As you celebrate Christmas, it’s expedient to remember that Jesus is the reason for this advent season, not food, winter or because of the day in the calendar. Without Jesus, there wouldn’t have been Christmas. So, once you celebrate it with Christ consciousness in mind, you’ll not be carried away by the festive activities of people but rather deepen your reverence for Jesus Christ.
What does 1 Thessalonians 5:16 tell us? It says we should rejoice always. Right? But look critically at the word “rejoice.” It’s a combination of two words: “re” and “joy.” Guess what it means? To consciously walk in joy. That is your responsibility, not God.
Are you a minister of God? Sometimes, reminisce about the number of people who have heard the gospel through you and be joyful about it in the Lord. That can be an antidote to overthinking about the next project for which you may not have the funds to do. Stop thinking so much about your future that you forget to celebrate what the Lord has been doing daily in your life.
Blessed are you when you rejoice in Jesus’s marvellous works in another person’s ministry. Ministry isn’t like a business where there is competition. No! It belongs to God. Let Him direct you as you do it.
Are you a busy Christian so used to work that you don’t take time to celebrate your miracle? Don’t live like that. We live in a busy world. So, no matter what you do, work will never end. The more you work, the more the work. Therefore, sometimes, take some time off the everyday routine to rest and celebrate God’s works in your life.
This Christmas, what’s your focus? Is it on the plenty of food you will eat with your family or gifts you’ll receive from your loved ones? The food will fade away. The gifts will be used. The euphoria of the season will also go. But Jesus will remain Lord forever.
Are you letting what you’re going through or something unfortunate that happened to you to overshadow the joy of God’s presence in your life? Repent, friend.
Almost everybody learns to be gentle. But gentility can be expressed better by believers who walk in understanding. Why? Because such people know how to do it with sincere God-inspired love from the heart.
Enduring afflictions, either because of your faith or circumstances in life, is part and parcel of your life as a believer. But the most important thing to understand is that through it all, don’t lose hold of Jesus.
If you’re a ministry leader reading this, please insist on leading the church to evangelise to people. If you’re a Christian belonging to a church, never forget to preach Jesus to people who come around you or who you encounter in life. Enough of beating around the gospel. Hell must be depopulated. Play your part!
Weeping time is only when God’s presence seems missing in your life – where you have every reason to question God because things aren’t really working out as you want them to. But there’s good news: it has an expiry date. And that date isn’t in years, months or days. It’s when you discover God’s reason for doing things in His presence.
We live in an evil age, so tribulations abound. But Jesus has overcome the world. And once He lives in us (2 Corinthians 13:5), we’re also overcomers of the world. Our lives are different because of Christ in us.
