December
18

“That We Might Serve Him Without Fear”

And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and worked redemption for His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant°, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from the beginning, Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us; to do mercy with our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant; the oath which He swore to Abraham our father, that He would give to us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve° Him without fear, in holiness and justice in His sight, all the days of our life. And thou, little child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give the knowledge of salvation to His people for the forgiveness of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, by which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to appear to them who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And° the little child grew, and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his appearing to Israel. (Luke 1:67–80)

Heaven … is granted to none but those who know the way to it and who walk therein. (Divine Providence 60)

It must he kept in mind that a Divine-heavenly sphere of love continually goes forth from the Lord toward all who embrace the doctrine of His church, who are obedient to Him, as children are to their father and mother in the world, who devote themselves to Him, and who wish to be fed, that is, instructed by Him. (True Christian Religion 308)

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