It\u2019s no longer \u201cbeginning to look a lot like Christmas\u201d because it is Christmas and it’s exploding in living color, bright lights, adored Christmas carols playing, Santas at Salvation Army kettles and stores, shoppers with carts loaded with treasures to be wrapped and placed under the exquisite trees I\u2019ve seen displayed on FB and Instagram. We are in our Christmas element and how sweet it is \u2013 or is it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am resisting the urge to get in a tizzy about checking off everything from my to-do list. I\u2019m pulling back the reins and purposely asking myself one simple question each day: “What can I realistically do today to focus on the main thing?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My deepest desire is to keep Jesus at the center of this season and seek Him above all else. My heart echoes David\u2019s in Psalm 27:8, \u201cWhen You said, \u201cSeek My face,\u201d my heart said to You, \u201cYour face, O Lord, I will seek.\u201d\u201d I do that in my early morning devotion times, but I was intentional yesterday as I started attending a Wednesday Advent Meditations group \u2013 seriously putting the emphasis on Who this season is all about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know that in this \u201cseason” of life, I can set aside quiet, holy, and intimate times far more readily than you moms and dads who have many items on your getting-longer-by-the-minute to-do lists. I know that I can sit quietly watching the twinkling lights on my little tree \u2013 far longer than some of you can. But still, I urge you to give yourself permission to let a few things slide to pursue what matters most this holiday season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putting Jesus first and foremost promises us peace that passes understanding and joy that flows out of abundance from our hearts. I assure you \u2013 when Jesus is front and center \u2013 He makes all the to-dos lighter, more enjoyable, and He even enlists His heavenly messengers to give us supernatural assistance at check-out lines or finding that one main item on our list faster. The \u201cReason” for the season wants to short-cut the to-dos when we give Him a front-row-seat in OUR Christmas story. \u201cBut seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.\u201d Matthew 6:33. We won\u2019t miss one thing that matters most on our Christmas list, because the thing \u2013 rather the King — wasn\u2019t missed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isaiah 26:3, \u201cYou will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s no longer \u201cbeginning to look a lot like Christmas\u201d because it is Christmas and it’s exploding in living color, bright lights, adored Christmas carols playing, Santas at Salvation Army kettles and stores, shoppers with carts loaded with treasures to be wrapped and placed under the exquisite trees I\u2019ve seen displayed on FB and Instagram.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15760,15759,15757,15622,15758],"tags":[1210,15761,251,15763,15766,3710,15765,464,15762,41,14108,15767,3368,503,1470,15764],"class_list":["post-11507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-isaiah-263","category-matthew-633","category-psalm-278","category-reason-for-the-season","category-seek-my-face","tag-blog","tag-bright-lights","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-carols","tag-front-and-center","tag-holy","tag-intimate-time","tag-isaiah-263","tag-jesus-at-the-center","tag-joy","tag-mypeacezone-com","tag-peace-jesus-first","tag-salvation-army","tag-santa","tag-season","tag-shoppers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11509,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11507\/revisions\/11509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}