Isaiah 9:6 Hope of all hopes, dream of our dreams, a child is born, sweet-breathed; a son is given to us: a living gift. And even now, with tiny features and dewy hair, He is great. The power of leadership, and the weight of authority, will rest on His shoulders. His name? His name we’ll know in many ways—He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Dear Father everlasting, ever-present never-failing, Master of Wholeness, Prince of Peace. The Voice

I have told you these things so that you will be whole and at peace. In this world, you will be plagued with times of trouble, but you need not fear; I have triumphed over this corrupt world order. John 16:33 The Voice

No peace? The hustle and bustle of the holiday season has its way of jamming up our peace and stealing the wonder and awe of Christmas from us. Do I have a Christmas spirit or do I have a stressed holiday soul? With the saturation of holiday things, I get translated right into the “me mode”, and selfishness becomes my centerpiece, and this is the exact place where the peace of God stops and the awe of my Christmas Savior is exchanged for the hustle and bustle of a holiday season.

Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart. Philippians 4:8 Amplified Bible

Who or what is at the center of my thoughts this Christmas? A mind jammed with a holiday to do list, has a stressed soul attached to it. I guess there are always choices and I am thinking of two choices today: 1st to be filled with God’s truth, discernment and peace through my Christmas Savior. 2^nd to be subjected to the world’s misinformation through my holiday trappings. Did I say holiday trap? Trappings with misinformation of the world always has a misguided motive to change my focus to a self-centered one. If my thoughts are saturated by the truth of the Prince of Peace, my Christmas Savior, then my soul attitude that precedes my actions will be peace filled.

The Father is sending a great Helper, the Holy Spirit, in My name to teach you everything and to remind you of all I have said to you. My peace is the legacy I leave to you. I don’t give gifts like those of this world. Do not let your heart be troubled or fearful. John 14:26-27 The Voice

When God became man, taking on humanity and entering into our brokenness,  He also secured for us the hope of lasting peace. It is a peace unlike anything the world has ever known or seen. It is a hope for peace in a world torn apart by violence and hatred. It is a hope for peace in a world of insecurity, isolation, and doubt. It is a hope for peace in a world where men and women are enslaved to sin and death.  Author~Tripp Prince

Outsiders make themselves frantic over such questions; they don’t realize that your heavenly Father knows exactly what you need. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be given to you too. So do not worry about tomorrow. Let tomorrow worry about itself. Living faithfully is a large enough task for today. Matthew 6:32-34 The Voice

There are many ways God’s peace can be seeded in us, we need to avail ourselves to His wisdom, His teachers, His word, His music and be soul saturated with God’s life daily in all of these forms. Serving God with our lives is something we need to stay in holy alignment with. When we move from our selfless motives of serving God and His Kingdom first, to selfish agenda’s that put us first, the prevalent indication that we are out of holy alignment with God’s way, is a loss of our peace. Our expectations will shift when we are at the center of our lives and they will cause our peace to seep out of our soul. If we want an increase in peace, we must serve God with our lives, whatever we are doing should be done unto Him, for His Kingdom and then and then alone, will we have expectations that can’t be dashed and peace that can’t be bothered by the foolishness of this world.

You had absolutely no connection to the Anointed; you were strangers, separated from God’s people. You were aliens to the covenant they had with God; you were hopelessly stranded without God in a fractured world. But now, because of Jesus the Anointed and His sacrifice, all of that has changed. God gathered you who were so far away and brought you near to Him by the royal blood of the Anointed, our Liberating King. He is the embodiment of our peace, sent once and for all to take down the great barrier of hatred and hostility that has divided us so that we can be one. He offered His body on the sacrificial altar to bring an end to the law’s ordinances and dictations that separated Jews from the outside nations. His desire was to create in His body one new humanity from the two opposing groups, thus creating peace. Ephesians 2:12-15 The Voice

From a worldly viewpoint of experiencing a holiday season to the fullest, we compartmentalize God’s peace, exchanging it for the real meaning of Christmas. Successfully keeping our peace during seasons of hustle and bustle is not determined by worldly say so, but is found in a kingdom perspective, which truthfully and powerfully speaks life into our harried life styles that tend to suck the life right out of our souls. Keeping our peace in this unsettled world is easy as we keep an undivided heart towards God. Self-achievement with corrupted motives, corrupts our peace. In order to have the best Christmas ever, we push ourselves beyond what our human energy can fabricate and we lose our peace. Christmas is not about us and all we can “do”, it is about what Christ has already done and how we can be found in Him. He has given us peace. Our Prince of Peace is the Christmas celebration. Christmas it is all about Him and when we make it all about us, we forfeit our peace until we get back to the reason for the season, Jesus Christ.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened by religious rituals that provide no peace, and I will give you rest, refreshing your souls with salvation. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, following Me as My disciple, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest, renewal, blessed quiet for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 Amplified Bible

Holiday traditions can become chains around our necks if we let them. Keeping heartless traditions don’t infuse things with new life and they seem to drain our souls. Are you doing things this holiday season that you don’t want to do, just to please tradition? Self-pleasing does not yield the peace of God, it puts us in the path of anxious human doing. Surrender to God and you will experience His peace. Know and experience the life, the awe and the wonder our Christmas Savior can bring into our Christmas celebration and do something new by His leading this Christmas. Holiday trappings are a yoke of bondage. Christmas celebrations of Jesus’ birthday can take on a whole new joy in that special way He has of leaning us into His passion for the true point of Christmas. Your Christmas should be lived out of a kingdom perspective first and not out of a worldly viewpoint. Our holiday traditions should take second place to our relationship with our Christmas Savior. Look at Christmas through the eyes of childlike faith this year and do something new, something that is stirred up within you from the awe and wonder of the faith of a child. There was nothing ordinary about the Savior of the world coming to us miraculously merrily so, as a baby in a manger. Stir up the wonder and AWE of a God such as this, and act out of this instead of stale, dusty holiday traditions.

Again Isaiah says, “There shall be a root of Jesse, He who arises to rule as King over the Gentiles, In Him shall the Gentiles hope.” May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing through the experience of your faith that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises. Romans 15:12-13 Amplified Bible

Giving God the best of my time, making that heart to Heart worship connection with Him daily, is a precursor to His peace flowing in me and out of my heart. This is peaceful living. Seek God 1^st! Chasing after “stuff” and “self-willed expectations” is a subtle deception that is robbing our inner peace. The joy is trickling out of our soul, when our hearts are wide open to holiday traditions instead of the Christ of Christmas. Reverence for God, respect founded upon my personal humility in His presence is what opens the channels of my heart for an increased flow of His peace. Open the door of your heart wide to Jesus and experience the Christmas joy of a heart to Heart connection with our Christmas Savior. Miraculously Merrily So. Stir up your Christmas awe and wonder and know the peace of God this Christmas, peace that outlasts the feeling of holiday traditions and stays with you in that forever kind of way. Peace is a gift from God that keeps giving in that special way of His. Know it, receive it and walk in the awe and wonder of it this Christmas.

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, To give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:76-79 New King James Version

Merry Christmas To You! We are so glad you stopped into The Bridegroom’s Café. Our Listener table is close to my heart and I hope huge, you have been blessed today by the encouragement of the Prince of Peace. God bless you much and on your way out, share this with others in your social media contacts and bless them too. I also highly suggest for you to check out my book, The Bridegroom’s Voice, it will bless you in ways that you can’t even begin to imagine. Have a great day! KimberlyMac