The old song by Frank Sinatra is a famous one that many of us may judge how our Christmas is going, by searching what’s going on in our hearts:

“Have yourself a Merry little Christmas

Let your heart be light, from now on our troubles will be out of sight.

Have yourself a Merry little Christmas, make the Yuletide gay

From now on our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are, as in olden days, happy golden days of yore,

Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more.

Through the years, we all will be together, if the fates allow

Hang a shining star upon the highest bow, and have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

Here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore,

Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more.

Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow,

Hang a shining star upon the highest bow, and have yourself, a Merry little Christmas, now.

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!

I love this song, but not all families are happy, safe -some do not have a roof over their heads. The song says, “let your hearts be light”. This is also difficult to do when lives are in turmoil, it is when we look for support from our faithful friends and family members, sadly, however, some have no support. I have been in these situations.

What I have learned over the years is that I needed a savior. I could not find lightness, happiness, or even family support. When I found Jesus Christ as Lord of my life, that was when I learned to appreciate all that I have, all of the things that God has done for me, through Him I found everlasting PEACE on earth.

Our “hearts may be light”- because baby Jesus was born on Christmas Day. He came to earth, God incarnate, in a form of a baby to save us all. The Shepherds of Old and the Three Wise Men (Matthew 2:1-11) went in search of the newborn King, following the eastern “shining star” until it stayed over the stable in Bethlehem.

“Hang a shining star from the highest bow”. Accept what Jesus came to earth to do for you, accept Him as your savior today. No matter what the state of your life may be right now, He came to bring you peace in the midst of it all. Surrender all your pain, your cares and concerns to Him today and let Him bring you eternal peace in life. He can make “your troubles be out of sight.” My Christmas is a Merry Christmas, is your Christmas Merry?

David wrote in Psalms 56:8 ” You have kept record of my days of wandering. You have stored my tears in Your bottle and counted each one of them.” David had an intimate relationship with the Lord and that is really where all the Psalms came from, his intimacy with God guided by the Holy Spirit. David knew that our creator knew everything about each one of us. Psalms 139:15 reads: “Nothing about me is hidden from You. I was secretly woven together deep in the earth below, but with Your own eyes You saw my body be formed, even before I was born You had written in Your book everything that I would do.”

Psalms 87:6 reads: “The Lord will make a list of His people, and all who were born here will be included.”

Malachi 3:16 reads: “All those who truly respected the Lord and honored His name started discussing these things, and when God saw what was happening, He had their names written as a reminder in His book. “In Jeremiah 22:30 it reads: “Erase the names of Jehoiachin’s children from the royal records. He is a complete failure, and so none of them will ever be king. I, the Lord, have spoken.” This is eye opening. It is clear that what many do not think the Lord is watching or aware about what is going on, He sees all things, knows all things. We all have heard the song written about ” Michael row the boat ashore…….” Daniel 12:1 reads: Michael, the chief of angels, is the protector of your people, and he will come at a time of terrible suffering, the worst in all of history. And your people who have their names written in the Book will be protected. “The main point that I draw from these scriptures is what David knew, if we respect and obey the Lord we will be protected unto our eternal day. He always sees what we are doing, even from the foundations of the earth- He sees all. This was what David was referring to when he said in the Psalms 56:8 ” You have kept record of my days of wandering. These scriptures do show that the Lord keeps records of right and wrong. This message is not to condemn, ” There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1.

God gives us free will and He can see all that we do, but He loves us enough to give us a second chance to be redeemed by Jesus Christ and teaches us to respect and follow after His ways, and the Bible is full of warnings, directives, truth, and comfort as we make our way through life in the Spirit. Frankly, I do not know how people make it through the ups and downs of life without the Lord.

Today is a chance to start over again and lean on His word and promises to keep you protected and in His Spirit. Ask Jesus to be your Lord and lead and guide you to the correct path. Jesus died and rose again so that we can have that second chance if only we believe in Him. The Holy Spirit will always comfort you, direct you and reveal the truth of His word to you daily.

Your name will be written in the Book of Life.

Sitting beside water always sooths my soul. The excitement of rushing brook or the stillness of a beautiful lake, speaks so much calm within me.

Philippians 4:7 “Then because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.8) Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.” It has been said (Bible hub) that the peace of God abiding in the heart is a sure and trusty garrison, guarding it so that once the evil spirit is cast out, it cannot return. Once we are prayed for and are clean, the peace of the Lord acts as a protector as we meditate on the right things: soul, mind, body and spirit. These good thoughts keep our minds in the right place; therefore, God’s peace keeps us safe. This includes peace with God, peace with men, peace with self. It watches over with a watchfulness “that neither slumber or sleeps”–“both the hearts and minds”(the souls and the thoughts formed in them), guarding our whole spiritual action (Elliott’s Commentary for English readers).

Poem by Robert Jones Burdette

Somewhere, out on the blue sea sailing.

Where the winds dance and spin;

Beyond the reach of my eager hailing,

Out where the dark storm-clouds are lifting.

Out there where the blinding fog is drifting,

Out where the treacherous sand is shifting,

My ship is coming in.

I find my peace in Jesus Christ, find your peace in Him too! Invite Him to come into your heart and fill it with His peace.

Lyrics to the song “All You Need is Love” by John Lennon, Paul McCartney

Love, Love, Love 9x

There’s nothin’ you can do that can’t be done

Nothin’ you can sing that can’t be sung

Nothin’ you can say but you can learn how to play the game

It’s easy

All you need is love

All you need is love

All you need is love,

love is all you need…….

This was a fitting and favorite song in it’s time, there was so much unrest in the nation, in the world.

Sounds familiar for sure.

God’s word says:” For now there are faith, hope, and love. But of these three, the greatest is love.”

(1 Corinthians13:13)

“But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”(1 John 4:8)

“-We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.”1 John 4:16

” For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Just know, the only conditions, are to accept that He died for you and rose again so that you may have eternal life -if you believe in Him. Also know -He loves you the way you are. You don’t have to set yourself straight before God can pour His love over you!

His love is all you need.

C.S. Lewis lost his wife late in life, “In a Grief Observed” he wrote about it.” He too had fell head-long into the vortex of whirling thoughts and feelings and dizzily groped for support and guidance deep in the dark chasm of grief.” Never have I experienced a writer’s ability to depict what happens when one grieves as clearly as C.S. Lewis traversed us with his writing. “The mind tries to reassure the heart that all is well, then a sudden earthquake of pain erupts any and all sense of well-being: ” a sudden jab of red-hot memory and all this ‘commonsense’ vanishes like an ant in the mouth of a furnace.” “The mind can only go so far to convince the heart in the way of suffering. In this acute phase of loss, emotions rule the day. Desperate longings for the one who is gone or the One who should be ever present are met with empty return.” In his well described journey through grief, he said that there were times that his lifeline to God, once secure; became a questionable rope,” I thought I trusted in the rope until it mattered to me whether it would bear me.” Seeing loved ones and friends pass away around us can cause people to question where they are at in their faith. In the end, C.S. Lewis sees God as the great iconoclast who offers remedial pain-to hurt in order to heal.”” The tortures are necessary. Christ suffered for us. God is indeed good. This realization brings about a lighter heart, a lifting of sorrow, a clearing of tears, a moment of clarity and release. His passions no longer block God from view.” This is just a small segment of his writing, he takes you deeply through stage by stage. Clearly, he chose not to stay in the sanctuary of grief, rather transitions through the pain –to a different, a better place- to move forward, trust God, then let go of the pain.

We must learn to do this with every circumstance, disappointment, loss, daily! Many people do not process through the pain that we endure everyday as we live and navigate through life. They believe that grief is only for the departed loved one, though this is very necessary as we talked about. As soon as we are wounded, we need to learn to grieve the pain, grieve the losses and make a choice to let go of the pain. Failure to do this can cause our vision to God to be blocked. Let go of the grief. Daily.

As Christ was dying for us on the cross, He said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do…”, we too must daily forgive those who have disappointed us, robbed us, humiliated us, who have not understood who we are and have hurt us. We must forgive those who have hurt us. Choose to grieve all the pain, all the loss and let the pain go daily. Christ rose again so that we have another chance for eternal life, give all your pain and grief to Him, lay it all at His feet daily. Trust Him only with your life

today.