Inside Out Living

Even though we are all supposed to be joyful and full of cheer during the Christmas season, sometimes we are not feeling so hot. We may be carrying burdens that are making it virtually impossible for us to be experience the joy that we think should be there. The good news is that we can in fact, in the midst of our troubles and stesses, experience joy at Christmas. Here are three reasons why you can experience JOY at Christmas this year.

1. Jesus came because of God's great love for you.

Jesus said in John 3:16-17 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (NIV)

2. Only Jesus can heal our deepest hurts.

Concerning Jesus the Messiah, the prophet Isaiah wrote "Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment for his own sins! But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! (Isaiah 53:4-5 NLT)

3. You can receive God's gift of salvation through faith in Jesus.

Concerning the gift of salvation through Jesus, John 1:12 says, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." (NIV)

And the Apostle Paul also wrote in Romans 10:9, "For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (NLT)

No matter how good or how bad this year has been for you, you can truly have joy at Christmas because of what Jesus came to earth to do for you. Jesus himself said, "I come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10)

Merry Christmas,

Pastor David