At the risk of adding to the noise of the season, I wanted to say Merry Christmas and share a brief encouragement. I’ll keep it short, but make sure to stick with me until the end—I’m going to share something that I hope will make you laugh. 🙂

It’s been a hard year for many people in many ways, so let me first just say well done. Well done tackling this year, with all it’s ups and downs, and moving forward. Twenty twenty-one is approaching, waving flags of hope, change, and new opportunities. We’re almost there.

Like you, I’m looking forward to a new year, but keep in mind…hope, change, and new opportunities are ours for the taking here and now, even still in 2020. As Christmas rapidly approaches, I’m once again blown away by all God has done to reach down and love us. But why Jesus?

Immanuel. Immanuel literally means God with us.

God WITH us.

GOD with US.

Mind-blowing whichever way you slice it. God loves us so much that he came to us as a human to demonstrate his desperate love for us in a tangible way. He loves us and wanted a relationship with us so badly that he became sin, sacrificing himself in our place. Making us clean in this way created a way for us imperfect people to live eternally alongside an utterly good and perfect God, who is so holy he cannot be in the presence of evil. Cue Jesus. Thanks to him, we now fit the bill. That’s why Jesus.

That’s powerful love. Immanuel—God with us.

I pray you are filled with joy and gratefulness this Christmas as we celebrate the beginning of God’s master plan of salvation, but I know it can be a difficult season for many. I’d love to pray for you. Just leave a comment, or if you’re a subscriber you can simply reply to this email with your prayer requests, and I’ll be honored to lift you and your needs up to our mighty Creator and Savior.

Before I go, just for fun I want to share a video that has made my family and me laugh out loud multiple times over the past few years. Maybe you’ve already seen it, but either way, I hope it brings some laughter to your day. Here is: Christmas According to Kids…