December 3, 2024
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.
We have great reason to rejoice! God has blessed every born-again Christian with the ability to choose a spiritual mindset that agrees with Scripture about our need to have increasing “moral excellence,” the riches of His glory! (2 Peter 1:3-5) As we let the Holy Spirit enlighten our hearts to better understand our Father’s wisdom in exalting moral excellence, Jesus increasingly fills us with “the hope of His calling”!
Next to the hope of our salvation, there is no greater hope than knowing we have been given exceeding power to obediently follow our Lord. The same power by which our Father raised Christ from the dead is at work in us, helping us store up a fuller eternal reward in Heaven, awaiting the glorious moment we “will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess 4:17). Then seven years later, at the end of the Tribulation, Jesus will return to this earth for His Second Coming’s glorious appearing. Previously raptured Christians will then follow Jesus from heaven back to earth, to victoriously reign with Him over all the earth!
Considering that Christ first left heaven to come to earth as a humble baby, to die in our place on the cross, rightly celebrating Christmas includes staying mindful that the next time Christ will be seen on earth, He will be seen as our conquering King! Let’s live our lives in such holy and blameless ways that all who know us are aware of the reality that Jesus is our Hope, empowering us to grow in moral excellence!
Gracious Father, please help me never miss a day of spending time alone with You, feasting on Your Word to better understand a life that pleases You. Help me grow spiritually stronger, prayerfully seeking to stay repentant of anything that displeases You, so my life will be an unashamed witness of the holy power of Your grace, radiating true love to everyone I influence. Help me live each day filled with gratitude for the unfathomable inheritance awaiting me in Christ! In His Name, that’s above every other name, I pray, Amen.