Don't Want Peace, Do Peace...

Romans 12:18
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

December always arrives so slowly, but disappears so quickly.  For me, it symbolizes the end of something old, and the hopes for something new.

As this year comes to a close, I've really been challenged by the idea of peace.  Just turn on any news station and you will quickly learn that peace is something that's rare...yet, it's something that we desperately long for.  But something that God has challenged me with lately is this:

We talk about peace on earth, but what about peace in our lives?

We long for the nations to let go of their differences, but what about the grudges that we hold on to so tightly?

We strive to end war and violence, but what of the bitterness in our own hearts?

More than anything, as this year comes to a close, I've been challenged to live in peace.  In peace with everyone around me, all people in my life. 

I've noticed as I mature and grow older, I've become a lot more sensitive to these things.  In childhood, when relationships used to be easy and fun, bonding over a game of hop scotch or a peanut butter sandwich was easy. Now, managing relationships requires so much more.   They are filled with expectations, needs, and emotions.

If I'm honest, I know that I have not always given as I should or loved as I could.  Before this year comes to a close, God is challenging me to do what I need to do to make sure that my heart is at peace with everyone in my life and everyone in my past.  To ask forgiveness, to repent, and to make amends.  To love better, encourage greater, and give expecting nothing in return.

It's time to be freed from the past by dealing with it.  It's time to strive toward peace on earth by living it out in my life. Relationships won't always be mended or restored, but I am called to do my part, "as far as it depends on me..."

Give peace a chance....

Here's to December. 

I'm thankful for Joy because it's not always the norm:

2 Corinthians 1:3-4
³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 

The day before Thanksgiving is always a unique day because it marks the start of the holiday season.  Magical Magical decorations, joyous Christmas music, sparkling lights and the aroma of delicious food fill the air and bring an indescribable happiness to people all around. 

The delight of the holidays is contagious.  Looking around you see a sparkle in the eyes of the people around you and feel an unexplainable connection to humanity.  It's as though we were made to be joyful, and this holiday season is a reminder to stop and feel the joy.

I'm thankful for that.  I'm thankful for the fact that I have a reason to feel joy that supersedes the lights and the decorations and the food.  I am so aware as I look at my life that it is filled with blessings, and the clear hand of God as the giver of those blessings.

But this holiday season, I am also aware that for many...this is not norm.


For some, this holiday season brings with it a different feeling.  Depression, loneliness and isolation.  A painful reminder of things that have been long awaited for but have never arrived, or of precious things that have been lost.  The truth is we never really know what someone else is going through until we take the time to notice.  But sadly, so many of us are so distracted by our own blessings that we miss the opportunity to bless others.   

Enjoy your holiday season, enjoy your friends, loved ones, and the joy of this season.  But please, have an awareness that you are blessed, and reach out a hand to someone who might not be feeling so blessed this holiday season.  A hand of comfort, of friendship, and of love.  A hand that says I see you, I feel your pain, and you don't have to be alone.

Because one of these holidays, that someone could be you.  Thank you Lord for joy this holiday season.  Help me to not only be the recipient of that joy, but the giver of comfort as well.

Contentment Day 12: Christ.

Philippians 4:12-13
¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him [Christ] who gives me strength. 

Maybe some of you have noticed...Bible Gateway, along with other companies, have updated the NIV to the 2010 translation.  Essentially, you'll find the same messages at the root of every passage, with slight elaborations on some of the content. 


I chose to use the 2010 version in today's passage, because I think it describes so beautifully the foundational ingredient of reaching true contentment.

Paul is explaining all the things he has been through in his life.  And if you know anything about Paul's life- you know his struggles and challenges can be compared to some of the greatest in history.  He was a man who saw the bitter sting of imprisonment, hatred, and an early death- all for the name of the one He loved, all for the sake of the One who had changed his life. 

But at the end of it all- Paul was able to achieve true contentment.  He was wholly satisfied in his life, and no one could take that away from him.  And at the end of it all, his secret to contentment boiled down to one thing and one thing alone: Christ. 

It was Christ that saved this man from the pit of materialism, arrogance, hatred, and selfishness.  It was Christ who gave him purpose, a calling, and a reason to live.  It was Christ who filled him with compassion, love, and mercy.  It was Christ who took the nagging hole at the pit of his heart and filled it with His love. 

Paul found the secret to contentment that he had been searching for all his life...because Christ found him.  

Maybe you, too, have an aching void in your life.  A hole that you have long tried to silence with the things of this world only to find yourself frustrated and empty.  A hole that reminds you with each and every passing thought that your life is not as it should be.  Maybe you too, like Paul, have reached a point in your life where you are realizing that the only thing left to try is Jesus.  It's true, as the songwriter wrote: There's a God shaped hole in all of us.  And that's a hole that only He can fill. 

And I am so thankful He did.  I am so thankful that we serve a God who is gracious enough to find us, knowing that we aren't always able to find Him.  A God who humbled himself to the point of becoming one of us in order to help us know Him, in order to give us the chance to be loved by Him.  A God who gave His life so that we could fill the void in our life...and finally find the secret to contentment.  Finally find Him. 

This Christmas, may we understand the gift of Christ.  A God who became a man just to chase after those He loved.  Just to remind us that the hole in our heart is really perfectly made for Him. 

Let us allow Him to fill our hearts and our lives with that love...and truly find what it means to be content. 

Merry Christmas everyone.  May God grant each of you with the gift of contentment...the gift of Christ. 

From Christmas to Crucifixion:

1 Peter 2:24
He Himself bore our sins, in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.  By His wounds you have been healed.

Christmas Eve is right around the corner.  There is lots of excitement building.  John and I are planning on sleeping in, opening our gifts to one another, and enjoying a homemade brunch together, before heading off to spend the holidays with family.  There is so much to be grateful for.  So much to find joy in.

This is Christmas.  Or is it?  You see, for so many of us, Christmas has lost it’s sacredness.  It’s lost it’s awe.  It’s lost it’s meaning in our lives.  Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t think it’s wrong to celebrate our holiday traditions, to enjoy friends and family, to attend Santa-themed parties, exchange gifts, and enjoy delicious food. 

But we are missing so much by forgetting the foundation of these joys.  I was reminded of this last weekend, preparing for our Bible Study small group.  We have been going through the book of John and our Christmas study happened to land on John 19- the crucifixion of Christ. 

To be honest, I’m not really accustomed to reading about the Crucifixion around Christmas time.  Frankly, we save that for Good Friday.  How silly we are to compartmentalize our Lord in that way, yet we do.

Reading about the crucifixion that day, there was something sobering in remembering that this was the reason Christ was born.  There was something sacred in realizing that this was the intended end when baby Jesus entered into our world.  This was the purpose.  This was the intent. 

Though Jesus gave His life on the cross that day, in reality, He had given his life 33 years before.  He had already given it the instant he received it- the moment of his precious birth. 

This Christmas, I challenge you to truly contemplate the gift of Christ.  This Christmas, as you gather around your tree, I challenge you to stand in reverence as you worship a Lord who humbled himself and hung on his tree in order to bring salvation.  This Christmas, I challenge you to consider the means by which you have been saved, the life that was given for you to truly live, and the wounds that were inflicted allowing us to be healed.

Lord, more than anything else, we thank you for the gift of Christ.