One of the reasons I love the Christmas season is that it is such a great time of year for initiating gospel conversations. Between the special church events and the fact that many people still do want to go to church to celebrate Christmas, this is also the easiest time of year to invite people to church.

You’ve heard it (and maybe shared it): “Keep Christ in Christmas.” It’s a great thought…but do you do it?

In studying James chapter four, I find that there are at least seven ways to miss God’s will for your life. Here is an overview of the seven:

After admonishing every believer as Christian soldiers to put on the whole armor of God and identifying each piece of that armor in Ephesians 6:10–17, Paul commands us to be, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18). Prayer must be our attitude and action in our battle with Satan, the flesh, and the world.

When Terrie and I moved to Lancaster over thirty years ago, I began an eighteen-month season of intense personal outreach. Every week, I would knock on no less than five hundred doors personally with a church invitation and a purpose to share the gospel at the door.

Do you have a heart that is overflowing in praise and thankfulness to God? Do you have a praise list that is equal to your prayer list? Are you careful to take inventory all of the good things God is doing for you?

On Thanksgiving Day, when you are sitting around the table sharing your blessings, it’s easy to feel thankful. But we all have to work to maintain a grateful spirit every other day. Perhaps it would help to identify these four attitudes that are enemies of thankfulness:

My daughter, Danielle, made this appetizer for Thanksgiving a few years ago, and it has become a holiday family favorite ever since! It’s a perfect snack to enjoy while waiting on the big Thanksgiving meal.

We can all be grateful to God for His many blessings. One year, just after Thanksgiving, my wife had an interesting Bible class this with the 11th and 12th graders in our academy. She asked the girls to write down all the things they are thankful for—in five minutes.

I meet once or twice each year with the senior men of West Coast Baptist College to discuss ministry philosophy and personal growth. As we met last month, I was encouraged by their sense of anticipation and eagerness for getting into the ministry.