We have a taste, though, of the heaven to come. When we trust in Christ, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our bodies. As we grow in our relationship with G.o.d, we give more attention to the Spirit's whispers and nudges, and we respond in increasing faith and obedience. The Spirit's presence is a down payment for the future and a guarantee that G.o.d's promises will be fulfilled one day.

We live by our five senses in this world. Every interaction, every activity, and every meal comes through our G.o.d-given sensory organs. But spiritual life is different. It operates in the unseen realms and is based on faith, not feelings. It's focused on G.o.d's promises, not tangible things.

Spiritual growth comes as we pay attention to the Holy Spirit's activity reminding us that G.o.d's promises are true and that we can trust Him to do what He says He will do. Some of us are like Thomas, who said he wouldn't believe unless he could touch Jesus' wounds (see John 20:24-25), but as we grow in our faith, we gradually become more aware of the presence of an unseen world that is just as real as what we can touch, taste, smell, hear, and see.

How much are you like Thomas, needing to see to believe?

What are some of the most important of G.o.d's promises to you?

"Sight is not faith neither is feeling faith; but believing when we neither see, hear, nor feel is faith, and everywhere the Bible tells us our salvation is to be by faith. Therefore we must believe before we feel and often against our feelings, if we would honor G.o.d by our faith."-HANNAH WHITALL SMITH

DECEMBER 21.

CHRIST'S MISSION

G.o.d did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

JOHN 3:17.

SOME OF US HAVE AN IMAGE OF G.o.d as the meanest schoolteacher we've ever had, someone who demands perfection and delights in punishing us when we don't measure up to that standard. We live with the faint hope that this time we'll do better, but in our hearts, we're sure we'll fail and get blasted again.

Jesus shattered that false image of G.o.d. His heart, His delight, His pa.s.sion was to impart the love of G.o.d to every person on the planet. He moved toward the people others condemned so He could demonstrate His grace to them. He touched lepers, befriended prost.i.tutes, and stopped to give attention to sick women. All these were condemned by others, but not by Jesus.

Was Jesus ever tough? Yes, He reserved harsh language for those who condemned the poor and oppressed the needy. He was angry that anyone would get in the way of G.o.d's desire to rescue, redeem, and restore broken people.

Jesus' love for people wasn't just sentimental feeling. He took initiative and action to connect with people, touch them physically and spiritually, and make a difference in their lives. A mean schoolteacher? No, not at all. He's the most loving parent and dearest friend anyone can ever have.

Why do you think many people see G.o.d as harsh and condemning?

What would (or does) it mean in your life to see Him as loving, kind, and active in His grace toward you?

"I can't understand how G.o.d could love us so much that two thousand years before we were born He sent His Son into the world to die on the cross for the sins we were going to commit. But just because I don't understand that love doesn't mean I can't accept it."-ZIG ZIGLAR

DECEMBER 22.

BEING RIGHT BY DOING GOOD.

Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

GALATIANS 6:9-10.

WE SOMETIMES HEAR someone cynically say, "No good deed goes unpunished." Occasionally, there's a measure of truth in the statement. When we try to do the right thing, it can backfire and get people upset with us. But our good deeds never backfire with G.o.d. We have the promise that He always rewards us for doing the right thing when we help others.

"Doing good" is an exceptionally broad category. We do good when we notice something positive in a person's life and affirm it, when we take time to listen, when we love someone enough to speak the truth and confront him or her about a sin, when we set aside our agenda to offer a helping hand, and countless other ways. Paul said we should do these things "as we have opportunity," which is all day every day!

Paul also identifies the priority of doing good to those in G.o.d's family. The world is watching to see if we really love one another. If they see that we genuinely support one another with actions, not just lip service, they may become convinced that faith in Christ makes a difference.

And it does.

Who are some people you know who are examples of those who do good?

What are some things you can do today for others?

"We must first be made good before we can do good. We must first be made just before our works can please G.o.d."-HUGH LATIMER

DECEMBER 23.

CAN'T LOVE YOU MORE

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.

JOHN 15:13.

IT'S EASY TO TALK a good game. We say we're committed to our spouses, our kids, and our friends, but the measure of love is the depth of sacrifice we are willing to make for them. How often are we willing to forgo our own pleasures, comforts, and desires for the good of another person?

We see genuine love in times of crisis, when a person risks life and peace to help someone in need. Soldiers have difficulty putting words to the bond they build in combat when the men next to them are willing to give their lives for one another. Did they die for their country, for democracy, for their unit? Yes, but more than that, they died for their friend in the foxhole with them.

Caring for a chronically sick relative is another demonstration of authentic, "greater love," as are patience with an annoying person, forgiving a habitual offender, and speaking truth when it would be easier to run away and hide.

We live in a self-absorbed world where personal rights reign supreme, but every society has been selfish to one degree or another. Self-sacrifice is as rare as it is powerful; however, it's the inherent nature of believers who follow the example of the One who risked all and gave all for those who didn't understand or appreciate what He was doing. His life and His death are the ultimate models of love. We are wise to think deeply and often about His patience, His tenacity, His single-minded focus, and eventually His supreme sacrifice for us.

What does authentic love look like to you?

In what ways was Christ's life as much of a sacrifice as His death?

"The greatest enemy of Christianity may be people who say they believe in Jesus but who are no longer astonished and amazed."-MIKE YACONELLI

DECEMBER 24.

LEAVING A LEGACY.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of G.o.d, did not consider it robbery to be equal with G.o.d, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

PHILIPPIANS 2:5-7.

WE USUALLY THINK of someone's legacy as a stellar achievement or an acc.u.mulation of wealth. Christ's legacy, though, is quite different. His life is remembered as one of service instead of power, one of giving instead of achieving earthly success.

At the heart of Jesus' legacy is selfless love that values others over Himself. He had it made in heaven. He lived in the fullness of glory, attended by angels and without a care in the world. Because He loved us, He made a choice to stoop to our level, to connect with us in a way we could understand (if not always accept), and to serve us to the nth degree by dying as our subst.i.tute.

The more we grasp how much Christ gave up and how much He gave, the more we'll be amazed at His love, and the more we'll want to emulate Him. Who are the people around us who need our love? They are the people we see everywhere we look: next to us in our beds, down the hall in our homes, in the next office, next door in our neighborhoods. They're the people we talk to on the phone and those we e-mail. Leaving a great legacy is pouring out our lives for them, speaking truth to them, encouraging them to do the right thing for G.o.d's sake, celebrating when they do, and forgiving when they don't.

Thankfully, our lives are peppered with people who are leaving a legacy like this. It could be a gracious grandmother, a loving nurse, a faithful friend, a forgiving dad, or a generous boss. These people are leaving a powerful legacy of selfless care. We can too.

What kind of legacy does G.o.d want you to leave?

What steps can you take today to forge that legacy?

"No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind him distinct and legitimate reasons for having pa.s.sed through it."-GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER

DECEMBER 25.

THE FULLNESS OF TIME.

We, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, G.o.d sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

GALATIANS 4:3-5.

THE PROMISE OF THE MESSIAH had been given many times by many prophets for over two thousand years, but for generations, He didn't appear. People longed for Him to come, but G.o.d refused to be hurried. Then, when the moment was right, Christ stepped out of eternity into time to pay the ultimate price to rescue us.

Why did He appear at that precise moment and at that particular place? We don't know the mind of G.o.d, but when we look at the vast sweep of history, we notice some amazing "coincidences" in first-century Palestine. We can identify three factors as CPR: communication, Pax Romana, and roads.

Communication: Until the Roman Empire conquered virtually all the known world, people existed in local tribes and roaming bands of hunter-gatherers. Rome stamped its image on every culture under its banner, and two languages, Latin and Greek, became the lingua francas ("common languages") of the empire.

Pax Romana ("the Roman peace"): Rome's military victories were won because the Romans had superior armor, weapons, tactics, and leaders. As new lands were conquered, fighting ceased and peace spread throughout the land.

Roads: Trade and commerce thrived in the Roman Empire, at least partly because the Romans built the most extensive and finest transportation system the world had ever seen-and would see for the next fifteen hundred years. Roman roads are still in use today in parts of the ancient empire.

Christ came, lived, and died at a time and place where the gospel message could explode across miles and cultures to reach every person. He could have come at any time, but from a historical point of view, few other periods have offered as many advantages for the spread of the gospel.

Why are these three factors important to the spread of the gospel after Jesus came?

What are some similar factors today that make it convenient to tell people about Him?

"A pregnant virgin gave birth to the promised Son of G.o.d at a time when the world was pregnant with possibilities."-IKE REIGHARD

DECEMBER 26.

THE VALUE OF FRIENDSHIP.