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Know that in that day, when Christ takes us to himself fully and finally, one moment in heaven will be worth a thousand lifetimes of trial. All of our regrets, failures, worries, will be assigned to oblivion when we enter into the joyful presence of our supremely kind Saviour and Friend, our Lord and Brother, our King and our God.
Jesus goes out of his way to meet this woman.
But why? Perhaps it was not because she was righteous or that she was worthy, but simply that she was: thirsty. Thirsty for more than what she could haul home with her own feeble hands. A thirst that was deeper than Jacob’s well could ever go, deep down in the parched places of her heart.
Daniel Hames introduces the early Church Father, Cyril of Alexandria. Cyril’s legacy endures as one of the most influential figures in the development of the doctrine of Christ, shaping the theological landscape of Christianity for centuries to come.
All who are members of Christ’s body experience, in him, what happened to that body. Our old identity was slaughtered, speared, buried. He is the third-day first fruit of life and righteousness. All his seed that are in him share his fate. Thus, in him, we are given new life, and we share, are covered, by his righteousness. It all makes for an infinitely more nourishing gospel.
Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall backsliding, lack of joy, or coldness towards the Lord? Shall trials? Shall hardship?
What about continued failure to overcome that one sin? Crippling depression, mental illness, or moments of utter weakness?
Never.
When we feel abandoned, disheartened, or confused, God is listening. The Father is listening. Be encouraged my dear friend, whether whispering or screaming, he is listening to your every word.
We must remember that all of us, no matter how long we have been Christians, may become fools. Satan will try to cast a spell over us. We may know the gospel in our heads and actually live on the basis of works, and thus, as Luther said, we must relearn the gospel daily. Let’s calm our hearts with the promise of God’s forgiveness in Christ Jesus, with the grace that is so freely and lovingly granted to us.
We need generation that is stronger than ever. Not born bull headed or temperamentally steady, but with true strength which is s a gift and freely available, untapped to every believer.
As you look to him, high and lifted up, it is here your burden falls. And tumbles down the hill, to be gone forever.
Christ clothing you with his very self. You are a dressed, adorned “particularly,” specially, providentially gracious participant of Christ’s sacrifice and self-sanctification. Your bridegroom has come, given you the robes of faith, and dressed you in them.
When Scripture reveals that God is light, it speaks of an overwhelmingly beautiful light that shines forth in radiant goodness. A light that brings life and warmth and joy and abundance to all the places it touches. All flourish and abound under its rays.
What kind of love is this? What kind of God is this?
The kind who says, “Come.”
“Come to the wedding feast.”
So, come, hungry. Come, thirsty. He has prepared a table for you. And it is only here, with him, where your hunger is satisfied, and your cup overflows.
To catch a glimpse of Jesus is to be intrigued. There has never been a man as wise, kind, good, and compelling. There has never been another man in whom we find all the fullness of God.
Even when our hearts are as cold and dead as winter, Jesus’ words blow in like an early spring breeze, warm and welcomed through the window, awakening us to himself.
Friends, it’s not incidental to God that he is a kind and loving Father. That’s not a role he’s stepped into or an act that he tries to pull off while inwardly just being transcendent and disinterested in you.When you pray the Lord’s Prayer and call him “Our Father” or “Abba, Father,” you’re not asking him to pretend for a moment he’s less like God and more like Jesus than he actually is. You’re putting your finger on the very essence of God.
We read four chapters later, this same Moabite woman is holding a baby. A baby not in the line of destruction but in the line of deliverance. Daring differently changed her destiny.
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.
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