For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His ever expanding, peaceful government will never end. He will rule forever with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David. The passionate commitment of the LORD Almighty will guarantee this! (Isaiah 9:6-7, NLT)
As I sit here, absorbing the beauty of that promise made thousands of years ago, a promise that was fulfilled with the birth and life and death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, my heart is flooded with thanksgiving to God. Jesus, who was tempted in all things but who knew no sin, came to earth to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
In When God Whispers Your Name, Max Lucado records words he received in the mail one Christmas: If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our great need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior.
My greatest need is forgiveness. It isn’t health or wealth. It isn’t the perfect job or the perfect mate. It isn’t to be the smartest, the thinnest, or the prettiest woman in the room. It isn’t the next great idea for a novel (even though it seems like sometimes that must be my greatest need). It’s forgiveness I need more than anything else, and I have found perfect forgiveness in Jesus the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace.
In my Bible reading this morning, I made note of the following:
Hebrews 6:11-12 “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as
to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (NASB)
HOPE is “faith that is focused.”
FAITH is “a living channel of trust between God and man.”
PATIENCE is “faithfulness under stress.”
In the grip of His grace,
Robin
