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The Christmas Story // Praise & Shine

The Christmas story as told in Luke 1:26-38, Luke 2:1, 3-20, and Matthew 2:1-12.

No greater gift has ever been given, no example of generosity so selfless, no act in human history so important than Jesus. Born to sacrifice himself for us on the cross. There is no event in the world more important than the one that unifies people and God, bringing eternal, abundant life and promising that we are never alone. Merry Christmas and may God bless you.

Broken Pieces // Praise & Shine

God created us as a beautiful creation, but sin enters our lives and begins chipping away that beauty leaving us broken in pieces. No matter how hard we try to clean up our own lives, to make ourselves look presentable again, we can never really be restored to our original beauty on our own. It’s only with Jesus.

Scripture tells us that Jesus washes us white as snow. He takes away the sins that ruined God’s beautiful creation and restores us to righteousness.

If you don’t know Jesus today, I pray that you will come to accept him and his free gift of salvation because it’s only through him that we can be restored to God’s beautiful creations.

Unanswered Prayer // Praise & Shine

Sometimes unanswered prayers are a blessing of protection. It’s comforting knowing that our God never makes a mistake, and He has great plans for us.

God could perform every miracle, answer every prayer, and perform acts of omnipotence to prove His power, but He doesn’t. His desire isn’t to force obedience from acts of power. What God wants is for us to know Him intimately as our Father, Friend, Comforter, Counselor, Lord–willingly, not under compulsion. Only faith can summon a response of love. Untested faith is unreliable faith, and without faith, it is impossible to love God.

We don’t grow in comfort. It’s in hard and discouraging times that don’t make sense; that our faith is strengthened and made more resilient. It is in these times that we lean into the Lord even more.

The best days are still ahead, so get ready! Stay in high anticipation of what God has planned for you, and do not be discouraged by unanswered prayer.

Thank You // Praise & Shine

It is easy to sometimes forget how many blessings we have in our lives. Our lives are filed with friends and family who care deeply for us.

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Life is not always easy, perfect or peaceful. But we can always have a heart full of thankfulness if we remember who gives us reasons to be thankful.