Verse of the Day 12/15

 

Hebrews 13:20-21 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—with the blood of the everlasting covenant, ²¹ equip you with all that is good to do His will, working in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ. Glory belongs to Him forever and ever.   Amen  Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

 

In his benediction in the book of Hebrew the author write, "now" may the God of peace, equip you to do His good will.  The Christmas season is to be one of peace, one of joy, one of celebration and it is so because the God of peace that the author called for and prayed for is still with us "now", a couple of thousand years later and is still equipping us to do the good things that we considered on Friday.  To do good, as much as we can, for as long as we can, and to all the people that we can.

 

There is still a lot of mystery and there will always be a sense of wonder as we go through the New Testament accounts of our Savior's birth.  But the reason for the season is not so much of a mystery.  John Piper writes,  "the meaning of Christmas is not only that God replaces shadows with Reality, but also that he takes the reality and makes it real to his people. He writes it on our hearts. He does not lay his Christmas gift of salvation and transformation down for you to pick up in your own strength. He picks it up and puts in your heart and in your mind, and seals to you that you are a child of God."

 

For those who believe, we realize that Jesus has come to us, has put His seal upon us, in our hearts and minds that we are children of God.  We also realize that He is working in our hearts equipping us to do His good will this season and throughout the course of our lives.

 

In Christ,
Mike

 

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Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

Hebrews 13:18-21

The Message (MSG)

^18-21 Pray for us. We have no doubts about what we're doing or why, but it's hard going and we need your prayers. All we care about is living well before God. Pray that we may be together soon.

May God, who puts all things together,
    makes all things whole,
Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus,
    the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant,
Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd,
    up and alive from the dead,
Now put you together, provide you
    with everything you need to please him,
Make us into what gives him most pleasure,
    by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah.
All glory to Jesus forever and always!
    Oh, yes, yes, yes.