Christmas gift - the Word of God
by Dr. Randy Peck

Greetings of love, joy, and peace!

Recently I prayed for God to bless this Christmas to make it the most special one ever for family and friends. Jesus is the true miracle of Christmas. The cross is why He came - that was His purpose. The reason for the season is Jesus, not what the world has to offer.

There is a great famine today in the Church for the Word of God. I choose not to let that be the case for me. I truly believe that the greatest gift I can share with anyone is the Word of God. I believe the greatest legacy I can leave is passion for the Word of God. I can only give away that which I possess.

The Bible is the inspired Word of God, the product of holy men of old who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. [Click here to answer the question "Why read the Bible?"]

This Christmas, I give to you the following from the 1st letter of John, the same John who wrote the Gospel of John, the same John who is described as the disciple that Jesus loved.

1Jo 1:5-10 (NKJV) - This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

1Jo 2:1-3 (NKJV) - My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.

1Jo 2:6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

1Jo 2:9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

1Jo 2:15-17 (NKJV) - Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

1Jo 2:20 (NKJV) - But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

1Jo 2:22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. (NKJV)

1Jo 2:25 And this is the promise that He (Jesus) has promised us--eternal life. (NKJV)

1Jo 2:29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that every one who does right is born of him. (RSV)

1Jo 3:4-7 (RSV) - Every one who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does right is righteous, as he is righteous.

1Jo 3:9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. (NKJV)

1Jo 3:11 - For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, (NKJV)

1Jo 3:13 Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. (NKJV)

1Jo 3:16-17 (NKJV) - By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

1Jo 3:24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. (NKJV)

1Jo 4:1-2 (NKJV) - Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,

1Jo 4:4 - You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (NKJV)

1Jo 4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (NKJV)

1Jo 4:14-15 (NKJV) - And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

1Jo 4:19-20 (NKJV) - We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

1Jo 5:2-5 (NKJV) - By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

1Jo 5:12 He who has the Son (Jesus) has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (NKJV)

In the love of Jesus Christ, my LORD and my Savior,

Randy