Tuesday... They didn't really realize what they were celebrating!

1 John 2:2 (NIRV), "He gave his life to pay for our sins. But he not only payed for our sins. He also paid for the sins of the whole world."

Tuesday... They didn't really realize what they were celebrating!

And we may not either.

Babies are very special. We see them but we do not realize their potential. They are babies. And I believe that was true of everyone who was celebrating this birth that we are also celebrating. This was a baby.

When my son and then my daughter were born, I had no way of knowing what they were going to become as they grew up. They were babies who were totally dependant on mom and dad. And we now also have four granddaughters that have their lives ahead of them. And God has placed within them great potential just as he has all babies who are born.

Now I think all of those at that stable had some idea that this birth that we are celebrating today was someone with great potential. I mean there were all these angels and then there was this star and then the conversations that his parents, Mary and Joseph had with angels. But nobody really knew what his birth was all about. But God did.

Now in my reading this morning I came across the reason why this baby was born. John, one of the 12 Apostles who spent three year of their lives with the adult Jesus wrote four books in the Bible. One was about his time with Jesus and then three letters and in the first letter, 1 John 2:2 (NIRV) he writes, "He gave his life to pay for our sins. But he not only payed for our sins. He also paid for the sins of the whole world."

Now verse 1 says, "My dear children, I'm writing this to you so that you will not sin. But suppose someone does sin. Then we have a friend who speaks to the Father for us. He is Jesus Christ, the Blameless One." Jesus was that baby and He is God's Son and God sent him to earth to show us our potential when and if we obey God and then to die for us as a sacrifice for also our potential, to not obey him in other words to sin. Yes, His Father really loved him but he also really loves us.

Verse 12 says, "Dear children, I'm writing to you because your sins have been forgiven, they have been forgiven because of what Jesus has done." Yes, we are celebrating a baby who came so that we might have life both here and forever. Verse 23 says, "And here is what God has promised us. He has promised us eternal life." That is why Jesus came as a baby.

Over in 1 John 1:8-9 he writes, "Suppose we claim we are without sin. Then we are fooling ourselves. The truth is not in us. But God is faithful and fair. If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins. He will forgive every wrong thing we have done. He will make us pure."

Yes, that is why this baby was born. We are celebrating our potential life because of this baby. John 3:16 says, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes may have eternal life in him." This is what we are celebrating! Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Monday... He did it by Himself

Isaiah 44:24b (AMP), "I am the Lord, Maker of all things. Who alone stretches out the heavens, Who spreads out the earth by Myself." Monday... He did it by Himself. Many have a tendency to think very highly of themselves and what they can do. Oh we do have great ability but we are not the source. Yes it is important to have self-confidence but we are limited. The prophet Isaiah in 44:9-10 (NLT) says, "How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don't know this, so they are all put to shame. Who but a fool would make his own god - an idol that cannot help him one bit?" Now later in verse 24 (AMP) he writes, "For the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb says, 'I am the Lord, Maker of all things, Who alone stretches out the heavens, Who spreads out the earth by Myself.'" I love that. "By Myself." Now we do need confidence but we are foolish to ma...

Friday... We have this hope of expectancy.

Psalm 5:3 (NLT), "Listen to my voice in the morning Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly." Friday... We have this hope of expectancy. Now David found a great way to start his day. He says in Psalm 5:1-3 (NLT), "O LORD, hear me as I pray." And that is a great place to start. It really is. Morning sunrise He goes on, "Listen to my cry for help, my King, my God, for I pray to no one but you." And that is so important. We don't try to pump ourselves up by ourself. No, we pray to no one but you, God, my LORD, my King. Now this relationship with God is so, so very important. And then David says, "Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you" And that is so great. And then he says, "and wait expectantly." Yes, we have this hope of expectancy. We are experienced. That is what a relationship with God and a moment by moment connection does. It makes a difference in our daily wa...

Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true.

Psalm 12:6 (NLT), "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true. Maybe this is what you want to say in this day in which we live. Psalm 12:1-2 (MSG) says, "Quick, I need your helping hand! The last decent person just went down, all the friends I depend on gone. Everyone talks in lie language; lies slide off their oily lips. They doubletalk with forked tongues." Do you ever feel that way?" Have you found that to be true? Well David the writer of this Psalm continues and says in verse 6 something to encourage us, to lift us up, to give us hope. Psalm 12:6 (NLT) says, "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." The Message Paraphrase says verses 6-8 this way, "God's words are pure words, pure silver words refined seven times in the fires of his word-kiln, pure on earth as well as in heaven, God, keep ...

Today's Beginning

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