“Rejoice always!” (1 Thessalonians 5:16).

Interesting.

When a person tries out a new food item and if they respond with, “Interesting,” what do you think that means?

If you were to ask me how my Christmas and New Year’s break was, my answer?

Interesting.

I found out a day before Christmas that Kaleb tested positive for Covid. Because of my heart issues, my family insisted that I stay away from Kaleb. So, I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day by myself in a hotel room.

Interesting.

The plan was for me to get back with the family after three days and after a negative Covid test for the rest of the family. That was the plan. Things didn’t go to plan.

Interesting.

After testing, Helen and Kaitlin also tested positive for covid.

Interesting.

Notice, I didn’t say, “Terrible!”

Helen and Kaitlin had very mild symptoms. They only had flu-like symptoms. Kaleb, on the other hand, had almost no symptoms.

Thank God our family is healthy and managing. Isolating and quarantining was never on any of our plans, but through it all, we’re all healthy and doing well.

Thanks to Alan and Jane Macpherson for offering their cabin so Karis, Kailey, and I can have a place to stay. So much better than a hotel room. The non-covid Kims have been staying at the cabin while the covid Kims continue to isolate and quarantine.

The text for today doesn’t say, “Rejoice when things are going your way.” Nor does it say, “Rejoice when things are going great!” It simply states, “Rejoice ALWAYS.”

Rejoice is written in the imperative. It’s a command.

Here’s what that means: rejoicing is a choice. It’s something we choose. It is not an emotion we passively feel, but it is a condition we choose.

You should also note that rejoicing does not mean feeling happy or giddy. This has to do with a sense or state of being.

What I can tell you about my Christmas and New Year’s break was that there was a whole lot of down time and alone time. There wasn’t much giddiness. There wasn’t much glee. But I had joy. I knew, no matter what, God was in control, God loved me and my family, and that God knew best. So, no matter what the future held, I was in good hands, because I was in God’s hands. There was nothing in this created world that could separate me from the love of God.

So, even though things weren’t always great, I had joy. Joy is the result of who God is, not my experiences nor external circumstances. Joy depends on all that God has already done for us.

So, no matter what you are facing, no matter what you are going through, remember, you can and you must choose joy.

Rejoice! Rejoice always!

“The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).

God made man from the dust of the ground. And when he was made, the man had the shape and form of man, but there was no life in him. Only when God breathed into the man the breath of life did the man come alive.

• Looked like a man
• Shaped like a man
• But wasn’t fully alive until God breathed into the man the breath of life.

There are many today who go through life having the form and the shape of a living being. But there is no life in them. They have no idea why they are alive. They have no purpose and no direction. Life for many is existing.

The breath of God is God’s Holy Spirit. It is only when the Spirit of the living God comes to dwell with us can we be fully alive. We will never know what it means to be fully alive and living until we receive the Spirit of the living God.

A person without God will look like a living being, but there is no life in them. But just because someone says that they have accepted Jesus into their lives does not mean that person knows how to be fully alive either.

To fully live means to fully live under the direction and the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God. This is an ongoing, continual “yes” to the whispers and the leadings of the Holy Spirit. This is the process of becoming more like Christ. For it is when we become more like Christ, that we become fully alive.

As we enter into this new year, it is my prayer that we get better at listening and obeying the leading of the Holy Spirit of God, and that we resemble Christ in our thoughts and deeds.

May God bless you richly in the coming year.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy Holidays!
Merry Xmas!
Merry Christmas!

For some these are fighting words. “This season isn’t just a holiday season. This season is all about Jesus! The culture is trying to wipe Jesus out of Christmas!” some assert.

I am sure by now, most of you have seen a similar meme as the one above. “If we want to keep Christ in Christmas, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the stranger and the unwanted child, care for the ill, love your enemies.”

I am not sure who came up with the meme, but I think they’re right on.

There was a time when the people of Israel were fighting about what it meant to keep a fast to the Lord. Some were arguing that what was required was a stoppage of consuming food. As long as you did that, God was pleased. Others were saying that it wasn’t just about the consuming or not consuming food, but about living in a way that honors God.

Listen what God has to say:

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cord of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter –
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
…If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise the darkness
and your night will become like the noonday
(Isaiah 58:6-7, 9b-10).

This is indeed a Merry Christmas!