A Weary World Rejoices

The line, "The thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices" in O, Holy Night always catches my attention. Perhaps this year more than ever I, as well as most people on the planet can identify with the sentiment. We know deep in our b
ones just how weary the world is. We realize how broken and hopeless life can seem to be, yet...hope, the thrill of hope. 

Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved (Psalm 80:3). 

The theme of the Psalm is about God's restoration. This phrase is repeated three times. Restoration brings hope. Restoration brings salvation. One might say that salvation and hope are interchangeable. The hope of Israel was that Messiah would come. He did. He came to restore. He came to save. In his grand restoration and salvation endeavors, he brings hope. 

My prayer this Advent season is that the thrill of hope would fill our hearts in the midst of this weary world. 

Thankful for Discipleship

 For over a year now I've been meeting with a group of men most Wednesday mornings at 9 to help spur one another on to growth in Christ. We have un-officially adopted Proverbs 27:17 as our theme. "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." We meet usually for about 90 minutes, sometimes we go longer, sometimes its shorter. We share concerns and prayer needs in our lives and the lives of our families. We pray together. We read and study scripture together. It's not fancy. Even during 2020 we met via Zoom several weeks. This time together each week helps me to know there are others trying to follow Jesus, who I can identify with. We don't pretend to be super spiritual. We each readily acknowledge that we need Jesus...desperately. We need grace, because as Brennan Manning said, we know that our cheese is falling off our cracker. I'm thankful for these men, their wives, and their families. 

Discipleship is essential for one to grow in our faith. My prayer this Thanksgiving is that you would be able to foster relationships with others that can help sharpen your faith commitment.