Dear Ones,
Happy joyous Christmas eve day as we anticipate His coming. Today I plan to make rolls, do food prep and pack and tonight is our candlelight Christmas Eve service. Tomorrow we leave for the cities to meet with all the relatives at Spring Hills. We will spend 2 days and nights there and we look forward to time with family.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
As we approach Christmas we think of joy and love for the Lord and others and “peace on earth, good will toward men.”   But if we are honest, maybe we don’t feel so peaceful about gathering with our extended families as there are memories that pop up in our minds of wrongs done to us. What about them? If we cling to those memories, it will spoil our Christmas, and we will be robbed of peace and joy. But how do we handle those things of the past?

The secret is to choose to forgive, to let go of any vindictive feelings we may have and clear the record. Just as the Lord has forgiven us and looks at us as if we never sinned, our minds must be stayed on the Lord and our hearts open to forgive all that has ever been done to us. That means when old memories pop up in our minds of deeds done against us, we move on and make the Lord and His forgiveness our focus. I just read from Isaiah 26 in the Message and it says, “You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind (both its inclination and its character) is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.”  That means we don’t spend time rehearsing the hurts and letting our minds wander in the darkness of those memories but stay our mind on the Lord.

We will find peace and joy as we shift our focus to His forgiveness of us and then choose to let go of any and all wrongs to us. That doesn’t mean we don’t acknowledge what was done to us, but that we forgive and give up the right to try to get even. We have all been in the position to need the forgiveness of others, and then the wonderful feeling when we are restored in their eyes. Let us do that for one another, and as we forgive, we will experience joy and perfect peace!

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to help you stay your mind on Him when negative thoughts of others come to mind and then choose forgiveness.
Blessings on your Christmas and prayers and love, Judy