Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from His roots will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
And He will delight in the fear of the LORD,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,
And faithfulness the belt about His waist.

Isaiah 11:1-5

*   ♥  ~  ✝  ~  ★    *

I sit and look at twinkling lights and smelling an apple cinnamon candle burning.  It is a bit cold here too which makes it feel more like the Christmas season.  My eyes wander over to the clay nativity—the true meaning of this whole holiday—and I am teary.  I cannot believe that God the Father loves me this much, that He sent this baby into the world to walk as a man and ultimately to take my place in death, so I could live.  He did the same for you, too!

When you read this, what comes to your mind? Do you even realize the depth of His love for you?  Because of the birth of Jesus, every sin that you have committed, or ever will commit has been forgiven.

There is nothing that you could ever do
that would make Him love you any more or any less.

Read the Scripture above again and see how Jesus is described. “The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him” and “He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear” sounds like perfect grace to me.  And we don’t deserve any of it.  Does this give you hope today?

*   ♥  ~  ✝  ~  ★    *

I know that there are some today who don’t know much about Jesus. Perhaps Christmas has never been anything more than presents and gathering with family…wreaths on the windows and a lighted tree.  But God wants so much more for you. He wants a Christmas that is filled with Him and the story of the birth of His Son.  Jesus changes everything!  If you receive Him today then your life will never be the same!  Will you accept Him today?  Will this be a Christmas to remember?  If you said yes, then pray this simple prayer with me:

Dear Father, I know that I am a sinner and I need Jesus to be my Savior.  Forgive me of my sins and help me to start over.  I want to be fully alive.  Thank You for loving me enough to not leave me this way.  I believe that You, Jesus, died to save me from myself.   Walk with me daily.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

{If you prayed this today, please comment and let us know!
We want to celebrate with you!}