Ah, the holidays are here! Not that you needed the reminder. But Christmas is coming!

Good food, good laughs, gifts given and received. And hobbits.

Yes, hobbits. Hobbits and Christmas are very similar. 

If you've read or seen The Lord of The Rings, you know what a hobbit is. They were a people that lived in the north of Middle Earth that caused so little ruckus that most of Middle Earth's inhabitants didn't even know they existed. Seldom growing taller than three feet in our measure, they wore bright colors, lived peacefully, and knew how to party. Here's how Tolkien described them:

Their faces were as a rule good-natured rather than beautiful, broad, bright-eyed, red-cheeked, with mouths apt to laughter, and to eating and drinking. And laugh they did, and eat, and drink, often and heartily, being fond of simple jests at all times, and of six meals a day (when they could get them). They were hospitable, and delighted in parties, and in presents, which they gave away freely and eagerly accepted.

Such a people sound amazing. Of course, there are a few exceptions (if you make it through the series, you'll meet a few of them). But based on that description, I'd love to be a hobbit. Or at least have their attitude.

I (Dane) once heard a friend of mine say, "live like a hobbit" referring to the Christmas season. When I heard that statement, it made my head spin with different questions. How can someone live like a hobbit? What does "living like a hobbit" have to do with Christmas? Then I realized, Christmas is all about bright colors, friends, family, great food, good drink, a love of laughter, and celebrations. And as I thought about that, I realized that hobbits love these things as well. That is amazing. But wait, if that is true how can I "live like a hobbit" this Christmas season?

Before we go any further, we just want to acknowledge that Christmas can be very painful and lonely. And we’re sorry. In no way are we trying to make you feel bad for lack of excitement or happiness, nor are we suggesting that you fake it.

Because Jesus didn’t. When Lazarus died, He wept. When it came time to go to the cross, He agonized over what He knew He had to endure. And yet, Philippians 2 says “for the joy set before him,” He endured the cross, and ultimately rose to victory, taking His seat at the Father’s right hand.

Whatever makes this season painful is a blip on the screen of life. Pain is okay. But don’t let it stifle the happiness and joy that can be found in Jesus.

All that said, here’s some ways to live like a hobbit in the midst of the holidays.

Bringing Joy To Others

In order to bring joy to others, you have to know what brings them joy.

Hobbits are all the same. They all like a good party.

Humans are not all the same. But most of them like a good party. With good food. Sure, we all disagree on what “good” is. But the desire is there.

Through the holidays (and life, really), do your best to create a welcoming and hospitable environment in whatever you do.

Bringing Joy To Yourself

Experiencing joy yourself can be so linked to others’ joy. At least it is for me (Brandon). Often the absolute last thing I want to do is go to a party. But if other people are having a good time, I generally am too.

I’ve personally found that when I try to feel happy, I'm never happy. I wonder if I'm doing some thing wrong, or if I've done something wrong, and how my actions and words are interpreted and whether people like me and... 

*sigh*

And I wonder why I never get "there."

On the flip side, I've found that when I focus on others and their happiness, I’m a lot less crabby, and I’m happier myself.

 Ultimately Bringing Joy To Christ

We celebrate Christmas because of Jesus. When we make Him a big deal, we make Him happy.

Ultimately, it’s reflecting on Him and what He’s done that will produce the most lasting joy, because He has filled our greatest need. We can never throw a good enough party or give enough gifts to get the joy that is ultimately offered in Christ.

How To Live Like A Hobbit During Christmas

Two years ago, after Redeemer's Christmas Eve Service, my wife and I invited a few people over to our house for an extravagant feast. We decided to buy great meat, get gifts for these people, bring out our special drink and be marry together.

Deep down in my sinful heart I didn't want to share my good food and drink because I wanted it all to myself. Fortunately, when I saw the joy and peace that was on the faces of these people because of the wonderful gifts, well that was the greatest gift one could give me. 

So how do you live like a Hobbit during Christmas?

Enjoy the season that is upon us. Throw a lavish party with great food and drink. Laugh often, learn to relax and for goodness sakes do not take yourself too seriously. Christmas is a season of great joy. Not because we get presents, not because we have good food and drink in our system. No, the only reason you can live like a Hobbit on Christmas is because the season is about the coming of the great Messiah. King Jesus has come, conquered, and is consummating a redeemed creation to Himself. 

So this season, enjoy the beautiful gifts that this time brings upon us. Have joy, often laugh, throw a party and enjoy this beautiful season.

This week's post co-written by deacons Dane and Brandon.

During the busy summer season, we’re taking some time to look at some ways we can strive to use our summers intentionally, for the glory of God and the good of others.

Here’s what we’ve covered thus far:

• Don’t Waste Your Summer
• Plan Your Seasons
• 4 Ways To Vacation Well
• Snapshot
• Rest Rightly, Rest Well
• Reliving And Living

___________________

Throughout the book of Deuteronomy God is telling His people to look back, remember and reflect on what God has first and foremost done for His Glory but on His people's behalf. For example [Deuteronomy 5:15; 7:18; 8:2; 8:18; 9:7; 15:15; 16:3; 16:12; 24:9; 24:18; 24:22] to name a few. In these verses we see examples of God calling his people to remember that they were once slaves before God intervened and brought them out of slavery. We also see examples where God calls the Israelites to remember where they once were and who is their true God to trust in who brought them out of slavery.

As Christians we are called to the same reality. To remember where we once were, slaves to our own sinful passions but we are now free because our God brought us out of slavery by the cross of Jesus Christ. This constant remembering that God calls his people to is a wonderful way for us to be humbled under the reality that we did not accomplish where we are now on our own and that our lives are ultimately products of God's beautiful grace in Jesus Christ. 

This summer we spent a significant amount of time writing about ways to not Waste Your Summer. But this blog series we rolled out this summer wasn't only for the season of Summer. These blog posts were written to help anyone, no matter what season of the year it is.

This final blog post we will help you remember where you once were, look at how and where you have grown, and how to plan for the next season of growth.

Where You Once Were

Do you realize that if you are in Christ you are counted as a son or daughter of God? But with that identity, you must remember that you were purchased with a price. A price not paid by you but a price that has been paid in full by Jesus Christ alone. 

We are enslaved sinners by nature and it took a perfect rescue plan by God himself to see to it that humanity would be brought back into a right relationship with him.

"In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son...to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." - Galatians 4:3-5

As a Christian you must realize before Jesus saved you from your own sin, you were men and women of wrath. You were enemies of God, destined for hell, corrupted by your own sinful passions. 

To be thankful for what you have in Jesus, you must remember where you were before Jesus. How to do this, take some time to reflect on the past. Reflect on where you were before Jesus captured you. Reflect what it would be like not to have Jesus as your King, Ruler & Sustainer. By doing this, you will have a sense of humility and thankfulness towards God because of Jesus Christ.

Where Has God Grown You?

A few years ago, I was dealing with some pretty bad anxiety. I remember getting really worked up when I looked at my life, and would see how I would fail at being a disciple of Jesus. Or get mad when I felt like my payer life was terrible. What I didn't realize is that within these struggles God had been slowly changing who I was. This was evidence of His grace, working to make me look more like Jesus.

Our struggles are usually the first things we look at because they are very present and they affect us deeply. But what often times happens is we forget to look and reflect on how God has been changing us over time. We tend to forget to see the small glimpses of growth happening in our lives. We tend to glaze over the reality that God is forever changing those who are in Christ. Teaching them about their sin, idols, struggles and helping them see their greater need is Jesus.

When you are sitting down and planning out the next season, it is key to first reflect on where you once were before Jesus snatched you up and also reflect on what God has been doing over the years to change you. If you don't reflect, you will always feel discouraged because you will never remember all the times God was working on changing things about you.

Remember to always reflect on the evidences of God's grace.

Plan For The Next Season Of Growth

Now that you have remembered and reflected on where you were before Jesus and what evidences of God's grace show up in your life. It is now time to plan for the next season of growth. I firmly believe that you cannot grow deeply unless you have a plan. When people go on trips, they know their destination. When people have vacations, they know what they want to do for rest and relaxation. Why then, when we look at the next season, do we feel like we don't need to plan? 

The best way I have found to be helpful is find the different areas that I want to grow in. Maybe it's leading my family, maybe it's growing in a specific doctrine, or maybe it's just growing as a friend and write out what you plan on doing to help cultivate these specific areas. Have goals that are quantifiable and reachable. You don't want to say something like, "I want to grow in Scripture memorization!" and your subgoal within that is to memorize the entire Bible word for word in a year. That goal just isn't reachable. But what you can say is "I want to grow in Scripture memorization!" and your subgoal could be something like, memorize one verse every other week for 6 months. You see the difference?

Planning is not devoid of the Spirit. God works through many avenues and for my brain when I have goals specifically written down I feel like I won't forget them and I can reach them by God's grace. You see, planning isn't the thing that will grow you, but it is one of many different tools that will help as God continues to grow you. The goal in planning isn't to make yourself better, the goal is to grow more in love with Jesus. 

The fall season is right around the corner, so take some time to look back on where you once were before Jesus. Take some time to remember the many evidences of God's grace that you have seen. And then move forward by planning out your next season. 

photo credit: pierofix via photopin cc

During the busy summer season, we’re taking some time to look at some ways we can strive to use our summers intentionally, for the glory of God and the good of others.

Here’s what we’ve covered thus far:

• Don’t Waste Your Summer
• Plan Your Seasons
• 4 Ways To Vacation Well
• Snapshot
• Rest Rightly, Rest Well
• Reliving And Living

___________________

Does your summer ever feel like it flies by and you didn't get a chance to accomplish any of the projects that are on your list of things to do? Or, do you ever feel like your summer flies by but you didn't get a chance to rest and rejuvenate before the upcoming year starts up again because you had to much on your schedule?

Sadly, these two instances are exactly how our culture handles summer. 

My hope from this blog post is that you would get a clear picture to how you can plan the different seasons of your life, specifically summer. But first, we’re going to look at some common objections to planning in general. There may be more, but these are two of the most common.

Objection #1: I Don't Want To Be Tied Down To Any Plans

When you hear someone say to you, "I don't like to be tied down to plans." What they are saying is they don't like to think about their next move. Unfortunately in this day and age, you can not throw care to the wind and wing everything. Everything in this world requires a plan. For example, children's school year is planned, college students are working for a degree that is planned out, parents who stay at home with their kids need plans to keep sane and lastly people who work in the business world know that if you don't have a plan you don't go anywhere.

Everyone plans, and I mean everyone. No one ever can just wing life. But plans you make show off your priorities. 

Objection #2: I Am So Busy

Some people really love having a busy schedule, and when they're not busy, they don't know what to do with themselves. 

We all want to be fruitful in our lives. Fruitful literally means producing good or helpful results. But before we can be fruitful in anything, we first need to be faithful. Faithful literally means loyal, constant, and steadfast. 

Do you know what spheres God has given you to be faithful in?

If you don't know what spheres God has called you to, then it will be hard for you to determine what areas you are suppose to be faithful in. So make sure to write them down. Tell them to someone, so that they can keep you accountable. 

Gospel Oriented Faithfulness Then Fruitfulness

Exert taken from a book "The Gospel At Work" by Sebastian Traeger & Greg Gilbert pg. 91 -92

"Every sphere that you have in your life, you can find in the Bible both a minimum standard for faithfulness and operating principles for pursing fruitfulness. By a minimum standard for faithfulness, we mean the basic requirements Scripture gives to our different spheres of our lives. If you are not accomplishing the basic requirements of your different spheres, then you are not being faithful in this area. Most of the time, this means you need to double-down on your attention there before looking anywhere else.

By principles for pursuing further fruitfulness, we mean those ways in which you can grow beyond this minimum expectation of faithfulness. Once you think you're meeting the Bible's standard of faithfulness in all your assignments, you are free to dream and consider how you can best invest your extra time and energy.

On either side of faithfulness and fruitfulness we will find the two pitfalls that tend to define the sinful patterns associated with our work (or spheres) - idolatry and idleness. Fail to meet the minimum requirements of faithfulness, and you fall into idleness. Push beyond fruitfulness, and you fall into idolatry. 

So here's the guiding principle: pursue faithfulness, then fruitfulness, but not idolatry." 

So, here are some things to think about when planning out your season:

1. Pray and ask God to help you list your spheres He has called you to.

2. List Your Top 5 Spheres (Example: God, Family, Church, Work...etc.)

3. Make a list from the different spheres in your life that God is calling you to be faithful in and write down what the baseline expectations are for you to meet these different spheres. 

4. Determine if you're being faithful in the priorities within the spheres

5. Consider where you might be able to invest for greater fruitfulness

6. Avoid the trap of idolatry, where you are measured by your work instead of serving the Lord.

Accomplish And Rest

Yes this blog post is geared towards the summer time but you can take these principles into any season of your life and be able to plan well so that you can stay faithful to the calling God has for you. 

As Christians, we are not called to be idle, but we are also called not to make things we do our idols. Applying these principles will help you to plan well and also rest well. And as always  remember that the priorities that you accomplish will never make you right with God, it is through Jesus perfect righteousness and obedience that anyone will be right with God. The priorities that you try and accomplish are simply principles that God has called you to be obedient to do but rest well in the finish work of Jesus on your behalf.

photo credit: Jasmic via photopin cc