Rejoicing in Christ

O Lord, make us like John in the wilderness, with our gaze, hearts, and lives consumed by Jesus, your glorious Son.

May we delight in our Saviour and ever look forward to the day when we will see him face to face. In the meantime, let us rejoice, for he is with us even now.

Eat this bread, for there are no benefits apart from him. He is good: eat of him. He is rich: delight yourself in him. For Christ is the true bread of heaven.

God intends that we become conformed to the image of Jesus. Why? So that Jesus will have many brothers. And what does that conformity look like? It’s relational through and through.

There is more love, more life, more light in our God than there is hate, death, and darkness in us. Jesus is full of grace and truth, and he is everything we need.

Day by day, we feel like we are struggling to hold onto Jesus. But he has received us. We have been born again into the light. And one day we will walk in that kingdom of eternal light with the darkness finally gone and our hearts finally home.

Unless the Light came to blaze with a love that is full of forgiveness and a life that we can live in his righteousness rather than our own. Unless the Light came not to shine for his own glory but to be put out in the darkness for our salvation.

Where does her help come from? You, Lord, are her Kinsman Redeemer, her Savior, and her King. There is no one else that help comes from. You turned bitterness into wine and included an excluded nation in your genealogy. You woo and pursue to reconcile and restore. You, Lord, are where our help comes from.

“This is my brother, all that is mine is his. Let’s celebrate. For this brother of mine was lost, but now is found.” Christ is not ashamed to call you brother. To call you sister. To call you family. He has joined you to himself and brought you into the same affectionate embrace that he enjoys with the Father.

The stars glimmer with enticing beauty and on a crisp day the sun rises and our hearts leap maybe higher for the brightness of that glory over the snow-dazzled horizon. The Light shines and he will never be put out.