God has a beautiful plan for your life. And He wants to lead you each step of the way. That is why one of the names of God, Emmanuel, means "God with us.”

God wants to be intimately involved in our lives. He wants us to know His voice and follow Him.

In fact, He wanted to be with us so strongly that He sent His Son, a part of Himself, to physically walk the earth. That baby in the manger was God and He is still with us today.

He’s our hope for change...

When I think about the person I am today, I am amazed how God has changed me—and I'm so grateful for the ways He allows me to help others now.

There were times when I came very close to giving up along the way. But God was faithful to be with me, help me and keep me going on those days.

I know that apart from Him, I can do nothing. However, in Him, I have everything I need to live the abundant life He gives me in Christ.

It is the same for you. You can all have the strength and confidence to keep going because of what Jesus has done for you...because God is with you every day.

God really cares about you... a lot.

Have you noticed that when God speaks to your heart, He only has caring and encouraging things to say?

He never asks us, “Why aren’t you more like this person?” or “When are you ever going to amount to something?”

That’s because in Christ, God sees you as perfect.

Many people don’t realize God sees them that way. In fact, if you have ever been hurt or rejected, you may have thought that God is mad at you and doesn’t really listen to your prayers.

But that is not true. The reason we have Christmas is proof of that. Jesus came, He lived, He died, and He rose again so we can have a real relationship with our Father God.

He did it all for you.

In Christ, you are His own special child.

God decided to adopt you because it gave Him great pleasure (see Ephesians 1:5 NLT). You can't earn or buy His love. It is simply a gift He wants you to receive because you are so dear to Him—you are His child!

Romans 8:35-39 tells us that God loves us because He wants to, and nothing in creation can separate us from His love.

I encourage you to be bold enough to believe that God let Jesus come to earth and go through everything He went through just for you—because you’re that precious and valuable to Him!

Let this be God’s Christmas gift to you: Take a step of faith and believe that God loves you intimately, He has a great plan for your life, and His promises are true.