Our Daily Bread: Jesus Light of the Worldサンプル

Christmas Every Day! I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. -Romans 15:13 My five-year-old niece, Annica, was puzzled. If it wasn’t Christmas yet, why were there already Christmas lights up? And wreaths? And garland? As I explained that Christmas is not just one day but a season, her eyes widened with wonder. “It’s Christmas every day!” she exclaimed, jumping up and down and clapping her hands for joy. That moment remains for me a priceless picture of pure joy—the kind that naturally and spontaneously bursts into celebration. Annica was profoundly right—it is Christmas every day. Each day has been transformed by the reality we celebrate each Christmas: a God who chose to enter our world, share our pain, and forever defeat evil and death (Hebrews 2:14–15) lives with us. And no matter how much of that victory we can’t yet see (Romans 8:24–25), each of us today can experience the kind of joy that’s grounded in genuine hope (15:4) when we begin to comprehend what God’s done and that He did it for us. Then, every day, those of us who have put our faith in Jesus experience the priceless gift of having been welcomed into the family of God, a family united by the Spirit’s unconditional love (vv. 5–7). Every day we can experience the joy and freedom of living through the power of Jesus’ Spirit (v. 13). And every day is a fresh opportunity to lift up, once more, our gratitude and praise to Him (vv. 5–6). By Monica La Rose Where are you still waiting and longing to see the results of Christ’s victory? What experiences of God’s love and grace can you look to for encouragement and hope? Loving God, help me to once more learn to live with the hope and joy of a child. Did you enjoy this reading plan? Visit [ ourdailybread.org/YouVersion ](http://ourdailybread.org/YouVersion) for daily devotional content.