Gleanings for December 2

FAITH CONFESSIONS

PERSONALIZED PROMISE BIBLE

December is the month we especially remember the birth of Jesus. Peter and John were two of Jesus closest friends while He was on earth so we will be taking some of the words they wrote and make them our confession today and also on other occasions.

I Peter 1: 2 – 9: “According to His foreknowledge, God chose me to be His son/daughter, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, the receiving of Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and the sprinkling of His blood on my behalf.

“God’s unmerited favor, supernatural ability, bountiful blessings and endless peace are mine in abundance!

“Praise be to God, who in His great mercy towards me has given me the new birth, a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus.

“I am a partaker of an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. It is secured and reserved for me in heaven at this very moment.

“Through faith, I am shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is to be revealed in the last time.

“In that day all aspects of the curse will be removed and I will no longer have to fight to maintain what is mine as a child of God.

“Until then, however, I must fight. But this is no big deal for me, for I greatly rejoice that, even though I now must persevere through many grief and trials, eternity awaits me at the end of the race. Grief and trials are but an opportunity for me to show that my faith is genuine.

“My faith is precious to me—a commodity of greater worth than gold. Like gold, it is proved genuine when I am tested by trials and tribulations of every kind.

“But unlike gold, which perishes even when refined, my faith shall endure in abundant production and will result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus returns.

“Though I have not seen Jesus, I love Him, believe in Him and rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, for I have received the greatest product of my faith: the salvation of my soul.”

I John 2: 15 – 17: “I do not cherish the world or the things that the world has to offer (outside of, or contrary to, the things of God), for I know that those who cherish the world do not have the love of the Father in them.

I also know that everything of the world—the cravings of the fallen nature, the lusts of the eyes and all arrogant boastings—does not come from the Father, but from the world.

“The world and all of its desires will pass away, but I, as a born-again child of God, doing the will of God, shall remain and live the God-kind of life throughout eternity.”

I John 2: 20: “I have an anointing from the Holy One to know and understand all things.”

THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH!