All of us are prone to unrealistic expectations. We may seek a perfect marriage, children who behave at all times, or responsive friends who will drop everything to come to our aid—whatever it is, it is an ideal script we have drafted for our lives. At times we are presumptuous enough to start demanding our way—asking the Church to fulfill all our needs, or worse yet, for God to give us what we want, regardless of His will or plan for our lives. What is the result of living a life where we expect everyone else to play to our standards of perfection? The irony is that our efforts to force a perfect situation often riddle our lives with problems and conflicts. These unmet dreams lead to frustration and to discontentment, and we find depression instead of perfection. It seems that the holidays reinforce these unrealistic expectations more than other times. Many of these expectations stem from comparing ourselves with others. When we tell ourselves, “If only I had what that person has,” we set ourselves up for great disappointment. Whether it is envying someone else’s money, lifestyle, spouse, or career, it only leads to a letdown. But God will never disappoint us. Even in the best of relationships, people will fail us. But God never will. When our expectations are based on the Word of God, we will never be disillusioned. When we understand that God keeps His promises, we will not worry over being let down. When we recognize God as being both the covenant maker and covenant keeper, we can trust that no matter what twists and turns our lives take, God will not abandon us. Prayer: Father, forgive me for comparing myself with others. I pray that my expectations would be based on Your Word. Thank You for being faithful to Your promises. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

In this season, we celebrate God sending His Son from heaven to save us from our sin. But Jesus came not only to take our sins away but also to destroy Satan’s work. Read 1 John 3:8. These two purposes of Jesus coming to earth are in the same paragraph. That’s because sin—self-will or doing things our way—is Satan’s invention. Sin is the devil’s hallmark. At the root of all sin—immorality, lust, envy, hatred, pride, resentment, anger, lack of contentment—is rebellion against our holy God. The devil didn’t just invent sin; he promotes it every day. But there is good news! Jesus did not come from heaven to merely restrain the works of the devil. He did not come from heaven to limit the works of the devil. He did not come from heaven to neutralize the works of the devil. He came to destroy them. The word “destroy” means “to dissolve, to break shackles and loosen a grip.” John uses a word for “destroy” that is often also used for “shipwreck.” On the first Christmas, that’s exactly what God did—He made a shipwreck of Satan. When Jesus was born, God gave Satan a notice: “Your time is up. Your power is about to be destroyed. Your grip is about to be demolished. The chains you use to enslave are about to be torn asunder.” And when Jesus rose from the grave, He defeated death and conquered sin, utterly devastating Satan’s handiwork. It is true that Satan still “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He still harasses us, but he is a lion whose claws have been pulled out and whose teeth have been knocked out. The roar may scare us at times, but he can never hurt us. He can never separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. When you accept Jesus’ death on the cross for your sins, Satan, the author of sin, loses his grip on your life. The devil has no more authority over you. Your responsibility is now to leave your sins on the cross with Jesus and not wander into the devil’s territory. As a freed child of the King, do not seek out your old shackles. Christ has broken them, and while the lion may roar, his work has been undone. Prayer: Father, thank You for sending Jesus to destroy the enemy’s work. Thank You that because of Jesus, Satan has no grip on my life. Teach me to live in the freedom You purchased for me through Your sacrifice. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

At Christmas, we celebrate the fulfillment of cherished prophecies about the coming Messiah—centuries of longing culminating in the advent of a baby King, the Rock of Ages lying in a manger. Jesus came from heaven to earth, walked among us in our sinful world, and lived a sinless life. He chose to bear our sins and gave His life to pay for them so that through Him we will not be condemned. But behind all the reasons why Jesus came from heaven is His ultimate motive for doing so. Jesus came from heaven to earth to rescue us because He loves us. Read Hebrews 12:2. God tells us that Jesus endured the cross because of “the joy set before him.” It was His joy to become the cure for your sickness of sin and to set you free. It was His joy to shipwreck and dissolve the chains of sin that Satan had placed upon you. It was His joy to raise you up with Him to live a life fully alive to God. It was His joy to set you free to be close to Him now and for all time. The much-loved Christmas song “O Holy Night” shines more insight into why Jesus left heaven: Long lay the world in sin and error pining ‘Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth. “And the soul felt its worth.” Jesus left heaven to rescue you because you are of great worth to Him. God loves you so much that He gave His very life so that you could be with Him forever. That is the ultimate reason why Jesus came from heaven. His love for you drove Him from heaven to earth to die and be raised to life to set you free. You are deeply loved by the God of the universe. How are we to respond to the greatest act of love in history? The end of the song provides the answer: Christ’s sacrifice is a call for us to fall on our knees in surrender, worship, and adoration. As you reflect on why Jesus came from heaven, consider how God may be inviting you to respond to Him. This Christmas, in the midst of the energy and excitement of the season, may your soul feel its worth, and may all that is within you praise His holy name. Merry Christmas. Prayer: Lord, thank You for setting me free and raising me up to live abundantly in You. Thank You for the love that drove Your Son to the cross. You are worthy of all worship, and I humbly surrender all to You! I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

At Christmas, we celebrate one of the most incredible events in all of history—God sending His Son, Jesus, to earth. But why was God’s sacrifice even necessary? Why did Jesus come from heaven? Read Colossians 2:13-15. God tells us through Paul that before Jesus, we were dead in our sin. Praise God that, on the cross, Jesus bore our sins and died to ransom us, canceling the charges that were held against us. In canceling the legal charges that we faced, Jesus disarmed any claim Satan could rightfully have on us as the author of sin. We are forgiven for our sins, and the roaring lion has no grip on our lives. Jesus did all of that for us. Even though that’s worth celebrating every day until He returns, that’s not all that Jesus did for us. God is lavish with His goodness. Paul goes on to explain in Colossians 2:13, “When you were dead in your sins . . . God made you alive with Christ.” When Jesus died, our sinful nature died with Him. But, as Paul says, “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him” (Romans 6:8). When Jesus rose from the dead, He resurrected our hearts, too—to live a life to God. You have been raised to live a new life in Jesus! And to do that, we are to “count [ourselves] dead to sin but alive to God” (Romans 6:11). Instead of doing whatever it takes to prove our own worth—because that’s all we could do in our sin nature—Jesus has freed us to live fully in God’s love. Instead of worrying about how our needs are going to be met and living a life of anxiety—because that’s all we could do in our sin nature—Jesus has freed us to live fully in the Truth that our Father God will provide for us. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the chains of sin that kept us captive have been broken. We can now live alive to God’s love and His goodness all the time. Jesus gave us that gift in His death and resurrection—and what a precious gift that is. Prayer: Father God, teach me how to live dead to sin but alive to You. Show me any areas where I am putting on old, broken chains. Thank You for raising me to new life. You are so good. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

At Christmas, we celebrate something so astonishing that it’s nearly mind-boggling. We celebrate the most powerful, most incredible, most joyous event in all of history: the moment when the Creator of the universe stepped into the womb of one of His creations and was born as one of them. But why was it even necessary? Why did Jesus come from heaven? Read Romans 3:23. Through Paul, God makes it clear that each of us is born with a terrible, incurable disease—sin. Sin, at its very core, is doing things our own way instead of God’s way. It is being dishonest rather than telling the Truth. It is not forgiving someone because you do not want to let them off the hook. It is living a life of worry and anxiety when God says He has everything under control. It is spewing words in anger because something in you wants to hurt the person with whom you’re arguing. Every one of us is born with sin. It is in our DNA. We inherited this disease from our first parents, Adam and Eve, and it is incurable. Reforming cannot help; containing it cannot help; ignoring it cannot help; and avoiding it cannot help. We are born sick with sin, and we can do nothing about it. But thankfully, God loves us too much to leave us in sin. He is well aware that our powerful disease requires a powerful antidote. He knew that the only one who could cure the disease of sin was a sinless person. So God sent His sinless Son, the second member of the Trinity, to come from heaven in human form—God in the flesh. Jesus lived a sinless life, and yet, while He was on the cross, He became sin for us: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus, sinless Jesus, became our sin–bearer. He took our sin on His sinless body, and He died the death that we deserved, paying the price for our sins. Do you know that your sins have been paid for? What you were powerless to do, Jesus did for you. Jesus is the antidote for your sickness, and He gave His life to heal you completely. Take some time to praise God for the gift of His Son. Whatever you’re doing right now, give Him your undivided attention as you reflect on His sacrifice and love for you. Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for the great gift of salvation through Your Son. Help me never to forget the true meaning of this celebration and my deep need for a Savior. May all the glory of this season be given to You. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

The much-loved Christmas song “O Holy Night” paints the scene of the world welcoming the long-awaited Savior. O holy night! The stars are brightly shining It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth! It recounts that powerful moment when the Messiah appeared, the hope of the world coming to earth as a baby. But what caused Christ to step down from heaven and live among us, God in human form? Long lay the world, in sin and error pining ‘Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth. Did Jesus come to make us happy? Did He come to make us good people? No, His mission was much deeper than that. Jesus sacrificed His life to save us from the death we deserve so that we could know Him and live eternally. His mission was salvation from sin; His motivation was love. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn! Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices O night divine, O night when Christ was born. This Christmas, how will you live in response to the greatest act of love the world has ever known? As you come before the Lord this week, ask Him to reveal more to you about His precious Son, His costly sacrifice, and His great gift of salvation. Prayer: Heavenly Father, open my eyes to the magnificence of Jesus’ birth. Teach me about the power of Your sacrifice and show me the depths of Your love this Christmas season. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.