Tagged: verse for the day

THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST

“Anyone who sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, should petition God, and thus life will be given to the sinner.” —1 John 5:16 Many have not had Christmas because they have not repented of sin in their lives. We should petition the Lord for sinners and life will be given to them (1 Jn 5:16). Through the Lord’s forgiveness, they will be given Christmas just before the season ends. The devil thought he had robbed them of Christmas. However, by prayer, we rob the robber and give many people another opportunity for Christmas. On this third...

VICTOR OR VICTIM?

“Who, then, is conqueror of the world? The one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” —1 John 5:5 We are victors over the world or victims of the world. Only by faith in Jesus as God will we escape being victimized. Unless we pray to the Lord, we will become the prey of the world. Either Jesus runs our lives, or we are manipulated into running our lives into the ground, even into hell. By ourselves, we are unable to protect ourselves from unscrupulous, hateful demons. Of ourselves, our lives are necessarily out of control. Jesus is...

MIRACLE OF MIRACLES

“That we have passed from death to life we know because we love the brothers. The man who does not love is among the living dead.” —1 John 3:14 Throughout Advent, the Lord through His Word has promised us a miraculous Christmas. The blind would see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, and the dumb speak. Many of us may not have experienced such dramatic miracles this Christmas season. Nonetheless, there’s another miracle that is even more dramatic and more important: the miracle of unconditional love, love for enemies, love for the unlovable. This is the ultimate miracle of the...

A CLOSE CALL

“When Jesus turned around and noticed them following Him, He asked them, ‘What are you looking for?’ ” —John 1:38 Andrew and another disciple of John the Baptizer followed Jesus from a distance. Likewise, today there are many long-distance followers of Jesus. Are you close to the Lord? Or are your prayers “smoke signals”? Jesus has become a man. He even gives Himself to us in the Eucharist to be closer than close to us. He challenges us to look into our hearts and ask ourselves what we are looking for (Jn 1:38). Jesus, our Rabbi and Teacher (see Jn...

O HOLY NIGHT

“If you consider the holiness that is His, you can be sure that everyone who acts in holiness has been begotten by Him.” —1 John 2:29 One of the main purposes of the Christmas season is to grow in holiness — to become more like God, to take on God’s character. This holy Christmas time begins a holy year in a holy life, which begins a holy, eternal life. The Lord has created us to be holy as He is holy (see 1 Jn 3:3), to be “perfect in holiness” (1 Thes 5:23). We should “hunger and thirst for holiness”...