{"id":843,"date":"2017-01-03T10:49:39","date_gmt":"2017-01-03T16:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/?p=843"},"modified":"2017-01-03T10:49:39","modified_gmt":"2017-01-03T16:49:39","slug":"after-the-celebrations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/after-the-celebrations\/","title":{"rendered":"After the Celebrations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Full. After the celebrations, the gatherings, the food. Full. It seems after the Christmas season I often feel full and I don&#8217;t just mean around the waist line.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>No, there is a deeper fullness than that. A greater satisfaction. During this season I laugh more, hug more, cherish the moments with family. I hold on tighter to the days of sitting in the living room talking about nothing and yet everything. I roll on the floor with the little ones and talk to relatives I haven&#8217;t seen in months.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Arriving home. Full. However as the unpacking begins so too, the draining. The oozing of the memories. Less vivid. Less real. The holidays melting into reality.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This morning I think, is there a way to keep, to keep the sweet moments? Is there a way to live every day in fullness? A way to have a greater satisfaction then what food and stuff can give? A way to laugh more, hug longer each and every day?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Is there a way to live with the hope of Christ burning\u00a0bright each and every day?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As I ponder these whirling questions. As I reflect on my days lived. I know this is possible. I know we can live with Christ shining so brightly in our hearts that everything else fades away. Everything\u00a0else fades to dust while living each and every day how He would have us takes center stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It takes dedication. It takes practice. It takes surrender. But it is possible. It is possible to live each and every day with the hope of Christ directing our steps.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hugging our loved owns, giving to the food pantries, singing Christmas carols\u00a0at the elderly homes are <strong>not just for a season. Giving is part of living every day. Giving, experiencing the joy of Christ is for every day that we breathe upon this earth.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Continue the celebration. It is real.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Matthew 6:31-33\u00a0<span id=\"en-ESV-23314\" class=\"text Matt-6-31\"><span class=\"woj\">Therefore do not be anxious, saying, \u2018What shall we eat?\u2019 or \u2018What shall we drink?\u2019 or \u2018What shall we wear?\u2019<\/span><\/span> <span id=\"en-ESV-23315\" class=\"text Matt-6-32\"><span class=\"woj\"><sup class=\"versenum\">\u00a0<\/sup>For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.<\/span><\/span><\/em><span id=\"en-ESV-23316\" class=\"text Matt-6-33\"><span class=\"woj\"><em><sup class=\"versenum\">\u00a0<\/sup>But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.<\/em> ESV<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Mark 10:27\u00a0Jesus looked at them intently and said, <\/em><span class=\"woj\"><em>\u201cHumanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.\u201d<\/em> NLT<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>2 Thessalonians 1:11-12\u00a0<span id=\"en-NLT-29621\" class=\"text 2Thess-1-11\"><sup class=\"versenum\">\u00a0<\/sup>So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do.<\/span> <\/em><span id=\"en-NLT-29622\" class=\"text 2Thess-1-12\"><em><sup class=\"versenum\">\u00a0<\/sup>Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be <\/em>honored<em> because of the way you live, and you will be <\/em>honored<em> along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.<\/em> NLT<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Matthew 6:19-21\u00a0<span class=\"text Matt-6-19\"><span class=\"woj\">\u201cDo not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;<\/span><\/span><span id=\"en-NKJV-23303\" class=\"text Matt-6-20\"><sup class=\"versenum\">\u00a0<\/sup><span class=\"woj\">but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.<\/span><\/span><\/em><span id=\"en-NKJV-23304\" class=\"text Matt-6-21\"><em><sup class=\"versenum\">\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><span class=\"woj\"><em>For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.<\/em> NKJV<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Full. After the celebrations, the gatherings, the food. Full. It seems after the Christmas season I often feel full and I don&#8217;t just mean around the waist line.\u00a0 No, there is a deeper fullness than that. A greater satisfaction. During this season I laugh more, hug more, cherish the moments with family. I hold on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","sharing_disabled":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[32,28,25,8],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/shutterstock_442989994.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7NWg5-dB","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":846,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843\/revisions\/846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}