the Lord's b'day 2moro!!!

what a joyous time, celebrating Jesus' arrival on earth tomorrow!!! its significance still baffles me... how a mere human mind can comprehend the salvation of the world's inhabitants thru generations, thru millenia, it's truly mind-blowing... the purity of such love, such grace, and the grandness of God's promises to us, given to us thru Jesus, it's simply amazing and awesome...

something sal talked with me about last nite tho, i find a timely reminder at times like this... perhaps it's got something to do with the purpose for the recent difficult struggles at home, but it's the simple matter of responding in faith to what God has done for us... often, i get so caught up with the love God has lavished upon us, and forget to act upon his commands... if we are to love God, we are to obey him...

it's true, if i am to call myself a child of God, then i am also to live free of sin (1 John 3)... we are called to struggle with sin (e.g. Romans 7), to repent and beg for forgiveness whenever we are steeped in sin... by God's grace, we know we are forgiven, but it doesn't mean that i can continue in my sinful ways... - i still live in sin, i know it, because it's in my selfish thoughts, my impatience, in my rudeness, in my pride, in my envy and jealousy... i'm too far steeped in these things to consider myself anywhere near free of sin, and to move in the right direction, i need every bit of strength God will give me...

this xmas - i resolve to really try and dwell upon God in my thoughts, surrender to His lead, and submit to His will... when we come to more fully comprehend God's character in awesome wonder, then the response to live without sin becomes far more natural... it's never going to be an easy thing... ;p but God's truth will set us free!!!

love-in-Christ,
dave

"Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is
right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of
the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the
Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God
will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on
sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children
of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is
right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother."
- 1 John 3:7-10