happy (belated) christmas!

i'll do another post to recap most of december, but this is my belated wish that all of you had a Merry Christmas! i went home for a week over break and didn't bring my computer with me, so i haven't had much internet access. now i'm back, (and mia is sooo excited- she hasn't stopped purring yet and i've been home 3 hours...) ready to study my tail off and celebrate the start of a new year.

but before our focus shifts away from Christmas, we still have one more week to continue fully celebrating the birth of our savior and living joyfully in the surety of our salvation! i am so thankful to God for humbling himself, and sending us his Son. we are so blessed to have a God we can identify with, who has experienced and been through everything we go through on a daily basis- struggles with life, death, temptation, sin, love, loss, hunger, thirst, pain. every. thing.

so apart from the traditions of trees, ornaments, decorations, gifts galore and atrocious amounts of food, let us reflect on the true meaning of the season!

Jesus was born(1). God took on flesh to save us from ourselves and our sin-nature(2). Jesus came and lived a sinless life, shared God's word and shed his own blood on the cross as a perfect, sinless sacrifice. His is the only sacrifice that could ever be great enough to cover the sins of all who believe(3). there is so much joy in knowing we are blameless, sinless and clean in the eyes of God(4)- made perfect through His death. because of Jesus' birth and subsequent death, we can live our lives free of guilt, shame and condemnation(5). Jesus has already paid the price- suffered and died for all the sins we have ever committed and all the sins we will ever commit! all we have to do to receive this salvation is believe(6)- then we are free to give up our lives as one great act of praise(7), giving glory to our Savior and King. hallelujah! that IS good news.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! may God bless you in this new year and new decade!


(1)- isaiah 9:6 "for unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
luke 2


(2)- john 1:1-2, 14 "in the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

(3)- isaiah 44:6-8 "this is what the Lord says- israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. who then is like me? let him proclaim it. let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come- yes, let him foretell what will come. do not tremble, do not be afraid. did I not procliam this and foretell it long ago? you are my witnesses. is there any God besides me? no, there is no other Rock; I know not one."
isaiah 44:24, isaiah 43:9-13


(4)- isaiah 44:22 "I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. return to me, for I have redeemed you."



(5)- romans 8:1-3 "therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. for what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. . and so he condemned sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit."


(6)- romans 9:16 "it does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. for the scripture says to pharoah: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.""

john 5:24 "i tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from life to death."
acts 2:21 "and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."


(7)- matthew 16:24 "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. for whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. what good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? for the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. i tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."