We thank You Father that in Your great mercy You have sent Jesus to rescue us.
There are so many blessings that are ours because of this, an embarrassment of riches. Here is but one: we get to be like Jesus.
We watch Him as we hear the Gospels, and we are struck by how He deals with life. We are moved by the wisdom, by the gentleness, by the anger, and by the love. We are nothing like that. But the promise of the Gospel is that we will become just like that. Your Spirit will do it.
Father, it would be good enough for us if we were simply to enjoy eternity with You. But that's not good enough for You. You want us to be made completely whole. You want us to be made like Jesus.
So, in due time, our sin will be gone. The doubts? Gone. The stupid things we so often do? Gone. And the worry about what others are thinking about us? That too will be gone. No more struggles, no more fears, no more secrets to hide. In due time, all these things will be gone.
And instead, we will be completely in tune with You, enjoying You more and more, with no barrier between us, no distance, only love. In due time, we will be like Jesus.
Father, for this gift of Advent we thank You.
But Father, we have to admit that sometimes we have a hard time believing all of this. Sometimes we look at ourselves, and we think that we are the same that we've always been. We look at our life, and it's the same old, same old. Problems are still at us. Issues continue to confront and confuse. And we respond so poorly. It seems as if nothing has changed.
And yet, there has been change. The Spirit began it when He gave us new life. So, help us to believe that. And help us to work with the Spirit. Help us to care for our souls and nourish them so that He can create more change, step by step making us more like Jesus.
Father, one day the work of changing us from what we once were into what we are destined to be - one day that work will be finished. We will be like Jesus. Oh, how we long for that. As we wait for that, please grant us the grace to hope for it, to work toward it, to enjoy however much of it that we have now. And once the Spirit's work is completed, we will spend an eternity praising You for it.
There are so many blessings that are ours because of this, an embarrassment of riches. Here is but one: we get to be like Jesus.
We watch Him as we hear the Gospels, and we are struck by how He deals with life. We are moved by the wisdom, by the gentleness, by the anger, and by the love. We are nothing like that. But the promise of the Gospel is that we will become just like that. Your Spirit will do it.
Father, it would be good enough for us if we were simply to enjoy eternity with You. But that's not good enough for You. You want us to be made completely whole. You want us to be made like Jesus.
So, in due time, our sin will be gone. The doubts? Gone. The stupid things we so often do? Gone. And the worry about what others are thinking about us? That too will be gone. No more struggles, no more fears, no more secrets to hide. In due time, all these things will be gone.
And instead, we will be completely in tune with You, enjoying You more and more, with no barrier between us, no distance, only love. In due time, we will be like Jesus.
Father, for this gift of Advent we thank You.
But Father, we have to admit that sometimes we have a hard time believing all of this. Sometimes we look at ourselves, and we think that we are the same that we've always been. We look at our life, and it's the same old, same old. Problems are still at us. Issues continue to confront and confuse. And we respond so poorly. It seems as if nothing has changed.
And yet, there has been change. The Spirit began it when He gave us new life. So, help us to believe that. And help us to work with the Spirit. Help us to care for our souls and nourish them so that He can create more change, step by step making us more like Jesus.
Father, one day the work of changing us from what we once were into what we are destined to be - one day that work will be finished. We will be like Jesus. Oh, how we long for that. As we wait for that, please grant us the grace to hope for it, to work toward it, to enjoy however much of it that we have now. And once the Spirit's work is completed, we will spend an eternity praising You for it.
1 John 3.2
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