As we head towards Christmas Day and New Year’s, I feel blessed beyond words with all that the Lord has shown me and given to me this year. 2008 was prophesied to be the year of New Beginnings, and lo and behold it certainly was for me in many ways. If this sounds all good and peachy, let me set the record straight — this year was the most intense time period of my entire life in terms of emotional, physical, and spiritual strain. There were several times when I felt like Giving Up. Flat out, walk out the door, leave, good bye, I’ve had it, stick a fork in it it’s done, I give up. And you know what? Those moments are now my trophies. Because I cried out the Lord, and He heard my cries. He rescued me from the deep pit, and He raised me up and vindicated me before my fleshly and demonic enemies. In spite of, or perhaps because of, all the personal difficulties I endured throughout 2008, it has turned out to be the best year of my life!

I say this not to brag on myself, but to praise God for what He has brought me through. At the present time, I am filled with such joy and gratitude — most of my prayer time is spent at present with me saying THANK YOU over and over and over again!

I don’t know what you’re going through this holiday season. Maybe things are really hard for you right now. Maybe it seems like the year has gone from bad to worse. Maybe you are anticipating 2009 not with hopeful excitement but with mournful dread. All I can say is this: there is only one Deliverer who can rescue you from spiritual death and pour out life abundant upon you. His name is Jesus Christ, and it is He Who we celebrate during the blessed time of Christmas. Take your focus off your circumstances and fix your eye on the Messiah, the Anointed One — He came into the world as a tiny helpless baby but never wavered in obedience to His Heavenly Father, and through His sacrifice and the shedding of His blood upon the cross, we now have access to the power and glory of the Kingdom of Heaven, which one wise man said is a superior reality. Let the reality of Heaven flood your reality this Christmas season, and be blessed — in the name of Jesus!