PART I

Christmas is just 10 days away.  I know it’s easy for me to get caught up in the rush and hubbub of Christmas and miss all that Christmas was meant to be.  I want to learn about Hope & Peace this Christmas Season.

Let me focus on HOPE. 

Without Christmas there would be no hope. No hope for our future. No meaning in our now. No hope for our kids.  Without Jesus coming in human form, we would be without hope.  IF no Jesus then no sinless offering for humanity. If no sinless offering for humanity than nothing but punishment and banishment from God’s presence.  If no sacrificial death on the cross by Jesus, we would live in a hopeless existence.  But wait – there is hope because there is Jesus and He did come and He did die a sinless death and rose from the dead to conquer death, so we have hope and HOPE abounds!!!!!

Sometimes life can seem hopeless.  We get caught up in the here and now and forget that the few years we spend on earth are a fraction of time compared to all eternity.  I suffer from this syndrome.

It is called self-focused syndrome. 

Hope is lost when I look to myself for hope. Hope abounds when I realize that life comes from Jesus.  Jesus came and now we celebrate his coming on Christmas.

Therefore: Christmas IS a reminder of the hope that Jesus brings.   I want to live more HOPEful this next year and I want to be reminded that my hope is renewed because of Jesus. I can endure all things here on earth because Jesus came, lived, died, and rose from the grave.

I have hope and it is spelled Jesus.

Merry Christmas

Psalm 33:20 We put our hope in the Lord.

He is our help and our shield.