It's definitely a holiday season! Last week we celebrated Christmas, and this upcoming week, we'll be celebrating a new year!

Have you ever thought about making New Years resolutions? A resolution is a decision you make to change something about your life. For example, it could be to eat more vegetables, listen to your parents, make better grades, or play less games. Whatever it is, a resolution helps to improve your life. What are some resolutions that you want to make for this upcoming year?

When thinking about our resolutions, it's also important to make resolutions about our spiritual growth. Improving our spiritual life lasts much longer than improving our physical life because the results will last forever! They will benefit us long after our physical body fades away. So making spiritual resolutions might mean that we decide to read the Bible more, pray for our non-Christian friends more, or even find ways to serve at church more. The best thing about spiritual resolutions is that you can make them at ANY time. You don't have to wait until a new year! Because Christ is with us every day and at every moment, He delights in us when we daily choose to live the way He has told us to live. 

Let me give you an example. Imagine a time when someone said something that made you very upset. Maybe it was mean or hurtful. Naturally, we would want to be angry or try to seek revenge. However becoming angry or seeking revenge is part of our sinful nature! We have to decide not to live by our sinful nature, but live by Christ's nature. Instead of being filled with anger or revenge, we might decide to show gentleness, kindness, and love to the person who said something that made us upset. In that way, we are able to share Christ's love through our actions.

So this new year, I would suggest to make one resolution: that we would decide to follow Christ's instructions every day and in every situation!

The countdown begins: 5 days until Christmas!

When I was younger, Christmas was all about how many presents I had under the tree or being able to eat all the yummy foods after Christmas service or even trying to give Santa the perfect cookies so that he would give me the best gifts. Every year was the same. We
would buy a tree and decorate our whole house, inside and out. Then, we would go to church where we would sing the same traditional Christmas songs, which I knew by heart after singing so many times.

However, doing all of that made me blind to what Christmas is actually about. It's not about the baked goods, or singing, or decorating. It's not even about presents! WHAT? Not about the presents?!  Well, yes. It's not about the presents. But have no fear! Christmas is really all about just one present. A present that we can get every year, every month, every week, and every day. An unlimited present! That present is Jesus.

Imagine if you did something wrong like break your ITouch and you really didn't want your parents to know. Instead, your friend, who didn't break the ITouch, went to your parents and told them that he or she had actually broken the ITouch. Your parents became very angry at your friend and punished him/her instead. Your friend received the
punishment for something they didn't do, and you received no punishment for the wrong that you did.

That's what Jesus did for us! We sinned against God, and we did wrong things. But Jesus, our friend, comes
and tells God the Father that He did it. He was punished, and we received no punishment. That is the best present we could ever receive! No punishment from God who can punish us with all the power in the world. And because Jesus is still alive, we are forgiven every single year, month, week, and day for all of the sins that we commit. We never have to worry about receiving punishment from God. That's how great of a present Jesus was to us.

So during this Christmas season, enjoy the presents and cookies and music, but don't forget the best present that you will ever receive: Jesus taking the punishment so that we don't have to.

Until next time, watch this cute Christmas story video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kWq60oyrHVQ

_Hi there !

Right now, I am in the middle of studying for my finals, and I am looking forward to taking a long winter break. I am sure all of you are looking forward to finishing school for the semester too! What cool things do you hope to do during your break? I am looking forward to eating a bunch of yummy foods, spending time with my family, and seeing old friends.

As soon as break starts, it is easy to shut off your brain and never think about school. No more homework, no more tests, and no more projects. Maybe now you will watch TV, play with friends, or just sleep. While it is okay to enjoy entertainment, fun, and rest, it is also important to avoid being idle. What is "idle"? Well, being idle is when you are going about your day without a purpose, without a goal, without a reason, and without motivation. 

In the same way, sometimes we can be "idle" in our spiritual life. In other words, when we do not have anything pushing us to grow in our spiritual life, it is easy to shut our brain and our heart to God. We stop thinking about Him, and we fill up that brain and heart space with other things--maybe TV, playing with friends, or sleep. Those things are what the Bible calls "idols." Even when we don't make a statue or an image, sometimes we create "idols" in our hearts that we value more than we value God. Has this happened to you? Can you remember a time when you just wanted to shut your brain off from thinking about God? Do you value something or someone more than you value God?

As a Christian, we are to love God first, love people second, and love ourselves last. The more we love God, the easier it is to love people and ourselves. If you find it hard to think about God, I would suggest reading the Bible every day because the Bible is God's Word. Even though we can't see Him directly, we can see and know Him through his Word that He gave us! Best gift ever!

Look! God's Word even shows us how we can think about God!
Psalm 77:11-13
"I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
   yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will meditate on all your works
   and consider all your mighty deeds.
Your ways, O God, are holy.
   What god is so great as our God?"

If you are confused or unsure about what I said, you can ask me in person this Sunday (I'll be coming home Saturday) or email me.

Until next time,

P.S. Here's a fun phrase to help you remember what I just said: Being idle creates idols!