Monday, December 2, 2013 Good Morning everyone: It’s time to rise and smile after a big weekend shopping for the favorite day of the year, Christmas. So get on up, look into the mirror. Your first response should not be yuck! Make sure your smile is firmly attached, and that all aches, pains and non-workables are in place, ready to go. To help you feel better the body is like wine, it improves with age, but don’t get any ideas! What to have for breakfast? Let’s try French toast with syrup and some fresh country sausage. But before we get that coffee brewing and the microwave going; I wonder what happened to traditional stove cooking? All well, to each his/her own. It’s either eat or fast. A lot has to do with your waist line. Mine didn’t bother me until I was told that we were made in the image of God, and from within resides the Holy Spirit. That called for changes, and I did successfully shed 120 pounds when I was in the hospital….hurray! More to come off though. SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 5:12 “You are God’s children whom he loves, so try to be like him. Live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to God.” Quote: “Each moment of worry, anxiety or stress represents lack of faith in miracles, for they never cease.” ― T.F. Hodge, From Within I Rise COMMENT: In a previous devotion we talked about the holiday’s being a time a lot of people suffer depression, some more serious than others. There is another culprit, which left unchecked will deliver you into the ugly hands of depression, and that is stress. Stress is caused by any number of things. Getting cut off in traffic, fighting for a parking place or the kids misbehaving. There are other breathers of stress. Today, the horny head devil pushed the right buttons on me. Every time I wrote a note and got near the end of it, the note would disappear and I would have to start from the beginning. I lashed out and gave myself a “Gibbs.”(If you watch NCIS on TV you know what I mean.) About a minute later God directed a friend write a greeting that addressed “stress.” I stopped in my tracks, chuckled at myself, that Satan finally got to me, and I was not perfect as Jesus. So I proceeded to write this devotional in hopes it might help you when the devil comes calling. SHOW MUSIC: “We Need A Little Christmas” – Angela Lansbury Quote: “Jesus used the carefree attitude of the birds to underscore the fact that worrying is unnatural. I am learning in my own life, day by day, to keep my mind centered on Christ” -Billy Graham LET US PRAY: Our most gracious heavenly father, you’re an awesome God that loves his children. Anytime there is a difficulty in dealing with the fallen Angel, you’re there to help win a victory against the varmint. We know that Satan is all around us, in church, school, the store and in the household. Let us have the faith to realize that we are not perfect, never will be and only through Jesus can we have victory over anything the devil may throw our way. Father, be with the bereaved, sick, shut ins and those requiring special needs. And a prayer for our country that is pushing you out of our lives and nation. We petition you for a dream for our leaders to dream that will return our county to the blessing we have enjoyed since the founding our country. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. CHRIST SONG: “Hark, the Hearld Angels Sing”- Charles Wesley “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen” (English Melody) CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION IN AMERICA: The North and South were divided on the issue of Christmas, as well as on the question of slavery. Many Northerners saw sin in the celebration of Christmas; to these people the celebration of Thanksgiving was more appropriate. But in the South, Christmas was an important part of the social season. Not surprisingly, the first three states to make Christmas a legal holiday were in the South: Alabama in 1836, Louisiana and Arkansas in 1838. In the years after the Civil War, Christmas traditions spread across the country. Childrens books played an important role in spreading the customs of celebrating Christmas, especially the tradition of trimmed trees and gifts delivered by Santa Claus. Sunday school classes encouraged the celebration of Christmas. Womens magazines were also very important in suggesting ways to decorate for the holidays, as well as how to make these decorations. By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, America eagerly decorated trees, caroled, baked, and shopped for the Christmas season. Since that time, materialism, media, advertising, and mass marketing has made Christmas what it is today. The traditions that we enjoy at Christmas today were invented by blending together customs from many different countries into what is considered by many to be our national holiday. It’s time to go, have a great day in the Lord! Remember, friends are like stars…you might not see them, but they are there.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 10:09:46 +0000