I think, more than any other verse in the Bible, this is the verse I most try to live by. We’ve had many people share their “life verse” through Soul Deep, and today I want to share mine. When I was about 13 years old, I committed my life to the Lord. I’m not talking about the sinner’s prayer or inviting Jesus into my heart– that moment came much earlier. And if you’re like me and grew up in church, attending every Sunday school class and knowing every hand-sign that went along with every song, then you know what I’m talking about.

Have you ever come in contact with another Christian and thought: Wow, that person spends a LOT of time with Jesus? You know them, people that are practically dripping with the peace and the assuredness that comes with spending a lot of time in His presence. They give awesome advice, because their minds are so deeply rooted in scripture and their very thought process has transformed to be more like Jesus.

‬‬Dear God, As we go into this new year, I pray you give us a newfound hope and motivation to live for you in all we do. I pray that we would recognize your grace in our lives everyday and there would be no moment we would take you for granted. Let this be the year that our love runs deeper for you and our compassion rises towards the hurting people around us. God, I pray you show us your purpose for us in this new year as we face it head on with all we have.

This is how I want to start this year: my heart for us all! As everyone starts posting their visions, power words, and resolutions for the new year, let me take this moment to encourage you– and encourage myself in the process. I’m one of those people who loves and hates to set goals. Big-picture stuff overwhelms me. So when I set a goal for myself, my perfectionist attitude steps in and starts to discourage me. The funny thing is, I’ve started to notice that I’m not alone. There are so many people I find around me that are unafraid to dream dreams.

Hey Pops, All this season, I’ve felt so captured by this picture: a dusty, low-lit stable. Horses, maybe some cattle, all huddled in their stalls, making the occasional barnyard chatter. Somewhere in the room, a torch is burning, lighting up a little area and casting long shadows across the dirt floor and the stable walls.

Just over a month after Jesus’ birth, Mary and Joseph took their newborn to Jerusalem to dedicate Him back to the Lord, as was customary for firstborn sons in that time. They were prepared to sacrifice two turtle doves in the temple and present Him as His parents back to God. What they didn’t expect to encounter was Simeon.

When people think “shepherds” at Christmas, they think, “keeping watch over their flocks by night” and angels singing, “Glory to God in the Highest and on Earth, peace, and goodwill towards men.” Those are the verses that are focused on, from the Charlie Brown Christmas special to Sunday school lessons. But the shepherds’ story still continues five verses after the most popular passage. You see, after the angels went back up into heaven, the shepherds looked at each other and decided that they had to head into Bethlehem. They had to see the baby that the angels were singing about.

Have you ever been so overcome with fear that you felt paralyzed? Has your fear ever made you feel completely incompetent and of no value? Has the power of fear ever whispered multiple lies into your heart, which you begin to believe as truth? One little fear in our hearts can ripple into an insecurity, then into an overwhelming thought, and then soon a lie that begins to hold truth over our lives leaving us feeling unworthy– even more than that– not ourselves.

The Three Kings. The Magi. More commonly known as the Wise Men. Which begs the question: what makes them wise? It could be their academic prowess. It could be their ability to study the stars and ancient texts in a world where science and technology were beyond most people’s understanding. For me, there are two things that are readily apparent as I read through the beginning verses of Matthew 2. The first is that the Wise Men were sensitive to the Holy Spirit. They saw a brand new star appear in the sky and immediately knew that this star was the sign of Jesus’ birth.

Maybe it’s a little cliché, but I think this passage of the Christmas story is my favorite. Whenever I read it, I can’t help but feel such wonder for the moment. Mary, a young Nazarene girl goes from unseen and simple to the living proof of God’s amazing power and love.

Look, no one likes to fail. And as a self-proclaimed overachiever and perfectionist, I super-duper HATE failing. Just this past week, I had a really, really big and difficult licensing test. It was something I have been studying for over the past 9 weeks. So last Tuesday, while everyone was opening their Soul Deep devotion and sipping on their morning coffee, I was sitting in a small cubicle, laboring over 150 multiple choice questions.

This is what I call my life verse. I believe God gives everyone who asks a scripture to hold onto through all the storms life has to throw at us. This precious one is mine. What is yours? For me, Proverbs 3:5-6 is my constant reminder to hope in God. He called me and saved me and is faithful to finish what He began in my life. My faith in Christ is the substance of what I hope for. It encourages me to remember that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

That co-worker. That ministry partner. That friend-of-a-friend. You already know who I’m talking about, and I didn’t even have to say anything. I’m talking about that person that grinds your gears before they even say a word to you. Let’s be real, fam. It’s impossible to get along with everyone, but sometimes, there are certain people that can get you sideways before anything even happens.

Most of us struggle with being compassionate towards people that rub us the wrong way. In a culture where everyone is so concerned about themselves, it’s hard to lead a life of putting others first. The secret is, if we can keep our eyes fixed on the One who loves us the most, loving others will become easier and easier, even those that we don’t see eye-to-eye with.

Comparison: it’s something I struggled with BIG TIME in the early days of my relationship with Christ and the beginning of my ministry. “I don’t worship like so-and-so. How could God be calling me to be a worship leader?” “I don’t have the experience in youth ministry that he has, so I won’t be as useful in reaching them.” “I’m not as bold as her, so I’ll just stay back and let her tell those people about Jesus. She’ll be better at it anyway”

“I just don’t know what to do,” a close family friend said over coffee one night. “My daughter is afraid to go to the mall, the movies, school. She’s afraid to live her life.” I remember those words being spoken years ago, after the school shooting at Sandy Hook. That was nearly six years ago, and in the time that’s passed, I can’t say with any kind of confidence that this world has gotten any better. Media tries to top itself with more outrageous headlines and sin-sick people try to outdo the last. It would take too long to list the heartbreak and the anguish. And because of that, lots of people– Christians included– walk in fear of what tomorrow night bring or whether they’ll become another statistic, another name on a list.