Bible Discussion Thread

Brothers and sisters, I ask for your prayers for my spiritual life.

I've gotten so caught up with commercialized Christmas, that I've left Christ out of Christmas. I'm more focused on finding the right gifts for family members than I am with spending time with Jesus.

I feel so separated from Him, just completely lukewarm. I've made no time for him with my job, and I haven't witnessed to the people I said I would. I feel broken, and ashamed and I don't have anyone to fellowship with or talk to about this.

I'm spiritually lazy and it's having a terrible effect on my family relationships, your prayers are greatly appreciated.

Please also pray for my mom, that God would bless her with a long life, and give her guidance. She says she doesn't know where she stands with the Lord anymore, because she seems on the fence. May she be 100% confident in Him, and be willing to follow Him in all areas of her life. Please pray the same for me.

Thank you

Dear Joleen, Be assured that the Lord is always with you. He promised not to forsake you. So, He is just a breath away and we can pray to Him anytime, even if it is simply, "Thank you, Jesus, for ...."

I understand that Christmas can be very taxing of our time and energy as we attempt to prepare every thing for our loved ones so they will be blessed. When my kids were young, I tried to avoid having everything come upon me at once in a short amount of time. So, I made a plan. I would try to purchase all gifts by the end of October so that I can spend time preparing for Thanksgiving and then for Christmas with joy. I learned over the years to slowly cut out certain things as the boys grew older that they seemed to outgrow and to retain certain traditions that they still enjoyed. As they reached adulthood we talked together about not emphasizing gift giving as much as being together. We decided to put money together to give to Heifer International t provide a heifer or a goat to families in need. So, now, I do not buy many Christmas gifts. We all decorate the tree together still. We have Christmas Eve dinner together along with Christmas breakfast. Then we go to a relative's for an extended family Christmas dinner.

Letting go of Christmas things that have always given us much joy can be hard to do. But I learned that my thoughts should be more Christ centered at this time, so I pared back and released the things I loved about Christmas to the Lord for Him to transform this season to allow me to honor Him more than all of the Christmas "stuff".

I will pray for you today.

Dear Heavenly Father, we lift up to You Joleen and her mother today and ask of You today in the name of Jesus to renew both of these women in their faith and deepen their commitment to walk closely with You. We ask that You give Joleen reprieve from all of the busyness of the Christmas season and teach her to spend time in worship and learning to rest in You. renew their faith today. Amen.