A Year of Resilience — and a Fresh FOCUS in 2024

Pam Farrel is a prolific writer and gifted speaker who offers solid scriptural resources with practical solutions from the Bible. In this New Year's UPGRADE, she writes about her struggle in 2023, but how focus on the word "resilience" encouraged and strengthened her; and she offers a resource for discovering your own motivating, life-changing word for 2024.

I have been selecting a Word of the Year and Verse of the Year since I was 19 years old—before it was really a 'thing,'" Pam says. "So, for more than four decades, I have seen the power of having a Word of the Year.

"Word of the Year can also be labeled Word of Intent, My One Word, One Little Word, and I love the acrostic of a Word of F.O.C.U.S.

• F - Follow
• O - One
• C - Course
• U - Until
• S - Successful

When I (Dawn) read that acrostic—Follow One Course Until Successful—I thought, "What a great concept. Most of us spread ourselves thin with too many focuses." But focusing on one area to grow in spiritual maturity, with God's wisdom and a desire for excellence, sounds like a winning formula for success!

Pam continues . . .

This focus on ONE THING is reflected in the Bible: I have asked the LORD for one thing; one thing only do I want: to live in the LORD’s house all my life, to marvel there at his goodness, and to ask for his guidance (Psalm 27:4 GNB emphasis added).

How to Pick Your Word of the Year

We created a “Looking for Your Word” worksheet,* that gives six methods, six key questions to ask yourself, and six boxes to capture your top six words to help you; and then narrow down to your ONE WORD.

This is a simple list of the six places to LOOK for YOUR Word of the Year:

1. Look Back – What WORD summarizes what I learned last year?
2. Look Inside – What WORD captures who you want to become next year?
3. Look Ahead – What WORD describes the life I desire to live?
4. Look to God and His Word – What WORD is the essence of my AHA spiritual moment last year?
5. Look Around - What WORD did God roll across my path organically recently?
6. Look to Helps and Tools – Is there a repeating WORD or theme in the tests and tools I have used? (Dayspring and Word of Intent usually offer an online quiz.)

The next step after choosing a Word of the Year is to begin to implement ways of weaving it into your daily life.

Bill and I created Your Best Year Worksheets (for women/ for couples).

• I place key info inside the front of my bullet journal so I can daily review and maintain focus.
• I also layer in focus by selecting a mug, art, a scent, a song, a lotion, and other reminders I can see or use daily.
• I add quotes and verses into my bullet journal as I find them too.
• I usually purchase several books on the topic to read throughout the year as well.

"In the tapestry of life," Charles R. Swindoll said, "God's hand is the thread of resilience, weaving through our challenges to create a masterpiece of faith and endurance."

Last year, when time to select my Word of the Year rolled around, I was barely out of my ICU coma episode, so I knew the year ahead would be an uphill climb to regain my health, wellness, fitness, strength, and stamina.

The politicians were blasting their “build back better” motto, so I just borrowed it for my own personal journey of restoration, rejuvenation, and rebuilding! I usually lay out my goals for the coming year, then I ask myself, “What inner quality or personal trait do I need to enrich or engage to achieve these goals?”

I used the process above and listed many synonyms for strength, stamina, rebuild, persevere, etc. and the word RESILIENCE rose to the top.

I also looked to see if I could find any Bible verses with the exact word in it, or verses that reflected a heart or spirit of resilience:

I found these:

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak (Isaiah 40:29).

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand  (Isaiah 41:10).

I tried to live out resilience for 365 days.

What does resilience look like?

Resilience is the capacity to endure and bounce back from adversity—the remarkable ability to adapt in the face of challenges, setbacks, or difficult circumstances.

Resilience involves cultivating mental fortitude, emotional strength, and the willingness to persist even when confronted with numerous and repeated obstacles.

Resilience is not merely weathering storms; it encompasses the capacity to learn and grow from experiences.

Resilience is a dynamic quality to navigate life's unwelcome, uninvited, and unpredictable with courage and grace through God empowering an inner strength and tenacity well beyond our own.

My prayer all year was one asking God to help me turn adversity into an opportunity!

So how did the FOCUS on resilience serve me?

1. I gathered medical experts who laid out a new medicinal plan to address the core issue that caused my DKA initially, one that would prevent it in the future.

2. I phoned a few friends who had also experienced a coma and asked how they regained strength, especially in the early days of their recovery.

3. I engaged other health and wellness friends and mentors who helped me rebuild my stamina week by week, layering a new activity into my daily life: walk a few more steps, do a few more squats and wall push-ups, or even dance steps!

• I started with stretching to worship music and scripture;
• then I joined a Pilates studio;
• added in daily swimming and water aerobics,
• then some daily weight workouts and gentle HIIT (high-intensity interval training),
• and wrapped up the year by signing up for dance classes at the senior center, just a short walk away in my neighborhood.

By proactively and intentionally working on my strength, I was able to keep all my speaking events beginning in January and on through the year. Bill and I also enjoyed renewing activities we love, like our daily prayer walks and dancing at weddings!

God was faithful to strengthen my spirit and my mind as well.

Here is a social media post about all that God was able to accomplish through HIS power in me in the 2023 resilience journey:

"Jumping for #joy! One year ago today, I woke from a coma. God gave me the clear word that my work was not yet complete here on earth. These are the books released in the last year! [Pictured in the post.] And I am currently writing a devotional with my beloved Bill.

"Many thanks to coauthors, Jean Esther Jones & Karla Smallwood-Dornacher (Discovering Wisdom in Proverbs), Karen Whiting (Growing a Joyful Heart devotional), and a thank you to Michelle Rayburn for the honor of writing a chapter and foreword for her #boymombook, and a poem in Renewed Christmas Blessing  (Plus, the WISDOM creative quiet time journal is from our imprint LOVE-WISE.)"

Now I am praying for my new Word of the Year for 2024—praying new goals for my mind, body, soul, and spirit.

I am looking for more victories ahead through Heaven's focus for me and God's power at work in me.

Do you have your word for the new year? If not, consider using some of the tools suggested to discover your Word of the Year, and then live it out in 2024.

Pam Farrel is the author of 60 books including several books to help people set and achieve goals: 7 Simple Skills for Every Woman and The Marriage Meet Up devotional planner for couples who want more purpose, passion and productivity. She is also co-author for the Discovering the Bible Series including newest: Discovering Wisdom in Proverbs: A Creative Bible Study Experience. Discover more about Pam, her resources, and Living Love-Wise, visit www.Love-Wise.com. 

* To help with your WORD OF THE YEAR, Download How to Discern My Word of the Year worksheet.

Main Graphic adapted: Two images: (1) Background Image8926; and (2) Magnifying Glass by Clker Free Vector Images — both courtesy of Pixabay.

Two memes created at love-wise.com.

Turn on the Light!

Pam Farrel is an encourager, and she uses the truth of scripture to encourage women to become strong Christ-followers. In this Spiritual Growth UPGRADE, she explains how we can walk in the light of our Savior, and not become discouraged by the darkness in our culture."Christ claims He is the SOURCE of light," Pam says. "We need light so we do not stumble in the darkness."

I (Dawn) don't know about you, but the darkness in the culture seems to get darker and darker every day! But I know this: when life gets dark, that's when the Light of the World seems to shine even brighter!

Pam continues . . . 

Jesus was clear about the source of light.

Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life' (John 8:12 ESV).

Strong Concordance says light is “the manifestation of God's self-existent life; divine illumination to reveal and impart life, through Christ.” 

Commentator FB Meyer proposes that when Jesus claimed to be “the light of the world” He might have also been referring to the huge golden candelabra of the temple court. The candelabra was lit for the Feast of Tabernacles in celebration of God leading Israel as a cloud by day and a fire by night.

Again, God’s presence is not a reflection of light; rather, God is the source of light.

Jesus is the light that the darkness can NOT overcome:

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5 NIV).

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5 NIV).

Jesus, the light that conquers darkness, is GOOD NEWS!

To gain this victory over darkness, we are to follow Him, meaning we accompany Jesus and travel the same road as His disciple. When we maintain this intimate relationship with Jesus, the verse explains we will not walk in darkness because we will NOT conduct ourselves in “moral or spiritual obscurity (which blocks the light of God …).”

We choose to walk in Christ’s light.

How Can We Walk in the Light?

Years ago, our friends and authors, Paul and Virginia Friesen, invited us to speak on Catalina Island for a rustic family camp. Paul explained we would stay in the deluxe cabin meaning, “you have a light bulb with a chain you can pull to turn on the light.” 

• Pull the chain!
• Call out to the LIGHT of heaven.
• Then ask all those who walk in the Light to link up WITH you!

1. Step In the Light:

for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (Eph 5:8).

2. Sing Light!

But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress (Psalm 59:16 ESV.

3. Speak Light!

Personalize and pray OUT LOUD Ephesians 6:10-17 (NIV).

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

4. Shout Light!

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9, emphasis added).  

FLIP THE SWITCH!

I live on a boat, so I recently bought a lovely lantern that looks like a lighthouse. The job of a lighthouse is to guide ships into safe harbor.

God can shine light into the darkest moments and lead us step by step.

Consider buying a light as a symbol of Christ as your light: a candle, a nightlight, a candlestick, or a lantern can be a beautiful reminder of Christ, our light.

In what areas of your life do you need to turn on the light and allow God to dispel the darkness?

Pam Farrel is the author of more than 55 books, including several devotionals Her newest devotional is Discovering Good News In John: A Creative Bible Devotional Study Experience—co-authored with Jean E Jones and Karla Dornacher. You can connect with Pam at Love-Wise.com.

Graphic adapted, courtesy of Steve Johnson at Unsplash.

Is Today, This Year, Your Watershed Moment?

Pam Farrel is a hope-builder. Through her writing and speaking, Pam encourages Christians to ground themselves in God's Word, and watch how He uses them to accomplish His purposes. In this Faith UPGRADE, Pam writes about watershed moments God brings into believers' lives.

"The Bible is full of promises," Pam says. "These promises become moments of personal choices of belief: a watershed moment that vitally impacts our future."

I (Dawn) learned what a "watershed" is in college. It's a land area that channels rainfall and snowmelt into creeks, streams, and rivers, and eventually it swells to outflow points like reservoirs, bays, or the big, wide ocean.

For a Christian to experience "a watershed moment" is to be so suddenly and deeply moved by something that it changes the believer's life and/or ministry.

Pam continues . . .

I was eight months pregnant when an invitation to a free marriage retreat arrived from Forest Home Christian conference center. Bill was a youth pastor at the time, so I leapt at the opportunity for a rare cozy weekend away for us.

At the Saturday evening session, we experienced a God-ordained watershed moment listening to the story of God giving the covenant promise in Genesis 15:5-6: (NIV)

"Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' Abram believed the Lord."

One of the preeminent watershed moments in the Bible was when God asked Abram to bring a sacrifice that was symbolic of the life and death commitment made in a covenant between two parties.

So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”  Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. …

"As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, …

"'In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here...”

"When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram” (15:9-18a).

God knew Abram was human and would fail, so He made a promise with HIMSELF to keep the promise.

The promises in the Bible are as good as the One making the promise.

God used this covenant process because it was familiar to the culture.

People knew that if a person broke the promise, the other could slay him as punishment.

God was proclaiming the same type of agreement. Because God made this promise, if He failed to keep it, He would have to die. But God cannot die.*

Revelation 1:8 says of God: “Who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty" (NIV).

Because God is pre-existent and self-sustaining, He was never born, so He can never die—so He is fully able to keep every promise.

In OUR watershed moment, as we sat in a chapel at Forest Home years ago, Bill and I recommitted ourselves to be used, as a couple, to share God’s love and equip people to love wisely.

Others' Watershed Moments

Many others have had watershed moments at that same conference center: Forest Home. The founder, Henrietta Mears, brought young leaders to the mountain.

One of her famous quotes is,

“There is no magic in small plans. When I consider my ministry, I think of the world. Anything less than that would not be worthy of Christ nor of his will for my life.”

Years later, many former students—now leaders—assembled for a recommissioning and vision-setting gathering. They represented more than 50 Christian organizations.

Billy Graham—while a speaker at Forest Home at the start of his evangelistic ministry—laid down his Bible on a stump in his watershed moment.

He prayed, “Father... I will believe this to be Your inspired Word.”

Weeks later, Graham preached at the Los Angeles Crusades. More than 300,000 people heard the gospel, sparking the evangelistic crusades that defined the rest of his ministry.

Christ brings each of us to a watershed moment to make a choice to believe in Him, in His Word, and in His ability to keep His promises.

He brought the disciples to Caesarea Philippi, where worship of many false gods including the Greek god, Pan—half man, half goat—was taking place. Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do people say the son of man is? … Who do you say that I am?” 

It was their watershed decision point.

Peter rose and replied, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:13-18 NIV).  

Hebrews 11:1 calls us ALL to this decision point: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (ESV).

• Faith is to have a solid conviction, to be fully persuaded
• Assurance is the picture of a land deed.
• So, faith is like the legal title to hope.

The definition of hope I formed when writing Discovering Hope in the Psalms is “to wait expectantly for God to show up and show off for your good and His glory.”

Hope believes God keeps His promises—even in the waiting.

Today can be YOUR watershed moment.

Are you fully persuaded that God loves YOU? That God’s Word is a love letter of truth to rescue, redeem and restore YOU?  Why not take a moment to write a declaration of your faith belief. Then hang your heart on the God who keeps ALL His Promises.

Pam Farrel is a bestselling author of 56 books, and the co-author of Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament: A Creative Bible Study Experience. (This blog post is adapted from this ECPA award-winning Bible study from Harvest House Publishers.) Download Infectious Joy 30 Day Creative Devotional for a simple 10-minute-a-day faith builder. The Farrels co-lead Love-Wise and the Living Love-Wise Community.

Graphic adapted, Courtesy of Sergey Pesterev at Pexels.

* For further explanation of the ancient covenant sacrifice that Pam described, you can read here. - Dawn

Show Caregivers You C.A.R.E.

Pam Farrel is a prolific writer, but that's not why I love her. She is one of the most caring women I know—so often reaching out to boost up or help others. Pam has gone through some tough years—as she writes about in this Caregiving UPGRADE—and she speaks from the wisdom and expanded compassion of personal experience.

"National Alliance for Caregiving announced that the number of caregivers in the USA rose by 9.5 million between 2015 and 2020," Pam says.

"One in five people is a caregiver. We are two of those caregivers."

On a personal note, I (Dawn) have "encouraged" my sister who is the caregiver for our elderly mother, and now I'm watching my husband and his siblings care for their parents. I have growing compassion for these sacrificial caregivers.

I'm so glad Pam is sharing her thoughts about how to encourage caregiving heroes as they honor their loved ones with sacrificial care.

Pam continues . . .

Bill’s parents—one frail of mind, the other frail of body—needed more and more help, so we sold our home and gave away most of our worldly belongings to downsize to live near them.  

Four years ago, we moved to a live-aboard boat, which provided a nurturing environment to our caregiving souls.

However, with COVID-19, we had to move inland to a 300-square-foot RV on his parents’ land, because we were and are the safest people to provide the caregiving Bill’s now 92-year-old parents need.

We have been in Christian ministry all of our 42 years of marriage, and these last four years are, by far, the most challenging ministry assignment God has ever asked us to take on.

However, in the darkness, the stars shine the brightest!

Caregiving often involves many family members and friends. (This is Bill, sitting next to his dad, and joined by other family members.)

We have seen the beautiful side of humanity and the love of God extended to us through the C.A.R.E. others have extended to us.

                          Our friends have held us up,

                    as we have held up our aging parents.

How can we C.A.R.E for those who 'care give' others?

C —Check in and Check on the Caregiver

It is easy to feel invisible in your life as a caregiver.

• The person you are attending to may or may not be thankful, grateful, or appreciative.
• Some of those you care for may not even have the ability to verbalize their thanks—or cognitively, they might not be able to grasp the great sacrifices you are making.
• Others, like aging parents, or a disabled family member, might initially show thanks with words or actions, but many, as their health declines, will lose their ability to give thanks—or perhaps will even forget your name!

That is why all caregivers need their "Epaphroditus."

During our caregiving years, I have written and published Discovering Joy in Philippians: A Creative Bible Study Experience, and among the cast of characters in the apostle Paul’s life was a very faithful friend: Epaphroditus:

I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need. ...

Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.

So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men,

for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me (Philippians 2:25, 27-30).

Paul was writing from prison, and in those days, your friends and family needed to provide ALL your needs—or you went without!

Epaphroditus was such a great friend that he gathered money and goods and risked his own health to make sure Paul got his needs met.

For Bill and me, even an encouraging text, a colorful greeting card, or a social media message asking, “How are YOU?” is one way God has reminded us that He sees, He cares, and He will move on our behalf.

A — Assist with Practical Help

Galatians 6:2 reminds us, Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

In this verse, we are asked to bear another’s burden, or personal weight, upon oneself—by choice! When we do this, we fulfill the greatest commandment:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself' (Mark 12:30-31).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, our already-difficult season of caregiving got even harder!

In two days, two years’ worth of our speaking was cancelled or postponed. Like many, it was a financial crisis!

Those friends and family in our Living Love-Wise Community rallied. Many:

• Sent financial donations,
• Called, and asked what practical help they might offer,
• Hosted us in their homes when we did travel for ministry,
• Recommended us for paid ministry,
• Referred us as life coaches,
• Extended writing and virtual speaking opportunities, and
• Lavished us with gift cards for necessities.

(Notice all those action words?) Their practical help held our heads above the rushing storm waters. 

R — Resource Respite

Caregivers get weary.

For the past several years, Bill’s dad has called his son’s phone all night long, every night, night after night. We are sleep-deprived.

And my husband also is physically tired, because his father is weak and frail. So Bill picks him up, moves him, carries him—whatever it takes to bring aid and comfort to his father.

In addition, he must deal with his mom—a hoarder, and an agoraphobic (fear of entering open or crowded spaces, or leavng home).

Studies by the National Association of Caregivers note that the health of caregivers often declines, the longer he or she serves as a caregiver.

My prayers are often, “Lord, keeping Bill’s folks alive feels like it is killing Bill!” 

God knows the sacrifice. Jeremiah 31:25 brings hope:

“For I satisfy that weary one and refresh everyone who languishes.”

The word picture here is of God sending a saturating rain to a parched land. The showers then refresh, refill, renew the languishing land.

People have been kind to:

• Take us out to dinner,
• Pay for a hotel room for a 24-hour collapse, and
• Send gift baskets, flowers, boxes of encouraging books and spiritual strengthening tools.

Just this week, one of our friends sent us a gift of a three-day anniversary in a lakeside cabin!

The good news is the care our family and friends have sacrificed to extend to us is helping protect Bill’s and my health and emotional well-being.

E — Encourage and Equip

1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

This verse is a picture of walking alongside someone with encouragement, exhortation, admonishment, comfort, and consolation.

The term "build up" is a picture of constructing a home—strong and sturdy—a home where God dwells. And this is not a once-in-a-lifetime action. Rather, it is an ongoing choice to help the caregiver stand strong in their strenuous season.

Recently, a friend sent me a bracelet that reads, “Grow through what you go through.” More than a decade ago, I gave her a bracelet that looks like a zig zagged line, and with it was the promise, “I will be with you in the ups and downs of life.” We are most like Jesus, our Emmanuel, when we go WITH our friend.

In today’s world, when someone passes away, we might be tempted to only post “Praying” or a few emojis. However, the real friend will seek to do more to be “there” and extend C.A.R.E. for their friend, so he or she can stay strong in their caregiving calling.

Your care for others is the measure of your greatness (Luke 9:48 TLB).

Pray and listen to God’s Spirit, then take practical action to extend some tender loving care to someone who has been caregiving another.

Remember, C.A.R.E. means:

Check in/Check on the caregiver, Assist in practical ways, provide Resource Respite—encourage caregivers' health and well-being, and Encourage/Equip them for their difficult ministry to those they love.

Who is God asking YOU to C.A.R.E. for?

Pam Farrel is an international speaker, relationship expert, and author of 54 books including:  Discovering Joy in Philippians: A Creative Bible Study Experience and Discovering Hope in the Psalms. Download your free copy of Infectious Joy and tell others about it too—become contagious with joy! Pam and her husband Bill co-direct Love-Wise ministries. They invite you to become a member of the Living Love-Wise Community.  

Graphic adapted, courtesy of Gerd Altmann at Pixabay.

Hope for Humanity

Pam Farrel is writing and speaking much about hope these days, and in this Christmas UPLIFT article, she reminds us about the truth of scripture regarding the hope God offered to humanity in Christ.

Pam asks, "Is this Covid-chaos causing internal despair, discouragement or depression? Is the persistent pandemic producing anxiety, angst or anger?"

Yes, I (Dawn) have seen so many crazy emotions spring up during Covid-19. But we don't have to let our emotions rule. God has an answer for us!

Pam continues . . .

Ever felt like this?  

• You drag yourself in the door. Your arms are loaded with more work than you feel you can possibly ever get done, so you drop the burden of books, papers, briefcase, files, and bags in the middle of the floor.
• You don’t even bother to turn on the light because you don’t want to look at the state the house is in.
• You’re not sure if you want to take a long, hot bath or just skip it all together and collapse on your bed fully dressed.
• You are hungry, but making anything to eat seems like such a bother.
• Your head is pounding, your heart is racing, and your body aches.
• You are sick of coffee, sick of people, sick of demands, and sick of life.
• Everyone seems to need a piece of you: family, friends, neighbors—people you dearly love, but at this moment, it seems overwhelming to move to help them.
• You want to lock all the doors and unplug from all the phones, social media and e-mail; but even that seems like work. You simply lean against the wall and slide down, collapsing in a heap on the floor.
• Your head buries itself in your knees and you wrap your arms around yourself because you could really use a hug. You want to cry, but you’re even too tired to feel.
• You are sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Something needs to CHANGE!

Change is the good news of the Christmas story.

Each Christmas, I speak at holiday events (now virtual) on “The Christmas Light.” Using an Advent wreath and candles, I weave a message of inspiration based on Isaiah 9:6:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

This verse has been popularized by Handle’s Messiah concerts where, during the Halleluiah chorus, the audience stands.

Are you looking to the Messiah for hope today?

In the time of Isaiah—just as now—people carried desperately heavy burdens. They needed a Savior.

When life seems impossible, heaven sends help:

And the angel came to her [Mary] and said, “Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”  …:

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God….You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.

Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?”

The angel replied to her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore, the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God… For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1: 29-37 HCSB emphasis added).

Jesus, the Messiah, truly is HOPE for humanity!

What do you want the Christ to accomplish in YOUR life?

Ponder Christ’s names below:

Wonderful Counselor:  An astonishing advisor

Mighty God: The Almighty God: a strong, heroic, warrior Champion

Everlasting Father: The First and Forever Father of All

Prince of Peace: Ruler, Captain, Chief, Commander of perfect peace and prosperity.

Which name of the Messiah will you hang your heart on to move forward? CREATE a piece of art or buy an item symbolizing the name you select.

When your heart feels heavy, thank God for Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23).

Pam Farrel is the Co-Director of Love-Wise and author of 52 books, including the newest 10 Best Decisions a Single Mom Can Make. She co-authored a book about hope, Discovering Hope in the Psalms: A Creative Bible Study Experience that can build your hope in God in 2021.

BONUS—Download these gifts from Pam to enrich your holiday: 

• Winter Wonderland Traditions to Bless Your Relationships;
• A devotion inspired by Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament: Creative Bible Study Experience on How “the Zeal of the Lord” Breaks the Burden (Isaiah 9:7) you may be feeling; and
• The Farrel family’s Christmas Dinner and Dialogue devotional, based on Isaiah 9:6.