Resting & Preventing the Christmas Hangover Purity 922

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a pleasant May Day afternoon view of the backyard of the Roliff-Jansen Community Library in Hillsdale, New York comes to us from yours truly as I was impressed with the simple beauty of the blue sky over this green meadow and trees. And the Berkshires in the distance. December has got me feeling nostalgic, I guess, and so I have shuffled back to the far reaches of my phone and was reminded that I captured this pleasant scene back on May 8th, 2016. And if my memory serves me right, this photo commemorates my first visit of the Roliff-Jansen Library, which sparked a real love for libraries in general ever since. May 8th, 2016 was a Sunday. Isn't that just awesome that you can get that information in a moment by dialing back the calendar on your phone? And I believe, uh, that I may have taken my kids along to— with me to the library to check it out for that first time, if my faulty memory is to be believed. And this was the first time, but after discovering the peace and facilities of the library, and I realized it was a place where I could be free of the distractions at home. I returned quite often to do my coursework for my bachelor degree in Biblical Studies, and then again for the assignments to complete my master's degree in Christian Counseling. If you didn't know, libraries are great. They have internet service, people are generally quiet and keep to themselves, and there are plenty of books and other media resources to borrow for free. Not that I have, I, I have really utilized that option. It's funny because that's what a library does, right? They let you borrow books, audiobooks, CDs, or DVDs. But I don't do that. Uh, no. For me, a library is a sanctuary, a place where I can find rest and read, study, do correspondence, write, manage my quote-unquote online ministry, or just sit. Libraries for me are simultaneously an office, a convenient place where I can take care of business, and a place where I can just be at peace. Prior to 2016, I didn't really appreciate them, but libraries are something I will utilize all the time now, whenever and wherever I am, and discover I have some, some things that I could take care of online, or I just have extra time on my hands., that I want to spend in peace and rest. Well, yesterday I completed my last day of work for, for 2022, and now am officially on vacation, and rest is at the forefront of my mind as I will be enjoying it until a few days after New Year's. And it is my prayer for all who listen or read this message that they find some rest in the upcoming Christ— Christmas weekend. Christmas can be a busy and stressful time as we hurry, hurry, hurry to get everything prepared for the big day, and then we quickly realize it's over, as much of the celebration of Christmas is more or less done after the last Christmas present is unwrapped. Sure, we can enjoy our presents and, and may join together with family and friends, to enjoy spending time together and to have a meal on Christmas. But generally, in my experience anyway, the magic of Christmas, that specific feeling of Christmas, runs out in the early afternoon of December 25th. My family's group get-together is on Christmas Eve, so after the presents are opened on Christmas Day, there seems to be a real shift in the celebratory spirit from one of one of enthusiasm to one of resignation, to the realization that the greatest time of the year has come and is going, going, gone. It's the Christmas hangover, uh, where you're— where you are done with the pageantry and the hoopla. And while you may keep the Christmas tree up for a while, the desire to hear Christmas music or even think about Christmas is past. This shift from holiday hustle and bustle and hoopla with all of its thrills, drama, awkward exchanges, and disappointments, um, back to normal life can really drag us down into depression if we are not careful. We focus on the events, the stuff, and the things and the relationships with family and friends that surround Christmas. We run the risk of being depressed no matter what joy we what we did or didn't find under the Christmas tree. If our Christmas is great, we can feel sad that it is over. If our Christmas is difficult or lonely, we can really feel low because we messed it up, or people didn't really— people don't really know us or love us at all. Um, so as today is Christmas Eve Eve, let's remember to be wise and discerning about how to approach the next 48 hours. To be able to emerge through the holiday weekend without being victims of the Christmas hangover. Or I guess it's 72 hours, sorry. Um, uh, this advice, uh, won't surprise anyone who follows the blog because as someone who encourages others to walk in the spirit every day of their lives, I do my best, uh, to advise about advise people, um, to remain diligent to the disciplines of Christian discipleship regardless of the times or the season. As always, as we walk through this weekend, we want to keep our focus on the Lord and who he has made us to be in Christ. We need to remember who he is and who we are in Christ now. As warm and cuddly as Christmas Eve and its Silent Night away in the manger moments can be, don't get sucked up into the baby Jesus vortex. I believe that a huge problem that many people have with Christianity at Christmas time is the childish attitudes that we can perpetually be pulled into as we hear all the baby talk. Similar cognitive dissonance happens at Easter time as we are reminded of Christ's passion and suffering and the fact that he is risen indeed, and we are inundated with crosstalk and, and well-meaning, emotionally charged Christians weep over Christ's passion. Now hear this, uh, I wholeheartedly believe that we can grow exponentially as Christians when we reflect on the wonder of the incarnation, the agony of Christ's pain and the glory of his resurrection. When we reflect on these moments in Christ's life and truly understand the implications of what God has done and how it personally involves us, we can truly remember the time and celebrate. So we should have these times and seasons to remember the milestones of our faith and reflect on them. However, after hearing people coo over baby Jesus or weep over Christ's passion and crucifixion for several years, we we can become a little dry in our celebrations and maybe even a little jaded about doing this again. Look around at your Christmas or Easter services and see how the joy of the Incarnation and the rejoicing of the Resurrection are not on display. And why is that? Why are these people who are Christians, right, seem relatively unmoved by the things being spoken about? We could come up with all kinds of excuses about why. We could blame the delivery of the message, or just the fact that we have all been here and done that before. But I believe the reason why there isn't more joy in the church on Christmas is because not all the people gathered there know who Christ is and don't know who they are in Christ. Christ isn't a baby. Christ isn't hanging on the cross. In fact, when I have returned to the Catholic Church of my youth since being born again, I've had to fight the urge to stand up and shout, "Take him down! Jesus ain't on the cross no more! He is alive!" And I think that is part of the problem with the state of Christianity. We have Christians, quote-unquote Christians, who quote-unquote know about Christ's birth, death, and resurrection, but they don't know that he is alive now and forever, and that when we put our faith in him, we are alive now and forever. God is not dead. God is— God in the persons of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit is alive and well and present and available for all Christians, but we have to know that We have to believe that, and we have to live that by following Jesus. When we only focus on these milestone moments and all the hoopla that surrounds them more than the actual events and the person involved who is alive now, we end up with a faith that is either as childish, childish as Christ in the manger, or as dead as his body in the tomb. So as we go into Christmas, remember that Christ is not a baby. He is alive in heaven, interceding for us now, and will one day return to reclaim the earth. God, God hears us, and he is with us now. Now don't rush the nativity scene and scream, Christ isn't a baby anymore. But if you should— but if you, if you, if you have to, you should remind yourself of this and seek to have a continuous relationship with him every day. The disciplines of discipleship that will keep us grounded in our faith and be used by God to develop a robust relationship with him are prayer, Bible study, thanksgiving, praise, worship, and service. We don't just believe, we practice our faith by living it in in the spirit by applying God's wisdom and ways to our lives. And now hear this: these are not just empty expressions of religious traditional practices that we seek to please an unseen and distant God. When you start walking and talking with God for real, you will soon realize that his presence is with us. He is still small His voice in His word in our hearts is still speaking. Jesus is God with us because He is with us. And somewhere along the path of Christian discipleship, when you decide to get right with God and start following Him, He will reveal Himself to you. So real quick, to get past the Christian hangover: number 1, keep your focus on God, the living, ever-present God who is all grown up and with you now. 2. Instead of seeking happiness in a holiday celebration that is subject to circumstances beyond your control, make the decision to seek the Lord in his peace and purpose for your life by repenting of the materialistic, fleshly ways of this world and choose to be born again by surrendering to the Lordship of Christ. 3. Practice gratitude. Give thanks to God for all the blessings you have known in this life and all the good things we enjoy every day and will enjoy in the future. We have to come to realize that God is active— is alive and active. He is in control. He determines when we go into eternity, and thus we must realize that everything we have, our very lives, come from him. So we should thank him. This also keeps our focus on what we have rather than what we don't, and a practice of gratitude will make you feel blessed, loved, and content. 4. Manage your expectations. Realize that the circumstances— circumstances involving people and things at Christmas are beyond your control, and humbly accept what you receive. You can't be disappointed if you expect nothing. So expect nothing and be thankful for everything. 5. Be quick to listen and slow to speak. Much of the suffering in relationships comes from not taking a pause before we speak. Before speaking, remember to ask yourself: Does this need to be said? Do I need to be the one to say this? Do I need to say this now? Is it true? Is it kind? Is it helpful? And if that's all too much to process, remember that you have the right to remain silent. 6. Forgive. We are commanded to forgive everything because we have been forgiven of everything. So, seek to be a peacemaker as much as it depends on you, and forgive others, for they often do not know what they do. And 7. Keep walking. Trust in the Lord and really talk to him and ask him about the way you should go. Read his word to renew your mind and give you wisdom and strength. Well, I've written a lot, I think more than normal, so I will skip the Bible verse of the day because I am free in Christ to do that, and I'm on vacation. So why am I doing all, uh, doing this at all? Um, well, I discovered that resting isn't just doing nothing. Resting is finding the peace that we need. We need and should get lots of sleep, But the peace that goes beyond all understanding is when we find our rest in Christ. Knowing who we are in Christ can be a constant practice, reminding ourselves of who we are and how it is we are to live our lives. But it paradoxically comes with the peace of the Lord when we are assured that we are with him and he is with us now as we follow him in the The Way We Should Go. As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we will continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, also known as The Cost of Discipleship, as we will share more of, and possibly the conclusion of, The Saints, uh, chapter 12 from his book. So if you want to see what Bonhoeffer has to say about those saints, who are us by the way, spoiler alert, um, go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that at the end of today's blog post. As always, we encourage a life of Christian discipleship, um, not just because it's the, the right thing to do and the tasty way to do it, but it— because, well, it is, uh, but, but it also, uh, brings brings us a peace that goes beyond all understanding. It gives you the rest even when you're busy, um, because you know that you're right with the Lord and you really have nothing to fear, uh, about this life, um, and about what's to come. And when we're free of fear of death, um, you know, I think that just liberates us. And we know this because we're connected in the spirit to the Lord. You know, we, we receive his wisdom and strength as we walk with him. So if you don't know what that's like, you don't understand, and you, and you grew up in a religious tradition like I did where it's just sort of, uh, church is a place to show up and you don't know what this means, uh, go to mtforchrist.org and you can look up all, uh, all the teachings that we've done, um, through Freedom in Christ Ministries. We've I've uploaded lessons on Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ, and Bondage Breaker. These lessons are all based on the Word of God and the teachings of Dr. Neil Anderson, and they teach you who you are in Christ, which we don't know. And we teach— they teach you about God and how he's with us and how there's spiritual forces of darkness that would lead us astray. And most importantly, it teaches how to be free from, free from them and to be alive in Christ. So if you don't know what that's like, we encourage you to check out our teachings. And if you want, you can email me at mtforchrist247@gmail.com and I'll send you all the, the class materials there via email. Um, yeah, why? Because, uh, it's only— it's transformed my life. Um, and, uh, we— I have the joy joy of the Lord, it ebbs and flows all the time, you know. I'm not perfect or anything like that, but I've discovered a process, you know, that keeps us alive, and the process is walking and talking with God. It's magnificent, and it really brings, you know, brings the joy of Christmas, and I can rejoice over the Incarnation and love that little baby Jesus, but I know Jesus isn't a baby anymore. I know he's with me, um, you know, and that's always confusing, uh, you know, with the Trinity. You don't know if you're talking to God the Father, the Holy Spirit, or Jesus. And the truth is, it's all, it's all the above and all at once. Who knows? Anyway, uh, I'm, uh, I'm looking forward to this vacation and this Christmas holiday, and I pray for everyone out there that you do the same and be wise and discerning and never stop practicing your faith to have the peace that goes beyond all understanding. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, thank you for getting us through most of 2022 and through all of my work assignments for, for my, my day job and bringing me to this place. Lord, it's been an incredible year and an incredible life in Christ, and we thank you for that. And Lord, we thank you for anyone who might be reading or listening, uh, to this message. We pray for them today. Lord, life's hard, and we need one another in the body of Christ to encourage one another. And, um, we pray for them today. We pray for my dad's recovering from surgery. I pray he'll be in good spirits for Christmas. And we also pray for our good friend Bob Griffin, who's undergoing cancer treatments during this, this season. Um, and, um, we pray for the, the families of the people who are grieving recent deaths, um, as a couple have come in, a couple of people I've known, uh, passed away in the month of December. So we pray for them, and we pray for all the people who might not be having the greatest time of the year at this time of year. And, uh, Lord, we pray for you to come alongside them. And of course, um, we pray for the prayer request of the people who might be reading or listening to this message as well. Lord, uh, we pray for you to help them and bless them. Um, and Lord, as always, even though I don't have great plans on venturing out, um, I really don't have any plans, um, today. Well, we pray for you to go before us and set to set up our path. And, uh, Lord, we pray for you to open our eyes to the things you want us to see, and we pray for you to, uh, guide us in the way we should go. Lord, all we want to do, whether we work or at rest, is, is, is to be with you and to represent you, uh, with our lives here on Earth. So, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.