Hope. Joy. Peace.
The world tells us these should be ours this Christmas season, but it also tells us the way to have them is through things. Through people. Through holiday parties. Through decorations and perfect gifts.
Watch any commercial, glance through any magazine, scroll social media, even watch some Christmas movies and you’ll see it.
But do you feel it? Are you joyful, peaceful, and hopeful?
What the commercials and the magazines don’t tell us is that joy, peace, and hope can’t be manufactured. They can’t be purchased. They cannot be borrowed from someone else. These ultimately come from only one place—God.
I love Romans 15:13 which says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
God is the God of hope, and it’s His desire to fill us with joy and peace. Notice it doesn’t say He wants to give us a small amount. It says he wants to fill us so that we may overflow with hope!
Think about what it would look like if we were so filled with joy and peace that we overflowed with hope. I don’t know about you, but I want this kind of joy, peace, and hope in my heart.
So how is this possible? The verse tells us that as we trust in God, we may be filled by the power of the Holy Spirit. As we trust—it’s as simple and as complex as that.
Trust can be hard, can’t it? But if we could ever really get our minds around the One in whom we should place our trust, and how very much He loves us, trust shouldn’t be that hard after all.
Christmas is just around the corner and the reason we celebrate is because God SO loved you and me that He sent His Son into the world so all might know Him.
It’s hard to fathom that kind of love. So as we celebrate Christmas let’s remember the true source of our joy, peace, and hope—Jesus. And may we draw near to Him and trust Him more this day.
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