No Pressure....
Happy Holidays!
I really hope you all had a great Thanksgiving with your loved ones. As we approach the rest of this holiday season and one of my favorite times of year (advent), I am very prayerful for each of you. Here’s what I’m praying:
REST: Matthew 11 has an invitation to come to Jesus for those who are weary and heavy in burdens. He wants to reveal to us HIS WAY of living life. You don’t need another vacation or just a day off. You need HIM. Go to HIM. That’s my prayer for you. I’m appreciative and aware of all the “resources” there are that attempt to advise us on mental and emotional health but the believer has to rely MORE SO on the presence of God in prayer and the Word of God to find true peace and rest. Just wanted to throw that in. Positivity and motivation lasts but for so long but what is lasting is the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Family of God.
RESISTANCE: I pray that you are not conformed to the patterns of this world but you are transformed by the renewal of your minds in the word of God. This holiday season is so full of pressure. The world has made it about gifts and possessions when it’s actually about THE GIFT, JESUS CHRIST! Don’t fall into the trick bag. Yea, celebrate! Yea, buy gifts! (get me one ahaha, JK, well if you want to you can haha). The point here is to remember that you are not what you have, what others think or what you do. It’s so easy to compare and look at the highlights on social media. Operate within your limits. Don’t spend money you don’t have trying to impress people that don’t care. OK. I’m going to let that go…felt my preacher rising up haha
AWARENESS: This holiday season is about Emmanuel, GOD WITH US. Jesus took on flesh to dwell amongst his people. Fully God. Fully Man (Human). That truth is more powerful than we realize and it calls us as believers to something more. Be present this holiday season with your family and those you encounter. Jesus did so many little things that are often ignored in Scripture. One of my favorites is his physical touch of the “unclean people” in the Bible. There was a leper who knelt down before Jesus asking of his willingness to make him clean. Controversially, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man and expressed his willingness then said “Be Clean!”. The leper probably hadn’t been touched in a very long time so not only did Jesus heal him but he also restored the mans dignity and humanity. Jesus also “broke the laws” of that day because lepers and all folks who were marked unclean was separated from the rest of society. There are people even in your own family who may feel that way and you as the blood purchased, washed clean, believer has the opportunity to display Jesus’s nature to “dwell amongst” people and point them to the one who can make them clean! Umm, the preacher is rising up again…oh boy haha
Also remember God is WITH YOU! He’s there. You may be like me and experiencing weird feelings this holiday season per the loss of loved ones but God is closer than a brother. He’s really with us. Access his presence. Worship him. Pray to him.
Love you each. This is my last blog of the year of 2021. I will, by the Lord’s Grace, send the next blog the first Friday of February in 2022! Whew! Share this newsletter with your friends if you’ve been encouraged by anything. Here’s to the new year! Enjoy this holiday season!
Until next time
Demetrius