Terry's Merry Christmas and Happy 2026

My husband, Terry, wrote a beautiful and meaningful Christmas message this year which I want to share with all of you.  I hope it not only blesses you, but makes you think.  It sure made me do so!

From Terry:

Dear Friends
Merry Christmas and to a Happy New Year in 2026


With the beginning of a new year, there are always hopes and dreams of better things to come:  better relations with loved ones, friends, neighbors, co-workers, bosses and/or employees. Thinking on this, I would like to share a few thoughts with each of you based on life, messages, and the impact you have had on us.

The Christmas story is an old one, and almost everyone knows the general theme.  The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and implanted in her womb our Lord and Savior as an embryo.  As with all of us, He was wonderfully made in His mother’s womb, but differently than us, He was completely God and completely man.  Joseph kept Mary for his bride, they traveled to Bethlehem, and there in a lowly place in a manager, Mary gave birth to our Lord Jesus Christ, who, with His sacrificial death on the cross, saved sinners who called upon Him to be their Lord and Savior from permanent separation from His Father.

The moment we accept Jesus as Savior, the Holy Spirit enters us and becomes our guide to grow in Christ and become more like Him while we are here on earth.  Jesus is with the Father and is waiting to return and gather His people.  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we who believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord will meet Him in the sky, to be with Him forever in heaven.

So, what are we doing with our time on earth while we still have it?  Do we try harder in life to gain what the world would call happiness or success, relying on self, or do we trust God more for direction and fulfillment of His calling? Do we put the Baby Jesus back in the box until next December or put Him front and center in our daily lives?  Do we go about living with the same old habits, same old thoughts, same old vocabulary, same old places to hangout, or do we, with the help of the Holy Spirit, change into the new creation that Jesus promised if we put Him first in our lives.  “Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.”  Ephesians 4:23-24

Each of us, and each of us alone, have to choose to allow the Holy Spirit to change us from our old selves into new selves in Jesus.  We have to surrender to Him, and then peace can come into our lives.  When we direct our minds to Jesus and dwell on His Word, then we can have peace of mind. God will guard our hearts and minds from the enemy IF we seek Him and stay in daily contact with Him.  Refuse to rent a room to worry, in our lives!

How do we Redeem His Time in our busy, hurry up world? We have 8760 hours each and every year (more in a leap year) to do stuff.   Have we managed our time wisely?  I know I haven’t always been as focused as I could have been...worrying about family, friends, the Vid, elected leaders, unelected leaders, inflation, wars and rumors of wars, and on and on and on.  Worry can steal the joy out of life.  It can get us off track onto a side rail where the enemy wants us, so we can’t live the life God wants us to live.  It is a trick of the enemy, and it has worked for thousands of years.

One suggestion, is to purposefully not participate in the unfruitful deeds or activities of the enemy, but in our growing heart-relationship with Jesus, to allow the fruit of the Spirit to be evident in us: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control against which there is no law.”  Galatians 5:22 and Romans 1: 29 and the things we should avoid:  greed, envy, strife, evil, wickedness, gossip, slander, deceit, malice…being arrogant, haters of God, the unloving and untrustworthy.  We also are to avoid people who give approval of such things.

We must recognize that our lives are on the clock!  So let us use our time wisely!   God’s Word never lies, while the world tells us lies every day.  To counter those lies, let’s spend our time daily reading the Word, not for rules, but for developing a deep and intimate heart relationship with our God and Father.  Scripture says to meditate on the Word…think about it, mull it over in our minds, then Act On It!!!  Then let’s also spend time in praise and prayer with our Creator.  We can’t have relationship without communicating.

To see change in our lives, we must have the courage to choose to change our lives.  If someone or something is dragging us down with negative all the time or is encouraging bad or sinful habits, WE need to avoid those persons or things.  It might not be easy—worthwhile things seldom are—but it will be worth the struggle.

The writers of Proverbs use active terms in their writings: SEEK, LISTEN, UNDERSTAND, AVOID, LEARN, WISDOM, GUARD, GIVE ATTENTION, PAY ATTENTION, FIND KNOWLEDGE, REPENT, DISCERN, WISE COUNCIL, DISCIPLINE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, and then chapter 29 starts off with: “a stiff neck will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.” Let’s each now examine ourselves:  Are we, as the Israelites were, stiff necked, or are we teachable?  Repentant?  My prayer is that you have broken the chains of the past heritage of sin. By accepting Christ as your Savior—that you have begun a new legacy for all your children, grandchildren, and future generations:  that of each accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, not in knowledge but in the heart, being dependent on the Word of God to teach obedience and righteous living, and the allowing of the Holy Spirit to change each from the old creation to the new.  We pray our descendants will be salt and light in the world.

Maturity in Christ doesn’t just happen. Like an athlete, dancer, doctor, or teacher on the job, WE have to work at these things every day, train every day, put out an effort every day or WE won’t be what WE could be in Christ Jesus. IF WE have a pulse, God has a plan for US.  Let God’s time be Our time!

Now may the Prince of Peace rule in OUR lives so we can be, ALL THAT WE CAN BE, IN JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOR.  May God bless each of us in this new year.

Terry and Candice Thomas
December 2025