No Other Reason

Why celebrate Christmas?

Many celebrate because it's a holiday.

Many celebrate because that is what they have always done.

Many celebrate to receive and give gifts.

Christmas is much, much more than that.

So much more.

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.  

God’s son’s birth.

God’s son is Jesus.

Jesus was born of an immaculate conception.

Jesus was born for a purpose.

God sent his son, Jesus, to be born and die for us.

Jesus was born sentenced to a horrific death.

Jesus was born to die for the forgiveness of our sins.

Jesus was born to die so that you and I could have eternal life.

Jesus was born to die for us.

To Die For Us……

Jesus was born of a virgin.

Jesus was born in a manger.

Jesus was born the son of a carpenter.

Jesus was baptized by his cousin in the name of God his father.

Jesus performed miracle after miracle.

Jesus was doubted by both his disciples and people who witnessed his miracles.

Jesus knew we would disappoint both him and God, his father, time after time after time.

Jesus died a horrific, long, suffering, publicly humiliating death…

Jesus knew it all before it happened. 

Jesus lived it anyway.

Jesus did it all for our eternal life.

So, why celebrate Christmas?

Christmas celebrates our savior.

There is no other reason.

Hats and Masks

Each and every one of us wears many hats and masks every day...whether we realize it or not.  

We are, or at least we try to be, many things to many different people.  We put on the hat of counselor, caretaker, dish washer, maid, driver, confidant...  We sometimes find ourselves putting those hats on even when we don't want to.

And we may even wear a mask from time to time.  Perhaps we put on a happy face to mask our feelings of sadness, anger, surprise, astonishment, awe, love, embarrassment, fear, unworthiness, confusion, discouragement, frustration, etc…

Don't you think...

...it's time to stop hiding.

...it's time to start living.

...it's time to free ourselves.

...it's time to #FindTheJoy.

...it's time to truly #BeHappy.

I do.

Down with the Chatterbox

There are times when I would give nothing to keep the past the way it was...and there are other times I would just wipe it all way.

Today was one of those times.

It's so ironic, confusing, frustrating to me.  My past combined with the actions of the present makes me who I am today.

Today my actions speak to who I am.

Yesterday's actions are in the past, but they helped shape who I have become.

I am who I am today.  

I am not who I was yesterday, a month ago, a year ago, etc...

It's very frustrating for me because I interact with people in a cyclical nature at work.  People who interact with me today may or may not interact with me again for a month, six months or a year.

It's those who haven't interacted with me for x amount of time who interact with me now and have a preconceived notion of who I am or rather who I was.  I'll just say it, I could be a down right kibble sometimes.  And if things didn't go my way or I didn't think someone was doing what I believe to be right...oh brother...look out.  Sue-magedon!  

The key thing there is the "I".  It was all about me.  WAS.  Past tense.

I know who I am.  I know how much I have changed.  I know who I live for today.

But sometimes, something random happens.  

Sometimes, someone comes out of left field and makes a triple play to the core of my being which brings doubt, worry, discouragement, confusion as to whether or not I have made any progress at all.

I know I have made huge strides to be who He wants and expects me to be.  

But then...WHAM!  

It's like a sucker punch to the gut.  The wind gets knocked out of me.  

I sat there, today, staring and wondering...did that conversation really happen?  Did that person really say that about me?  How in the world could that be?  Don't they see me for who I am today?

And then I think that it could have happened because that is who I used to be.  

It hurts because I am trying to be the person I know God wants me to be.

I know it shouldn't affect me like this.  

I know I should keep on walking my walk.  

I know this, but I sit here stalled.  Confounded.  Confused.  Doubting.  

I want to whack myself in the head and say - "Get with it, Sue!  Listen to what you tell everyone else!  Can't you see that what "they" say doesn't matter?!?!  Repeat after your own self these things...  I am anointed.  I am empowered.  I am cherished.  I am worthy.  I am strong.  I am courageous.  I am forgiven.  I am His."

But, still, I find myself sitting here wondering...and then beating myself up because I know I shouldn't wonder.

So crazy.

.....long pause.....

It's time to put on the armor and beat the crap out of the stupid chatterbox in my head.  

The chatterbox is going down.  

It's with His help that I will wield the sword that delivers the killing blow.

My final thought for the night...Down with the chatterbox!  

Keep it In or Open it Up

Keep it all in.  So many of us seem to do that quite a bit these days.  I know I'm guilty of it at times.  

I want hold on to everything going on with all my might.  I don't want to give it up.  I don't want to share the real truth.  I want to keep all my fears and worries and burdens locked deep inside.  I hold on to them with every bit of strength within me.  I grasp on to them as if they are oxygen to my soul.  And I build a wall up around myself to keep everything barricaded inside.

But when I hold on to these things they become like an anchor.  An anchor weighing down my heart.  An anchor holding me in place.  An anchor pulling me down deeper and deeper into the muck.  They keep me stuck in the depths of despair / sadness / hurt / anger / fear / shame.  It's like someone hit the pause button and I'm stuck standing there frozen in place.

The longer I keep things in and the tighter I hold on, the worse things get.  The lonelier I feel.  The more shame and sorrow I experience.  The more fear wells up inside of me.

Have you ever felt that way?  Not wanting to let go because you think you will... 

Be laughed at?  
Looked down upon?  
Made fun of?  
Become vulnerable?  
Have to rely on someone other than yourself?
Open yourself up to possibly be hurt?

I have.  

Too many times to count.

But I've learned that is no way to live life.  To truly be free and find peace, I've had to let everything go.  I've had to share what is hurting my heart.  I've had to share my deepest fears.  And I've had to put it all out there and make myself completely and utterly vulnerable by sharing the real me.

It's those times...the times that I freely give...that I am truly and honestly living.  I mean, haven't you ever held something in for a long time? Then when you finally share whatever it is...it's like a weight is lifted off of your shoulders...and you experience a huge sense of relief.

When we hold onto our hurts, worries, doubts, fears, we can't receive.  When we put up walls, our minds and hearts are closed.  When we are holding on, our arms and hands are clasped tightly shut. 

To receive, we have to open up.  Open our hearts to love.  Open our minds to a new way of living.  Open our arms to let others comfort us.  Open our hands to receive what others have to offer us.

I choose to open myself fully.  I choose to do this daily.  Yes, daily, because it's not easy.  In fact, it's terribly difficult sometimes.  Sometimes it's so difficult that I look to God for the strength and courage to do so. 

I have to open myself up fully so I can receive what God's son, Christ Jesus, fully opened himself up to give us. (John 3:16)  Jesus opened his heart, opened his arms and opened his hands...so that you and I could have eternal life.

What will it be?  

Keep everything closed up and stay rooted in the muck?  

Or let it all go and open up to the promise of a bright and glorious future?

Only Human

Some days are perfect beyond belief.  And then some days are tough, I mean, really tough.

Our love is tried.  Our patience is tried.  Our kindness is tried.  Our self control is tried.

Often times when we face these trials, we fail.  And sometimes that failure is abysmal.  We lash out.  We curse.  We indulge.  We judge.  We criticize.  We hate.  We plummet to places in our souls we forgot existed or even knew were there.

We give in to our weaknesses…whatever those weaknesses are.  We all have them.  Boy, do we have them.

Yesterday morning, I completely and utterly failed and let my weaknesses get the best of me.  And it wasn’t just a little failure.  It was an epic failure.  Because when I do things, I do them big…I’m either all in or all out…  

I won't to go into the gory details.  I will say that I was unfaithful to God and lacked both patience and self control. 

In the middle of my failure, I pulled out some bible verses I carry with me.  I read them.  Okay, if I'm going to be completely honest, I skimmed them.  I did not allow them to calm me down.  And then I blew multiple gaskets.  I was furious about the circumstance I was in and that people weren't living up to my expectations.  Yup, "my" expectations weren't being met (which is a topic in and of itself) and I was not happy about it.  

Afterwards…I was not happy with myself.  I was appalled that I allowed myself to slip back into my old ways.  I reached out for the prayer of others to help calm me.  I prayed for forgiveness. 

It’s one thing to slip up.  It’s another to let those slips define us. 

While praying, I found myself repeating the following which brought me comfort and peace…

I am not my weakness.

I am not my mistakes.

I am not  perfect.  

I am a sinner.

I am repentant.

I am forgiven.

I am made of flesh and blood.  

I am human.

I am His.

Self Serve?

One on my beliefs is that we must lose all sense of self to be true followers of Christ Jesus. (Mark 8:34-35, Matthew 16:24, Luke 9:23, Proverbs 3:5-6)

Losing all sense of self...denying oneself...  

What exactly does that mean?  Losing all sense of self?  

Basically, we lose ourself when we stop obsessing over ourselves.  We stop serving ourselves.

Not focusing on ourselves seems to be a completely foreign concept in today's society.  We all appear to be so wrapped up in ourselves today.  Because, after all, it really is all about me.  Right? 

We want things now.  We carry our phones around like they are part of our bodies.  We want our calls, our texts and our emails now.  We want  everyone to "like" and "view" what we post now.  We want immediate responses.  We want the latest and greatest version of everything.  Even if it's not broke we replace perfectly good things - phones, TVs, tablets, cars, clothes, the list could go on and on...  We want it all and we want it now.

We want more.  We aren't happy with just one.  We have to have more.  We have to have bigger...better....more improved.   How many people have more than one TV in their house?  How many people wait for the latest and greatest release version of something we own?  How many people want more money so we can buy more things?  How many people have to have a certain brand of something or have things with a specific label?

We want and we want and we want...

What if we stopped pursing all of kinds of "things" and starting pursing love?

Love.  

Yes...love.

Jesus tells us to love God and love others (Matthew 22:37-39).  We aren't  command us to love ourselves.  We aren't told to do whatever we can to make ourselves feel good.  We are told to love others.  


Love is an action.  

We must act.  When we act, we are idly sitting by.  So when we act are are intentionally and purposefully do something.

If we are loving others...we can't be serving ourselves at the same time.  

Basically, when we intentionally love others we intentionally serve others...we lose ourselves.

Pretty simple when you think about it.  A little harder to put it into action.

So who will you be serving?  

Will you be sitting idly by?  

Or will you chose to act and intentionally love?

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, 

then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, 

whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. 

But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:15 NIV

Who's Got the Power

The Spirit of the God who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you. So the God who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your bodies. He will do this because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Romans 8:11 (NIRV)

The same power that rose Jesus from the grave...lives in us.  

That power lives in us.

Wow.  Unreal.  How awesome is that?!  It's completely and utterly awesome!  

But do we really believe it?  

Do we?  

I mean truly and honestly believe it?

If we did, everything would be achievable.  Every goal.  Every ambition.  Every dream.  

Peace, joy, love, compassion, patience would fill our hearts.

Doubt, fear, insecurity, shame, worry wouldn't exist.

What does that say about our faith in God?

What does that say about our trust in the promises of Christ Jesus?

We have this supernatural power inside us and yet we let the voice of the enemy rule our thoughts more often than not.  

We question our actions and decisions.  We doubt our abilities.  We fear the unknown.  We stress and worry about the littlest things.  We are so easily discouraged.

God created us to love Him.  God sent His son to die for our sins.  God had it all planned out.  He KNEW we weren't PERFECT and he sent his SON to DIE for for us ANYWAY.  And it's through Christ that we can do ANYTHING. 

It's when we trust and believe and step out in faith that we move from a dark and dreary existence into a bright and glorious life.

It's when we trust in God and go beyond ourselves that we truly start living.

We need to trust that we have the power.

So when life is getting hectic and things are weighing you down...

Remember to tell yourself...

I'VE GOT THE POWER!!!