December 2014, the last month of the year. As you prepare for this holy season, there are a couple of  things I would like for you to take a moment to reflect upon, the first being relationships.

I've spent the last three weeks teaching a series entitled "Don't Take it Personal". From this series I've tried to convey the message that we don't fight against flesh and blood but against principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places. When this principle is properly applied to life then we understand that our "fight" is not with our sister or our brother (flesh and blood). 

In the game of chess, there are various pieces that are positioned on the chess board designed to prevent the king from being check-mated. The piece I want to focus on is the pawn. The pawn is frontline to the rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. Now when the game is played sometimes the pawns are the first pieces to be sacrificed so that the more "powerful" pieces can further advance toward check making the opposing king on the board.

Now, if we compare the game of chess to spiritual warfare, flesh and blood is frontline to the more "powerful" piece in the warfare - the Christ in you. When we fight against flesh and blood we misdirect the more powerful piece within ourselves - Christ. As a result of this misdirection the Christ within us is "check-mated". Therefore, the kingdom loses ground in this warfare.

There is hope. The hope is in recognizing that our warfare is not against flesh and blood but against principlaities and spiritual wickedness in high places. The hope is furthered when we cease to fight against flesh and blood - our sister and brother - and instead allow the Christ within us to join forces with the Christ in our sister and brother thereby defeating and ripping apart principlaities obliterating spiritual wickedness in high places.

Mend the relationship with your sister and brother. Position yourself in this warfare that would allow the Christ within you to rise up and destroy the principalities and spiritual wickedness that keep the kingdom from advancing.

The second area I want you reflect upon is the focus and vision for the upcoming year. We're well on our way to establishing ourselves as "The Loving Church". As we approach 2015, I would like for us to move toward a more excellent expression of God's love.

A more excellent expression of God's love would include truly being your brothers' (sisters') keeper. In 2015 let's reach out more to our sisters and brothers (spiritual and biological). Let's take an interest in the spiritual development of their souls. Let's invite them to study God's word with us. Let's check up on them when we haven't seen them in a while. Let's show concern for those who are sons and daughters of God.

Let's remember that our sisters and brothers are members of God's kingdom. It is the God in them that qualifies them to be named among the sons and daughters of God. Allow the love of God that has been demonstrated in your life to be reflected so as to impact the lives of others. What we have really been charged with is a responsibility to reflect God's love to the world to the degree that his love has been deposited in us.

There you have it, just a couple of areas for your to reflect upon as we close out this year and prepare for a new year.

"Always remember that I love you and God loves you; all of you are my favorite and there's nothing you can do about it." ~Pastor R.B. Thomas