Maybe you’ve heard this before, but it’s worth repeating. The difference between happiness and joy is, happiness is based on happenings. Joy, on the other hand, is a resilient cheerfulness anchored in the goodness of God. Think about happiness. When a baby is born, when you finally close on your new house or get a promotion at work, these are ...
What is peace to you? Maybe you thought of a young mom when her babies are finally laid down for the night. Or the quiet after all the house guests have left. Or the sigh of relief when bills are paid and there’s still money in the account. Each of those are definitely aspects and benefits of peace. And like ...
Week One: I didn’t grow up celebrating Advent and if I’m honest, I only recently realized what it meant. I had heard the word before but assumed it was a denominational tradition. It’s actually a beautiful reminder of why we celebrate not only Christmas, but our Christian faith. For those that might be like me, let me start with an ...
Like most people, Christmas isn’t foreign to me. We’ve celebrated it in our home ever since I can remember. And that’s a funny thing to consider when I think about it– simply because I didn’t get saved until I was 21 years old. Yet, I celebrated Jesus every year in December before salvation. I had to look it up (that’s ...
Did you know the first promise God ever made was about Christmas? You actually know the story. It didn’t happen in Bethlehem. It happened in the Garden. Sin caused man to fall and God responded with a promise: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you ...
My friend Debbie Beck has a beautiful take on Christmas that reflects my own heart. I hope her enthusiasm encourages you as well: I love Christmas! Let me say it again in case you missed it… I LOVE Christmas! I love the Christmas story. I love Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus. I love the angels, and the star and all the wonderful visitors who came ...
There’s a certain scripture in the Christmas story that has always intrigued me. You know the story… an angel visits a young girl named Mary and announces to her that she will become pregnant with God’s Son (Luke 1:26-33). Her fiancé Joseph learns of her pregnancy and secretly plans to break the engagement when an angel appears to him in ...
I recently had a conversation with a gentleman who was a having a real issue with the tradition of celebrating Christmas and Easter. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe Jesus was born or that He was raised from the dead. This man just struggled with the tradition of celebrating them on particular dates of the year. He said, “We don’t ...
Christmas is here! We’ve shopped, listened to our merry playlists (some of us long before December), and celebrated with friends and family. It truly is a beautiful time of the year. But in the poetic words of Howard Thurman: When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are ...