I am thankful for Christmas. We celebrate His birth, His gift of love and life.  But we also ought to remember that Christ has come and He will come again.

There are times, perhaps that we should be sad, mournful and grieved. I saw his crestfallen face. Is it out disappointment that arose out of simplistically high expectation? Or a genuine grief for her blind eyes that fail to see. Perhaps it is both. Lord, break our hearts for what breaks yours. For Your Kingdom’s cause.

The sinister, subtle and pernicious influence of evil masked in the harmless pursuit of betterment. The preaching of the doctrine of self-esteem and worth being based upon appearance and achievement. It becomes our preoccupation, not just a distraction. It blinds our eyes to the things unseen. It makes us uptight and fret over the wrong things. It shackles us, binds us with the elusion of freedom.

I have been unable to simply point out the reality and supremacy of the truth. Lord, help me to be simple, help me to understand, listen and respond rightly, sensitively and convictedly. I need to tell, and tell it well and complete…

Recently, I’ve been reminded of how iron sharpens iron. As people of the gospel, the cross is central to our lives but I often slip away, sometimes consciously while others unconsciously. When I’m surrounded by God’s family of believers, their passion and conviction surfaces the lack of it in my life.  Their zeal and fervour spurs me on and prompts me to ask myself why am I not loving and trusting God the way I should. They encourage me, they prod me on.  They are channels of God’s gracious love, helping me to look to Him and live for Him when the opposing tides of the world are ever so alluring and strong. Therefore, I hope to be a channel too.

Fellowship is more than Christians keeping company with each other. We share in a common purpose and help each other along to fulfil it. What else do we share in common?

The Word of Life

 ¹That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ²The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴We write this to make our^[a] joy complete. 1 John 1:1-4

We have fellowship with the Father and Jesus as well. That is because we share in common eternal life. It thrills my mind that I get to share in fellowship with the God and Jesus and partake of this eternal life that I do not deserve.

¹¹And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:11-12

Therefore rightly speaking, eternal life starts when we have Jesus. When we have Jesus, we are called from death to sin to life with in Christ, to live for Him and live with Him.

But the Christian life is often filled with interesting paradoxes. We are in the world and not of the world. There is a permanent tension. We are citizens of heaven but also citizens here on Earth, there but not there yet. We are still a work in progress, a lot more to progress.

I thank God for giving me this fellowship of believers to keep me in check, to put me to grief for my sinful state and encourage me to keep moving ahead.

Wendy reminded me today that I don’t trust enough in the power of the gospel.

While Paul wrote in Romans 1:16

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew then for the Gentile.

It is the power of God, not my power to convince or persuade. It is not the intellectual arguments that win. It is not correcting a person’s mindset and attitude that is the key. It is presenting the gospel, trusting in God’s power to convict.

There is a place for all that so that we are always prepared to give an answer for the hope that we have but ultimately, it is the gospel-Christ and Christ crucified.

The method may differ but I must not be ashamed. Instead, I need to be convinced, amazed and in love with the gospel. Dear Lord, please teach me  to understand the gospel, love the gospel, take risks for the gospel and live for the gospel. May I understand Christ’s work on the cross.