There’s a popular song that says Christmas is the “hap, hap, happiest time of the year!” But, the reality is: The holidays can be a real low point for some people, especially if they have been experiencing troubles in the past year.

Maybe you know someone like this. They have gone through one thing after another and now the holidays are approaching. They need more than reindeer and mistletoe; they need real comfort and guidance. Divine.

Sit down with your friend and tell him or her the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. Now there’s a man who went through some tough times! His brothers beat him up and sold him into slavery. Joseph is then wrongly accused by his employer and sent to prison to rot.

It’s a long story, and I’ll let you read it with your friend, but the end result is Joseph trusts in God and becomes the second-in-command in Egypt. God gives him great power and wealth to oversee the people. Joseph even reunites with his family and says to his brothers, “You meant it for evil but God meant it for good.”

Pray with your friend and remind them that supernaturally Christ was born of the blessed Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. And later Christ died so we, like Joseph, can have strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. God longs to use you, so speak up!

These days, we use the word “hope” all the time. “I hope this year will be better than last year and I hope the market goes up and I hope my stocks do better.” Let’s “hope so.” But, real hope isn’t about hoping things will go better. The hope I’m talking about is reality – a living expectation – squarely based on God’s revealed promises.

When you open your heart to Christ, God actually comes into your life. That’s real! Suddenly, you know God for yourself. And it isn’t a religious thing. It isn’t just doing the proper thing on Sunday or Christmas or Easter. Now it’s a deep, personal relationship with the Living God. You become a child of God. Suddenly you have peace with God. You know you’re loved. You have the Holy Spirit. You’re a new person.

The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” And your hope keeps on growing as you get to know God more and more each day.

The miracle of Christmas is hope. Christ came to earth as a baby to bring us this hope. He died and rose again so we might have real hope, not just “hope so.” Who has God placed in your path who needs to hear of this hope? Pray, and ask the Lord for the opportunity to lovingly, respectfully, share His hope with your friends and family.

I recently had a conversation with an atheist who disagreed when I suggested that atheists are lonely people. He questioned me, saying, “How do you know this?” He had a good point. I cannot say that every atheist is empty in every area of life- of course not. But I do know that spiritually, every atheist is empty.

An atheist can be lonely because he is very much on his own if he doesn’t have a connection with His Creator. There is a certain lack of peace of mind and heart until you know where you came from and where you’re going. Your spirit is dead even though body and soul are functioning.

John Paul Sartre, the atheist French philosopher, said, “Man is alone, abandoned to his own destiny.” That’s an expression of a person who doesn’t know God- Sartre didn’t know God. But if you know God, you have a purpose! Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Who in your life is spiritually empty? Ask God to reveal someone to you today. Then, reach out to this person! Only Jesus can fill their void of loneliness. You and I know this to be true. And we know people who haven’t accepted this truth, don’t we.

Respect them in their unbelief, but encourage them to remain open to God’s prompting. Encourage them to read the Gospel of John in particular, and say, ’if you really want to know God, you will find Him very quickly.’

Are you feeling spiritually dry? Discouraged? Unmotivated? Have you had a recent failure, either a personal mistake, or the death of a dream? Does it seem like all your hopes and prayers of God using you have come to nothing?

The Lord says to you today, “Keep dreaming great dreams, and planning great plans to reach your world.” Jesus says in John 14:15, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

What an incredible promise of our potential to reach our world for Jesus Christ! When Jesus says He’s going to the Father, that means the Holy Spirit is coming to us! And it’s God’s Holy Spirit who indwells us. His Spirit gives us power to accomplish whatever evangelistic vision God has given us.

You and I have serve a God who says, “I know you’re discouraged, I know you feel dry, but keep dreaming great dreams and planning great plans, because the Holy Spirit will empower you to accomplish them!” God’s Spirit is the power and the anointing that we need to do great things for Jesus Christ