'Tis The Season To Be Jolly!!
November and December are months that we celebrate the holidays with family and friends. It's a season filled with gratitude and joy for what God has done. Our past is forgiven, the present is undergirded by hundreds of promises and our future is provided for. The overwhelming response should be joy, thanksgiving and gratitude - not whining, complaining and grumbling.
We must learn to develop a heart of thanksgiving in every season of life. Complaining and dwelling on the negative will only leave us bitter, angry, and disillusioned. Giving thanks on the other hand is the key to an abundant and blessed life. One thing that keeps us mindful of being grateful is to remember that all the good in our lives is good beyond our doing – it comes as a gift from our Savior!
You might be going through a difficult time right now, but I promise you giving thanks will change your focus. When you change your focus from your problems and you direct your thoughts toward God, He can impart a supernatural joy that will carry you through the hard times. If you were to take inventory of the things that God has blessed you with, you would quickly realize that you have so much to be grateful for. You can't always control what happens in life, but you can control your response. Be thankful!
God truly wants this season to be the most wonderful time of the year – a holly jolly season. Let's remember during the holidays this year to be filled with thanksgiving, gratitude and joy. Nothing thrills the heart of God more than the praises of His children.
Happy Holidays,
Pastor Rob & Laura Koke
© 2011 by Rob Koke. All rights reserved.
 Robert Koke is founder and Senior Pastor of Shoreline Church, one of America's largest churches. A graduate of Oral Roberts University, Pastor Koke spent several years doing extensive missionary work throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and the former Soviet Union before coming to Austin to establish Shoreline Christian Center. He and his wife, Dr. Laura Koke, touch and inspire thousands of lives each week through the ministry of Shoreline and its various outreaches. Pastor Koke's positive message will inspire and instruct you how to practically live out your faith in Jesus Christ.
Sincere And Humble Thanks
Thanksgiving can get lost somewhere between Halloween and Christmas. I wonder what will become of it if the Lone Star Showdown is no more. What football game will rise to that sacred place?
George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789 set aside this day "to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks".
It's a day to reflect on the goodness of God.
Do you take the time to identify God's goodness in your life?
Every Thanksgiving I pass around a small piece of paper and ask each person to write down what they are thankful for. I keep them all in a special scrapbook. Each year I look for something new to express gratitude for. I would hate to be redundant.
In 2008, while busy crafting my exquisite thanks; I noticed my son's paper. He had drawn simple pictures of food, water, a house and a bed. It was beautiful – sincere thanks for humble things. I don't think he realized before that year, that those were things to be grateful for.
Traditionally our boys would say they were thankful for toys, friends and family but something shifted when we began serving at our Shoreline East outreach campus. Our perspective changed.
Our lives are filled with so much. It's easy to take it all for granted. We realized the abundance in our home when we come face to face with those who have no home. Serving has cultivated a culture of thanksgiving. I think that's exactly what George Washington was hoping for.
Click here to learn more about Shoreline East
© 2011 by Lynn Cherry. All rights reserved.
 Lynn Marie Cherry is a ministry assistant at Shoreline Church, where she is also part of the worship team. Lynn and her husband David have been married for 20 years. They have two amazing boys. Lynn has a heart to encourage people toward freedom and plant seeds of hope. She enjoys sharing insight from God's word and the world around her. Visit Lynn's blog at LynnMarieCherry.blogspot.com where you can read more and sign up for a free weekly email subscription.
Monthly Devotional
Managing or Mismanaging?
Managing or Mismanaging, was inspired by a profound message that I heard from Pastor Leon Fontaine a few years ago. In listening to Pastor Fontaine I drew a mental picture of how we manage our life in correlation to the growth of an apple tree.
In life, each of us has a responsibility of either "Managing or Mismanaging" what God has given us. Depending on how we manage our "right now" determines if we grow from a place of Survival, to Stability, to Success and furthermore to Significance.
Plain and simple, survival is tough. Like a tree in seed form, it is where you are trying to break through the shell of a tough situation. An example from the Bible of moving from survival to stability is the woman with the issue of blood (LUKE 8:43-47). Although she was in a tough situation for twelve years, where she was not being nurtured or loved on, she found Jesus and he was able to breathe life into her dim situation. In her survival phase she learned to use faith + works.
When imagining the life cycle of a tree, the first thing a surviving seed does after exiting the tough shell is take root right where it is planted. We all have tough times and the only way to find stability, is to manage what God has given us with discipline, desire and dedication. This allows us to break through the wall of stability and to push towards the next step, success.
Success is the attainment of our aim; basically, our fruit. Envision an apple tree that only bore apples with no seeds. We can assume that is bad fruit. Matt. 3:10 illustrates what happens to those trees. In Genesis 1:28, God says to "Be fruitful and multiply…." So, to give back, is to move from personal success to influential significance.
Pastor Rob Koke once said that "we can count the seeds in an apple but we cannot count the apples in a seed." During this holiday season, stay encouraged to be fruitful personally and multiply your blessing. Give the gift of love. Give of your time, talent and resources to make someone's life better. You could be the ten yard pass that gets someone closer to the touchdown of getting to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We never know how many apple trees we may plant.
Click here to read Shoreline's statement of faith
© 2011 by Jonathan Dixon. All rights reserved.
 Jonathan Keith Dixon was born and raised in Houston, TX. After graduating with honors in Kinesiology from Prairie View A&M University, Jonathan took the opportunity to start his sales career at Dell Inc. in Austin, Texas. Outside of work, Jonathan enjoys being a head basketball coach for a youth basketball team called the Nuggets. Among many other community service activities, he also enjoys working with the NBMBAA's mentor program called Leaders of Tomorrow (L.O.T. Austin Chapter). He is a continuous learner, devoted friend and caring son who strives to grow while providing service and advocacy to his community.
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