You are not bound to be the person you were in the past. If Jesus is your Lord, the old you is dead and you are now a resurrected person — a new creation — with the potential of God in you!

Changing your location has nothing to do with your prosperity. It’s possible to be poor in a wealthy society, and it’s also possible to prosper in a poor society. You can prosper in the midst of adverse conditions where everyone else is failing, just as Isaac did when he obeyed the Lord! “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous” (Genesis 26:12-13).

Scripture says we are to “love others as we love ourselves” (Mark 12:33 author’s paraphrase).  Maybe the reason some people treat others so harshly is because that’s how they feel about themselves. They don’t see themselves as good enough or worthy enough, so to them no one else is either. When we comprehend the gospel we see that God loves us! He loved us so much that He gave His own Son to die for us!

God created us in His image with dignity and purpose. He created us to experience His love. He has entrusted us with His authority and only requires one thing from us—that we believe and trust His words to us!

Those things that have limited you in your body, your background or your relationships may have made you believe that your future is limited. But I want to let you know that if Jesus is your Lord, your future has NO LIMITS!

What will the future hold for us as we stand once again on the threshold of a new year? I can predict with confidence that we are more than conquerors in every situation as Romans 8:37 declares! Why expect the worst when all things are possible to those who believe, as Jesus has spoken? Why believe it will be a time of isolation, when Jesus said I will never leave you nor forsake you?

In 1865, William and Catherine Booth started what would become known as the Salvation Army. They fed the poor and opened lodging houses to shelter the homeless from London’s bitter winters. As their work expanded, William began the practice of sending a telegram of encouragement each Christmas Eve to his “soldiers” around the world. In what would be his last telegram, he realized that because of the cost, his message would have to be brief. He decided to send only one word: “OTHERS.”  This Christmas season, allow Christ to dwell in you and live through you—and have a merry, OTHERS-minded Christmas!

God is FOR you! He gave you the gift of eternal life so you would have peace of mind about your future. He gave you His promises for every area of your life so you would know His best for you. God is not hard, He is benevolent!

If a branch of a tree is abiding in the life of that tree, that means its connection to that tree is stable and fixed. When we are truly abiding in Christ then our connection should be stable and fixed, so like a healthy branch, we will grow, strengthen, and produce fruit!

The highest method of learning, and the least expensive, is to learn from others. The lowest method is personal experience. It will always cost you time and opportunity. One industrialist said, “It’s a shame that people learn from their own mistakes rather than from others. By the time they learn the lessons to be productive, it’s time to retire.”