Endure

Christmas has got to be one of the most intense times of the year for people. It seems like there is some sort of obligation every single night. We always seem to be going non-stop. A couple of days ago I couldn’t get the Doxology out of my head for some reason. Usually when that happens to me that means there is something I am supposed to get out of it. I guess the word that stood out the most for me at the time was endure. Good word for this time of year... don't you think?

God's Word says in 1 Chronicles 16:34 - Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 136 says it probably 100 times more.

I looked up the word endurance in the dictionary just for grins. The definition is, the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity. I don’t know about you but I think my endurance level is pretty good. There has been a ton of stuff going on here at the church and there have been many late nights and long weekends lately. I am confident many of you are dealing with the very same things in your lives. You know... even in the busiest times of our lives the blessing for us is there is a light at the end of our tunnels. We will only have to deal with the late nights and long weekends for a short time period. While we must endure only for a time… the scripture says the Lord’s love endures FOREVER. Wow. That is a long time. I don’t know about you, but I promise you I get worn out and I know I cannot continue forever when the demands are very high. I get tired, weak and ineffective. My earthly tent just will not allow me to continue on forever.

What is amazing to me is that the Lord never tires. No matter how difficult we may be to love, He endures and continues to love us FOREVER. No matter the late nights or the long weekends… he can continue at the same pace of loving us even when we don’t deserve it.

I think that even when we are tired and feeling weak, we should remember that the Lord never tires. He is ever strong to continue to show us His love which in turn gives us strength to continue on even when we think we have nothing left in us to give.

So my prayer for each of you? Endurance!

The Madness Of It All

Everyone writes about how crazy the season is at this time of year, but what I have noticed is that it seems the madness is becoming a year-round problem. What happened? Since when did we decide that we had to be going non-stop? Not only are we a non-stop society, but we are going so fast and furious that we have lost sight of what is going on around us. We have become so task oriented that we can't even take our eye's off the to do list to see all the wonderful things we have just been going by.

Are you holding the door for people as they pass?

Are you helping your neighbor carrying in bags?

Are you noticing the hurting people you come in contact with?

Are you writing notes to people who just need a word of encouragement?

If you are so wrapped up in yourself and what is going on with you, you are missing the opportunity (simple opportunities) to be a blessing to someone.

I urge you to start now (and not just for the season) and be purposeful about looking for opportunities to bless someone each and every day. It doesn't have to be huge. Sometimes the most simple things are all anyone really needs to turn them around and get them on a better path for their life!