Christmas will be here in a few days.  It’s always a busy time as we approach the year-end.  Many things have happened since my last entry here.   It’s no doubt that 2007 is another year filled with blessings from God.  I have high hopes for 2008 and believe that something significant will happen next year.  I have faith in the Lord and I am eager to ride the adventure of life with Him.

As you are reading this message, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas.  Happy Holidays can’t and will never replace the true meaning of this season.  It’s Merry Christmas for Christ sake.  Recently a good friend and co-worker of mine gave me the following devotion from “Our Daily Bread.”  I want to share with you all.

Let us at all costs avoid the temptation to make our Christmas worship a withdrawal from the stress and sorrow of life into a realm of unreal beauty.  It was into the real world that Christ came; into the city where there was no room for Him, and into a country where Herod, the murderer of innocents, was king.

He comes to us, not to shied us from the harshness of the world but to give us the courage and strength to bear it; not to snatch us away by some miracle from the conflict of life, but to give us peace – His peace – in our hearts, by which we may be calmly steadfast while the conflict rages, and be able to bring to the torn world the healing that is peace.

When Mary and Joseph presented the infant Jesus to the Lord, Simeon said to them: “Behold, the Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35)

Christmas is not a retreat from reality but an advance into it alongside the Prince of Peace.

Once again, Merry Christmas!!!!!