e-mail 12/1/6

This morning on my quick shopping trip at Walmart, I ended up at the register with the one lady that I have had the most difficult time getting her to smile or be friendly. But this morning after I paid for my few items, I said "Merry Christmas". She broke out in a huge smile and said thank you, that I was the first one to wish her a Merry Christmas and after all it is December. My opinion of that clerk changed immediately and I decided that as a Christian, it is my responsibility to tell others that this is the Christmas Season. It is not the responsibility of the world or the stores to do what we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ should be doing.

Like many of my friends, I got upset last year and some years before when towns began removing nativity sets from public places and when the stores started saying "Happy Holidays" and "Holiday Trees" instead of using Christmas. But my tree is a Christmas tree. My yard says Merry Christmas but the most important thing that I must be concerned about during this wonderful season is my attitude and how I treat other people.

As a disciple of Christ, I must glow with His joy, I must walk in His Spirit, I must extend peace and patience instead of being grumpy because of crowds and above all I must show others the Love of Jesus. We are called to be His disciples. Jesus said, "They will know you are Christians, by the love you have for one another."

This is the time of the year, when we need to forgive anyone we think has wronged us, we need to reach out to help those who need help, we must stretch our faith into areas of our lives that we have never dared to go before.

As we look forward to the New Year that is only one month away, consider the kind of Christian you are going to be in 2007 and start practicing being nice now. Think of ways you can make a Quiet time a priority in your life. There is absolutely no excuse for a Christian not to have a Quiet time. It does not matter how many children you have or what other responsibilities keep you busy, nothing is more important than your relationship with Jesus. Absolutely nothing!

I shared with Bob last night the story of a minister that I knew as a child that went visiting to see a lady who had been lazy about coming to church. She had had a new baby and it seems that the baby was keeping her up at night and she was tired and she gave a million other excuses for not coming. My pastor said to her, "Dear lady, this baby is precious and belongs to God but if it is keeping you from being faithful to the Lord, perhaps we should ask God to take it away. He should take away anything you have that is keeping you from honoring Him." WOW! That took boldness and sounds harsh. But she got the point and brought the baby to church and was faithful to return to worship services after that pastoral visit.

Perhaps our prayer should be, "God, whatever is keeping me from being in my appointed place on Sunday morning for Worship, take it away. Whatever is keeping me from Sunday Evening Worship, take it away. Whatever is keeping me from Wednesday Evening Prayer meeting, take it away. Whatever is keeping me from a Daily Quiet time with You, take it away because I want others to see You in my life. Take away anything that hinders my complete obedience and honoring You."

And I want to be....

Sharing God's Love,

Peggy