I bring you Good News
How are you? We’re starting a series about Christmas this week. Yeah! I love the Christmas season. It’s my favorite time of the year because my life was changed on December 24, 1978.
Many of you have heard about my life before Jesus. I struggled with alcohol abuse, violence in ice hockey, and deep discouragement. Although I had experienced a lot of early success in the world’s eyes, I was spiritually empty. By the age of twenty, I had slipped into a deep depression. University was leaving me empty. Division I hockey left me disillusioned. Relationships made me feel horrible. Earthly success, drugs, and alcohol only numbed my internal pain.
friend, can you relate? Are you okay? As I write these words, I’m picking up on someone’s pain. If you’re suffering, please don’t give up. Please email our prayer team at this link. We’ll pray for you. You are not alone.
I can’t help but think about the pain of the shepherd boys who saw angels in a field close to Bethlehem. These boys, probably teenagers, were homeless. They were the lowest of the lowest caste. The Bible tells us, “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.” (Luke 2:8, NIV) These kids may well have had no hope in life, no shelter, and no future. Suddenly, an angel appeared: “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.” (Luke 2:9, NIV) The shepherds were terrified!
How would you feel if angels appeared in your bedroom? I would be terrified, too. I know that I would fall to my knees in humility. I’d probably cry out, uttering words like these: “I’m not worthy. I’m a sinner. Help!” A few of my clients have told me that “When I get to heaven, God needs to explain Himself to me.” What? Are you kidding me? God is holy, and we’re a holy mess. I’d cry out like Isaiah, “‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.’” (Isaiah 6:5, NIV)
friend, will you fall on your knees today and cry out for mercy with me? The King is coming to help us. He brings good news for your future. You are never alone because you are His miracle.
And I love you more than stargazing on a winter night.
