Thought for December 21, 2024

•  1872: Phileas Fogg completes his trip in Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days."
• 1891: First basketball game under the Naismith rules played in Springfield MA
• 1898: The Curie's discover radium
• 1929: First group hospital insurance plan offered--Dallas TX
• 1937: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" premiers
• 1959: Tom Landry becomes coach of the Cowboys
• 1970: Supreme Court lowers voting age in federal elections to 18
• 1988: Pan Am 103 destroyed over Lockerbie Scotland killing 258
• 1989: VP Dan Quayle sends Christmas cards with misspelling
• 1995: Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control
• Born: Thomas Becket, Roger Williams, Benjamin Disraeli, Walter Hagen, Josh Gibson, Paul Winchell, Joe Paterno, Phil Donohue, Jane Fonda, Frank Zappa, Samuel L Jackson, Chris Evert, Ray Romano, Florence Griffith Joyner, Kiefer Sutherland, Karrie Webb, 
• Died: John Newton ["Amazing Grace"], James Parkinson, F Scott Fitzgerald, George Patton, Dick Enberg

Thought:

Finishing the week looking at 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1 today. This week we have been considering what it means to be ambassadors for Christ carrying His message of reconciliation. In 7:1, Paul says that because we have God's promises we should be devoted to perfecting holiness. Think about that. Some of you are perfectionist. You have difficulty unless everything is exactly right. In fact, sometimes it is hard to complete tasks because you are stuck trying to be perfect. For me and others, I don't often have that problem--maybe I say it is good enough, even for government work. Here Paul reminds us that our goal is to be conformed to the image of Christ--that is holy and perfect. It is a goal we shall not reach in this life, but yet it is our all consuming goal. 

Now, our seeking perfect holiness is undergirded by His precious promises. We stand on His promises, walk in His promises and rely on His promises. And the scripture tells us that all the promises of God are yes and amen in Jesus. in 6:16-18 we read some of God' promises. How can we seek perfect holiness? We seek it because He is walking with us. Look at these verses:

• God dwells with us and in us. We do not seek perfection in our strength or power. We rely on the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to seek to live holy lives. We are not alone trying to achieve perfection, we are new creatures in Christ and He is with us.
• God calls us His people. He are His children by adoption through the blood. So in Christ we have a new DNA allowing us to seek holiness. We are part of His family so we can grow to look just like our Brother and Father.
• We have been called out from darkness into His marvelous light, so we no longer walk in the darkness but are led by the lamp unto our feet and light unto our paths. We have the light to guide us to holiness.
• God welcomes us into His presence through Jesus. And in His house there is holiness, purity, perfection. Truly, Christ in us our hope of glory. 

Dying to imperfect self and living in and for the perfect Christ draws us toward perfection. And one sweet day we will sing up there this song of victory. 

Blessings

Larry