In the midst of darkness, discouragement, despair, hope is a flame.
A promise:
17 The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3 ESV
A warning:
14And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord. 2 Chronicles 12 ESV
An exhortation:
2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’ Revelations 2 ESV
A new birth:
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 1 John 1
His promised fullness:
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[d] from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.[e] 17 John 1:14-17
Lord, as the quiet rests all around me, I look to You. Through Christ, You are in my midst. A place of refuge rather than judgment. A place of singing mercy, rather than deserved retribution. If I turn to You, and set my heart on You, I will be and am protected from evil. Kindle my first love that I may do the works exhorted in Revelations 2. May the miracle of the birthing of God be alive in me this day. I cannot comprehend grace upon grace… You, Jesus, full…. full of grace and truth.
Father, have mercy on me and grant me grace to draw near to You that You will draw near to me. In the hush of this Christmas season, may my heart find quiet spaces to rest in You and know You. The glimmer of a house lit up with Christmas candles and the quiet glow of holiday lights has always, from the time I was a little girl, called my heart to You. In the cold chill of this December, may I be warmed in You. The Scriptures come to me in fragments, like my mind fragments in this season- filled with so many, many things. Help me live for You.
Rebecca (offeringsbecca)
Sixty-six books in a year 