CHRISTMAS ADVENT: I believe in Christ because by Jean Snow VanOrden
DECEMBER 1st: I believe in Christ because I believe in love. I believe in the ” love of God that is shed abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore it is the most desirable above all things.” (1 Nephi 11:22, Romans 5:5) God’s love is the source of all love. Love we can choose to humbly embrace, act upon, and thus receive greater love. Christ is the physical and spiritual revelation of God’s love.
DECEMBER 2nd: I believe in Christ because I believe in the worth of a soul. Christ gave his life as a ransom for all who accept that gift. The worth of a soul is the priceless gift of God’s Son.
DECEMBER 3rd: I believe in Christ because I believe in the eternal nature of the soul, of every child of God. Just as matter and energy cannot be destroyed but only changed from one state to another. Human consciousness cannot be destroyed but is nurtured from one state to another through the love of God, the power of the atonement, and Christ’s resurrection from the dead.
“Now, verily I say unto you, that through the redemption which is made for you is brought to pass the resurrection from the dead. And the spirit and the body are the soul of man.And the resurrection from the dead is the redemption of the soul.” (Doc & Cov 88:14-16)
DECEMBER 4th: I believe in Christ because I believe in justice and mercy. Not the limited and shallow justice of men but the justice of a loving God who judges with perfect justice and mercy, who looks not on outward appearances but on the heart.
December 5th: I believe in Christ because I believe in goodness. The goodness of a perfect character to whom I can look for instruction, inspiration and example. Goodness without vanity, goodness that invites, and entices.
December 6th: I believe in Christ because I believe in humility. Christ is THE meek and lowly one. In the presence of His greatness, one senses the peace and strength of true humility.
December 7th: I believe in Christ because I believe in patience. In Christ, patience will bear fruit in this life and in eternity. His patience will bear with us as we patiently strive to see ourselves and others as He does.
“But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” Luke 8:15
December 8th: I believe in Christ because I believe in freedom. Freedom from the inside out. The kind of freedom Christ had although he stood in bonds before Pilate, he still had all the power. Freedom from ego, freedom from prejudice, freedom from bitterness and more.
December 9th: I believe in Christ because I believe in His healing grace. Healing through a power beyond my own. Healing by and through the grace of God which I have personally experienced: physical, spiritual and emotional.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, ” (Luke 4:18)
December 10th: I believe in Christ because I believe in His complete empathy. No matter what pain, sorrow, darkness or discouragement I suffer, Christ has “descended below all things” and can give succor born of complete understanding. No matter what I experience, I am never alone. All my human companions will at some point be unable to follow me where life takes me. Christ can accompany me from the depths of the abyss to the heights of joy.
December 12th: I believe in Christ because I believe in peace. The peace at the center of my being where Christ rules. Peace in Christ is an anchor to my soul when the storms and turbulence of life try to pull me under
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” ( John 14: 2)
December 13th: I believe in Christ because I believe in the glorious being that inspired the grandeur of Handel’s Messiah. This evening I attended my first sing-along Messiah performance. Musicians young and old worked long hours to prepare for no other reason than the privilege. Soloists sang for the joy of it. A random choir of music lovers came together to sing thrilling and resounding praise. Handel gave the world an amazing and enduring gift by virtue of his encounter with the Son of God through the power of the scriptures.
December 14th: I believe in Christ because I believe in beauty for ashes. Christ brought beauty for ashes. He takes the ashes of my sins, disappointments, and sorrows and gives the beauty of forgiveness, healing, a new life, a new creature.
Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
December 15th: I believe in Christ because I believe in moral authority. All moral authority rests in the perfect life and being of the Son of God: His teachings, His example, His perfect judgment and mercy.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (St.John 1:1-5)
December 16th: I believe in Christ because I believe in redemption. The human race has inflicted unspeakable horrors and miseries. Yet humanity also displays almost limitless potential for creativity, beauty, and goodness. Christ is willing to redeem us according to our own desires. He knows our potential. He desires our association. He will cause that all things shall work for our good if we will accept His invitation to “Come, follow me.”
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” (John 10:27)
December 17th: I believe in Christ because I believe in forgiveness. Forgiveness is the divine salve applied to all human suffering. Only in Christ can forgiveness achieve its full potency.
“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
December 18th: I believe in Christ because I believe in the wisdom and power of the scriptures that testify of Christ.
“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were bwritten for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” (Rom 15:4)
December 19th: I believe in Christ because some of the best people I know, people who have been great examples to me, have testified of Christ and shown the power of His teachings in their lives.
December 20th: I believe in Christ because I have applied His teachings in my life and experienced His healing.
December 21st: I believe in Christ because I believe that every longing of the human heart is fulfilled in Christ. We know him from long before we came to this earth. We knew him in a former life and in this mortal existence our longing for all things good is an echo of that past association that our spirit still yearns for.
December 22: I believe in Christ because I believe in more: more light, more knowledge, more intelligence, more love.
“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. ” (John 10:10)
December 23: I believe in Christ because I believe in reconciliation. In Christ human alienation from God and from each other can be bridged through His perfect understanding.
December 24: I believe in Christ because of the spirit and joy of Christmas: the innocence of a baby, the love of a mother, the awe of shepherds and wisemen, the music of angels, the light of a star illuminating the darkness . . .
the precious gift of God’s Son.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)