Believe it or not...it is Christmas Time!

It is currently 73 degrees here in St. Petersburg, Florida, as I write this and that is a chill from the past few days we have had. The breeze in the air has a hint of cold to it that ignites the hopes of those longing for that "Christmas Feeling" which will motivate them to proceed into the the holidays. I, however need none of that motivation. All my Christmas decorations are out of their boxes and in their places inside and outside of my home and the Christmas music is playing and I have already watched my kick-off-the-season movie, "The Christmas Story" and have the right holiday scented candle burning for the accent affect. I did all of that the moment I arrived home from our Thanksgiving trip, as is my tradition....get it out of the garage, get it up into place, fast, fast, fast - as not to waste one precious moment of the short lived days which proceed Christmas.

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And now I sit here in my house, the first on the block to light up the street, and it's not even December! No procrastination for me. Now I wonder, "will my tree live to Christmas?" At least now I can relax and soak in the weeks and I mean weeks until the big day. Maybe having spent so many Christmases wishing I had savored the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas before all of the festive surroundings had to be torn down, that I now do my best to extend that time and allow myself and my family to soak it in. With most of my labor accomplished and all this time on my hands , I can extend to you a holiday message.

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Whether you enjoy the "secular" focuses of Christmas or you only celebrate the spiritual purpose or perhaps like me you love it all, I think it is obvious that this season like no other enriches and establishes so much in relationships. The power of our celebration of this season and the garnishes of those celebrations last a lifetime and beyond. It is a mystery what powerful impressions are set within us, not only from purposeful events but even the nuances of everything around us, permeating our senses; sights, sounds, smells, feelings. Certainly whether we realize it or not, whether we focus on it or not, Christmas, the season of celebration of the birth of the Messiah is profound. You can rattle on about Christmas being all year long in our hearts. Yeah, I get that, but even still, everything is different during Christmas. Everything feels different. And maybe that is the point.

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He came to change EVERYTHING. God said in Isaiah 49:19, "Behold I will do a new thing." Something new is something not done before and something different. So put Santa in there and throw in a flying reindeer, but that is not what makes the season different. The "world" may not acknowledge Him, but He is here and things are different, and with so many songs ringing in the atmosphere pronouncing His arrival - it sounds different. With all of His people worshipping Him in an aroma of praise, it smells different. With all of the love and unity of His people focusing on one thing at one time, it feels different.

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So extend the time. Cut out the other stuff. Make the celebration happen. Offer it to your family. Let it fill your home. If you are an adult...go ahead, celebrate all that thrilled you long ago. Bring it back into the now. Get it going. Set the atmosphere for the different. It goes by so fast and then the thrill is gone and the opportunities for whatever it is that sticks with us for a lifetime. You have weeks, and I mean weeks to soak it in. So do it. I'll keep reminding you until then....

Oh yea, Merry Christmas to you!

Go Ahead!

Ephesians 3:19

... that you may be

filled to the measure of all the fullness of God!

In a few short days we will all be eating a meal of abundance of some sort, particular prepared to fill everyone to the fullest at the table. In fact, this special meal has many words of association which expound the point: stuffing, feast, bounty. Every American has a vivid memory of that feeling of over-the-top satisfaction of fullness on Thanksgivings past. Just typing this I am already contemplating an expandable waist line on whatever I wear that day.

We also can associate with the scenario of no matter how full we are of all the delicacies of the feast, in just a few hours we are back in the kitchen removing tin-foil and loading paper plates with a new assortment in various forms of the same food we just over-ate. Again this typifies the truth that we are wonderfully and fearfully made by a Creator who works everything in conformity with His purposes.

God created us with a capacity to be filled, to enjoy the fullness, but a need to come back for more. Ahhhhh. Filled, full....more. And so it is with our discovery of the God who intricately made us that way.

Let me break it down. Paul was using specific words to create a picture of our capacity to experience God. He said, "that you may be filled." His word "fill" there literally means to "cram"! Oh yes, the same "cram" we will be doing with all that sweet potato casserole and stuffing! You know that sensation; its delicious, you take as much as you want and eat without reservation, you feel full but there's some still left and it's so good that you eat it all anyway and take one or two more spoonfuls just because it's Thanksgiving and the food is there .

Hmmm. David said, "he prepares a table before me." "He satisfies me with good things."

If only we would consume God, the way we consume that Thanksgiving meal. If only our spiritual hearts would hunger in anticipation of tasting Him on a Sunday morning! If only we came into His presence and took as much as we could, got full and went even further for another helping because even though we are so full of Him, we just have to have MORE!

The thing about hunger and fullness is, fullness is expendable. It comes and then it's gone. Our bodies were designed to always be hungry again, because our bodies MUST have food. Yes, God knew it...we need Him. We taste Him, feast on His Word, discover Him, feel Him and it's so good, but the next day...we need Him again.

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But going even further, God didn't just create us to eat when we are hungry. He also gave us the desire for the taste of something delicious. Though in excess, eating when you aren't hungry can cause problems, there is nothing more pleasurable than eating something that is so good when you aren't hungry but just because you know it tastes so good! Like what I am doing while I write this late at night... eating a big bowl of your favorite full-of-sugar cereal. And you know how it is when that cereal is so good you hate to leave even one of those little circles floating in the milk and something compels you to not even leave the milk....you slurp it all up in one quick swoop from the bowl itself - simply because its just that great! You don't care if anyone sees you, or that you are in your forties and too mature to do it, you do it in spite of all that, because of your desire and a sweet abandon moves you to do it.

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"Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!"