Today was a very enjoyable day with lots of family here eating barbecued brisket and a whole bunch of other food as well. It was pretty much non-stop eating all day. We have 46 people if all eight kids, spouses and all grandkids are present, and we had 23 today, and it was a full house of feasting and fun.

Christmas is a celebration remembering the second point of the gospel of Christ. There are five points in the gospel, just like your hand has five fingers. (1) Jesus is God, equal with God the Father, one with the Father, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, eternal, without beginning and without end.

(2) Jesus became flesh, just exactly like us, was tempted like we are and experienced all of life like we do.

Hebrews 2:17-18
Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

(3) Jesus never sinned, not even a little sin of thought or attitude. In order to be our substitute and to be the atonement for our sin He needed to be perfect.

Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

(4) Jesus was nailed to a cross and He took our sin on Himself, He became our sin, and God the Father punished Jesus for our sin, He died for our sin.

Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

(5) Three days later God raised Jesus from the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you. . . Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Several of my goals from last year I rolled into this year because I didn’t get them done. One of them I barely got started on, and I really need to get going on it because others are working on it with me. That goal is to write a book, not really write one, it is already written, to compile one. I have written about 2,000 blogs and the goal is to pick the 365 best ones and put them together for a devotional book. About half a dozen people have each read a section of the blogs and picked out what they thought were the best blogs so I am left with about 700 from them and I need to read them and pick the final 365. Then I will pass it off to some people who volunteered to proofread it, and then I have several options for getting it printed. My part isn’t very hard but I have been procrastinating on it which is kind of embarrassing after I wrote in my blog yesterday that goal-setters tend not to procrastinate. I called myself a bad, lazy, no-good, good-for-nothing procrastinator, but so far that doesn’t seem to have motivated me much! What usually gets me going is when I confess on this blog what a bad, lazy, no-good, good-for-nothing, procrastinator that I am. I don’t know if it is all the harassment that I get after people read the blog, or some will pray for me that I will get in gear and get it done, or it could be the power of confession.

James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

I don’t think the healing being talked about in this verse is physical healing, but being healed from the control of the sin that we confessed. Confess your sins to one another and then pray for one another and you will be healed—pretty black and white verse.

Well, I confessed, so now we will see what happens. Stay tuned.

All of my goals are ones that I want to do, but some are more fun than others. Some of my goals I want to do because I know that they will bless my life; I plan to ride my stationary bike for an hour each day. That isn’t lots of fun, but I enjoy the health benefits I have been getting from that discipline for the last ten years. I have a goal to read 20 pages every day in a good book. Again, it doesn’t rank up there with a fishing goal, but I believe the Bible when it says that if I seek wisdom like gold and silver, then I will find it, and I want to be increasingly more wise as a pastor, husband, father, grandfather, and friend. I have a goal to write a 300 to 500-word blog every day and that can be a grind some days, but one of the strongest desires of my heart is to bless others with wisdom that I have gleaned from life and seeking it like gold. One of my strong desires is to lose weight so I have a goal to weigh less than 200 lbs and to stay under that until Jesus returns. I have’t done real well at that goal in year’s past, but I am on a bit of a mini roll right now, I have lost six pounds in the last month, and I intend to stay right on that pace and be 199 lbs by May 1st. That goal is not even a little bit fun, but I want it to happen as much as any goal I have. I have a goal to start three more accountability groups for men this next year. That will take a lot of time out of my fishing goals, and most guys don’t want me nagging them about getting into a group with me, but I do anyway. That isn’t the most enjoyable thing in life, but I believe in it strongly.

That is only five goals that I have mentioned, and I have 75 goals. Even if I only had these five I wouldn’t accomplish them if I didn’t write them down and read them every day. Most people live life like they would drift down the North Santiam river, they just go with the flow. Nice, enjoyable, and comfortable, but not much to show for it when we stand before Jesus at the Judgment Seat of Christ. 75 goals would be impossible to manage in your head, but fairly easy when you write them down and read them every day.

When you read your goals every day your passion to accomplish them stays hot and you work much faster all day long, and you enjoy it. When you read your goals every day you think about them a lot, you even dream about them, and the result is that you come up with lots of ideas on how to accomplish them. When you read your goals every day you create a tension in yourself to accomplish them and you almost eliminate procrastination from your life and you become a very good time manager, you get way more done with your life. People who have passion, who get lots done with their time, and are motivated, enjoy life more, aren’t bored in the least, and are fun to be around.

2023 is getting close, set some goals, send me a copy when you do.

The ice storm that started last night is totally outside my control to do anything about. I can read the weather report and see what may happen and I can read the news to see what did happen, but I am just a bystander. But, wait, there are some things I can do ;

1. I can choose not to fret or worry about the trials of severe weather. We all tend to be anxious about what we can’t control. I have memorized Psalms 46:1-3 and times like now I meditate on it.

Psalms 46:1-3 God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;

2. I can anticipate what problems there might be and prepare to deal with them if they do happen. The biggest problem I could see happening, that was predicted that would happen, is the electricity to our house would be lost. We have a wood stove and propane lanterns, but we have three freezers full of frozen meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit and it would all be lost if the electricity went off for several days. So yesterday morning, I found a reasonably priced generator that was large enough to run our water pump or freezers. It is now ready to start and we should be able to flush the toilet no matter what happens.

3. I am going to have some extra time at home because it is risky to drive anyplace so I made an updated “todo” list of things I can do around here, and because it is so cold I will make them inside chores.

4. And I might as well sleep in and enjoy a nice breakfast; woh, I can smell the bacon now!

Here I am in my recliner, with my electric heating blanket, watching Thursday Night Football on my iPad. We don’t have TV, but I discovered that Thursday Night Football is broadcast by Amazon Prime and I have Amazon Prime. It was nice to get something from Amazon Prime besides cheap books and free shipping. I have never watched Thursday Night Football before because I almost always have something on the calendar, but with the bad weather forecast I decided to stay home and Wow, that worked out well. My favorite team is theJacksonville Jaguars because my favorite player is Trevor Lawrence who is the quarterback for the Jaguars and my favorite coach is Doug Peterson who is Jacksonville’s coach. I am a goal oriented, “todo” list kind of person who is almost always in a hurry, but I enjoy an ice storm occasionally, especially when it coordinates with Trevor Lawerence and Thursday Night Football. How good is that!

I enjoy reading early church fathers’ writings. St Irenaeus is a “third generation” church father. The Apostle John was discipled by Jesus, he discipled Polycarp, and Polycarp discipled Irenaeus. He lived during a time when many heresies were infecting the church, and he was a major defender of orthodoxy. One of the false teachings that he dealt with was the teaching that said “flesh” was sinful so Jesus never became flesh, He just appeared to be flesh.

1 John 4:2-3 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

2 John 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.

Christmas is the celebration of God becoming flesh just like us in every way. One of St Ireneaus’s famous quotes during the time of this controversy was, “Jesus became just like us so that we could become just like Him, and if He did not become like us than we can not become like Him.”

At the very beginning when God said, “Let Us make man in Our Image,” the purpose was God wanted to fellowship with us, to know us, to love us, to enjoy us, to communicate with us, and He wanted us to fellowship with Him, to know Him. To love Him, to enjoy Him, and to communicate with Him.

For all that to happen we need to grow in character, to become “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” That is what life is about, us growing in character, and it is possible because Jesus became like us in every way except He never sinned.

God is a goal-setter; everything He has done or will do has been planned out ahead of time. We have been created in the image and likeness of God. Ephesians 5:1 says, “be imitators of God.” We function best when we set and pursue goals. Goals are not obligations; they are not vows; they are not laws, goals are an expression of the desires of our heart, and they are what we genuinely want to do. Those who set goals manage time better, have the right priorities, get less entangled in the world, they are more focused. Goals are flexible; you can change them, adjust them, make them harder, or make them easier, depending on the circumstances. You maintain the direction and the motivation but adjust as needed, so your goals aren’t crushing you. Those with clear, well-written goals can say “no” easily; when you write your goals out, you can read them every day; that only takes five minutes, and then you will never be lukewarm again. Goals are the key to not falling into the squeaky wheel syndrome. Goal setters are the 20% who get the 80% done. Goal setters are the ones who bear much fruit and glorify their heavenly Father. Goal setters are the ones who get to the end of their life and say, “I finished the race!” They are the ones who hear Jesus say, “well done, good and faithful servant.”Goal-setters manage their money well, tend to have good marriages, and raise good kids. People don’t set goals because they think they can just operate out of their head, and do as well. Besides it is easier and takes less time to just live life without written down goals. I guess if that is what you want, easier rather than better.

A person who runs the race that God gives them with endurance and is a finisher has to be a strong person. Paul says, “don’t grow weary in we’ll doing, for in due time, you will reap, if you don’t become weary.” All of those people who are in the seven churches in Revelation 2 & 3 are blessed and rewarded at the “Judgment Seat of Christ” if they are “overcomers.” An overcomer is a finisher, a winner, a champion, and a strong person.

In real, everyday life a physically strong person got that way by training and practice, and the same is true for those who are strong in character. A key training principal is to choose to do hard things. You can do that as opportunities present themselves and you have the option of taking the easy way or the hard way. Choosing to take the hard way will make you stronger as a person, and it usually produces much more fruit or results in your life. Another way is to set personal goals that are harder. It is almost the New Year, and wise people have or are in the process of setting their goals for the next year. As you do that you can increase the size of some of them. If you had a goal of praying five hours in each of the five-day prayer events you could increase that to six hours. Or if you had a goal of reading 3 chapters each day in your Bible you could increase it to 4 chapters. Or you could come up with a new goal that would push you and train you and as a result you would become a stronger person. A great goal for many of you would be to start a ministry. You could start and lead an accountability group, that is a great ministry. You could start a home group in your house and lead it or recruit someone else to lead it as you hosted it. You could start a Bible study at the church, in your home, or at a restaurant.

The main thing is do something with your life for the Lord and don’t just give Him easy, left over time and energy. Grow stronger every year, grow in character every year, grow closer to Jesus every year. Set some goals for 2023.

There is two kinds of toughness, one is when we act tough and the second is when we are tough. The difference shows up over the long haul, real toughness as a character trait endures, perseveres, doesn’t lose heart and quit. In fact I have stopped using the words tough and grit, and I use the word endure and endurance instead.

2 Corinthians 6:4-5 but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger,

Hebrews 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The success of almost anything requires that we finish what we started. The one’s who finish well are those who endure. Endurance in us requires a motivation, asking and answering the question of “why”? Why are we doing what we are doing, why finish? According to the Bible the more we can make what we are doing as act of love for other people around us, and the more we can do what we are doing to please the lord, the more motivated we will be and then the more we will endure.

Let

We all have physical energy, emotional energy, and mental energy. We have a gas tank for each of those types of energy. When our gas tank runs dry we are in trouble.

Physical energy is the easiest to understand and evaluate, and it is also the easiest gas tank to fill. When we get physically tired we know why and we know how to replenish our energy, sleep, rest, and eat. That cycle happens to most people every day. Exercise is a key activity to increase the size of our physical energy gas tank. I am riding my stationary bike as I write this. A lot of people don’t take the time for exercise and they will pay the price in increased tiredness, and then in reduced productivity.

Emotional energy is where are passion, enthusiasm, happiness, motivation, and drive comes from. When we run out of emotional energy we feel flat, bored, unmotivated, and even depressed. An NBA basketball team was playing poorly the other day and the commentator remarked that they were playing with no passion, just going through the motions. Understanding what uses up our emotional energy and how to fill up our emotional gas tank is super important if we want to stay enthused about life, highly motivated, and positive in our vision for the future.

Mental energy is the most difficult to understand in ourselves, to monitor, and to replenish. When our mental energy tank runs dry we can’t focus, think clearly, or remember information very well. Very few people are aware of the ebb and flow of their mental energy.

Because my job of being a pastor requires that I think about people’s problems in order to help them, to think about how to communicate truth so that it is understood and easy to apply, and to think about God, His Word, to understand it, and teach it in a way that people can use it to live their lives successfully, I can get mentally fatigued easily. Because I am burning up so much mental energy in the course of a normal day I have learned how to read my mental energy gas gauge, how to fill it back up, and how to increase the size of my gas tank.

The most effective and powerful way to increase my mental energy tank is to spend long periods of time memorizing Bible verses. Memorizing is a very high mental energy drain and doing it every day for 30 minutes to an hour is equivalent to riding my bike, lifting weights or going running physically. When I first started memorizing for a minimum of 30 minutes my brain would get so fatigued I could hardly think or focus on anything, but now I can go hard for at least an hour. It has paid huge dividends in being able to think in a focused way for several hours at a time. Having a lot of mental energy is not the same as being smart or highly intelligent, it means that we can focus mentally, solve problems, and create with our mind.

One of the things I have learned is not to use up my mental energy on things that don’t have much return for me in what I accomplish. One of the most mentally draining activities is to listen to a negative speech, like what is common on the news or talk shows, or to be involved in a negative conversation. I just read a book on “thinking” and I saved this quote, “According to Stanford University biology professor Robert Sapolsky, studies have shown that after listening to 30 minutes of negative speech, the neuron cells located in the hippocampus begin dying. And this is the part of the brain related to problem-solving, so those are definitely neurons worth keeping!”

I let myself get addicted to reading and listening to a ton of news stuff in the last two years, but I have recently gotten free of that. Now I read a little bit of the news to stay informed, and I memorize Bible verses way more.