Do you have a tradition you do every year for Christmas or Hanukah?
I started one a few years ago. I have been reading a chapter a day in the book of Luke. I found the challenge to do this on Facebook. I normally start on the first day of December and continue to the 24th.
This year, I only realized that we were 4 days into December and I haven’t read one chapter! How did I forget we were in the month of December??!! Well, there is no shame if you have to catch up. Sometimes life gets in the way. What do I mean by that? Well, some of us have family and life may take a turn from the norm. We all experienced that in 2020 with COVID-19. So, don’t beat yourself up if you are not on pace to finish by Christmas Eve. Just do your best. And as you are reading Luke, ask the Lord to show you something new this year that you didn’t see the last time (for me last year) you were in the book of Luke.
Hope we can follow along together. I will try my best to post where I am in my readings daily.
Responding to God at All Times
Throughout our lives, we will all experience both suffering and joy. We'll have times of great grief and times of overflowing happiness. Sometimes, they’ll be separate seasons—but other times, these experiences come together.
In either case and in any situation, James expected Christians to come to God. If someone was suffering, prayer was the call to action. If someone was cheerful, people were to pause and praise God.
This might seem obvious, but when suffering clouds our thinking, we can sometimes forget to prioritize prayer. And when things are going well and we're feeling cheerful, it’s easy to just enjoy our season and not stop long enough to praise God for it. But every season of life is actually just an opportunity to put into practice what James wrote about…
When we are suffering, let us pray. When those around us are suffering, let us pray. When we are cheerful or happy, let us praise God. When others are happy, let us praise God with ...