As we enter the month of December in Idaho Falls, let me share with you some of my Christmas musings of the past.  I will try to share a thought with you each day as we head toward Christmas.  May the Lord fill you with His peace this Christmas season.

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When I went Christmas tree hunting in one of our national forests about a week and a half ago, all the trees looked so full and beautiful from a distance.  Covered with snow, they looked really nice.  But when I got really close to these trees, I would notice twisted curves or deformed limbs.  When I shook the snow of these trees, then I could see the gangly branches, the open gaps, and the dry, brown needles.  It reminds me of how God sees beyond the nice external Christmas ornamentation of our lives.  “For the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

I could also use the Christmas tree illustration to explain why Christian people don’t want to get too close to each other.  There might be the revealing of a gap or gangly limb.  But that is where real ministry with each other begins.