The most wonderful Christmas gift

Grace is a revelation of Jesus Christ that changes our lives. Grace is God’s goodness at Christ’s expense. Grace is the light and glory of God seen in human form. Grace is a gift from God to all who will receive it. Grace is Jesus Christ.

Jesus is God in human flesh, Creator and Light for our darkness.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1–5)

Jesus is the light of the world, to be believed and received. When we do that, we become reborn and children of God.

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:9–13)

Jesus is the glory of God, a full revelation of God’s grace and truth that is not seen through any other way. God made Himself known through the Son . . .

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (John 1:14–18)

And today, we celebrate this revelation — that began with a Baby in a manger who grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man, until they crucified Him. Yet in His dying, He brought us forgiveness and eternal life.

^^^^^^^^^

Happy birthday, Jesus! I am grateful that You came, grateful that on Your birthday You offer us a gift, the greatest gift of all — Yourself!

A simple flashlight won't do it

A friend told me that living the Christian life should get easier as one gets older. I know I’m getting older, but the easy part seems to be missing. Walking with God is more difficult now, with more tests, more struggles, more temptation to quit.

Proverbs 4:18 says, “But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.”

In less figurative language, that means the older I get, as I walk in the light God gives me, His light will increase as I go on my way. His light not only shows the path ahead, but also reveals all sorts of other stuff, some of which is painful to see and difficult to deal with. There are days when I’d like to turn around and run back the way I came.

But the next verse says, “The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.”

I don’t want that. I stumble too, but the light from God reveals why. He shows me sinful attitudes and selfish tendencies, and gets quite specific about it. Whoever said ignorance is bliss might have had this in mind, but when I consider what life would be like without this bright light that won’t leave me alone, I’m thankful.

At least with God’s light, the Lord also gives the power to change. Proverbs 24:5 says, “A wise man is strong, yes, a man of knowledge increases strength.” If God didn’t give me the knowledge of my sin and weaknesses, I could never overcome it or be strong.

My dad often said, “There is no fool like an old fool.” He was right. What a shame to go through life and never learn any of its lessons. With God, the light for learning is always available, and like walking a path with a flashlight, as soon as I step into the light I have, I get more for the path ahead.

The path is never what I expect, though. We joke about being over the hill, but I don’t see that metaphor in the Bible. Our journey is never downhill, but upward toward God, at least if we belong to Him.

Scripture talks of aged people as perhaps physically feeble, but we can be either foolish or wise. In our life journey, if we walk with God, He says we are wise. As for the feeble part, God promises this: “Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.”

Getting older might mean a decline in memory, muscles and mobility, but with God I can rely on two things: light for the path and strength to walk it. The light helps me see my growing need of His strength for a path that is uphill and requires a constant battle if I am to “fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith.”

The opposite to increasing light is increasing darkness, not knowing why I fail and fall, and eventually giving up and forgetting about God. No matter how bright the light and steep the path, I’d rather have these uphill challenges (God, keep me from complaining) than drift to the alternatives.

This little light. . .

Last night our electricity was off for a few hours. This rare occurrence had us searching for flashlights, candles, and a way to have supper without being able to cook anything. It also illustrated to me how easily I take things for granted. Every dark room I entered, I reached for a switch to turn on the lights.

After doing that a couple of times, I thought how I take the goodness and power of God for granted. The light He has given me about sin and eternal life is so much a part of the way I think and live; what would happen if that light suddenly went out? How would I manage in darkness? How would I feel if every time I reached for Him, prayer failed to bring anything and the darkness remained?

The power company’s recorded message said it would be on at a certain time, then bumped that time up. Eventually we went to sleep without any electricity. After a short while, it flashed on, long enough to know which lights we’d left on, but not long enough to do much before we were in darkness again. When the power did come on, I turned out my bedside lamp and went back to sleep, feeling good that life was back to normal.

For me, spiritual normal has become a sense of God’s presence, walking in His light, knowing His power. This experience reminded me that I assume it, and so easily forget that spiritual darkness is the norm for thousands. While I could consider myself in an elite position, His light doesn’t do that. Instead, I’m in awe that God has been merciful to me, and incredibly grateful that because of His grace, I’ve a measure of spiritual awareness. If He pulled the plug, I’d be no different than millions who don’t know Him.

My devotional reading today at first seemed to have little to do with this experience. It is about Mary, who broke an expensive flask containing precious oil, and poured the oil on the feet of Jesus. The disciples criticized her saying the oil should have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus criticized them. While giving to the poor is a good thing, pouring out one’s self and one’s treasure as a blessing for Him does deeply please Him. He added, “Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

I’m a practical person. I think that my salvation from sin is so God can use me in some way, whether by writing, teaching, sharing the Gospel with others, giving resources, and so on, but as I read this, and as I think of today’s to-do list, I could hear the Lord whisper, “Do it for me. Give of yourself for me. Don’t be concerned with the results in the lives of others. Your sacrifices please me. Do it for me.”

The light, the power, the life that I live is not for my convenience, even though I love being His child. His power is not so God can use me to help other Christians, even though He is gracious to sometimes do that. The light He gives me is not even so I can be a light for those in the dark, even though He could use it that way. Instead, in His commendation to Mary for her actions, He tells me that He gave Himself to me that I might give myself back to Him.

Yet this small ray of light, wonderful as it sounds, is a bit fuzzy and indistinct. I can see the light of His blessings, the light of being a blessing to others, but to be a blessing to Him? That is almost beyond my comprehension. He shines so bright and so true, that the thought of being or doing anything just for Him, fills me with awe. I feel like the smallest candle flickering in hesitance beside the brilliance of the sun.