Voices of Our Past: The Apostle Paul | By George Fuller
Week 1, Day 4 | December 2
This Advent the Apostle Paul causes me to remember who I am and all I have in Christ.
God has won and there is no condemnation. I am at peace with God. I can be content in any situation. I do not need anything more than what I have in Christ. I can love as God loves.
My struggles to live well are intended to remind me that God is at work within me, moving me toward His will. I can give all my cares to the only one Who holds them all and works them all for good in the story of love unfolding in His world. Every one of us lives and moves and has our being in God Who does not play favorites. I can love as I am loved, heal what is broken and find joy in the hardships that come along with both. I do not need to fear death. I have a hope that longs for heaven and enables me to live each day that God has made because nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul bids me to be honest about the lure of Jerusalem and Rome. I can admit I use my religion to judge and exclude. I often work to pass the test of a god of my own making. There are times when I would rather win the lottery or an election than serve everyone and give away everything that is mine so everything can be God’s.
I come to the manger to receive the child that changes everything and sets me free. I see where the Christ child was born, who He became and how He loved. Until I fully accept that He is the Way, I will never know the peace that passes understanding.
PRAYER: Lord, The Christ child came to the city of David and changed everything. Come and be born in my soul, my city, my church, my world so I can “grasp how long and how wide and how deep is the love of Christ.” Amen.
George Fuller has been a minister since 1977 in Baptist churches in Arkansas and North Carolina and leads Silver Compassion. He plans to enjoy Advent with his wife Tammy, his church family in Raleigh, NC and the little people who call him “Gpops”, his favorite designation.