MERRY CHRISTMAS, FRIENDS! LOVE TO YOU EACH THIS WONDERFUL DAY OF CELEBRATION! CHRIST HAS COME; CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN. THERE’S A 2ND ADVENT ON THE WAY, AND A GIFT TO UNPACK TODAY! Love, Amy
Now through the end of December, a chance to re-examine the gifts of Advent, the arrival of a Savior, and the epiphany of Epiphany.
John 14:27 I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
When I was young, there was one wish that I always wished when I threw a penny in a fountain or blew out candles on my birthday cake. However strange it sounds for a child, I wished for world peace. Peace was always the thing I lacked most, and the thing I coveted most. Years later, I’m ready to say that wish was more than just childish hope.
Jesus knew the value of peace. As he prepared to crush his friends’ Christmas hopes and dreams under the weight of obedient death, he talked to them about the gift he would leave – if they would be willing to hold onto it through the trauma to follow.
If we want it, the gift Jesus offered can be ours every day, but we too must hold onto it through trauma. He promised that the Holy Spirit would not just be with us, but in us, and never leave (John 14:15-26).
This is an everyday miracle. Peace with God. Peace of mind and heart. A Spirit within our own spirits that keeps on giving the best gift of Christmas. Peace.
Prayer: Giver of good gifts, you promised the gift of peace of mind and heart to those who loved you, even as the shadows of Easter threatened the sunshine of Christmas. Help us, surrounded by shadows, embrace the gift that keeps on giving. A peace you have bought and paid for that cannot be taken from us.
Amy released a full-length book in early 2021, Walking When You’d Rather Fly: Meditations on Faith After the Fall. Maybe you’d like to check it out here.
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