO INEXPERIENCED TO BE USED BY GOD.

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

Luke 1:26-28

Mary was pretty young. Scholars’ opinions range anywhere from 13 or 14 to 18 or 19 years old. Either way, that’s pretty young. She didn’t have a lot of life experience. In fact, she was single and was a virgin. She more than likely came from a poor family not having a lot of material goods. The point is this: God used Mary in a miraculous way even though she was young, inexperienced and poor.  That’s God’s M.O. You are never too young or inexperienced to be used by God!

Don’t think you are too young. Don’t get fooled into believing your resume is lacking. Don’t thing your means are meager. Know that God wants to use you!

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day! A whole day set aside for food, family, food, football, and food! Oh, yeah, and a day reserved to give thanks. So, before you let the food, family and football commence, please take a moment to be grateful for this article you are about to read. Seriously though, it can have a profound impact on your life (the whole being grateful thing that is…the effect of the article is less certain).

Thanksgiving Tips (according to some good science):

Put down the Red Bull and pick up a thanksgiving journal!

In a research study (Emmons & McCullough, 2003) one group of participants kept a daily journal listing what they were grateful for. Another group recorded what annoyed them. Those who kept a “gratefulness” journal had more energy and enthusiasm and were happier than the other group. You don’t need an energy drink. You need a thanksgiving journal!

Say thanks and give Uncle Frank a break!

In a similar study by Emmons, the participants who daily journaled what they were thankful for reported that they were more inclined to help others with a personal problem. While those when recorded what annoyed them only became more annoyed with other’s problems. So don’t let annoying Uncle Frank get under your skin, just give thanks…for something!

Double up on the turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie!

When we are grateful, our brains release the feel good transmitters dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. Our bodies like these chemicals so much that it evokes a “do that again” response. So, a grateful heart can feed on itself and help us want to repeat it. We simply kickstart the process by saying thank you. So have seconds of everything, including gratitude!

Skip the main meal and just have dessert!

Our brains have this thing called “negativity bias.” We have five times more negative circuits than positive ones, and so we naturally tend to focus on the negative. But, when we are grateful it forces our brain to think about the positive. Paul understood this when he wrote Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Think on all the sweet things!

Stop counting sheep and start counting your blessings!

A Chinese study discovered that gratitude decreases depression, lowers anxiety, and improves sleep (Korb, 2012). So, you don’t need the tryptophan in the turkey, just count your blessings!Start and end your day with a grateful heart.

 

Resources:

• Emmons, Gratitude and prosocial behavior: An experimental test of gratitude. Available from: https://www.academia.edu/365898/Gratitude_and_prosocial_behavior_An_experimental_test_of_gratitude[Accessed 26 November 2014].
• Emmons, R.A. & McCullough, M.E. (2003) Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84 (2), pp.377–389.
• Korb, Alex (November 20, 2012 ). The Grateful Brain. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/prefrontal-nudity/201211/the-grateful-brain
• McCullough, Michael E. (2002) Savoring Life, Past and Present: Explaining what hope and gratitude share in common, Psychological Inquiry.
• Stone, Charles (November 12, 2018). How Gratitude Helps Your Body and Brain. https://outreachmagazine.com/features/discipleship/36976-how-gratitude-helps-your-body-and-brain.html?utm_source=omag-om-daily-nl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=omag-om-daily-nl-20181113&utm_content=button

 

Have you ever been a part of an athletic event or watched a game where the referees were obviously one-sided? I don’t mean they were just bad referees, but they clearly favored one team over the other? They weren’t blind, they just chose to see what they wanted to see? Games where even the home team admits they got the benefit of the doubt on most all the calls?

Life seems a lot like that sometimes too doesn’t it? When everyone and everything seems to be against you. When the grief is overwhelming. When the doctor tells you it’s malignant. When you discover you are miscarrying…again. When he tells you he doesn’t love you anymore and wants a divorce. When you discover she is seeing someone else. When your job is gone. When the money is gone. When your best friend betrays you. When your son isn’t living up to the expectations you had for him. When your daughter runs away from home and you have no idea where she is at. When your drinking is out of control. When your loved one’s drinking is out of control. When you can’t sleep at night because of all the thoughts racing through your mind. When the world seems so dark just getting out of the bed every morning takes heroic effort.

How do we get through those times in life? Those times when everyone and everything seems to be against us? The same way we get through those games when the odds seemed stacked against us. We must choose what we focus on. You see, we can opt to center on the referees and how they seem to be going against us, or we can focus on the game plan laid out before us. We can elect to grumble and complain about the officiating or we can concentrate on the goal before us. Likewise, we can opt to center on the problems and suffering surrounding us or we can focus on the plan and purpose God has for us.

What is that plan you might ask? It’s found in one of the most quoted and misquoted verses of the Bible:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,

for those who are called according to his purpose.Romans 8:28

And we know…

We don’t have to guess or pretend. We know for sure and without any doubt at all. That assurance gives us confidence in the most difficult of circumstances.

That for those who love God…

This is not a promise for everyone; it is a promise for those who love God. If I’m not living God’s way or if I am ignoring God’s way for my life, I’m not promised this. But if I’m loving God and trying to fulfill His purpose for my life, I can give everything to God and He will bring good out of it somehow.

All things work together for good…

God causes everything to work together for good. There is a grand designer behind everything – the good, the bad and the ugly. It does not say that everything that happens is good. There are things that are bad, wrong and evil. But there is nothing that God cannot use for good in your life. We are the ones who must choose to grow through it!

What are you focusing on today? You can choose to fix your attention on the problems and misery and watch it multiply. Or you can choose to grow through what you are going through!

 

 

 

I just left the hospital visiting with someone who has been hospitalized for several days already and is looking at a while longer. We visited, we cried, we laughed, and we prayed together. I asked if there was anything else we could be doing to help. And her response caught me a little off guard. “I just want to be in church,” she said.

I’m not going to lie to you, I don’t get that response often! I assured her that she could watch us online anytime. But that’s not what she meant. She wants to be around her church family. She doesn’t want to be isolated in a sickbay room.  She doesn’t want to feel sequestered from those she loves being around. She wants to be in community with her church because she realizes that it’s in community that she finds healing.

God never meant for us to go through trying times on our own. When we carry it all by ourselves, we are carrying a load that God never intended for us to have. God says we’re meant to grieve with others. Healing comes in community. Healing comes in the church.

Isolation is the worst possible choice to make when life gets overwhelming. Our tendency is to want to be by ourselves, but we need other people – their presence, their perspective, their support, their comfort, and their encouragement. To make it through a crisis, we need the people of God.

No one will argue that one person can lift more than ten people lifting together. So why do we often ignore the hands extended to help us carry our burdens, and try to bear the weight on our own? We may always bear the heaviest portion, but support and encouragement from others will significantly  lighten the load.

Share each other’s burdens…

Galatians 6:2 (NLT)

It takes a…church.

Where do you need to surround yourself with God’s people? Where do you need the church?

Where do you need to surround others? Where do you need to be the church?