REJOICE!
23rd Dec 2020
This morning, we were reading a Christmas Newsletter from a friend and it concluded - “Romans 15:13 has become my life verse.” The verse says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
The news is full of gloom and doom as Covid 19 spreads around the world, and the new variant has reared its ugly head in the UK. I am so glad that my peace and joy does not depend upon what’s on today’s news. On the contrary, we have been encouraged as we have read the newsletters from our friends and heard how they have been blessed and sustained during this year.
We in the northern hemisphere have passed the shortest day, so our days will be lengthening from now on. This reminded me of Proverbs 4:18, “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” I praise God that His light is in me and it is getting brighter every day.
As we celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world, as the light of the world, again the verse that comes into my mind is, “The light still shines in the darkness and the darkness has never put it out.” (John 1:5)
Another verse that has come to mind is, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stay on Thee: because he trusteth in thee.” (Isaiah 26:3 KJV)
So as we approach this time of celebration, our hearts need to be filled with thanksgiving and gratitude for our wonderful Saviour who has rescued us from darkness and filled us with His wonderful light. He promises us peace and joy, we are filled with hope, and we rejoice that He will never leave us or forsake us.
We may have been restricted on who will be around our table on Christmas Day, but in the year that FaceTime and Zoom has entered our vocabulary, let us reach out and make contact with family and friends and tell then they are loved by us and by our Saviour.
by Charles Sibthorpe
