Perfect love casts out fear, was what stuck with me. Knowing God and belonging to Him enables us to battle the fear Satan tries to strike us with. Keeping my faith in Jesus Christ helps me to keep fear away. With His help, I can fight the fears that come. Reading my Bible brings me closer to God.
Ya know, when we do wrong, we often feel guilty and ashamed. It is that guilt that has us pull away from God, not the other way around. Just like Adam and Eve in the garden, we too back away from God. Then we blame Him for being so far away. God isn't the one who moves away. It's us in our guilt who puts that distance between us and God. We're such silly human beings sometimes, aren't we?
With the new year coming up, I'm going to begin some new habits. One is to get my morning coffee and sit in my quiet place and read and contemplate the Bible. I know I need to sit still after reading for time to listen for God's input into our life. Once that is established, I will move on to another good habit.
I've often said that the more a boss shows appreciation to employees, the more the employees will give to their job. That doesn't cost that employer anything. Amazing what words can do. We all strive to get approval. It used to be stars on papers in grade school, to the grades you wanted, or the celebration of hard work with a celebration would do it. Now isn't it amamzing that words can motivate us. Many times when I was working, I had to be reminded that we are not working for man, but for God. That got me through some tough assignments in my career. From the greatest to the least, we all need and want to be appreciated.
This was a song we sang in our Christmas Eve service. I didn't remember hearing it before, and it kept playing in my mind after the service. I hope it does the same for you.
Medical Update: I need to call the dr. to see what else she can put me on for pain. The prednisone isn't allowing sleep. I now know how Sarah feels. Only she has had this for such a long time.
I still have pain down from my neck to my shoulder, to my wrist.
Blessing of the Day:I also went to my Mom's for Christmas today. It's been a long time since I had two meals to celebrate Christmas. I used to do this when I was dating and early married. Then we worked out a system for Christmas Eve, then Christmas Day.
It was a small gathering but very nice. My sister Laura and her family came, and Chad brought Sammy, his cousin who is developmentally delayed. Sammy's come to holidays at our house for a long time. He would have been sitting at home in his group home if he hadn't come to our house. Anyway it was a small gathering but so nice. We got to catch up and enjoy time together.
Mom got lots of yarn! She said she didn't need presents. We told her we were just supporting her ministry of making squares for afghans for the homeless. Our craft stores provide a place to drop off knitted rectangles that are put together to make afghans for the homeless. Then they are dropped off at shelters to be distributed.
Upon hearing the yarn was for her ministry, she relaxed and said, she appreciated it. :)
Thanks for stopping by today.
Blessings,
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