The greatest obstacle to friendship in middle age isn't that nobody wants friends. It's that everyone is waiting for someone else to go first. But here's the good news: Christ has already gone first for you. And because He has, you are free to go first for someone else.
Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a time for everything under heaven. But God has also placed eternity in our hearts, and that makes us strange creatures: able to rejoice in this life yet always aching for a life that only Christ can give.
What does it take to draw near to God? It takes a perfect priest, a finished work, and a broken body to open the way. In short, it takes everything, which is exactly what Christ has given for you.

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You cannot sever the saint from the sinner. Christians remain both simultaneously.
In grace, God chooses to love his people.
There is no one — not now, not ever — who cannot be included in the family of God through the efficacy of Christ’s saving power.
Peace is ours, even when what seems like the end draws near, because we know who Christ is and we know what Christ has done, and we know that who he is and what he’s done is all for us.
Huff did not stop there, though. Towards the end of the interview, he asked Rogan, "What do you think of Jesus?"
It's a new year, and you are still the same you: a sinner who is simultaneously perfect in every way because Christ declares it to be so.
It is impossible to live our lives in a way that would convince God of our value because he already knows our value. He is the one who gave it to us.
Belief at Christmas is neither neat nor safe. It is the path that leads to the manger and, from there, to the cross.
The love of God is creative, always giving, always reviving.
In Scripture, laments are raw expressions of grief, but they always point to hope. What if our culture’s obsession with holiday lights is an unconscious way of crying out, “We need good news, and we need it now”?
Below is an excerpt from the personal devotional included in this year’s 1517 Advent Resources.
This article is part of Stephen Paulson’s series on the Psalms.