Instrument of Peace or Weapon of Strife?

As a Christian, I often get frustrated this time of year because there is so much pushing, shoving, and downright rudeness all around. We get mad because someone bought the last great-deal sale item we wanted; we rush around trying to find the perfect Christmas card, all the while cursing the fact that we are obligated to send them at all since it's really not something we enjoy; we tap our foot in frustration because there are four people in front of us in the line at the store while three cash registers sit empty of cashiers; we argue with family members over gifts and decorations and wrapping paper; we loudly proclaim MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone we come in contact with because we don't go in for all that Politically Correct BS and we don't care who we offend by saying MERRY CHRISTMAS. No one is taking CHRIST out of our CHRSTmas, dagnabbit!

Love is Light

Love.  Love is the topic today; the attribute we hold up this week, the 4th week of the Advent Season.  One doesn't have to dig terribly deep in the bible to find examples of love.  Jesus was the embodiment of God's love for us, and there are many examples of that love, not the least of which was his death.  Jesus was the most compassionate, loving individual to ever live.  Emulating just a pinch of his love should be our main goal as Christians, his followers.

I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy...Down in My Heart (3rd week of Advent)

Remember the song I've Got the Joy from Sunday school?  I loved singing that song and I still remember the childish joy I had in my heart when I thought about Jesus.  I knew for sure that it was Jesus who put that joy there and I was, well...joyful about it.  Now that I am an adult, joy doesn't come bubbling up in me unbiddingly, as it did when I was a child.  I still have the joy in my heart, and I am just as sure today that it is Jesus who placed it there as I was all those years ago, but the way I show it, and perhaps even feel it, differ greatly now than it did then.