He is GOOD!

Scriptures: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)

It’s that time of the year again. Every time the Christmas bells are ringing, Salvation Army representatives show up at the entrances to supermarkets, and the Christmas lighting and decorations start to appear on the front yards and along the edge of the roofs, Christmas is near. So is the end of the year.

As I looked back into this year, meditating on the things the angel said to the shepherds, I understood that was the purpose of the coming of our Lord Jesus and I asked myself, throughout this year, was I able to give “glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2:14)? Was I His instrument to bring “peace to men on whom His favor rests” (Luke 2:14)?

God has been good to me and my family! Both of my sons became freshmen this year, one for college and the other for high school. One started his teaching in Children Sunday School and the other started his services in the Worship Band. They are getting ready to be young adults. I am thankful!

My Dad has suffered for some time from diabetes and some unexplained pain in his legs. But God looked into these problems and has blessed him with a lot of improvements. Now he can go take a walk with my Mom everyday for an hour. My Mom has had some heart irregularities in the past which made it difficult for her to walk far, especially uphill. But she is doing better too. God is good!

For years, my Mother-in-law has not been doing well physically and has dreaded coming over the ocean to visit us. But He brought her over this year. That was quite an accomplishment for her. We had a blissful month together. He also helped make my wife a Chinese Teacher this year. Though it made her schedule tighter, she enjoyed her teaching, especially those children. God is good!

As for me, not only am I blessed with a family who loves and supports me, I am continually blessed with opportunities to serve Him in the church. I witnessed His work in stirring up the hearts of the youth to know Him more and better, in commissioning our brothers and sister in Christ to go into mission fields in His name, in guiding His own servant to come pastor our church, in moving people to seek His heart for directions in ministries, and in bringing congregations with different cultural and generational backgrounds together. God is good!

God has also opened other opportunities to share His love and goodness with others. This blog is a great example. As limited and incapable as we are, He is willing to give us this opportunity to share our lives and thoughts and, hopefully, to touch and rekindle the fire and light in each of us so we may come to know and love Him better. He is good!

As this year is coming to an end and the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus is just around the corner, I pray that “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests” (Luke 2:14) will be my pledge for this upcoming year!

Prayer Requests:
For those struggling and searching for love and goodness in life

Prayer:

Aba Father, thank You for sending Jesus to bring us back into Your family! Thank You for the love and goodness You have shown us every step of our journey in life. We ask that, as we celebrate this Christmas, You help us to spread and share Your love and goodness with all those around us and may all glory be unto Your name! In the precious name of our Lord Jesus we pray, Amen!