About once a month I receive multiple texts all at once from Russell on a random subject he is thinking about. It’s always thought provoking. I wanted to share with you his latest wisdom, this on the subject of finding joy in our work (and the rest of life):

“Lots of Church, society and culture unwittingly encourages us to be dour and serious. Good sometimes, but it breeds depression if taken too far. Have fun with life. I really believe God wants us to be joyful! ‘Suffering’ needs no cultivation. There is plenty of it and it does just fine on its own. What we have to concentrate on is finding joy and peace in the midst of the chaos. Venerating loved ones is the key to connecting to God and peace, I think. 

Lots of people make cleaning, working out, practicing, managing health and money correctly, maintaining healthy relationships and doing work to be ’suffering’. That is wrong. Those things should be made joyful! 

What do you think? Is it possible for you to be joyful in your work?

Today, let’s try it on for size. Let’s focus on the heart of our work and those we interact with today. Comment back with your experiences.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.   John 15:11

Our workplaces are rampant with opportunities for forgiveness.  Who has not been wronged in one way or another at work?  Are you still holding on to it and refusing to forgive?  A buddy at work told me more than once that “Forgiveness is liberating.” and he was so right.  Please don’t start this new year holding something against someone at work.  I don’t have to think longer than a couple of seconds about mistakes I have made that needed someone else’s forgiveness.  I know this can be very hard, but we must forgive each other,without limits, as our Father has forgiven us, especially those who are our brother and sisters in Christ.  There is tremendous joy for those who continuously offer forgiveness, who recall what unlimited mercy has been poured out on us through Jesus Christ and who show the same mercy toward others.

Before you pray today, spend some time thinking about who do you need to forgive at work.  Don’t let this year start chained in the dark dungeon of bitterness and miss the blessing of joy when you have truly forgiven.  Let it go!

We have all probably experienced things that thought to be miraculous. They don’t always have to be huge, blow you away types of miracles either.  We tend to only think about the really big stuff that happens and classify them as a miracle.  Many times, God uses the small seemingly insignificant things of life in which to work his miracles. I know that I have experienced some things in my life that seem to be miraculous.  I’m sure if you thought about it enough, you would feel that as well.

On occasion, we hear about a miracle happening in someones life that we just have to sit back and be amazed.  I wanted to share with you something I heard today that would definitely fall into this category.  It is simply to incredible to not hear and I would hope this would be blessing to you today.

James Dobson played an interview on his show this morning that I want you to hear.  If you don’t have time to listen to it right now, please come back to this at some point soon. You won’t want to miss this.  Please click on link below to hear this amazing testimony.

Breaking the Silence

May God bless you today and hopefully you will be inspired like those spoken of in Luke 19:37.

When he reached the place where the road started down to the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.

I ran across this statement by C.S. Lewis, my favorite author that seemed to relate to all this.  Lewis said,” God designed the human machine to run on Himself.  He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on.  There is no other. God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.  There is no such thing.”

I know that we get this fuel from other ways as  well, but I can almost always count on my tank getting refilled and therefore being better equipped to handle the challenges of the week.  It is simply how we were designed.

Lord, Please help us to understand and accept that as our Creator, we must operate with you as the main fuel in our lives.  We are so willing to be filled with so much other garbage. No wonder we often feel so defeated and depleted.  Help us Lord to use our Sunday’s to the fullest and to be refreshed by the power that comes from meeting with our church families and fully engaging in what you want to give us so that we can live abundantly.  In the name of your precious son Jesus, Amen.

In the quiet this morning, sitting by a roaring fireplace the memories of a wonderful day with my family are so sweet.  I am also thrilled to think about the fact that I am part of a much larger, extended family.  Beginning with the birth of our Saviour, God made it possible for us to be part of His family and that gives Christmas a very special meaning.  Of course there are other times of the year to celebrate this as well, but there is something about this time of the year that makes it so much more special.  Our everlasting, immortal family was made possible because of the special day we celebrated yesterday.

I pray that the wonderful memories of this season will remain with you, but even more, my prayer is that you will dwell on the memories of your life in Christ during the next week.  Because of what happened over 2000 years ago in a small town called Bethlehem, I hope you can call these precious days the most wonderful time of the year.

Father, family is really what matters most to us here on this earth.  We long to be with our families when we are separated.  One day we will be reunited with you and the rest of our family for all eternity and that was only possible because of your precious gift of love that we celebrate this time of the year.  With grateful hearts we give all Glory, Honor and Power to you! In the name of your precious son Jesus, Amen.

Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call him Immanuel, which translated means, “God with us.”  Matt 1:23

Thank you God our Father for coming to this earth you created to redeem us through the birth of your one and only Son, Jesus.  No greater gift could ever be given than your Son coming to live among us.  Help us to live worthy of the gift and the ultimate sacrifice He made through laying down his life to save ours.  Amen.

God has placed people in our lives for a specific purpose.  This time of year is a great opportunity to write notes (Christmas Cards?) to those who have meant something to you along the way.  It will be an incredible blessing when you stop and realize how many people have passed through your life and how much you appreciate them.

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  John 15:13

Lord, what an amazing blessing it is when we stop to think about the many people that we have known over the years and the good times we have shared.  Let us take a moment this year to thank you for each one with gladness and thanksgiving, experiencing the gift of joy that comes from our many friends.  Amen