“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory. In his name the nations will put their hope.

-Matthew 12:18-21

Depending on your life, you either love the holidays or hate them. It’s easy to forget that the holidays aren’t awesome for everybody. There are still people who are absolutely hopeless. Presents won’t cut it, time with family doesn’t satisfy, you can’t see light at the end of the tunnel, and you wonder if you’ll ever come out of this state of hopelessness.

You can waste a lifetime looking for hope in all the wrong places.

The truth is that you can waste a lifetime trying to find hope in all the wrong places. Trying to find it in material possessions, unhealthy relationships, drugs or alcohol, sex, and anything else you attempt to find a sliver of hope in will never give you what you’re looking for.

There is one place that you will find the hope you’re looking for. That is in a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible clearly states that Jesus is the hope of the entire world.

To be honest with you, my life didn’t really begin until I made Jesus the Lord of my life. I used to be purposeless, hopeless, and living in fear constantly. Since I’ve pursued a relationship with God, I have a peace that can’t be put into words, I have hope in every circumstance, and I’m fully satisfied with my life.

If you’re feeling hopeless in life, Jesus wants to give you hope. This can be a Christmas that you never forget. One that changes your life forever. If you’ve never made Jesus the Lord of your life, please send me a message on facebook and I’d love to talk to you about that decision.

Don’t let another day pass feeling hopeless in your life – it’s time to give your life to the one who was born to give his life for you.

“I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols.”                                                                         Isaiah 42:8

I’ve always loved Christmas! I love the holiday season for several reasons that I’ve posted before. While it’s easy to say that Christmas and Easter are times to celebrate Jesus birth and resurrection, the reality is that we tend to celebrate Santa, reindeer, presents, and so many other things over the month of December.

As I’ve grown as a Christian I always wondered whether I’d tell my kids one day about Santa Clause. Yesterday I listened to this message by Keith Moore concerning Christmas, Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, etc. and it answered so my questions I had. Keith goes over the history of Christmas and Easter – it’s very interesting.

My big takeaway: It’s fine to have fun with the traditions of these holidays, but when we start lying to our kids about Santa, and fail to give all of the glory to God with our hearts and lives, it is not ok.

The truth is, God should be a huge part of our lives every day of the year. Christmas and Easter are times where the whole world at least at some point, thinks about God.

As Christians, we need to make God and Jesus as big as we can during this season so instead of pointing others to gifts and tradition,  point them to the Creator of the Universe who longs to have relationship with them so much that He sent is Son to be born and die on a cross in order for us to have one.

In this season – give God all the glory He deserves and Point People to Him.

Have a great Christmas – remember why we celebrate!

¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. . .” -Psalm 139:14

“Don’t Take Yourself too Seriously. Learn to Laugh at Yourself, Everyone else is.”

Has anyone else other than me struggled being comfortable with yourself?

When I was younger, I was not comfortable with my weight, then my intelligence, then the size of my chin/head, the list could go on and on.

After years of living that way I’ve come to realize it is nothing but a waste of time and energy.

The other day I had someone ask me if I had a chew in (because my chin sticks out) – people thought I would get offended. The truth is – it didn’t offend me at all! I’m comfortable with myself and if someone doesn’t like me for who I am, I’m not going to waste my life getting wrapped up in worrying about their opinion of me.

The truth is that we’re never going to get another life, body, set of gifts, personality, etc.

Be grateful for who you are and what you have and you’ll find yourself having a lot more confidence.

I like what Abraham Lincoln said:

“I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me. I do the very best I know how; the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing it to the end.”

When You Learn to Be Comfortable with Yourself You’ll:

1.) Care a Lot Less of what People Think About You

2.) Be able to take a lot more risks

3.) Be able to accomplish a lot more

4.) Be able to help a lot more people

5.) Be a lot easier to be around – People will like you!

Hope this helps!