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Can you really have a happy Christmas even when you have a thousand and one pressures bearing down on you? Yes, you can!

No matter how intense or how trivial the problems are that you're facing right now, you can have the most wonderful, most carefree Christmas season you've ever had in your life. And you can start having it today.

You're probably familiar with that scripture that says to be anxious for nothing. But, have you ever taken it seriously enough to put it into action? There's a good chance you haven't because you haven't understood just how dangerous those anxieties are.

You probably haven't realized that they're a deadly part of the devil's strategy against you. Worry is one of the chief weapons of his warfare. If he can get you to worry about them, he can use the financial pressures and family pressures and scheduling problems that are just a "normal" part of everyday life to weigh you down and drag you into more trouble than you think possible.

Medical science tells us that a high percentage of the people hospitalized are there with ailments caused by worry and tension. Yet, a great many believers worry without even thinking about it. They'll worry about being too short or too skinny. They'll stew over this and that and not even realize they've been sinning.

For the born-again, Spirit-filled believer who owns a Bible, worrying is a sin. So, even if the Christmas cards are late and many people are coming to your house for Christmas dinner, don't worry. Instead, do what the Bible says to do! Pray, making your request known to God! And praise Him for the answer. Then you'll have peace.

Go ahead and have a truly happy Christmas! In Philippians 4:6 we read, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Have a most happy Christmas!

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 9.51. Live for God, on purpose, not allowing fear and anxiety to rule over you – especially at Christmas!

The Ingredients of a Miracle

Are you in need of a miracle in your life? Are there things you are facing that seem to be absolutely impossible to handle in the natural? Are you looking to the Lord, and in desperate need of something supernatural in your life to happen?

If you are, then you are not alone. We all need the Lord’s miraculous touch in our life each and every day. But, here is the key question – what are you doing to make yourself eligible to receive that miracle you so desperately need?

As we enter the Christmas week, our thoughts go back to the Biblical narrative of Joseph and Mary, and their giving birth – miraculously – to the very Son of God. Have you ever considered just why God chose those two individuals to be the vessels through whom He would operate to bring His Son into this world? Why Joseph? And, why Mary? There were surely scores of other men and women God could have chosen to use as the earthly parents of His Son.

God specifically chose, spoke to, and used Joseph and Mary to perform the greatest miracle of all time – the Word of God became flesh, and dwelt among us. Now, although none of us is seeking for a miracle that even begins to compare with the miraculous event of the birth of Christ, the reasons that God chose and used Joseph and Mary are the same reasons that God can – and will – choose and use you in the miracle that you need!

There are three very specific ingredients that were a part of the character of Joseph and Mary that enabled them to become the recipients of this Miracle of all miracles! And, these same three ingredients need to be present in you if you want to see God do a miracle in your life!

What are “The Ingredients of a Miracle”? That is exactly what we will discover this Sunday as we worship together at WFA! Don’t miss this fantastic time together before the Lord!

Being Part of God's Plan

In Luke 1:35-38, the angel of the Lord speaks to Mary, telling her that “the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.” What was Mary’s response? She said, “I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said.”

Mary has an honored place as being the mother of Jesus. In our Christian circles, we celebrate Mary as a virtuous young woman willfully taking on the responsibility of becoming mother of the Son of God. Still, it’s easy to overlook the difficulties Mary faced in accepting this role. She was likely in her mid-teens at the time of the angel’s announcement. An unmarried teen pregnancy in Jewish culture at the time would have been quite scandalous. She faced the prospect of being an outcast in her hometown. Further, imagine Mary attempting to explain the circumstances of her pregnancy to her parents and to Joseph, her fiancé. Being part of God’s plan was no doubt very difficult for Mary.

One of the characteristics that set Mary apart for her role was her willing obedience. “May it be to me as you have said,” was Mary’s reply to the angel. This is simply amazing.

We, just like Mary, are part of God’s plan to carry His light and love to a needy world. Each of us has been given a different role in His plan, but no one is unimportant. It might be difficult to see ourselves as being active participants in what God is doing in the world. It’s not always easy to say yes to God. Saying yes can mean facing difficulties and persecution. But, God always provides the means of sustaining us when we choose obedience to His desires for our lives.

As we celebrate Christmas this year, remember Mary as an example of the obedience God desires of us.

The Greatest Gift of All

by Steve Goodier

A little boy and girl were singing their favorite carol in church the Sunday before Christmas. The boy concluded "Silent Night" with the words, "Sleep in heavenly beans."

"No," his sister corrected, "not beans. Peas."

The story reminds me of the wonderful and hectic holiday season many of us are approaching soon.

Dave Garroway was, for many years, the host of the TODAY show on NBC television. Someone once asked him about his understanding of Christmas. He replied: "I've noticed that when people are asked what they want for Christmas, nine times out of ten, they answer with something material. That used to be amusing to me, but it's not amusing to me any longer. I happen to be one of those people who can afford anything he wants, but I find what I really want, I can't buy at all. I want peace of mind, peace of soul; the kind of peace you have when you don't really want anything."

What do YOU want for Christmas? Or if you don't celebrate Christmas, what do you want for your life. For your world?

For me, what I want cannot be bought or gift wrapped. What I want most can best be summed up in words like "faith" and "hope" and "love."

For myself, I want faith. Faith enough to see light in even the bleakest of situations. Faith enough to believe that goodness will prevail in the end.

For my loved ones I want hope. Abundant hope. Hope in tomorrow. A hope that helps them believe that better times lay ahead so they can take that next step.

For my world I want love. And I believe that the solutions to most of our biggest problems will only be found when we decide that we are indeed one family. The problems of war, health care, crime in city streets, immigration and unemployment take on a different hue when I am talking about my brothers and sisters whom I love dearly. Do you also want things you can't buy? What if we all decided to go after those things this year that truly matter? That could be the greatest gift of all.

as seen in Steve Goodier’s “Life Support”

The Best Gifts This Christmas

To a Friend, Loyalty
To an Enemy, Forgiveness
To your Boss, Service
To your Child, A good example
To your Father, Honor
To your Mother, Gratitude and Devotion
To your Spouse, Love and Faithfulness
To Yourself, Respect
To All Men, Charity
To God, Your Life!

Christmas: Just in Time!

by Jim Liebelt

Most of us have our traditions when it comes to Christmas gift opening. Some families open their gifts on Christmas Eve. Some families open their gifts on Christmas morning. Some spread out their gift opening over several days to extend the enjoyment. Regardless of when you open your Christmas presents, you likely feel that you have the “right moment”.

It’s fascinating to me that God’s gift to us, the birth of His son Jesus; when God became human, was just at the right moment. Not a moment too early; not a moment to late. “But when the right time came,” the Scripture reveals, “God sent his son, born of a woman, subject to the Law.” (Galatians 4:4)

Thankfully, we have the certainty of Scriptures, that Jesus did come; that He lived among us; that He died for our sins; that He conquered death and rose again. We have the benefit of those Christ-followers who have gone before us, passing down to us the assurance of Jesus‘ life and ministry among us. We share in the legacy of what God has done in human history and continues to do in during our time. We are a part of His ongoing story in the world.

We celebrate Christmas as the time to remember and give thanks for Jesus, who came “just in time!”

Our Greatest Need

If our greatest need had been information,
...God would have sent us an educator;

If our greatest need had been technology,
...God would have sent us a scientist;

If our greatest need had been money,
...God would have sent us an economist;

If our greatest need had been pleasure,
...God would have sent us an entertainer;

But our greatest need was forgiveness,
...So God sent us a Savior.

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village
The child of a peasant woman
He grew up in another obscure village
Where he worked in a carpenter shop
Until he was thirty

He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never traveled more than two hundred miles
From the place where he was born
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself
He was only thirty-three
His friends ran away
One of them denied him
He was turned over to his enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing
The only property he had on earth

When he was dead
He was laid in a borrowed grave
Through the pity of a friend

Nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind's progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life

The Last Impression

Everyone loves Christmas cookies! Here are some wonderful rules for the cookies you eat this Christmas!

• If you eat a Christmas cookie fresh out of the oven, it has no calories because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus calorie free.

• If you drink a diet soda after eating your second cookie, it also has no calories because the diet soda cancels out the cookie calories (water has the same properties here).

• If a friend comes over while you're making your Christmas cookies and needs to sample, you must sample with your friend. Because your friend's first cookie is calorie free, rule #1 is yours also. It would be rude to let your friend sample alone and, being the friend that you are, that makes your cookie calorie free, as well.

• Any cookie calories consumed while walking around will fall to your feet and eventually fall off as you move. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.

• Any calories consumed during the frosting of the Christmas cookies will be used up because it takes many calories to lick excess frosting from a knife without cutting your tongue.

• Cookies colored red or green have very few calories. Red ones have three and green ones have five – one calorie for each letter. (Make more red ones!)

• Cookies eaten while watching "Miracle on 34th Street" have NO calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one's personal fuel.

• As always, cookie "pieces" contain no calories because the process of breaking causes calorie leakage.

• Any cookies consumed from someone else's plate have no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to their plate. (We all know how calories like to CLING!)

• Any cookies consumed while feeling stressed have no calories because cookies used for medicinal purposes NEVER have calories. (It's a rule!)

Just one week until Christmas! Instead of being stressed out by all of the things you think you need to do before next Friday, take the time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, and be sure to take advantage of the many opportunities that the Lord will bring your way to share that good news with others you meet. Make this last week before Christmas to be a wonderful time for you and all those you love and care about.