As we are celebrating the birth of Jesus, let’s also think about the gift of hope God gave us when He sent Jesus to this earth to live as a human being. God loved the world so much that he sent his only son into the world to die on the cross for our sins so we could have everlasting life.

When we unwrap the gift of hope, we find hope is a wish or desire accompanied by the confident expectation of its fulfillment. We can only find our fulfillment when we place our faith in Jesus Christ because he died for our sins. Our hope and faith in Him keeps us going, even when life gets difficult because He has promised that He will always be with us. Hope lightens our challenges with a positive expectation that things will get better in the future.

As we face the challenges of life, we may become hopeless bringing on depression and negative thoughts that things are not going to get better. Our enthusiasm, motivation, and energy are low. However, if we place our hope in the Lord, He will renew our strength. We will be motivated to work through our problems with confidence that things will get better.

Pray your grandchildren will:

• Receive the gift of hope by placing their faith in Jesus Christ
• Focus on the Lord, rather than their problems.
• Meditate on the Lord’s promises.

© Lillian Penner 2010