Skip to main content

The "I" Gift

 

Scrooge at Bob Cratchit's house - Disney's Muppet Christmas Carol


"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year." ~ Scrooge in a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

🎁 The trees have come down.  I definitely get the post Christmas blues when the holiday is over.  For about a quarter of a century it was the thought of returning to school after only two short weeks off that dampened my mood.  But now that I'm retired, I think it's because I've lived in my quaint over-decorated world that contains my ginormous quaint Christmas village (now put away), the Christmas carols are over and all that's left are layers of glitter.  The planning of merry get- togethers and festive gatherings is done, as are the fun Pinterest menus.  (However, I refuse to take down my window lights, and in Colorado that's ok because the stock show is coming to town so it's tradition to leave them up. I build tiers for my let-downs.)

So what to do next?  What to look forward to?  If you feel these post holiday doldrums too, we're not alone; PsychCentral said more than half of the people in a survey reported this sadness.  I guess they don't want to leave their vision of a Hallmark Christmas either and get back to the non-holiday normal grind. 

🎁While I think I'm normal for feeling this way, especially because I consider myself the Ghost of Christmas Present, I know many did not enjoy the Hallmark Christmas, nor the family, nor the gatherings.  In fact, Christmas was just barely survived by them, and they are already thinking they get to 'look forward' to it again next year.

And I know there are those who can't wait to get the decorations put away and start organizing for the "New Year/New You" mentality - which I personally think is awesome.  Everyone deserves and needs a fresh start. But we need help getting there in our head.



🎁 Lord, we need a revival in our minds! We need a makeover of the spiritual kind.  We need the Psalm 119 spiritual makeover. 

As the longest Psalm in the bible, it refers to the greatness and glory of God's Word as the lifeline to our hearts and lives.  The NASB version actually uses the word "revive" at least 11 times, and lists the results of seeking after God through His Word:


🎁 Doesn't the word "Revive" sound like medicine for our weary and exhausted souls? Like nourishment to our tired and mundane schedules we are returning to?  And who doesn't need blessings, joy, delight, strength, understanding, wisdom and everything else good the psalmist declares as we learn of God's ways through His word?

Jesus promised  in Matthew 11:28 to give us rest from the fatigue we can feel sometimes.  How?  Through getting to know Him better through His Word.  It's an injection of purpose and peace into our sapped veins.  


🎁 It's the ongoing Christmas regardless of the holiday time, without the lights and cookies.  It's the reminder that Christ being born was just the beginning gift, then He gave us the Holy Spirit to live with daily, as well as the hope we hold onto that He will return because God's Word says He will. 

🎁 You know the intentionality of our gift giving to let others know they are thought of at Christmastime?  Maybe we could keep giving others the thoughtful consideration that they are valued all year, possibly through  invitations to coffee, texts to let them know they are being remembered in prayer, requests of how we can pray for them, the gift of ourselves and time spent with them- so many opportunities. 

The "igift" (get it?).

🎁 There's nothing as exciting and as therapeutic as the gift of introducing others to Jesus with our actions and words.  Bring on the new year!

✙ Dear Lord, we thank You for the Christmas season and how it reminds us of the incredibly merciful gift of Your Son.  It sometimes get crowded out by the activities, so we ask that we can use this time of the year to refocus our minds and purposes on You.  Thank You for the gift of Your Word to guide us and to let us know You better, and we humbly ask that You use us in the upcoming days and months to show You to someone.  Please go before us and order our steps for Your glory.  Amen.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Fight Back the Darkness

  Crosswalk image Nothing makes Satan weak in the knees more than when we are on our knees."   ~ Skip Heitzig, Pastor Death.  Killing.  Violence.  What do we do with such heavy hearts in such a dark time? With the knot in our throats and the pit in our stomachs that are weighing on our souls?  When we look around us, nothing on this broken earth can fill our void of sadness and despair.   So we look up to the One who created all things and who alone has the power to bring light and help: "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.   What does help look like?  When does it come?  How much will we get?  Anger, confusion, bitterness, hostility, helplessness and fear overcome us in different ways and at different times.  We want reasons- we ask, "Why, Lord, why?" We instinctively want a reckoning- someone to pay for the injustice that has happened....
2 comments
Read more

Knocking on Heaven's Door

  "Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal." ~ Troy Ramey, artist My mom knocked on heaven's door this week, and was let in.  She had lived 94 years on this earth- through the Great Depression, tragedy, and a host of health issues- but plodded on with feistiness and a sense of humor. My mourning wasn't the only woe being experienced this week- miscarriages, mental illness, broken family relationships, fear of uncertainty - all woes this broken world has handed out to people I love.  And the prince of this world loves to throw them at us relentlessly.  Lord, how do we endure? How do we fight back the tendency to grow tired of it and let it rob us of our  joy? We ask God to give us the fruit of self-control and guard our minds.    "Finally, brothers and sisters, 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."...
2 comments
Read more

The Power of 4

"Mathematics is the language with which  God  has  ruled the universe." ~ Galileo . Go back with me to a quick math lesson recall from Geometry (stay with me, it's short I promise).    Straight logic, right?  Let's apply one of the principles our Almighty God, the great Mathematician who designed numbers and the universe and our minds, created.   (a) - He knew we would need advice, help and support on this earth, in this broken life. (b) -  He gave us His Holy Scriptures, His Word, that miraculously survived over the years, to guide us. (c) -   He gave us the Holy Spirit as our "advocate", to help us understand His Word. So, therefore, our support, guidance and help comes by way of the Holy Spirit guiding us as we read the Bible- the holy, inspired Word of God.  Isn't math awesome? Don't just take this from an 8th grade math teacher.  Even man-made institutes support the benefits of reading the bible frequently, conclud...
Post a Comment
Read more