Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil....My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 3 and 1 John 2

Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.  Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil....My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 3:7-8, 2:1-2

I maintain a pause of my study of 1 Corinthians, and I concluded using DesiringGod.com's Advent devotions yesterday as today is Christmas. Building on yesterday's post, John Piper challenges us by asking if the incarnate Son of God Jesus Christ came into the world to help us stop sinning, and to remove His wrath when we do so, what then does this imply for our lives?  He shares three gifts - Christmas gifts:

1. A Clear Purpose for Living: Negatively, Piper describes this as to stop sinning.  Positively, this is described as loving God and loving others.  We are referred to 1 John 3:23: "this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us."
   
2. Hope That Our Failures Will Be Forgiven: Piper shares: "[w]e make progress in overcoming our sin when we have hope that our failures will be forgiven. If you don’t have hope that God will forgive your failures, when you start fighting sin, you give up."  We are encouraged not to give up because Jesus Christ forgives and is our advocate.
   
3. Christ Will Help Us: The final gift shared by Piper in this devotion is how Jesus truly will help us - Piper shares: "[h]e came to destroy sin because sin is fatal. It is a deceptive work of the devil, and it will destroy us if we don’t fight it. He came to help us, not hurt us."  We are referred to 1 John 4:4 as Piper concludes: "Jesus is alive, Jesus is almighty, Jesus lives in us by faith. And Jesus is for us, not against us. He will help you in your fight with sin in the new year. Trust him."

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion for me...showering me with blessings mercies and blessings day after day.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessings.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love you with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.