This morning God brought me to a real point of understanding which I want to tell you about.  All of it started yesterday morning as our quartet was practicing.  At one point I became overwhelmed with the emotional crisis of meeting with the teens tonight at the correctional center bringing them the HOPE of Christmas.  I wept.  This morning as I asked God to make this clear for me, He said the following: “Tonight you are bringing your helpless past face to face with the helpless past of all these teens.  Each of them has a past of abuse similar or identical to your own.  You are going there with this past in front of you at this point.  Your past is not what you are bring them however.  Tonight you are bringing them the starting point of My Redemption through My Son Jesus Christ.  You are giving them the Hope of Eternity through song and testimony.  Your past is what you have in common and now you give them the chance to have the HOPE of Jesus Christ in common with you.  Do all of this in MY NAME.”

Yesterday was a difficult day emotionally. I couldn’t bring clarity to this emotional crisis I was sensing.  Yet, this message of this morning made it all perfectly clear.  For a day I was allowing Satan to cloud my thinking with my past, bringing it to my front.  He wanted me to believe I was still as lost in it as I had always been in my earlier years.  This is not the case as God made clear this morning.  I bring these kids the most precious Gift they will ever be offered–THE LOVE of JESUS CHRIST.  With this being true I feel free to go and offer them this most precious opportunity–THE HOPE of CHRISTMAS.  How I love our Father God.