Does your faith need strengthening? Are you confused and wondering if Jesus Christ is really "The Way, the Truth, and the Life?" "Fight for Your Faith" is a blog filled with interesting and thought provoking articles to help you find the answers you are seeking. Jesus said, "Seek and ye shall find." In Jeremiah we read, "Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall seek for Me with all your heart." These articles and videos will help you in your search for the Truth.

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Um Desafio de Ano Novo


Virginia Brandt Berg


“Irmãos, não julgo que o haja alcançado. Mas uma coisa faço, e é que, esquecendo-me das coisas que para trás ficam, e avançando para as que estão diante de mim, prossigo para o alvo, pelo prêmio da soberana vocação de Deus em Cristo Jesus.”—Filipenses 3:13–14[1]
Aqui estamos, no limiar do ano novo, sem saber o que ele nos trará. Mas uma coisa é certa: podemos deixar o passado para trás com todas as suas inquietações, preocupações, sofrimentos, erros e falhas. Não podemos desfazer um único ato nem fazer voltar uma única palavra que proferimos, mas se entregarmos nossas angústias e pesares a Deus, Ele poderá nos dar um novo ano alegre e belo. A Bíblia promete que “todas as coisas concorrem para o bem daqueles que amam a Deus”[2] — inclusive nosso passado.
Os dias do ano passado estão fora do nosso alcance e aí devem permanecer. Deus cuida deles e não deveríamos voltar e nos atormentar com infelicidades. É triste ver como algumas pessoas dizem estar confiando em Deus, mas, ao mesmo tempo, se preocupam com as marcas e manchas das páginas do passado.
Susan Coolidge escreveu certa vez:
O passado agora faz parte da eternidade,
Amarrado em um feixe, seguro por Deus.
Com dias felizes e dias tristes
E dias ruins que nunca mais
Vão nos visitar
Com sua flor ou sua praga,
Com alegria e sol a brilhar
Ou noite triste e pesar.[3]
Uma vez que recorremos a Deus, confessamos nossos erros e pecados e pedimos perdão, não devemos ficar remoendo nossos pecados. Sobre isso Deus diz: “Eu, Eu mesmo, sou O que apago as tuas transgressões por amor de Mim, e dos teus pecados não Me lembro”.[4]
A Palavra de Deus diz: “Nenhuma condenação há para os que estão em Cristo Jesus”.[5] Em vez de voltarmos ao passado, sentirmos remorso por isso e aquilo, e chorarmos pelas coisas que não podem ser mudadas, devemos nos lembrar da reconfortante promessa de Deus: “Ainda que os vossos pecados sejam como a escarlata, eles se tornarão brancos como a neve; ainda que sejam vermelhos como o carmesim, se tornarão como a branca lã.”[6]
Uma vez li um poema que dizia: “Se eu pudesse encontrar a estrada para ontem, tomaria uma borracha e apagaria todos os ontens.” Eu não quero encontrar o caminho para ontem, porque não quero apagar nada! Somente Deus pode cobrir os erros do passado. Quando Ele olha para nós à luz do sacrifício que Jesus já fez, tudo fica diferente! Deus não tem o hábito de nos fazer reviver o passado. Quem iria querer fazer isso quando o futuro é tão promissor quanto as promessas de Deus?
Quando reflito no ano que temos pela frente, penso em todas as promessas na Palavra de Deus e nas coisas maravilhosas que podem acontecer porque elas são infalíveis, imutáveis e feitas para cada um de nós. Com todas essas promessas, por que voltar atrás e reler o passado, trilhar a estrada que vai para ontem?
A cruz de Cristo, como braços estendidos, bloqueia o caminho para o passado. Jesus já pagou a pena pelos nossos erros, portanto podemos e devemos dizer como o apóstolo Paulo: “Irmãos, não julgo que o haja alcançado. Mas uma coisa faço, e é que, esquecendo-me das coisas que para trás ficam, e avançando para as que estão diante de mim, prossigo para o alvo, pelo prêmio da soberana vocação de Deus em Cristo Jesus.”[7]
Esqueça as coisas que para trás ficam! Avance rumo à meta e ao prêmio! Não há como fazer a areia da ampulheta voltar para cima e mesmo se você tivesse toda a riqueza do mundo, não poderia voltar ao passado.
É triste carregarmos o fardo do passado, quando o Senhor pagou um preço tão alto justamente para nos aliviar desse fardo e nos libertar! “Jesus tudo pagou e tudo a Ele devemos”, como descreve lindamente o antigo hino.
Depois de uma pregação que fiz para um grande grupo de pessoas, um jovem me procurou. Ele saíra da prisão fazia pouco tempo e não conseguia acreditar que fosse tão fácil, que Deus poderia limpar seu passado se ele confessasse seus erros e pedisse a Jesus para entrar no seu coração e ser seu Salvador. Ele ficava falando de todos os seus erros. Era muito difícil acreditar que Deus pudesse perdoar um passado tão horrível, mas naquela noite entregou seu coração a Jesus e Ele o aliviou daquela carga. Jesus perdoou aquele homem e lhe deu uma liberdade que ele desconhecia. Depois disso, ele nunca mais parou de falar da misericórdia de Deus e de como o livrara do tormento do passado. E sempre repetia o trecho de um hino que tanto gostava: “Os meus “ontens”, tão cheios de culpa e vergonha, se foram. Glória ao Seu nome!”
Eu me pergunto se há algo mais maravilhoso que o milagre do perdão. Existe algo mais glorioso do que a certeza de ter seus pecados perdoados? Jesus morreu por todos nós e Seu perdão é para todos nós. Tudo o que você precisa fazer é aceitá-lo, confessar seu pecado e receber Jesus como Salvador. “Ele é fiel e justo para nos perdoar os pecados, e nos purificar de toda injustiça.”[8] Toda injustiça! Ele não pode falhar à Sua Palavra, e prometeu isto. “Porventura diria ele e não o faria?”[9] Essa é a Sua promessa sem restrições e imutável para você.
Que o Senhor o abençoe e faça de você uma bênção e use-o em Seu serviço. Que você tenha um maravilhoso ano novo, com uma nova revelação do Senhor Jesus Cristo para a sua alma, e que Deus o abençoe a cada passo do caminho!
Transcrição de uma transmissão de Momentos de Meditação, adaptada. Publicado no Âncora em dezembro de 2019.

[1] NVI.
[2] Romanos 8:28.
[3] Susan Coolidge, “New Every Morning,” Verses (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1889).
[4] Isaías 43:25.
[5] Romanos 8:1.
[6] Isaías 1:18.
[7] Filipenses 3:13–14.
[8] 1 João 1:9.
[9] Números 23:19.

A New Year's Challenge

by Virginia Brandt 

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 3:13–141
As we stand before the new year, we don’t know what’s in store for us. But there’s one thing we do know, and that is that we can leave the past behind with all of its cares, pains, heartaches, and mistakes. We can’t undo one single act and we can’t unsay one single word, but if we will give our grief and regrets to God, He can make this new year a thing of joy and beauty. The Bible promises, “All things work together for good to them that love the Lord”2—even our past.
Every day of the past year is beyond our reach, and we should leave it there. God has the past in His keeping, and we should not go back and be tormented with regrets. It’s sad how some people say they’re trusting God, yet they worry about the blots and stains on the pages of their past.
Susan Coolidge once wrote these words:
The past is now a part of forever,
Bound up in a sheaf, which God holds tight.
With glad days and sad days
And bad days which never
Shall visit us more
With their bloom or their blight,
Their fullness of sunshine
Or sorrowful night.3
Once we have turned to God and confessed our mistakes and wrongdoings and asked for forgiveness, then we must not go picking around in the past and bringing up those things again. God says of your past sins, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.”4
God’s Word says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”5 Rather than going back into the past and regretting this and that and weeping over things that we can’t change, we should remember God’s comforting promise: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”6
I once read a poem that went something like this: “If I could find the road to yesterday, I’d write the page with cleaner pen and wipe out yesterdays.” I don’t want to find the path to yesterday, because I can’t wipe out anything! Only God can cover those mistakes of the past, and when He looks at us in light of the sacrifice that Jesus has already made for us, that makes all the difference. It isn’t God’s way to make us relive the past, and who wants to when the future is as bright as the wonderful promises of God?
When I think about the year that is set before us, I think about all of the promises in God’s Word and about the wonderful things that can happen because those promises are unfailing, unchanging, and meant for each of us personally. With all of those promises, why would anyone want to go back and retrace the past, to walk the road to yesterday?
The cross of Christ, like outstretched arms, stands blocking the way to the past. Because Jesus has already paid the penalty for our wrongdoing, we can and ought to say with the apostle Paul, “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”7
Forget those things which are behind! Press onward and upward toward the goal and the prize! You can’t make the sands in the hourglass run backward, and even if you had the wealth of the whole world, you couldn’t retrace the path to yesterday—you couldn’t go back.
What a pity if we carry the burden of the past when the Lord paid such a price to lift that burden and set us free! “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe,” as the old hymn so beautifully expresses.
A young man once came up to me after I’d spoken to a large group about that. He was an ex-convict just out of prison, and he couldn’t believe that it was so easy, that God would cleanse his past if only he would confess his wrongdoings and ask Jesus to come into his heart and be his Savior. He kept talking about all his wrongs. It was hard for him to believe that God could forgive such an awful past, but that night he gave his heart to Jesus, and Jesus lifted that load. Jesus forgave that man and gave him freedom he’d never known. After that, the man never stopped talking about the mercy of God and how God had rid him of the torment of the past. He would often repeat the words of a hymn that he fell in love with: “My yesterdays so filled with guilt and shame, my yesterdays are gone, oh praise His name!”
I wonder if there is anything more wonderful than the miracle of forgiveness. Is there anything more glorious than the assurance of having your sins forgiven? Jesus died for all of us and His forgiveness is for all of us. All you have to do is accept it, confess your sin, and receive Him as your Savior. “He is faithful and just to forgive you your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.”8 All unrighteousness! He cannot fail His Word, and He has promised this. “Hath he not said it and will he not also do it?”9 That’s His unqualified, unbreakable promise to you.
May the Lord bless you and make you a blessing and use you in His service. May you have a wonderful new year, with a fresh revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ to your soul, and may God bless you every step of the way!
From a transcript of a Meditation Moments broadcast, adapted. Published on Anchor December 2019. 

1 NIV.
2 Romans 8:28.
3 Susan Coolidge, “New Every Morning,” Verses (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1889).
4 Isaiah 43:25.
5 Romans 8:1.
6 Isaiah 1:18.
7 Philippians 3:13–14.
8 1 John 1:9.
9 Numbers 23:19.

Sunday, December 29, 2019

Saturday, December 28, 2019

Hope and Help for the New Year!

A compilation
The opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities have given the literary world one of the greatest precursory statements of all time. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...” These famous words of Charles Dickens mark some of the best-known lines of literature, skillfully reflecting the novel’s central tension between opposing pairs and the ebbs and flows of an era.
In this season of the New Year we, too, are inclined to reflect, to look back and look forward with thoughts and words that help us sift through the stories unfolding before us… That we have before us the month that marks another beginning of another year is unavoidable, even if merely seen as time to buy a new calendar or join another health club.
Armed with resolutions and lofty goals, and perhaps a self-help book or two, many stare into the 365 days ahead of us with hope and expectation, sometimes with fear, sometimes with determination, other times with excitement. And we look at the days behind us with a careful eye for what is past, at times with nostalgia for all that has gone by, or heaviness for all we longed to see turn out differently, but hopefully with wisdom to carry into days to come. What were the year’s successes and failures? What will I accomplish this year? Where have I been? How far have we come along?
But the New Year is also a time to ask perhaps with a greater sense of existential angst, “Where am I going?” Or maybe even “Where did we come from?” In the pages of one major newspaper on New Year’s Day were articles discussing several up-and-coming self-improvement, self-discovery books for the New Year. In between advice for learning to embrace your life fully and tips for rehabilitating your sense of style, the author herself noted the inconsistency of the well-marketed, self-help world of reflecting. “If all these books are out there,” she asked, the question remains: “Why aren’t we well?” Such are the inquiries worthy of the season.
There are some celebrations of Christmas that remind us in color and in lights that the birth of Christ has ushered in a new era. Such celebrations would also encourage that we not miss this occasion for reflection. Because for the Christian, that God has come near changed—and continues to change—everything.
Whether looking back or looking forward, … the presence of a loving God is both help and hope.—Jill Carattini1

Got potential?

As you come to the end of one year and prepare to enter into a new one, you may be asking yourself what you can realistically expect to be or accomplish in the years to come. That depends in part on how you define “realistic.” Nobody knows what we’re capable of better than God, and often His definition of “realistic” is “potential.” He knows our limits—“He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust”2—but He also sees our hearts and continually looks at us from the viewpoint of what we can become.
God expects us to do what we can, but He doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He knows we’ll never be perfect, and if we’re smart, we’ll realize that it’s foolish for us to try or pretend to be. We have to do our part, but our part isn’t to be perfect—and that’s the beauty of God’s plan!
Once we receive Jesus as our Savior, He lives in us. And if we will remember that we’re weak and imperfect without Him,3 He can come through and be our everything. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”4
God loves to do amazing, extraordinary things, sometimes through some of the most unlikely, imperfect people. It’s never about how good or strong we are. It’s about God and His goodness and power.
God knows that no matter what has happened in the past or what our current situation or shortcomings or challenges may be, we can change; He can make us better. We need to learn to see ourselves through the perspective of what we can become by His grace and what God’s power can transform us into.
So what if you aren’t perfect?! Who is? If you let the Spirit of God work in you and through you, His Spirit will fill in the gaps of the little problems and imperfections. God doesn’t need perfection from us to work His will and wonders.
Make room for God to work by not focusing on your shortcomings and imperfections, but rather by looking to Him to help you reach the full potential of who and what He created you to be.—Peter Amsterdam

Teach us to number our days

For many, New Year’s is just another holiday. For others, it’s a time of deep reflection, both on the past year and on the one ahead. For followers of Jesus, New Year’s has no unique significance. There’s no central biblical narrative informing our celebrations.
But this doesn’t mean Christians shouldn’t pause and reflect on the turning of the calendar. Moses asked of the Lord, “Teach us to number our days, so we may get a heart of wisdom.”5 Time—seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years—is a gift to us from a good God. To wisely follow him, then, is to redeem our time.6
New Year’s can also remind us of the new birth. In a sense, each day with Jesus is a chance to turn the page on an old way of life and embrace a new one. We are, after all, new creation people, and we serve a King who renews us daily by the Holy Spirit.
Setting goals for a new year are an important sign that we’re intentional about glorifying God in our callings—work and business, home and church, private and public witness. When we work and plan, even in seemingly insignificant endeavors, we’re fulfilling the cultural mandate.7 In this age, we’re blessed with an abundance of resources to help us to maximize our time: digital tools, productivity experts, and inspirational blogs.
But before we write out our goals, we should begin in the heart. The temptation for Christians is to make our plans and add a dollop of Jesus on top, rather than allowing him to form in us the desires and motivations to do his work…
The wise man of Ecclesiastes said, “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’”8 In January, the year is young and the opportunities seem fresh. So many productivity gurus preach a gospel of self-empowerment, but as gospel people, we know the fragility of human life. We know every breath is a miracle, a gift given to us by our Creator…
We may have failed to meet our heady goals in [the past year]. Jesus still loves us, despite our failures, unchecked boxes, and disappointment at the scale. The gospel tells us that he loves us in the midst of these.
So as we make our plans for [the new year], let’s remember that even in our failures, we serve the One who remembers our frame and knows we are dust.9 We make plans, but we hold them lightly. We entrust our future, not to Evernote or Google Calendar or a reading list, but to the King who holds the world in his hands.—Daniel Darling10
Published on Anchor December 2019. 

2 Psalm 103:14.
3 John 15:5.
4 2 Corinthians 4:7.
5 Psalm 90:12.
6 Ephesians 5:16.
7 Genesis 1:28.
8 Ecclesiastes 12:1.
9 Psalm 103:14.

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Christmas Meditation

By Maria Fonte
It’s Christmas Eve and I’m by myself for a couple of hours. My husband needed to go out to minister to some friends, so I’ve decided to spend this time in front of our small manger scene. I have lit some candles and there’s one very small lamp that is casting some light on the figures. Instrumental Christmas music is playing in the background.
I’m so happy Jesus gave me the idea to celebrate Him in this way. It’s a special privilege to take this time to praise Him for His inexplicable, incomprehensible, boundless love and sacrifice for us, and what it has led to in our lives. It’s also an opportunity to pray for God’s people all over the world—some celebrating in prison cells, some in their homes, and some in churches. Many celebrate in poverty and hunger, with not much to share with each other, but because they have Jesus in their hearts and faith in God, this time is very, very special to them.
I move the figurines of Joseph and Mary and the baby in the manger out of the stable and put them where I can see Jesus better, surrounded by the shepherds and the wise men and the cows and sheep.
In an attempt to make the scene more “real” for me, I adjust the lighting so there are areas of light fringed with darkness and shadow here and there. I try to imagine how it would have been with only a dim oil lamp burning for light and perhaps a small fire burning for warmth.
I think Jesus is very happy when we make time to reflect on Him. When we intentionally make a time to dwell on what He gave up and what He did for us, the awe and the wonder of it can sink deep into our hearts and stir us to praise God for the many ways that He has made us His, made us new, made us alive.
Realizing that I’m joining our Christian brethren in celebrating something that some are risking their lives to commemorate, I’m moved by their faith, their conviction, their love for Jesus that compels them to risk everything to show Him and others their thankfulness for His gift to them. I feel so honored to be a part of our huge worldwide family of faith. Together with them, as we wait in adoration and in prayer, we are being filled with His love, light, joy, and peace.
The wise men and shepherds experienced the presence of God on earth in the person of Jesus. They were filled with the passion and fire to go and spread the news to others, and we can feel His Spirit compelling us to do the same as it renews, rejuvenates, and revives us.
Everyone involved in that first Christmas was brought to our Lord’s side through supernatural signs, orchestrated from heaven. Even though the wise men were not there at the same time as the shepherds, including them in the manger scene creates the archetypical picture, summarizing the events surrounding His birth. It’s a beautiful symbolism of everyone, rich and poor, paying homage to the King of the universe.
Each chose to follow the heavenly guidance presented to them, including Mary and Joseph. For each one, it was a journey of faith. We today still have to believe by faith in the Word that has been given to us. We have to follow and obey, and to talk about our Savior with joy and confidence so that others can have a chance to make their own journey of faith to His side in spirit.
This baby in a manger in Bethlehem was a child destined to become the sacrificial Lamb of God, “without blemish and without spot,” to take away the sins of the world.1 He would become known as the “upholder and maintainer and guide, the heir of all things, the creator of the universe; the brightness and radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.”2
Paul in Colossians would call Him “the firstborn of every creature.”3 He would be revealed as the God of the whole earth,4 God manifested in the flesh5; Jehovah, mighty in battle6; the Almighty which is and which was and which is to come; the beginning and the end.7
Mary’s firstborn son was God incarnate, the same yesterday, today, and forever.8 From before the foundations of the earth, He was the Anointed.9 He came to earth as the Bread of Life that had come down from heaven,10 the true Light which was to lighten every man.11 He would be a strength to the poor, a help to the needy and distressed, and a refuge from the storm.12 He would be the only “sure foundation” and the “chief cornerstone,” our mediator and intercessor.13 This tiny baby who was the most precious gift God could ever give us had humbled Himself and would yet humble Himself through death on the cross.14
He came to bring peace. He came to bring healing. He came to bring hope. He is our beloved and our friend, our Savior and our example, our teacher and our deliverer, our refuge and our God.
“In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”—Hebrews 1:2–315
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”—Colossians 1:15–1716
“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!”—2 Corinthians 9:1517

 John 1:29; Revelation 5:6, 9; 1 Peter 1:18–20.


2 Hebrews 1:2–3.
3 Colossians 1:15–17
4 Isaiah 54:5.
5 John 1:14.
6 Psalm 24:8.
7 Revelation 1:8.
8 Hebrews 13:8.
9 John 17:24; 1 Peter 1:19–20.
10 John 6:51.
11 John 1:9.
12 Isaiah 25:4.
13 Ephesians 2:20; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25.
14 Philippians 2:8.
15 ESV.
16 ESV.
17 ESV.

Monday, December 23, 2019

The Essence of Christmas



“For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”—John 6:38–401
I became poor so that you might become rich. My incarnation—the essence of Christmas—was a gift of infinitely great value. However, it impoverished Me immeasurably! I gave up the majestic splendors of heaven to become a helpless baby. My parents were poor, young, and far away from home when I was born in a stable in Bethlehem.
I performed many miracles during My lifetime, but they were for the benefit of others, not Myself. After fasting forty days and nights in the wilderness, I was tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread. But I refused to do this miracle, even though I was so hungry. I lived as a homeless man for years.
Because I was willing to experience a life of poverty, you are incredibly rich! My life, death, and resurrection opened the way for My followers to become children of God and heirs of glorious, eternal riches. My abiding Presence is also a precious gift. Celebrate all these amazing gifts with gratitude and overflowing joy…
Christmas is the time to exult My miraculous incarnation, when the Word became flesh and dwelt among you. I identified with mankind to the ultimate extent—becoming a Man and taking up residence in your world. Don’t let the familiarity of this astonishing miracle dull its effect on you. Recognize that I am the Gift above all gifts, and rejoice in Me!
Clear out clutter and open up your heart by pondering the wonders of My entrance into human history. View these events from the perspective of the shepherds, who were keeping watch over their flocks at night. They witnessed first one angel and then a multitude of them lighting up the sky, proclaiming: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth Peace among those with whom He is pleased!” Gaze at the Glory of my birth, just as the shepherds did, and respond with childlike wonder.2

The core of My being

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.”—1 John 4:16–173
Christmas is best enjoyed when it isn’t centered on decorations, gifts, or festivities, but on love. Love is the essence of Christmas. Christmas is about cherishing and celebrating the love you share. Sadly, love can get lost amidst the Christmas hustle and bustle, the decorations and gifts, the endless shopping, and the Christmas dinner and parties.
Christmas is a time for festivities, but there’s so much more to it than that. It was love for you that brought Me into the world, to live and die for you. Love was, and still is, the core of My being. Everything I have done has been out of love for you. I did it for everyone who has ever lived or ever will, but I would have done it for you alone. You mean that much to Me!
Enjoy the festive decorations, the scrumptious food, and the gift-giving, but don’t let those overshadow or distract you from the best and most important thing, the only thing that will last for eternity, the essence of Christmas—love.

A season for love

“Behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”—Luke 2:104
Christmas is “the season of joy” and “a time of cheer.” But as Christmas comes around, do you find yourself experiencing things far from joy and cheer? If you look at each Christmas as needing to be bigger and better than the last, you’re probably anxiously filling up every moment with preparations toward that goal. But sometimes less is more.
The less you worry about creating the “perfect” Christmas, the more time you’ll find to enjoy it. The less stressed and pressured you are, the more happiness and joy will fill the time you and your loved ones spend together.
Christmas is about taking quality time with your family and friends; it’s about cherishing and celebrating the love you share and the greatest gift ever given to humanity. It was My love for you that brought Me to earth and gave Me the impetus to walk your world and be one of you, to live and die for you. Focus on My love this Christmas and enjoy a truly fulfilling occasion!

Christmas gift exchange

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. ... This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”—1 John 4:7, 9–105
The first Christmas was My Father’s gift of love to the world, but it was also His gift to you personally.
For those who saw it firsthand—the star, the choir of angels, the baby in the manger—it was an unexpected and overwhelming spiritual experience. For the blessed few who recognized that baby as their Messiah, it was a dream come true. For them and the many millions since who have likewise believed, it has been the door to eternal life. And it’s the same today. If you celebrate Christmas in spirit and in truth, the same wonder, the same promise, and the same unspeakable joy can all be yours.
But now Christmas is more than that. It’s more than a gift from My Father’s heart to yours—it’s a gift exchange. It’s a special time for you as you soak in My love and relive the wonder of the first Christmas, but it’s also special for Me in that you take more time to love and thank and praise Me for all I’ve done for you. So if you’re wondering what to give Me this Christmas, let’s make this Christmas special by giving each other the best of all gifts—love.
Published on Anchor December 2019. Read by Jon Marc. Music from the Christmas Moments album. Used by permission.

1 NLT.
2 Sarah Young, Jesus Always (Thomas Nelson, 2017).
3 NIV.
4 ESV.
5 NIV.

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