Titus 2:11-14   For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

​Some are already waiting for Christmas.  Let's look forward to Christ, "our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ"!

Ephesians 2:22   In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Do you know a believer in Jesus who doesn't worship like you?  Maybe he doesn't even think like you, or vote like you.  If he is a true believer, he is still your brother by blood (not your blood, but Jesus' blood).  In fact, you are being built together.  Just as 2 boards are bolted together, you are inseparable as you are being built together into a "dwelling place for God" by the work of the Holy Spirit.  So even though you think you have nothing in common, you do.  Jesus told every one of us to "love one another".  What we have in common is the family resemblance of love.  That is what we are known for.  That is how the world knows that we are brothers and sisters.  So the next time you meet a brother or sister who doesn't look like you, love them anyway.  Because that is who we are!

1 Peter 1:3-4   Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you

The only time you receive an inheritance is when someone dies.  Jesus died for you, but it was because he was raised from the dead, that He left an inheritance for you.  What are you looking forward to?

Romans 15:13   May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

This benediction is doctrinally rich.  It is God who fills us with joy and peace, when we choose to believe.  The Holy Spirit fills us, and our lives are filled to overflowing with hope.  Do you know this joy, peace and hope?  It only comes from knowing Jesus.

Romans 8:31   If God is for us, who can be against us?

This doesn't mean that whatever I decide, it will succeed because God will be my silent partner, ensuring my success.

As Abraham Lincoln was said to have stated, "It's not whether God is on my side, but whether I am on His." 

But God is for us.  He keeps us, nourishes us and does all that a Shepherd does for His lambs.  With God as our strength, no one and nothing can succeed against us.  Live in the power of God today.

Psalm 63:1   O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Come thirsty to God and let Him fill you to overflowing!

Hebrews 11:1   Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

What is faith?  Faith is not wishful thinking.  It isn’t your Christmas list.  Faith is the assurance of what we hope for.  It is the conviction of what we cannot see.  Faith is believing that God’ Word is true even when others mock us for it.  Faith is being convinced that the eternal life that we can’t see is more real than the visible but temporary world that we walk in.  Faith is trusting the One who leads us to His Father God.  Even when we can't see Him and can't know what He is doing in our lives, we know that He will never let us fall.

2 Peter 3:8-9   But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Many times we pray selfishly.  We ask for what we think is best, instead of asking God to give us what He knows is best for us.  We wait impatiently for God to do what we have decided He should do for us.

But God is not our genie.  He is the only One who sees the end from the beginning.  We see the one tiny spot called our lives, but he sees the entire picture from the vantage point of eternity.  If God seems slow, it is only because we don't know His timing.  

In Habakkuk 2:3, God says to the prophet, "For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie.  If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay."

The vision waits, but it is hastening, hurrying to the end.  It may seem slow, but wait for it, it won't delay in coming.  But not in your timing, and not in my timing.  Only in God's timing.  He knows the right time.

Habakkuk 1:5   
Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded.  For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.

Habakkuk complained about the social injustice around him.  God's answer to him was this:  Look around and realize that I am at work in the world and in your life.  Even if you don't understand, remember that you can trust Me.  

When we don't understand what is happening in our lives and in our world, we need to remember that God is our Father.  He loves us, and He does what is best for us.  We too can trust Him in everything.

Psalm 51:10-12   Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

I once paid $1 for an antique oak desk.  It had been painted multiple times.  It was full of grease, nicks and stains.  But when my dad and I restored it, the wood shone through.  It was beautiful, but it still had every nick and flaw.

David had taken Bathsheba as his own, killing his friend, her husband.  And he was caught in his sin.  He could never go back to the way things were before, but he prayed for God to renew and restore him.

Just like that desk, David's outward circumstances hadn't changed.  But he was cleansed and restored to joy.  When we come to Jesus, He transforms our hearts.  We still have the stains and scars of our lives, but He uses them to create beauty in our lives.  They become part of our story, as we share Jesus with other hurting people.

So ask Him today to "create a clean heart" and "renew a right spirit" in you.  He will never leave you.  Instead He will restore you to joy.