"Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow
Strangely dim in the light of His
Glory and grace."

We often sing this in our Fellowship, only we sing 'keep your eyes upon Jesus.' At this time of year with the bombardment of commercial Christmas hype and the uneasiness of the changing laws in 2013, many are stressed.
It can be described as the pressure we feel and we do experience stressful times. But, quote, "Stress becomes distress when it creates deep emotional and mental anxiety." (From Early Light by Charles Stanley). As Believers we know the antidote! It is a Person!

Psalm 46:10 tells us,
"Be still, and know that I am God..."

Philippians 4:6a tells us,
"Be anxious for nothing..."

Anxiety can be defined as: a disturbed state of mind produced by real or imaginary fears. We see in Scripture that anxiety and fears can be
overcome--
By trust:
"Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity..." Psalm 37:l "Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord..." Vs. 3-4 "Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him..." Vs. 5 (Psalm 37 is entitled 'Rest in the Lord' read the whole Psalm and be
blessed.)

By the assurance of God's sovereignty:
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

By an angel's word:
This is Paul speaking at the time of shipwreck on the way to Rome, "...Men you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.'" Acts 27:21-24

By prayer:
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." Philippians 4:6 (This is the rest of one of our opening verses -- one that we all know
well.)

By God's care:
"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."  1 Peter 5:6-7

And we have the this promise in Isaiah 40:10 and 13, "Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you.
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Vs. 10 And, "For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you.'" Vs. 13

How awesome is this statement of Paul's to the Romans and to us, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?" Vs. 31

So as the writer to the Hebrews encourages, let us heed the words of Hebrews 12:2-3, "Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart."

Let us keep our eyes on Jesus as we prepare to celebrate Christmas -- the day earth received her King though the world did not know what gloriously awesome thing had happened. May we each be so yielded to the Holy Spirit that His fruit would be expressed to all those we encounter this Christmas season and onward.

Thank you Lord God for you protection, strength and love. We worship and adore You! Amen