Christmas time should be the easiest time of year to share our faith about Jesus and his ability to forgive our sin and give us a brand new life. The question then becomes “Why” do I and others like me struggle with testifying to Christ’s great love during the month of December? There are two previous articles on this subject and if you haven’t already read them please do so before reading this one as they all build on each other.
You would think sharing the love of God with others and telling how God sent his only Son into the world as a baby would be an easy thing to do and yet many believers never share Christ, even during the Christmas Season. In this article we will be looking at just some of the reasons why so many struggle with expressing their love for God even when the season sets the stage for communicating their own salvation experience. If you haven’t read the first article on “Christmas Time” please read that one first as there are some important things to consider before reading this second part.
The first article in this series on thankfulness was called “The Challenge to be Thankful” in which I spoke about my own struggle with developing a new mindset of thankfulness after coming to Christ so please read that article first as this is a continuation on that topic.
As a person with a “Bent” for seeing through things, it’s easy for me to be captivated by what’s out-of-order, missing or just wrong. It really doesn’t matter the subject or place I find myself, I can enter a business and I can quickly spot things that could be handled or organized better. When driving I’m a rules guy so you can imagine how easy it is for me to get captivated by what people should or should not be doing when driving. It’s a “challenge” to be thankful given all the distractions in life.
I had intended to only write a three-part article on the meaning and application of sacrifice, but decided to add one more before moving on to another subject. This then, is the fourth and final part of this series on sacrifice so if you haven’t read the first three please do so before reading this one.
If you haven’t read the first and second articles on the subject of sacrifice please do so before reading this article. Each article builds on the foundational concept of the true meaning of God’s sacrifice and the importance of how we often neglect or fulfill God’s intended purpose. Scripture explains the purpose and right application of sacrifice, if we read scripture with the help of the Holy Spirit. Without his help we often go off the rails in our understanding what God is after what the sacrifice Christ did for whole world.
If you haven’t read the first article on the subject of sacrifice called “Sacrifice – At What Point Does It Matter”, please do so before reading this one. I opened the first article discussing the sacrifice of men trying to find and save a solider called Ryan in the movie “Saving Private Ryan”. The main premise is that sacrifice by both God and man should move us to respond by giving value to the one who gave.
Every now and then I watch a movie that stirs my soul in ways that causes me to reflect on the whole concept of sacrifice and what it means. I was watching “Saving Private Ryan” the other day and as I watched the older man playing Ryan, now old and walking slowly, it caused my emotions to swell because I remember his concern in the movie of whether he had lived a good life and was a good man. The captain in the end of the movie, as he was dying, grabbed Private Ryan and said “Make Your Life Count” because a whole squad of men had died to save just one man. Some people don’t like war movies but this one spells out the great cost of victory.
This is the fourth and final part on dreams, so if you haven’t read the first three, please do so before reading this final article. Dreams are far more important than we have been led to believe and I believe they can be awakened and developed if we understand their importance.
Everyone dreams though not everyone remembers their dreams. Some people have learned to “Process” their dreams and they have found a way to remember what seems elusive to most of us. Dreams are a powerful tool in our lives whether we understand them or not. Some kids have grown up be afraid of their dreams because of perhaps having one particular dream that was more of a nightmare. Some have learned how to “Program” their minds to drift off to dream in a certain way or on a certain subject. Some people just discount dreams all together as a mystery that can’t be understood or just relate them to chemical changes in the body.
