Thursday, December 24, 2015

Day 24, Advent Devotional Dec 24, 2015

Dec 24, 2015
Scripture of the Day:  
                Philippians 2:5-11 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%202:5-11)

Thought of the day:  One Lord Jesus Christ who is of same substance with the Father.
                The eve of Christmas is a perfect day for us to reflect on the person of Christ. Even small children will wonder at the amount of adoration that we give to this small child that was born in a manger. They might ask us, “Is Jesus God?” The answer is a resounding yes. As we confess in our creed daily, Christ is “of the same substance with the Father.” In other words our Lord Jesus Christ is equal to the Father. St Paul reveals this truth to us in a poetic passage of Philippians. In the second chapter we read of the incarnation in this manner: “though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself” (Philippians 2:6-7).
                Son of God emptied himself and became human. The equality with God the Father was not something to be grasped but something to be given up. St Paul reminds us that this self emptying is an example for all of us to follow. As we close our yearly meditation on the theme of “Growing as Disciples of Christ” let us follow the example of Christ and empty ourselves. What are we gripping onto very tightly in our lives? Is there anything that we are reluctant to give up? May we all follow the example of Christ.
Song of the Day:
Icon of the Day:
                Icon of the Dormition: https://iconreader.wordpress.com/2010/08/15/the-dormition-icon-of-hope/
Quote of the day:
"As one therefore of the forsaken, in that He too like us partook of blood and flesh, He says, Why forsookest Thou Me? which was [the utterance] of one who was undoing the forsaking that had come upon us and as it were winning the Father to Himself and calling Him to good favour to us as to Himself first.”

― Cyril of Alexandria, On the Unity of Christ

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