Daily D – John 3:16

by David Bowman | Dec 21, 2024 | Daily D | 0 comments

John 3:16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (CSB)

—

I finally made it to the grocery store to take care of my bride’s business. Guess which songs were not playing as I wandered the aisles and paid for my purchases?

I have to say, I was a little disappointed. Last Christmas was on repeat in my head. That earworm will not die.

Mariah Carey did not perk up my day with

I don’t want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don’t care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you, yeah

Oh well. Much ado about nothing, I suppose.

A pleasant young woman named Rachel helped me with the aforementioned business matter. Almost everyone I encountered was pleasant. Store employees were helpful. It was as if perky tunes and the reason for the season made spirits light.

Once again, I was reminded of how God loves everyone, and so should we. This includes people who think those two songs fit the season.

Jesus shows us how to live and how to love. He lived in a manner that exalted God and served everyone. He loved us so much that he died to pay the penalty for our sins. This includes my judgmental attitude about people who like Christmas songs that aren’t really Christmas songs.

My sanctification is not quite complete, apparently.

God loves even the guy whose muffler makes sounds like a shotgun and who enjoys deploying this noisemaker when I am trying to go to sleep.

God loves everyone who irritates me. He loves everyone who irritates you, too. (I needed to include that last sentence to make myself feel better.)

One thing God and I agree on is that neither of us wants anyone to perish. We want everyone to come to know and experience his grace, mercy, kindness, and salvation. I want for you what God wants for you: A full and meaningful life. I want for you a life overflowing with a deepening and abiding relationship with Jesus that is real and loving.

Despite my temptation to allow a curmudgeonly spirit to shape my experience of Christmas, I want to have a heart as reshaped and renewed as Scrooge on Christmas morning. May God so bless us every one.

—

I will celebrate and share The Gift of Christmas.

—

Our Father, thank you for loving us so much that you did for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Thank you for making it possible for us to live full and meaningful lives. Thank you for grace and mercy to wash away the pains of our past and the irritations of our present. Thank you for the gift of salvation that is ours for the asking. Bless us every one with this one gift that endures forever. Amen.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

CONNECT WITH ME!

Interested in learning more about Church Unique or Life Younique? Send a note through the Get In Touch box or Message me through the Facebook link above.

GET IN TOUCH!

READ MY BLOG!

Daily D – Genesis 46:1-4

Genesis 46:1-4 So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

“I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”

Daily D – Genesis 45:4-8

Genesis 45:4-8 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, Lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.”

Daily D – Genesis 41:1

Genesis 41:1 “When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile,”

Daily D – Genesis 39:2-6

Genesis 39:2-6 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Daily D – Genesis 35:27-29

Genesis 35:27-29 Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.