Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

John 18

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” John 18:37

This evening, I continued with my listening/reading of a Christmas/Advent devotional from John Piper. Today's entry focuses on how Jesus was born as a baby, from a mother who was a virgin - Mary - yet Jesus as human being was not just a birth but an incarnation.  Piper describes this: "[t]he uniqueness of his birth is that he did not originate at his birth. He existed before he was born in a manger. The personhood, the character, the personality of Jesus of Nazareth existed before the man Jesus of Nazareth was born....The person, not the body, but the essential personhood of Jesus existed before he was born as man. His birth was not a coming into being of a new person, but a coming into the world of an infinitely old person.  Piper encourages us to refer to Micah 5:2 to see how it was God's plan from the very beginning of time - from the "ancient of days"  - to send His Son Jesus to save us from our sins. 

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My Prayer:  Lord Jesus, You are an incredible God - full of grace and mercy - and You knew everything about me even before I was born; You knew everything about my sin, etc. yet You still came to die for my sins - even though You were not deserving as You led a sinless life.  You willingly laid down Your life so that I could have have freedom from the sting of sin and death - salvation.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessings.  I sin daily and I wish I did not but I do.  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.

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.

1 John 3

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.  1 John 3:8

This evening, I continued with my listening/reading of a Christmas/Advent devotional from John Piper. Today's entry focuses on what Piper refers to and encourages - Christmas solidarity.  Satan seeks to separate from God as many as possible, he seeks to mock God and defeat Him, but believers know that God ultimately wins this battle and defeats sin and Satan.   Piper seeks for those who are not believers to join believers in solidarity to say that I too seek to defeat sin and Satan - I no longer want to be a slave to sin, I want to be a slave to God.  I want to become more like God.  That is certainly how I feel and I know that God has molded me into more of His image.  Clearly there is work to do but I have seen how God has molded me and I am grateful for His sanctifying work.  I urge others to join this Christmas solidarity.  Piper not only uses 1 John 3:8 but also 1 Timothy 1:15 to encourage us to see how God came to defeat Satan and sin:

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners[.] 1 Timothy 1:15

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who defeated sin and Satan for me - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such a God.  My sin continues Lord Jesus!  Please forgive me and help me overcome and turn from such sin.  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 Savor.  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.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

 Hebrews 2

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Hebrews 2:14-15

This morning, I continued with my listening/reading of a Christmas/Advent devotional from John Piper. Today's entry focuses on the power of death possessed by Satan and how Jesus' death on the cross took Satan's power of death away, giving us freedom - a freedom that not only frees us from anxiety over death, but from anxiety about anything that this life and Satan may throw at us.  Piper's words today remind me of Paul's words from Philippians 3:

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:8-11

Freedom indeed!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are incredible God who gives me freedom - an unsurpassed and unimaginable power - the blessings of salvation and the greatest gift of all time.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessings and such a gift.  I sin...daily...worry, etc.  Please forgive me for my lack of trust in You Jesus!  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.

As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

John 17

As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. John 17:18

This morning, I continued with my listening/reading of a Christmas/Advent devotional from John Piper. Today's entry focuses on how Jesus conquered everything the world and Satan threw at him, including death.  Piper encourages us to see how God's escape from all dangers should encourage us to fear nothing, and to use this fear to reach the lost so that they too can enjoy salvation and all the promises of God.  Piper quotes mid-16th century the missionary Francis Xavier (1506–1552) about how, even in the face persecution as a missionary in China, he faced in an even greater danger - and that was to lose trust and confidence in God: "The danger of all dangers would be to lose trust and confidence in the mercy of God. . . . To distrust him would be a far more terrible thing than any physical evil which all the enemies of God put together could inflict on us, for without God’s permission neither the devils nor their human ministers could hinder us in the slightest degree."  

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility....Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ....Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Ephesians 2:14, Romans 5:1, John 14:27

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who died on the cross and faced all the dangers one could possibly imagine - trusting that the Father's plan was good and perfect.  You overcame so I can overcome - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You give me the Holy Spirit, Your Word, and how You live in my heart.  Thank You Jesus.  But again, I am not deserving.  I sin...every day...failing to honor You, etc. Please forgive me.  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.

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah[.]"

Jeremiah 31

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah[.]" Jeremiah 31:31

This morning, I continued with my listening/reading of a Christmas/Advent devotional from John Piper. Today's entry focuses on how God overcomes our sin such that we can experience the promises of the New Covenant with Jesus.  A key promise Piper raises is that Jesus "would powerfully move into our lives and write his will on our hearts so that we are not constrained from outside, but are willing from inside, to love him and trust him and follow him." But first God must overcome our sin - which separates us from Him and the promises of the New Covenant. Piper then offers up several scriptures to demonstrate how Christ's death on the cross removed our sin.  Piper writes: "Christ bore our sins in his own body when he died (1 Peter 2:24). He took our judgment (Romans 8:3). He canceled our guilt (Romans 8:1). And that means our sins are gone (Acts 10:43). They do not remain in God’s mind as a basis for condemnation. In that sense, he “forgets” them (Jeremiah 31:34). They are consumed in the death of Christ." Piper then wraps the devotion for today by stating by dying on the cross, "God is now free, in his justice, to lavish us with all the unspeakably great new covenant promises."

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My Prayer:  Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of salvation and for taking my sin on the cross - I am certainly not deserving of such a gift - the greatest gift of all time.  Yet I am not deserving - I have worry and other sins.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sins 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.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth[.]

Philippians 2

 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth[.] Philippians 2:9-10

This morning, I continued with my listening/reading of a Christmas/Advent devotional from John Piper. Today's entry focuses on how God works through what Piper calls "divinely appointed setbacks."  He uses the story of Joseph to show how although he was "promised glory and power in his dream (Genesis 37:5-11)," Joseph first had to become a slave and a prisoner.  Jesus also had to be beaten, mocked, spit upon, and then crucified before He rose from the grave three days later. Piper explains that both received glory because they kept their integrity. He then wraps today's devotion by stating that: "[a]nd this is God’s way for us too. We are promised glory — if we will suffer with him as it says in Romans 8:17. The way up is down. The way forward is backward. The way to success is through divinely appointed setbacks. They will always look and feel like failure. But if Joseph and Jesus teach us anything this Christmas it is this: What Satan and sinful men meant for evil, 'God meant it for good!' (Genesis 50:20)."

We are also pointed to a hymn "God Moves in a Mysterious Way", written by William Cowper in 1774.

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an incredible God and I have seen Your hand in both good and bad times - through suffering and times of great joy - in and through it all I see Your glory.  Your ways are both good and perfect - yet often mysterious.  Thank You for pouring out Your many blessings for me and for never leaving or forsaking me.  I am not deserving of how You do all of this.  My sin continues - harshness with others, worry, etc.  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.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

 John 10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10

This morning, I continued with my listening/reading of a Christmas/Advent devotional from John Piper. Today's entry focuses on death and loss, and Piper encourages us to see how God tells us that He came so that we "may have life and have it abundantly."  We are encouraged to see how this abundance is not only promised for our earthly lives but more so for eternity in Heaven. 

But, as it is written,“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him[.]” 1 Corinthians 2:9

As we near Christmas, let us focus on the abundance God promises - particularly eternal abundance. 

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who has a prepared a place for me in Heaven - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of the abundance You give me now and what is awaiting me in Heaven.  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.