Before Christ's Christmas coming and His Second Coming, we need to make a highway in the desert. This desert highway is both for us (Bar 5:7) and the Lord to use (Lk 3:4). We are to use the highway first to get out of the exile of sin. Then Jesus will come on it to take us home from our exile on earth (see 1 Pt 2:11).
We construct and travel this highway by repentance — deep repentance. By repentance, we fill in the emptiness of sin's "death valley" and level mountains of pride and inflated egos (see Lk 3:5). As we confess our sins, the Lord makes straight (Lk 3:5) our winding excuses, rationalizations, unrealistic denials, and self-deceptions. The rough, jagged, cutting, harmful edges of our selfish attitudes are made smooth through repentance, forgiveness, and Reconciliation (Lk 3:5).
Make and drive the highway of repentance into Christmas and heaven.
| PRAYER: | Father, keep me on the holy highway (Is 35:8). |
| PROMISE: | "My prayer is that your love may more and more abound, both in understanding and wealth of experience, so that with a clear conscience and blameless conduct you may learn to value the things that really matter, up to the very day of Christ." –Phil 1:9-10 |
| PRAISE: | Praise Jesus, Emmanuel, "God-with-us" (see Mt 1:23), risen Lord, Savior, and God! |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College