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Are the holidays really here?

We are now officially in the “holiday season.” Are you aware that the word holiday comes from the old English word “Haligdaeg” which means: Holy Day, consecrated Day or Sabbath. That would mean that a holiday was originally supposed to be a day dedicated to worshipping God, resting from work and all stress-filled activities, and sharing God’s love with family. How far have we gotten away from the original intention of a holiday! In this holiday season, make it less about the stressful, commercial applications that the Madison Ave marketers thrust upon us in 5000 commercials, and make it more about God’s grace, goodness, love, joy, and peace. Make it more about ministering God’s love to family and friends. After all, we’re in the holidays (Holy-Days).

Esther 9:19 (ISV) “Therefore the Jewish people in the rural areas who live in unwalled towns make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a holiday for joy and feasting, and people send presents to one another”.

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This is an unfathomable ocean!

Every heart is an unfathomable ocean. No one can really know anyone else’s heart. This is why communication is so very important. I can only know what you decide to tell me about yourself. The scriptures speak about the importance of communication and relationships. The only way to know someone closer is to purposely spend time together and listen more than you speak. I always tell people in order to really be my friend, let me offend you as quickly as possible, so that we can really become true friends.  If someone gets offended, and chooses to not pursue our friendship as a result, that means that the friendship wasn’t worth it. If the friendship is worth it, both parties will work things out and deepen the friendship.
And it will take ongoing truthful dialogue to understand each other. Frankly, God is the only one that truly knows our heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it”?  That is why we must always guard our hearts.  Proverbs 4:23 says “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life”. Allow the Holy Spirit today to fill your heart with His goodness, grace, and wisdom. This way, your heart will be healed, and the joy of the Lord will dwell in the center of your heart and mind!

Proverbs 14: 10 “Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can fully share its joy”.