Getting a glimpse of God.

It is that time of year again where I think about the last twelve months and then look ahead to the next twelve months. I ask questions like: how did I do this year? What have I accomplished? Did the goals I set out to achieve work out?

I know for many Christian leaders their focus at the moment is on the programmes and events that are going on in their churches. The process of Christmas planning is full steam ahead as the countdown to the big day is just a matter of hours away. Before you know it Christmas morning will be upon you and you will be wading knee deep in used Christmas wrapping paper, dodging children or grand children festooned across your lounge floor with wife or grandma trying to get them ready for the Christmas service. Life is hectic to say the least.

Let's stop for a moment and focus on that "peace on earth" stuff that we long for in our hectic lives and consider for a moment the life of the poor shepherds in the foothills around Bethlehem at the time of Christ's birth. It's cold, the fire doesn't give much warmth and predators are prowling the fringes of the flock. Yet they gave all this up to trudge into Bethlehem after an amazing angelic declaration that Christ the Messiah had been born, that there can be peace on earth. They found the cave like barn and crowded around the animals to peer into the gloom to get a glimpse of a tiny, vulnerable baby asleep in a cow trough. That one glimpse of God was enough to convince them that God had come down to earth to save the world.

Christian Leader, I know you don't need reminding what Christmas is all about. But I would ask you at this time to ask the Almighty to give you a fresh glimpse of Christ the saviour of the world and see that it's not about the fat man in the red suit, or the Christmas lights, or the carols. It's not about the programmes or the events. It's about a lost world that God loves. There can be peace between man and God.

Happy Christmas everyone and may God richly bless you in 2016.

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Tim King Leadership

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