THRILL of HOPE - Day 6

“The thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices…..”

Christmas, celebrating the Incarnation, is ultimately about Father’s love and His goodness prevailing.  The story line at Christmas is most often about the nativity and the arrival of Jesus, and rightfully so.  Yet we don’t want to miss that Jesus’ arrival was the extension of Father’s heart toward us and the revelation of who He is.  There should never be anything reduced in the magnitude of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us.  The miraculous conception, John leaping in Elizabeth’s womb, Joseph embracing what was going on, the trip to Bethlehem, the full hotels, the angels appearing, swaddling clothes, the star, and the glory that shone about, all tell us so much.  There can’t be enough said about all the details involved in all that took place.  There is such a place of awe.  It brings a smile on our faces because all of that speaks of something behind it.  It’s not just about the details, amazing as they are.  It’s about the reality that is displayed.  Love in action.  Intent.  Desire.  A purposeful reaching out.  An unprecedented step that had been building up for centuries.  It was Father taking the initiative in goodness to undo deception’s hold on the hearts and minds of men.  It was the unraveling of the perception of Father as a harsh judge, untouchable and distant.  He came close.  He was touchable.  He could be approached.  The dawn of the New and Superior Covenant that is based on the promise of forgiveness instead of the promise of condemnation that the Law set.  Father’s goodness had been in motion from before creation and Bethlehem became the launching point for how we would forever know Him.  

Everything that was behind the Incarnation was so Father could show His heart and clear the way for sons and daughters to live in the reality of His goodness (hope).  John leaping in Elizabeth’s womb demonstrates the joy that jumps in us as we encounter Jesus and Father’s love released through Him.  May your heart in this season jump for joy because regardless of what your tree looks like or if your house is in total order or if every present is perfectly selected and wrapped, you are captured by His goodness expressed through love.  We get the joy of living from the thrill of hope.  It’s limitless.