Merry Christmas

Rise and shine and give God the Glory, Glory. Emanuel, God with us, that is our theme for this Christmas morning. Christmas IS and always has been about Jesus. Christ gave to us grace and mercy and in return we give him our love, respect and adoration. Christ is the true meaning of love, not the thing we call love. The love of God lasts for all eternity. For God so loved the world he GAVE his only begotten son so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. God loves you and me and for that I am forever grateful. It will take me a life time to begin to glimpse how much God loves me and longer still for me to learn how to love him back.

This morning was probably a small let down for my two teenagers in that they did not get exactly what they wanted. What they did get was some presents under the tree which is a small token of our love for them. The kids are old enough now to know that money does not grow on a tree and they also know that if it did someone burned our money tree to the ground. The important thing is that we have a roof over our heads, food for our stomachs, clothes on our backs and all sorts of extra stuff that we really do not need to live. We live in a very materialistic and capitalistic country that tries to dictate to us through media that we have gotta have this and that in order to be successful and happy. Do not get me wrong, I love cool presents just like the next guy but those gifts only bring so much happiness and after a while that happiness turns to boredom as I look forward to the newest gizmo or gadget. I think if we were all honest we could admit to being affected like that as well.

The JOY of the Lord is my strength. Knowing that God loves me gives me JOY eternal. God is the same today , yesterday and forever. God never changes or falters. God is always there and I know that I know that if I need him he is only a prayer away. I know that I know that HE is in my heart and that HE fills me with the power of the Holy Spirit which enables me to love God and my friends and family. His Holy Spirit enables me to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. The Holy Spirit gives me power to go on no matter how tough this life gets. I try to thank God daily for my family, my friends, my church, HIS love and providence for my life and all the other things he fills my life with. I try to pray for my friends and family and ask God to remember them and bless them from on high.

Today I remember my Jessica. In my minds eye I can see her smiling face and her saying "OH DADDY". I say MY Jessica because she will always be my girl. I know that she does not really belong to me however God entrusted her to me and Katy for a short time here on earth. Life has certainly not been the same since Jessica's Homecoming but I am assured that I will hug her again some day. Jessica loved Christmas time like most children and I remember how her face would light up as she would open each gift. Jessica's spirit was a very bright and joyful spirit that held that magical mixture of hope and fun anticipation. I heard on the radio how hard it is for adults to really get into the Christmas spirit and that is because we have lost that child like wonder about it all.

Christmas is about receiving cool presents and worshiping the Christ child. Just as Christ has given us an awesome eternal gift of love and joy lets remember those folks around us who are not as fortunate as ourselves. There are those around us who have lost loved ones and are grieving this Christmas day. There are those around us who are suffering from depression and all sorts of addictions. There are those around us who are suffering from lonliness. You and I can not touch all of these lives all by ourselves but if each of us will take the time to care and give we can reach out to the people within the community of folks that God has placed us in. Sometimes a 10 minute phone call can bring moments of joy and hope to someone. Just knowing that someeone remembers them and cares and that their life really does mean something more than they think.

Merry Christmas to you and yours from the Moffitt Family.

God bless


James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net