With Thanksgiving behind us, we’ve officially entered into the Christmas season. As I prepared to write this episode, I focused my attention on the miraculous birth of Jesus and the reason He came to earth. Christmas is when grace and truth entered into the world. The Bible says the law was given through Moses, and that grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Jesus made the Father known. He spoke God’s words and revealed God’s glory. In John 14, one of the disciples asks Jesus to show them the Father. Jesus answers by saying, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” (John 14:9-10 NIV)

If you need to hear from God, open up your Bible. While I do believe God whispers directly into our spirits with His still, small voice, He will never speak in contraction to His revealed Word. The better we get to know God through His revealed Word—the Bible and a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus—the more we will recognize God’s whisper when we need to hear directly from Him. I can’t tell you how many times God has responded to my cries by dropping a Bible verse into my head.

Ask God to draw you ever closer to the light of grace and truth this Christmas. I believe the Spirit of Christmas is a manifestation of the presence of God. As you focus on getting to know Jesus better by reading the Bible, you will sense His presence long after the Christmas decorations are put away.

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This week’s scripture: John 1:9-14