The message of Christmas is timeless for all ages and appropriate for everyone. It is not just a story of tradition but the most important direct invitation by the Creator of the universe to set our lives on the right track. It is for our salvation but it a message to develop our lives into what honors God, departing from our selfish intent and the broken world we live in. Nothing is more important. What can we do to deepen our passion for our King?
Every day of your life, you preach some kind of gospel to yourself. My prayer is that the gospel that is preached to you through every element of the Christmas story, will be the gospel that you preach to yourself as you face the opportunities, responsibilities, temptations, danger, struggles, and blessings of your life as a child of God in this broken world. What do you preach to yourself when you are blessed? A gospel of your glory or of God’s grace? What kind of gospel do you preach to yourself when you are facing the unwanted, the unexpected, the unplanned, the disappointing, and the difficult? Do you preach a Christless gospel that leaves you feeling alone and overwhelmed, or the gospel of his presence, power, promises, and grace? When someone rejects you or mistreats you, what do you preach to yourself? When you are physically sick or feeling weak, what do you preach to yourself? When you are lacking in resources, what gospel do you preach to yourself? May the glorious gospel that is preached to you in the birth of Jesus be the gospel that you preach to yourself day after day until you are on the other side, forever with the One who was born to provide what you would never, ever be able to provide for yourself.” - Paul David Tripp, Come, Let Us Adore Him: A Daily Advent Devotional
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