For a number of years, I led the prayer time for a large Sunday morning Adult Bible Fellowship group at our church. During those years, our group evolved from a Bible study, to a connected group of people who loved each other, encouraged each other, and bore each other’s burdens. We became a community whose hearts truly beat for one another. One summer, our family was returning from vacation and our old RV caught on fire on the freeway. We smelled smoke, we pulled over, and flames emerged from under the hood. We quickly got out, and as I watched billows of black smoke pour from the vehicle, I came unglued. The seats where we had been sitting only minutes before actually melted. The windows were shattered by the heat. Our clothes and belongings were ruined: blackened with soot and impregnated with the smell of smoke. I was overwhelmed with a sense of danger, a realization of our fortunate escape, and a great sense of loss. Fear, relief, shock…these emotions and others whirled wit...

Hope is not something you gain by having a perfect life,  it is something you gain by having a relationship with a perfect Father.  Anonymous These words may catch us off-guard. We may say we have hope in God, but – if we listen to our language and observe our behavior – we might come to another conclusion. Particularly at Christmas time, when our culture focuses on activity and consumerism, we should take time to ponder this question: “Who…or what…do I place my hope in?” Our greatest hope is found in experiencing a more deeply abiding relationship with a perfect and loving Father, through his Son. This doesn’t mean that we can expect everything to be positive in our lives or that we will have a perfect life. There will be moments of dancing and joy, and there also will be pain and difficulties. The great news…the miracle of Christmas…is that God is “Immanuel”; the God who is with us (Matthew 1:23). He is with us in the ups and downs of our journeys, always looking...