What is Christmas? Is it just a national holiday? Where did it come from? First of all, what does holiday mean? 

Dearest Sisters,
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For the past year or so, God has been laying on my heart the importance of faithfulness to Him. I’d like to share with you some gleanings from the life of an ordinary man who held an ordinary job—yet he served an extraordinary God.

The popular culture of today projects a skewed image of beauty. What we are bombarded with by the mass media in no way resembles God’s definition of beauty; it is an intense focus on outward appearances, an exploitation of physical beauty, and a complete ignorance of the true, Christlike beauty that emanates from the inside out. The consequences of this worldly outlook run the gamut from immodesty to eating disorders to disillusionment—and much, much more. If we know that the image of beauty projected to us by the world is fatally twisted and self-destructive, then what is true beauty?

​“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the
work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
—I Corinthians 15:57–58
 
“Change and decay in all around I see. O, Thou Who changest not, abide with me.”

I love that line of the precious hymn, “Abide with Me,” because it reminds me that in the midst of disastrous compromise and heart-wrenching sin in the world—or even in the lives of fellow believers who have strayed from the Lord—my God does not change! He is from everlasting to everlasting, the same yesterday, today, and forever!

Have you ever noticed disheartening compromise in a fellow believer? The direction of the world is enough to discourage anyone, but what is especially grieving is to watch Christians—formerly strong Christians—cave under pressure. We are to be set apart—called out—for God’s work. We have a strong arm to lean on, and rebellion to the Lord’s ways should not occur in our lives. Our family has been heart-broken in observing others collapse under pressure from the world. Recently, the Lord revealed Scriptures and thoughts that I wanted to share in hopes that it will be an encouragement as you endeavor to live strong in the Lord all your days. After all, glorifying Him is our life-long purpose as Christians!