December 15, 2024

Scripture

Zephaniah 3:17 “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.”

Psalm 85:10-13 “Steadfast love and faithfulness meet, righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky. Yes, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way.”

Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Reflection

As I read through the Scriptures for this third week of Advent, I noticed that I had highlighted a couple of them in my Bible with the year date of 2008. Zephaniah was highlighted along with Philippians which also had a notation, “for my stress.” Yes, all of these should be repeated daily to help us through the cares of this world.

What strikes me in these verses is the joyfulness of God. That is not how most of us usually look at God, but we should. Imagine God the Father, singing over us! Imagine the meeting place of love and faithfulness! Imagine the kiss between righteousness and peace! Oh, but wait! Isn’t Jesus all of these things? Jesus is love, and he is faithful, he is righteous and yes, he is the peace which surpasses all our understanding. And Jesus dwells in us. Christ in us, the hope of glory.

As we are now awaiting the celebration of the birth of Christ and his coming into our lives, let us join with the heavenly host and angels who sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will toward men.”

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we rejoice with you over the coming of Jesus. We rejoice in his faithfulness, his righteousness, and his peace that is clothed in love. May your Spirit dwell in us richly to remind us of your constant presence. May our hearts shine with your love that others may see you in us and be drawn into your loving arms. In the precious name of Jesus, Amen.

Judy Johnson