We will fight many battles in life.  We will fight for the things that God means for us to have and do, and we will fight against the things that would rob us of the abundant life that is ours in Christ.  Physical well-being.  Spiritual warfare.  Family protection.  Kingdom fruit.   Our happiness.  God’s honor. We are to get ready for battle, go to battle and depend on God in battle.  It is not our strength, our plan, our wisdom, our abilities, our possessions or our community that we are to trust in, but rather our God. He provides the resources we use and the results from their use. For both the means and the victory come from Him.

We are prone to want things and want things now.  But we often make a mess of things by acting hastily.  To avoid getting nowhere fast, we should prayerfully answer three questions:  Does God want me to do this?  How does God want me to do this? When does God want me to do this? As we slow down and sincerely seek His will, He gives us the right desire, the right way and the right time to do the things that are right for us.  Even more than that, He graciously encourages us and empowers us and equips us for the doing.  Praise God! We will never miss the way when we are walking in stride with Jesus.

True friendship is marked by a love that endures through all of life’s circumstances from the best of times to the worst of times.  And while a friend loves always, that love is demonstrated in all kinds of ways. Sometimes it comforts.  Sometimes it corrects.  Sometimes it cheers.  At all times a friend imperfectly loves in whatever way fits the occasion and points to the perfect love of our greatest friend, Jesus.  He knows what is best for us, wants what is best for us and does what is best for us.  We rely on Him to pass on what we receive from Him to the people in our lives. Our love to others flows from His love to us.

God is to be praised every day in every place by everything that has breath.  Who He is deserves it.  What He does deserves it.  So… Let us stand still, stand back and stand in awe of the One Who is perfect in every act, every decision, every purpose, every trait and every way.  He creates from nothing.  He rules over everything. He can do anything.  And all that He is, says and does is good.  We cannot improve upon a single thing in the universe that bears His handiwork or bears His likeness. Today, let us worship Him with glad and grateful and glory-giving hearts, remembering this: It is always appropriate to applaud God.

We are influenced for good or for bad by the company we keep.  The instruction of others.  The approval of others.  The example of others.  Little by little our lives are shaped by what we see other people do and what other people say we should do.  That is why it is so essential that we surround ourselves with people who act and speak like Jesus.  Yes, we are to love people who are far from God which requires spending time with them.  But we are to regularly fellowship with people close to God so we are able to love people without falling in love with the world. Thanks be to Jesus for the gracious gift of godly influence.

One of the smartest things we can do is realize we are not as smart as God.  As we move from leaning on our instincts, our knowledge, our experiences and our preferences, which are limited and flawed, to putting our full weight on who God is and what God says, He will guide our lives.  Guide us into what is right.  Guide us into what is true.  Guide us into what is good.  God has something to say about all of the areas of our lives.  Relationships.  Money.  Sex.  Time.  Work.  Leisure.  Everything.  He says it best in calling us to submit to Jesus in childlike faith when He says simply:  Follow me.  That is always the straight path.

Your life matters.  2026 matters.  Today matters.  It’s important that we wisely use our time because it disappears quickly, we don’t know how much more of it remains, it is gone forever once we use it and there are staggering implications for what we do with it.  Remember this: we can spend our time any way we choose, but we can only spend it once.  Since only Jesus knows how to best use the time that remains for you and me, let’s not leave Him out of our plans.  As we seek His guidance and grace, He will help us give less priority to the things that don’t really matter and more priority to the things that do.

God made everything in the universe, known and unknown to us.  He imagined it.  He created it.  He rules it. He shares it. And there is not a millimeter of it that does not declare His glory and majesty!  Let it be shouted from every distant star to every nearby tree, from every creature to you and me.  His hands that shaped the cosmos also shapes our hearts, for He not only cares for the world but also for us.  He made us. He knows us.  He blesses us.  He loves us.  From the inner parts of us to the outer reaches of the universe, it is all covered in the fingerprints of God.  Indeed, O Lord, how majestic is Your Name!

God is near us when we have broken hearts and broken spirits.  Whether we are struggling with our own sin, the sin of others, or the result of sin’s fracturing of our world, He is never distant even if it seems that way.  He hears our cries.  He comforts our hearts.  He meets our needs.  Though the result will not always be when we want it and how we want it, we have His promise that we will lack no good thing. This is true because God did not spare even His own Son from suffering. Jesus is our ever-near Immanuel, who lived, died and rose so we can taste and see God’s goodness.  Mingled with tears now.  Free from tears later.

Defeat doubt by preparing for battle in advance by filling your heart with the truth of God’s Word.   In advance, because doubt appears without warning.  With the truth of God’s Word, because doubt arrives with lies.  The enemy will attack you in times of darkness because it’s hard to see him coming, and it’s hard to see the situation for what it really is.   So, start your day in the light by saturating your heart with a good and accurate picture of God’s graciousness and faithfulness so you can remember those truths and promises when darkness falls.  Never forget in the dark what God has shown you in the light.

It’s never right to be angry with God.  It’s a sin.  When we are angry at Him, it’s an assault on His character.  It’s, in essence, saying to God regarding the circumstances that have caused such strong resentment in us:  You are not right.  You are not good.  You are not wise. You are not loving.  And none of those things are true, no matter how hard life gets.  What is true is that God is unbelievably good and loving to us, and is actively working out a wise and right plan, no matter how hard life gets.  He will make it all right when He makes it all new. So, be mad at sin, brokenness and Satan. But never be mad at our good, good Father.

God is greater.  A chef prepares delicious and nutritious foods, but God made flavors and taste buds and ingredients and nutrients.  An engineer builds strong and magnificent structures, but God created angles and dimensions and textures and materials.  An artist paints beautiful canvases, but God invented shapes and colors and strokes and imaginations. We do whatever we do only because God does what He does. The talents to use the things we see, hear, smell, taste and touch in this world all come from God.  He invents and inspires every good thing that we use, arrange, perform, create or do. God is greater.

At His first coming, Jesus took our place so we can be with God.  At His second coming, Jesus will take us to a place where we can be with God.  We live in the present between His two appearances:  when He came to live, die and rise for us, and when He will return for us.  It’s hard now.  It’s sad now. It’s messy now.  Yet it’s not without peace, hope and joy … because it’s not without Jesus.   Jesus came to make us right with God, He is with us so we can make it through this world, and He is returning to make all things as they should be.  Take heart! For though things aren’t yet perfect, the day is coming when they will be.

The point of everything is to point to our glorious God in Whose presence there is fullness of joy and pleasure forever. The Scripture stories of Christmas are ripe with this…  Great joy.  Peace on earth.  Light shining in darkness.  Salvation from sin.  A forever kingdom.  Everlasting life. A Savior. A Reigning King. A Son of the Most High. Christ the Lord.  Immanuel.  Glory to God in the highest.  Christmas shines brightly with God’s ultimate purpose:  that He be honored in us and we be happy in Him now and forever.  Let us return to our everyday lives knowing… God is with us.  God is for us.  God is to be glorified through us.

We will often fail to live out our faith in Jesus and stumble in our walk with Him.   We won’t always love Him most, love others best, and love rightly all the rest. Instead, we will make ourselves the center of our lives, make self-serving decisions as we plan our lives, and ultimately make a mess out of our lives.  That. Is. Why. There. Is. Christmas.  Christmas is about a gift of God’s Son, a gift of forgiveness, a gift of transformation, a gift of eternal life, a gift of happiness in God.  God gave to us and gives to us and will continue to give to us. Christmas is about grace.  God’s grace.  Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Jewelry breaks.  Toys break.  Electronics break.  You and I break.  God made us in His image, but our sin fractured our likeness to Him and our relationship with Him.  But Christmas is for the broken.  God loves the broken.  He sent Jesus for the broken.  The Son of God came to do what we could not do, and die for what we could not do, perfectly bear the image of God. When we put our faith in Him, He puts His Spirit in us, and makes us like Him. Rejoice today! For the Christ Child left the manger and made His way to the cross where the Christmas Gift of God’s Son was broken for the broken so that we could be made whole.

People have all kinds of ideas in their heads about God, and these ideas, right or wrong, shape how we view the world and influence how we live in it.  When Jesus came to live in this world with us, He made it possible for us to know what God is really like.  He displayed God’s character, heart, authority, holiness, righteous anger, grace and love for all to see.   In looking at Jesus, a few things we see are… Rebuke, authority and truth for the rebellious and self-righteous.  Forgiveness, compassion and peace for the broken and repentant.  Joy, hope and strength for the followers and the faithful.  Love.  For.  Everyone.

Many people celebrate Christmas without celebrating Christ.  They love the gifts and the decorations and the food and the music and the sentiment and the gatherings and the movies, but they don’t love Jesus.  Instead of spending the season adoring Him, they spend the season ignoring Him.  That’s why we are sent on a mission to tell the world about Jesus, in hope that they will also see His beauty and majesty and generosity.  We are to invite others into our joy and into our worship.  So, let us use every gift-exchange and gathering to tell of His excellencies. O come let us adore Him.  O come let us proclaim Him.

We try to ignore it.  We try to downplay it.  We try to run from it.  We try to overcome it.  But no matter what we do, we cannot change reality:  this world is undeniably broken.   What we see is the inevitable ruin that comes when we do what is right in our own eyes and do what feels good over what God says is good.   We need… A Hero to save the day.  A Liberator to set us free.  A Healer to make us whole.  A Satisfier to make us content.  A Ruler to reign over us for good.  A Savior to save us from our sins.  Rejoice! Christmas announces that new life can be ours through faith.  Jesus was born so we can be born again!

How freeing it is to embrace with confidence that God has allowed some things into our lives and other things to be missing from them for a reason that is good.  Even if we have no idea what that reason is.  Or how it can possibly be for good. God is always doing much more in, for, around and through those who trust Him.  Mary trusted.  Joseph trusted.  We must trust that the unexpected, unexplainable things God has for us are unbelievably good.  He knew what He was doing in their lives; He knows what He is doing in our lives. Christmas reminds us that faith in what God says turns our “how can this be” into “let it be.”