Ten thousand earnest Christmas pageants offer us some cherub child, dressed as an angel, stepping forth to utter words that sound well-nigh impossible.

“Fear not,” he says, “for behold I bring you tidings of great joy.” (Luke 2:10).

“Fear not?” we think, but never say. “Does God not know our real lives?” That declaration echoing through centuries has shaped how many think of God. We think He’s chiding us for being quite normally afraid of that which ought to terrify—a brilliant light; an other-worldly stranger shouting in the night; the loudest, largest choir Earth has ever heard.

Now hear what that sweet angel really said: “You can stop being afraid now.”

For fear quite naturally results when humans meet the otherness of God and those He sends to share good news. The birth of Jesus was the broadcast we have all been waiting for: we need no longer be afraid.

Whatever views we’ve held of God; whatever fears have made us doubt His kindness or His goodness, Jesus is the living proof that there’s no reason to continue in our fear.

This Christmas, thank God for the grace that lights our midnights and will calm each anxious fear. You can stop being afraid now.

And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

It isn’t only doubters who bemoan the passing year.

Believers also crouch against the onslaught of the news. Tragic wars that never end; the end of good and gentle folk; the dull monotony of pain that robs our midnight of its sleep.

And one more baby, born into a world where thousands never see one week. 

But here we witness Heaven’s great surprise. In weakness was obscured great strength. That fragile child—He once threw galaxies around, and knows their numbers, range and size. The painful moment of His birth let loose a tide of healing that forever changed the meaning of our pain and how we get through midnights.

He laid His hands upon the broken; He overturned the fortunes of the greedy; and in His name, a thousand tyrants fled into the night. Because He lived—because He lives—our mangled world began, at last, to breathe again, to hope again.

For sake of grace, the dread of God—or many gods—became as Heaven wanted it, a friendship rich with joy and light. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

This Christmas, let the hope once born with Jesus raise your heart and calm your fears. This Child we celebrate is still the Lord—the Master of uncounted years.

And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

An old regulation from the era when most people traveled by train included this puzzling requirement: “When two trains approach a crossing both shall stop, and neither shall go ahead until the other has passed by.”

The long-ago rule is, of course, a prescription for neither movement nor change. But it sounds just like the ways we all behave when we find ourselves in conflict with someone: neither of us will move until the other has moved first. 

Nations face off with arsenals of bristling armaments; religious groups invoke mutual condemnations for differing beliefs; spouses live in icy tension, waiting for the other to thaw. 

In His mercy, God didn’t wait for us to move first. “God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Rom 5:8). Before we ever had a righteous thought or even wanted to be reconciled to God, Jesus offered Himself as the initiator, the peacemaker, the One who would move first. 

Grace always moves first. God doesn’t wait for our apologies or repentance to step forward with forgiveness and embrace. The love and joy we crave is always moving toward us. 

When it reaches you, receive it. 

And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

It is likely the oldest question humanity has ever asked: “What must we do to perform the works of God?”  

And for millennia, honest, searching people have provided their own answers to the question. Magnificent temples and cathedrals have been built; exquisite liturgies have been composed; amazing acts of kindness have unfolded—all in the hope God would be pleased with the work, the toil, the effort, the prayers.  

But when the question was put to the One whom the Bible calls the Son of God, “Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent’”(John 6:29).

He who flung the galaxies for joy, who holds this tiny blue-green planet in His warm embrace—He doesn’t need our sweat and toil. What brings Him happiness is when we choose—in love, through grace, with gratitude—to place our trust in heaven’s greatest gift: “God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him” (John.3.17).

Grace moves us to believe, and only then, to act. What work we do through faith in Christ grows from our gratitude. 

So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.”

The poet’s words from long ago ring true each dawn. It may be finches perching on the feeder; it might be pigeons cooing on some ledge; it could be sparrows clustered on an edge. But somehow, with the rising light, our spirits rise as we discover that God’s world is moving, warming, singing once again. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

Against the midnight of our fears, we hear the Lover of our souls: “Not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. . . . So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows” (Matt 10:29, 31).

Grace sings because hope is embedded in our hearts. The God who formed us planted a great yearning for redemption deep within—a core belief that we may yet find joy and song by leaning forward to His day.

Step into light. Pick up the tune. God gave us hope: His name is Jesus.

And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

We are not alone . . .

Depending on how you see the universe, that thought could bring you comfort—or deep terror.

If you view everything beyond your fence as threat, as something to be feared, you’ll spend your days defending only what you already have and what you’ve previously learned.

But if, through grace, you can be open to a world where love and beauty grow and blossom, you will taste joy—the joy for which God made you. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Isa 52:7).

Grace is a declaration that we have been befriended by the One who rules the universe. The greatest Other who ever was became one of us, one with us, one on our side. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Jesus is the living proof that we are not alone, and never need be so again.

So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

The mystery is that grace still finds us, hidden well beneath the cellar stairs—angry, broken, sinful, sad.

When we’ve crawled into our painful cave to lick our wounds or plot revenge, we hear the footsteps on the stair. We hear the sound of Jesus’ gentle laughter: “You can stop being afraid now. All-y, all-y—yes—in free!”

The games are finally over. When grace comes seeking you, there’s no more need to hide. What’s wounded starts to heal. Your past all gets forgiven. The lonely all get friended.

Today, get found: step out into the light. Enjoy the life you’ve always sought.

And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

Nothing in all the world is as wonderful as a gift.

It may be the sunrise, wrapped in rose and gold, delivered to our eastern window.

It may be the stick-figure drawing by a three year-old that bears the ribbon, “I love you, Mommy.”

It may be the unexpected offer of the trip we’ve always dreamed of, to that place we sense has always been our home.

Gifts make us conscious of the love beyond ourselves—the deep, rich kindness in the heart of God.

“For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:22-24).

What but our foolish pride could keep us from enjoying God’s good gift? It’s not our worthiness that matters: it is His great, untiring love that moves Him to keep giving. “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done” (Eph 2:8-9).

So open up your hands, your heart. Receive the grace Christ offers.

And stay in it. -Bill Knott

As four-year olds, we squabble over things we say that we deserve—first down the slide; the largest piece of chocolate cake; the undivided attention of our parents.

At fourteen, we insist that we deserve at least what others have—a new smartphone; the latest gaming platform; a curfew later than our siblings.

By 44, we vie for corner offices; subordinates who do our bidding; a happiness we assume is ours by right or through hard work.

But in our hearts, we know the truth: we don’t want what our lives deserve. The litter of bad choices swirls through our hollow claims. The memories of mistakes everyone knows—and those nobody knows—belie our claims to honor and to fame.

The apostle Paul spoke truth for all of us: “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t” (Rom 7:18).

And though God’s Word reveals unflattering truth about our real lives, it offers unexpectedly good news about what’s offered us. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23).

Don’t claim what you deserve. Accept the grace you’re given.

And stay in it. -Bill Knott

Before we ever learn to speak or find some syllables of thought, we learn that how we’re loved depends on how we live.

As infants, we adapted to what brought us comfort and attention. As teens, we found affection best by mimicking what offered hope of friendship. And though we’ve grown in years and size, we still build contracts meant to bring us love. The world teaches us that love comes with conditions. 

Just here the gospel shines so bright: “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Eph 2:4-5).

God’s care for us is not proportionate to our good thoughts or choices. He doesn’t wait for our  best lives before He offers His embrace. “God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him” (John 3:17).

And even when we get it wrong, His love won’t be deflected. We cannot earn what He so gladly gives. We cannot lose the love we never caused.

Now stay in grace. -Bill Knott