Nehemiah 8:10
Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our LORD.
Do not grieve,
for the joy of the LORD
is your strength."
The Pew Research Center showed, in 2013, 96% of USA Christians celebrate Christmas, and 81% of non-Christians celebrate.
I adore Christmas.
And some have never enjoyed being told to be Merry and get with the other salmon.
The Merriest Season of all...And when you get to your 5th decade of life - you have experienced baby Christmas and the 24 7 sudden work. Maybe, like me, you have experienced ICU baby Christmas. Or Neonatal ICU. Or maybe you had mono for Christmas. There is loss of someone you have always - and will - always love - passing on to the Lord - first or second Christmas. Poverty Christmas. Poverty Christmas with children. There can be divorce Christmas. Christmas comes in all seasons. Even stillborn death Christmas.
When you look at Nehemiah
- A good, different, high change, what are we doing, this is weird - we are glad, aren't we??? Holy Day. (Leaving slavery, leaving Babylon the only home this generation knew, traveling 1,000 miles to burned out homeland and rebuilding.) Nehemiah is working - Nehemiah is spinning the wheel of emotions. We all do this every day. We had a great and grateful morning. And the afternoon had a very, very hurtful comment, the water heater exploded, strep throat occurred. A best friend lost a job. A sibling is divorcing. A death in the family of friends. We can do this from looking at a painful memory.
Bad. Mood. Christmas. Oh bored and dull. Christmas. Routine, again this year, depression, Christmas.
The Reverse change up.
We can have glee - thinking how different this has been from before!!! And have survivor guilt. We might struggled with a child and see Victory / while a friend suffers from a new trauma in their child. We have new circumstance like Nehemiah - leaving an actual palace of wood, gold and ivory - and find we are in a fierce, even historic, struggle. To be proud of the change and dislike the work.
We can all relate to the emotional wheel - rolling - bouncing - trudging - a long. Or falling in a pot hole.
There is so much pressure on Christmas - many feel sitting, having coffee, black-eyed peas and football on New Year's Day is far, far easier.
What were you doing Thursday, December 25th 2003. Did you like your gift? Did your kids? Exactly. Unless it's unusual - regular Christmas.
Jesus came, saw and conquered.
Our unhappiness is exactly as Jesus saw and came to deal with during His time in Israel. Poverty in the area of faith. We doubt. We doubt happiness. We doubt the future. We doubt the steadfastness of those we love. We doubt our health. We doubt lack of pain. We doubt finances. We doubt what we label as significant and meaningful. We doubt we are interesting and unique. And how did people deal with Jesus and faith? With a lot of emotion and a lot of variety.
Jesus was click-group-bated to teach 'powerful' prayer. Jesus was given hostility to give more Blessings of healing for all and food. Jesus was implored. Jesus was touched. Jesus was begged. Jesus asked to be asked for blessing. Jesus was hailed. Jesus was seeing a war with battles of selfish, faith and doubt - right in front of Him. And Jesus said He came to preach Good News to the poverty - of actual poverty - and also the war of doubt.
Jesus says He has Good News for Poverty.
And like life, we are going to talk first about what we go through seeking God to finding God first.
We who call ourselves Children of God - have Something Amazing.
Blessings.
We all get a choice. We can do for someone else. We can wash something - repair something - Merry Christmas someone else.
We all get a choice. We can be upfront and polite. There is not a reason to hide from being yourself.
We all have years to compare. And with strong, strong emotion - to take a vacation.
We all can make a choice to Vacation. From?
From making sweeping decisions. Vacation to have today and not add it all up and miscalculate.
This can be utterly astonishing to rest a tired mind from decisions.
We all have a choice.
We can be cheerful and refuse to carry the toxins of toxic people. We can refuse to have garbage piled on us without serious confrontation. One can smile while one side steps and be upbeat. And wise.
We all have a choice.
We can be more quiet instead of being the continual referee.
We all have a choice. We don't have to be the center of happiness. We don't have to be Queen of the Universe due to feelings. We can acknowledge others will probably experience the world turning, the sun rising and setting, without it being all about us and our emotions and happiness. It can be not our year, not our season to have Joy. To see joy in others.
We all have a choice.
We can limit our spending.
Some will boldly take the choice of giving a gift after Christmas sales.
Emotionally.
We have a choice. What will we do when a feeling washes up from long ago? There is no time table for grief. Let tear ducts do their JOB. Have a good cry and pick up. The sun will shine. Tear up? So what. Common thing. UNFEAR the TEAR.
What will we do when we have a loved one is dying right now and it's slow and on-going. We have a choice. We can pray for the Lord's Prayer. We can see if this is Jesus carrying us or if this is time to deal with the emotion. We can journal.
We can keep a Blessings Journal. Seeing the ebb and flow of each day. A Blessings Journal looking for the Blessings like Easter Eggs.
We can think back on hearing 'have 20 seconds of Bravery.' We can challenge ourselves to have 24 hours of faith. We will say, "I believe" ... when the sun does not shine. I believe with the rain falls. I believe. And in 24 hours - just of deciding to see Faith for 24 hours - we will see strength. We do have a choice. The Pew Report of 2015 says we are considering our faith in God more and autopilot less. Faith is essential to Father God. Faith is were we find Hope and Love. Steadfast Love.
Process.
Very, very few things in 3,000 pages in the Bible are not a Journey.
God can part the Red Sea - no magic carpets - 1,000 miles of walking to the Promised Land.
Run your race. That Race is for the long term. There will be days of rain. Days of broken shoe laces. Days of blister ankles. New Generations. New hope. New faith. Days will come... My parents divorced in the 1980s - we live entirely new lives now. It was unseen. Far better. Improved.
When I was a child, my family median age was probably 77 years old. We have young people now and new personalities. Seasons of life.
Jesus said to the multitudes coming to Him for answers... show you are a light of God.
Be Loving. Don't always expect a return on the kindness. Jesus said turn the other cheek - and He was known to leave the Pharisees and trouble - telling the blind man - don't even go into the village! Jesus is real. Jesus told James be wise, ask God for wisdom.
Jesus celebrated the people who (and there were many, not just the woman who admitted to Him about the 12 year healing) grabbed hold of Jesus. Jesus promised if we seek God, we will find Him. He didn't give a time line. Jesus promised we would see people change in the seed parable. Jesus said God fully knows us.
Jesus gave us something a little bit complicated to think about. If we ask with abiding in God's Word - we could ask for anything. But with that responsibility comes the understanding - then - we appreciate the Will of God as Good. Gratitude. That is abiding in God. Peter was abiding with God in prison when the walls fell. Jericho was paradise to the desert dwellers and they knew, utterly knew - the journey would ask them to step away from paradise and trust God's next, unseen, part of life. It's not a total mystery about miracles, miracles exist in faith.
The People Have Seen a Great Light!!! ALLELUIA
When you look at the ages of Church goers - you see the faith supported by - - - the people who could be calloused. Older people. You'd expect they would say - haven't see no God miracles - skip it. And instead the population with more experiences - more wisdom from accomplishing life - turn to Father God. This trend has been for millenniums.
Trim your Light. Keep your Light of Faith practiced to practice the Faith. Doing the Faith. 24 Hours at a time.
Merriest Season of all. C'mon. There is a lot of down time in Christmas. People travel. Kids are bored. It gets quiet. Expect this. It gets routine and boring, boring, boring to be on the travel end of Christmas. Be real. Families split up to see other family. Streets get quiet. This is real. Gets hectic to get quiet.
Vacation Christmas - we are here. Are we glad to be here? We are quiet. Home is so good. Why aren't we home?
Who else had planned Quiet? Jesus. Jesus loved to have quiet. Plan counting your Blessings. Journal past times of Blessing Victory. Plan on thinking about Jesus having "Silent Night, Holy Night."
When we sing, "Silent Night" there is a lot of truth there. Quiet. This is something we do with awkwardness. "Let earth prepare Him room." Your schedule is going to accommodate the slow down of time. Plan the adventure of Quiet.
Let this sink in - Moses prayed for - - - Happiness.
Jesus said in John 14, 15, 16 He had Joy in this Life.
Jesus took what was quiet time. And made Life even Better. The Exodus journey is fear of failure at every turn but triumphs in faith.
Every turn - doubt. Every person - fails. Every Promise of God - Victory.
Thank God for the realities of the Word of God.
We ask You for Your Blessings! We want to be the Blessing seekers and finders!!!
Abba, Jesus is the Word of God made Manifest.
Thank God for the difficulties of the Bible.
Father God, Thank You for the truly tough times in life,
You've been my Help and Hope, You have brought me Joy in Your Word and Love.
We have Hope.
We have Faith.
We have Jesus.
We can look and find the mercy and sheer excitement of His Mercies Renew Daily.
And Father God's Word tells us answers - Singing is like the mnemonic memory devices.
Singing to Abba's Heart.
Our Abba will hear us sing.
Merry Christmas, Thank You, Abba.
Blessings upon the Blessings You have given me far and wide. Loved ones and the People You have given me. Alleluia Jesus bring Your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Joy to the World
Lord Jesus
Oh Come All Ye Faithful Joyful and Triumphant
Amazing Grace
Thank You, Thank You Jesus, Thank You Thank You, Jesus
♔ Lord Jesus Saves †
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