This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. 1 John 1:5-10
Sin...knowing what to do and NOT doing it. Do we need to face sin right after Christmas? Some of Jesus' first words were "Repent" after He spent time fasting in the desert--facing temptation.
- From then on Jesus began to preach, "Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Matthew 4:17
Repent--turn from sin. That is important every day of the year. After repenting, it is a good time to begin serving God with the work of Christmas.
Now the Work of Christmas Begins
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among the people,
To make music in the heart.
These actions are all things that Jesus did. Think about what you need to do on a daily basis to keep Christmas alive, not only in your own life, but in the lives of those around you, all year long. Keeping Christmas alive allows God to work in our hearts—filling us with His love—so that we can love others for Him. From that list above do you see something that you can make for a goal for next year, next month, this week…today? Having a goal motivates us to put our heart's desires into action.
Prayer ~ Lord. I trust and love You with all my heart, mind, soul and strength.You are awesome. The Advent season prepared me for forever with You. Protect those in Israel--may they come to know You, Jesus, as their Messiah. May that truth set them free to trust You. Give them Your peace.
Daily Bible Reading: 1 John
© 2017 Text and photos by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
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