why I loved snow days so much. I think the simplest answer is that it would give me an unplanned day. It would be a day that could just unfold naturally, without anything on my schedule. A day where I was able to hear God easier, without all the schedules and busyness of normal days interfering.
Psalm 46:10 tells us to just let go and let God be God, knowing He is in control, or that’s how I paraphrase the verse. None of us know what we are going to encounter in our days, but God does. If you’re like me, we try to schedule what will happen because we want control. But God wants us to let go of that control and have “snow days,” where we give God our days and let Him do our scheduling.
Just as snow brings about peaceful tranquility, letting go and letting God be in control of every detail of our life brings about a peace that not even a snow day could compare to. Here’s to not waiting for a snow day before we let God be God in our life. And if God wants to give us some snow, that would be the icing on our cake!!
Lord, please help us transfer the lessons we learn from having snow days to our everyday lives … letting You schedule our days. Amen.
24…LIGHT AT THE END OF
YOUR TUNNEL
Good morning! We live in such an instantaneous world. I think having all the technology that’s available to us today helps make us want everything right now. When’s the last time you marveled at the fact that you can send emails, text, or photos to someone hundreds of miles away in just moments? But here’s a more telling question. When’s the last time you got really aggravated when that same technology took a minute to work instead of merely seconds?
Patience is something I think everyone walking on the face of this earth struggles with. We want to get from A to Z at lightning speed. We often don’t have the patience to get through the processes that are required in life. You know, like when a loved one dies, and you don’t want to go through the grieving process. You just want to get to the other side of it, so the heartache will stop. Or when you’re suffering with a physical ailment and you just want the healing to happen so that the pain will go away. And when there are broken relationships and you go through the “breaking up” process, there’s pain there, too. God uses every ounce of our pain in life for His purpose and glory and our good. Not one single tear goes unnoticed by our Heavenly Father. When in pain, I go to a couple of verses for comfort. 1 Peter 5:10 says, “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.“ And 2 Corinthians 4:17 says, “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison…” These verses comfort me because they remind me that the pain will end. These promises of God do not say that we don’t have to go through the processes though. But based on these and many other promises, we know there is a light at the end of those painful tunnels. When our Light is Jesus Christ, we can endure the pain. Praying you can comfort someone in pain today with God’s promises.
Lord, thank You that there is a light at the end of our tunnel and that the light is You. Amen.
25…SERVING OTHERS
Good morning! We are in the season of giving. Let’s start today out with a few questions to ponder. When is the last time you gave a gift and expected nothing in return, not even a thank you? Or when is the last time you gave a gift anonymously? Do you give in order to receive the praise you’ll get from others? Or do you give extravagantly so you’ll out shine everyone else?
Matthew 6:3-4 tells us that “when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” Some of my greatest blessings have come from giving anonymously. I pray that those who have given to me in secret will experience great blessings, too. I think the question we really need to ask ourselves is, “What’s our motivation for giving?” If we look to Jesus as our example when it comes to giving, our motivation should be all about serving others … plain and simple, just serving others.
Some people go plum crazy with how much they spend on Christmas gifts. Some spend so much that they are paying for those gifts on credit cards all year long. I might look at things wrong, but I believe that our giving should just be a reminder of our love for those we give to instead of trying to “buy” their love by spending a fortune. Jesus showed us the best way to give...giving of ourselves. Money can’t buy the feeling we get when we give of our time or talents to help others. During this holiday season, give a gift that only you can give by serving others. Let the gift of your time and attention be the one gift not on their list because they didn’t know how such a gift would warm their heart. And you don’t need a gift receipt either because this is a gift worth holding on to.
Lord, there is no one that can out give You. As we give, examine our hearts and bring to light any wrong motives we might have as we give to others. Thank You for giving us the perfect example for what it looks like to give from a pure heart. Amen.
26…FEASTS OF ALL FEASTS
Good morning! I’ve received gift cards to some of my favorite restaurants as Christmas gifts. And I have to admit, that excites me to no end!!!! I love eating out. Well, the truth is that I just love food in general. I had to ask myself after I used one of the gift cards this week whether it was ok to be this jazzed about food. But then I thought about all the references to food that we find in the Bible. There’s the Lord’s Supper, the feast with the story of the prodigal son, along with too many other feasts to count. I Googled to see how many verses mentioned food in the Bible and it said at least 112 times.
As I was reading some of those verses, I landed on one that seemed new to me. Matthew 22:2 says, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, who gave a wedding feast for his son.” Wow, now that’s a picture that I enjoyed putting in my head. One day, that mental picture will be a reality for all Believers. Can you imagine what that will be like???
But not everyone we currently know will be able to enjoy that feast. Only those that have accepted the gift of salvation will enter Heaven. The best Christmas gift that you could EVER give someone is Jesus. Helping someone understand that as sinners, which we all are, we are at odds with God. The only way we can be in His presence is to be holy. And since we can’t fix that sin problem alone, God gave us a way through the shed blood of the perfect lamb, Jesus, to atone for our sins. Once you’ve accepted this in your heart and told God that you want this gift, you then become a child of God. As you enjoy your Christmas dinners, let the food remind you of what is waiting for every child of God. And then do what you can to share this Good News of Jesus so that everyone you know can enjoy the feast of all feasts waiting for Believers in Heaven.
Lord, how we await that feast with You in heaven. Nothing on earth can compare with what that glorious day will be like. Help us to tell others about this feast and what it takes to get an invitation. Amen.
27…THE GIFT OF JESUS
Good morning! During this time of year, little ones have made their list of things they want to receive from Santa. They wait with great anticipation for Christmas to arrive, so they can see if their wishes came true by the packages they open under the Christmas tree. There will be squeals of joy when they open that gift that they’d asked for. All will be well in their little world. Too bad we can’t bottle that joy and spread it throughout the entire year.
I thought about this as I was reading in 1 John 4:13. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.” The most precious gift we could ever give our children is the gift of Jesus Christ. If we could help our kids understand who Jesus is and what He has done for us, Christmas would be much different for them. The gift of Jesus is eternal, unlike the Christmas
