There is a divine mystery—a secret surprise that has been concealed from the world for generations, but now it’s being revealed, unfolded and manifested for every holy believer to experience. 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5, NIV)

Light shines and darkness recedes. Light doesn’t need to fight or punish the darkness. It simply shines as it is designed to do.

In April of 1979, at the age of 21, I (Rick) met God as I humbled myself and opened my heart to Him. The experience was very real.

Do you remember when, as children, we would talk about how it would be "when I'm big" or "when I grow up"?

To be established in Love means that it is the most important reason for your existence. It is your core value above all else. You’ve become captivated by its beauty. Your mind often swims in its depths. You’ve tasted its power. In Love, you have found the point of it all.

And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6, NKJV)

These descriptive names of the coming Savior are rich with meaning, especially when considering the anticipation felt by the Jewish nation at the time of this prophecy. We, however, are on the other side, seeing the promise fulfilled, celebrating and basking in gratitude for what has been given to us by God.

And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father…(Isaiah 9:6, NKJV)

This prophecy from Isaiah was during a time when God was typically NOT referred to as “Father”. In fact, the Jewish people felt the name of God was so holy it shouldn’t even be fully written out. So this was an unusual idea that the Savior who would rescue them from oppression would be a Father forever to them.

As Christmas approaches, we think about the gift of Jesus to this beautiful but broken world. He came offering something better for man. Something better than following a list of rules. Something better than being coerced, condemned and pressured to act a certain way. That something better was the God-kind of LOVE. It is a love that is bigger than our human capacity. It is a love that can handle those set against it. It’s a love that eats up the darkness in its path. It is a love that knows the natural realm must always bow to the Spiritual. It is not tempted to gaze only on the natural, but is anchored in a spiritual kingdom.

WONDERFUL would be the ultimate leader, the kind we could trust and rely upon, the kind that would understand and help us, the kind that would bring great peace and joy to the earth. WONDERFUL would never grow weary of us or leave us. He would be our personal counselor. Instead of following a list of rules, we would have a friend to rely upon daily.

When I (Judi) was a young theatre student at the University of the Arts, I studied classical theatre. But when I graduated and worked my first few professional jobs, I found that improvisation was the venue that I was most cast into. I quickly learned how to build a scene with someone completely unknown to me and create situations and “realities” that were beyond my imagination.

Expressing gratitude is a lot like this. It’s focusing on what we DO have. The enormity of blessings we carry about each day often goes unnoticed because of seemingly more pressing issues: the many trials and tragedies also encountered in this life.

Not long ago, a man became the first heart-transplant patient to receive a heart from a pig.  He lived for a few months, but sadly, he died.  I’m not going to make any cheap jokes about this man’s situation, but I will confess that I noticed my mind slightly thinking about how a pig’s heart might affect the behavior of a man.  I caught myself wondering, not seriously, but a fleeting thought that maybe the pig heart would give the man some pig-like ways.

Someone once said that the “woman with the issue of blood” was like the church. We have many “bloody issues” that need to be healed.

I want to talk a little about issues, topics, and controversies that can sometimes distract us from our real purpose. They can cause us to hide the gift that we really have for this world.

A question I often hear from sincere Christians is, “How do I renew my mind?”

My first answer is that we don’t renew our own minds. We are changed by the “renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5), and it really can be quite effortless.

Just a thought from the parable of the wheat and tares…

My main takeaway is that we can damage the growth of good things (wheat) by focusing on getting rid of bad things (tares). That’s why legalism actually does damage.

In the beginning… God made us like Himself.  The intention was that we would be united with Him.  He would be our Life, our strength, our everything we would need.

Later, Adam would separate from God.  The man would not see himself as belonging with God, but Adam become “the other”, someone whose differences could not be overlooked.

We all love a good underdog story. It feels so good to see someone overcome their difficulties. We love that they succeed, even when people said they could not. I think most of us relate to those stories, because either we have overcome obstacles ourselves, or we are in the process of overcoming something now.

When you put cream in your coffee, it all becomes one. It literally becomes a different drink, because of the union of the ingredients. Once they are mingled together, you cannot take it back. You cannot make it black coffee again.

“When will the kingdom of God be established on earth?” the Pharisees asked Jesus. He responded by telling them that the kingdom of God does not come with ocular observation because the kingdom of God is within you. (see Luke 17:20-21)

What can we do when it seems like the world around us is falling apart? When it feels like the hate is palpable and the end of division is nowhere in sight?

Love who is in front of us.

What can we do when the world seems hopelessly lost? And nobody seems to regard the Jesus we know and love?

Love who is in front of us.