Dangers at Christmas

IN THIS SEASON OF EXTREME BUSYNESS, we Christians need to stay alert to any potential dangers. I’ll mention only four of them . . . along with some strategies that will allow us to combat each risk. First is the doctrinal danger of substituting the temporal for the eternal. Paul explains: Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. ROMANS 12:2

Incarnation

EVERY YEAR, as Christmas draws nearer, I remember a story Paul Harvey told on one of his radio broadcasts. It’s a tale that never grows old. One raw winter night the man heard an irregular thumping sound against the kitchen storm door. He went to a window and watched as tiny, shivering sparrows, attracted to the evident warmth inside, beat in vain against the glass.

Accountability

What do we mean by accountability? In the simplest terms, it is answering the hard questions. Accountability includes opening one’s life to a few carefully selected, trusted, loyal confidants who speak the truth—who have the right to examine, to question, to appraise, and to give counsel. People who are accountable usually have four qualities:

Overcoming Guilt by Remembering Whose We Are

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38–39) Dear gracious Father, we’re our own worst enemy. We focus on our failures rather than on Your rescues.

Staying Alert

Your mind is a muscle. It needs to be stretched to stay sharp. It needs to be prodded and pushed to perform. Let it get idle and lazy on you, and that muscle will become a pitiful mass of flab in an incredibly brief period of time. How can you stretch your mind? What are some good mental exercises that will keep the cobwebs away? I offer three suggestions: READ.

A Rare and Remarkable Virtue

Perhaps you’ve uttered the American’s Prayer at some anxious moment recently: Lord, give me patience . . . and I want it right now! This rare and remarkable virtue is within the and-so-forth section in Galatians chapter 5. You know how we quote that passage . . . “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and-so-forth.” That lazy habit has caused a very important series of virtues to become forgotten.

A Haughty Self

THERE’S NOTHING MORE DISTASTEFUL than someone who is set on self-glossing—offering his résumé and list of achievements unsolicited to everyone in the room. I confess, when I’m around a person like that I start to feel my skin crawl. Often, that type of person cannot see beyond his own ego to recognize that he is part of the problem; blame is always shifted to someone else;

Removing Sin

EVER FEEL WORN OUT BY the spinning of your wheels in the muck of sin? Are you fatigued from fighting the battle against your dark nature? Do you sometimes feel like throwing up your hands and surrendering to the constant barrage of spiritual attacks that attempt to lure you away from a life of holiness and devotion? We’ve all been there!

A “Renewed Mind” Is Essential

IS IT POSSIBLE TO THINK SO much like Christ that our minds operate on a different plane than those of others around us? Not only is it possible—it’s essential! The familiar words in Romans 12:1–2 need to be reviewed. And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.

The Power of Forgiveness

LATE ONE SPRING AARON, a seminary student, was asking God for a position at a church or at a Christian organization. When nothing happened, Aaron took a job driving a bus in a dangerous section of Chicago. Soon Aaron realized just how dangerous. A group of tough kids began to take advantage of the young driver.

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