A Christian's Guide to a Joyful Christmas

          This time of year is a time to gather your friends and family and hold them close and enjoy their company, but while some of us are really big on emphasizing "the reason for the season," we somehow find that our prayer life and our quiet time with God is sparse and less impressive than we'd like it to be during this time. 

          "Dry spells" in our walk with God can be frustrating and disheartening, and what we think we're doing to fix the problem is actually making it worse. Being so busy getting gifts and organizing parties and socializing with friends can drain your joy. You think you're having so much fun with your friends, but at the end of the day you realize that you've forgotten to make time for the Lord. You tell yourself you'll double your time tomorrow, but it never happens and guilt creeps in. You're a terrible Christian, God is angry with you, you'll have to work harder to "get right with God again." That's the voice of the enemy telling you these things. You know what God is saying to you? God is saying, "My child, I love you so much, and I'm so glad you're having so much fun, but I miss you. I miss spending time in prayer with you, I miss showing you more and more of Myself in my Word. I miss your joyful tears in worship and listening to your sweet voice when you sing to Me."

So how in the world to we get back our joy?

1. Our Testimony

          Revelation 12:11 says, "And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." Your testimony is powerful, regardless of whether you've had a major "conversion" or you've been walking with the Lord since you were six, so use it! I've written down my testimony (which you can read here), and rereading the monumental things that Christ has done for me can be a powerful reminder of the reason for my thankfulness. Memory is great, but there's something about writing it down and rereading it to yourself that is so much more poignant and powerful. Write down your own testimony and keep it somewhere you can easily access it for when you need to remind yourself of the good that the Lord has done for you.

2. A Record of Blessings

          Being mindful of the abundant blessings we have is such an easy way to bring your heart back into a joyful place. I love quoting Scripture on my blog, but you need to go read Psalm 103:2-5 for yourselves. It gives such a good idea of what I'm trying to tell you (You can go do it now, I'll wait for you . . .) . . . With that, most of us have our phones in our hand at any given moment, so why not use it in a way to bring God glory? Starting today, December 22, I'm challenging each of you to join me in a social media revival! I'm going to keep a running list on the notepad on my phone of every blessing I can currently be thankful for, and every day until I go back to school, I'm going to post one of them on all of my social media accounts using #103Christmas . . . like, Psalm 103? And Christmas time? It's not lame, I promise. (Plus, your friends might ask you about it, and BOOM, evangelism time. You're welcome.) Let's fill our social platforms with joy this Christmas season, and we'll spread a spirit of gladness in the Lord. 

3. Just STOP.

          Lastly, remember that taking a break from the socializing will not be the end of your friendships. If you leave a party a half hour early to go spend some time alone with the Word and your friends get angry, maybe it's time to reevaluate the people you choose to spend time with. If they're friends you don't see very often, step out in faith and have a group Bible study! You never know how the Lord will bless your time together, but I guarantee you'll have deeper friendships because of it. Meditate on Psalm 46:10: "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." God bless all of you and please remember that He loves you more than you could ever imagine. 

Just a little something for some extra holiday cheer!