Tag: A Word for Wednesday

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Love’s Pure Light

“Tis the season of angels, or so it seems. It was an angel who told a young Mary about the child she would bear, and several times did angels guide her husband, Joseph, as well. To the shepherds on the night-shift appeared an entire host of them, all heralding the Messiah’s birth. What an experience! But did you ever notice people’s oft-fearful responses to angelic encounters throughout the Bible? Daniel was “set trembling on his hands and knees.”1 Soldiers guarding Jesus’ tomb “shook and became like dead men.”2 The shepherds were “terrified”3 that first Noel, and when an angel appeared to Cornelius, the Roman officer “stared at him in fear.”4 Then there’s Gideon, who thought he would die. Literally.5

But these were only ministering angels, celestial servants. God speaks so of them: “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.”6 Then if the appearance of God’s messengers is so overpowering as to cower the bravest among us, how unimaginably more so must be the presence of our holy God? Even the vision of Him overwhelmed John in the Revelation given to him: “When I saw [Jesus], I fell at his feet as though dead.”7 What a predicament: God’s eyes are “too pure to look on evil,”8 and “man may not see [Him] and live.”9 Not in this world, anyway. God is pure by nature, and by nature we are not.

Yet how did the angels so often reply? “Don’t be afraid.” For God is for us. He will judge, yes, but His desire for us is not condemnation, but purity, restoration, and friendship. Hear Jesus’ heart as He intercedes for us in the eve of his crucifixion: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.10 God wants us to be with Him and to see Him in full glory. And John says He has made it possible: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”11 Jesus shed His blood, sacrificed His life, to purify our life, and thus purified, we will see the glory of Christ — “Son of God, love’s pure light.”12 We need not be afraid.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Father, thank You for purifying us through Your Son, Jesus the Messiah. Bring us into Your presence in Your time through Jesus, the way. May we see His glory and rejoice before Him forever. Amen.

1 Daniel 10:10 NIV
2 Matthew 28:4 NIV
3 Luke 2:9 NIV
4 Acts 10:4 NIV
5 Judges 6:22-23
6 Hebrews 1:7 ESV (see also Psalm 104:7)
7 Revelation 1:17 ESV
8 Habakkuk 1:13 NIV
9 Exodus 33:20 NIV
10 John 17:24 NIV
11 1 John 1:7 NIV
12 Joseph Mohr, “Silent Night,” Hymnal.net, accessed: December 23, 2025.

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Hark! The Fourth Verse Now We Sing!

From time to time, I mention Kairos Prison Ministry in this space, for it is hard not to speak of the awesome wonders God works in the lives of incarcerated people. If you’ve heard of Kairos, you are most likely familiar with the semi-annual, four-day Kairos Weekends in which we volunteers share with inmates the love and forgiveness that are found solely in Christ Jesus. Yet we also return to the prison through monthly reunions and weekly Prayer & Share. And for this month’s reunion, I and some others were asked to share an especially meaningful Christmas carol and why we find it so meaningful. So, do you mind if I practice on you this week?

I chose “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”1 It is the gospel put to poetry; the good news wrapped in rhyme. Were you to open your hymnal to this enduring favorite, you would probably find three verses. Then would it surprise you to learn Charles Wesley’s composition had ten? The first verse, the familiar one, proclaims a promise kept: a heavenly King who brings us the peace, the reconciliation of God the Creator and us, His created. The second stanza points us to Jesus’ human incarnation: “Offspring of a virgin’s womb” — the Godhead veiled in flesh, “pleased as man with man to dwell.” Flowing on through its third verse, this Christmas classic heralds the Messiah’s heavenly origin: the “Sun of Righteousness,”2 bringing His light and life to us, defeating death and raising us through new birth.

So let’s pick up where our hymnals leave off, for verse four — so powerfully sourced in Scripture — is the cry of the redeemed soul, a prayerful response to God’s faithfulness,. Sing it softly; let it melt into your soul.

Come, Desire of nations, come!3
Fix in us Thy humble home:4
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring seed,5
Bruise in us the serpent’s head;6
Adam’s likeness now efface,7
Stamp Thine image in its place:8
Final Adam from above,9
Reinstate us in Thy love.10
Hark! The herald angels sing,11
“Glory to the new-born King.”12

Satan is defeated, and in Christ we are new creations13 being transformed into His image.14 Isn’t this what we want? When we behold God’s great promises fulfilled in the most unexpected of ways, don’t our hearts respond in joy, thanksgiving and trust? And in this trust, don’t our spirits cry, “More!”?

Yes, Lord, deliver us from evil, and transform us into unimaginable glory. Grace us with fruitful lives throughout our days here. We see what you’ve done for mankind; do also what you will in each of us. Guide us daily away from our old nature, and transform us into yours. Grow your church on Earth. In Christ we live; in Him we pray. Amen.

1 Charles Wesley, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” Hymnal.net, accessed: December 15, 2025.
2 Malachi 4:2
3 Haggai 2:7
4 John 14:23
5, 6 Genesis 3:15
7, 8 1 Corinthians 15:49
9, 10 Romans 5:19
11, 12 Luke 2:13-14
13 2 Corinthians 5:17
14 2 Corinthians 3:18

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Where Are You Going?

We have a lot of questions in life, don’t we? And for many reasons. Through questions, we feed curiosity, clarify misunderstanding, validate skepticism, or even assert our hostility. Yet perhaps the primary driver of our inquiries is to assess how new thoughts or realities fit within our frame of reference. Does this proposition align with my experience, values, or beliefs? Do I even have a category for it? If not, do I accept this new assertion or explore it maybe, or do I reject it outright?

So as the Son of God “became flesh and dwelt among us,”1 we can sense the agita surrounding the Man, not only by the questions people asked Him, but also the diversity among the askers. Consider these. “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?”2 — the Maji. “Where are you from?”3 — Pilate. “Are you the one?”4 — John the Baptist. “Where did this man get this wisdom?”5 — the synagogue faithful. “Who gave you this authority?”6 — the chief priests and scribes. “Where is your father?”7 — the Pharisees. And perhaps the most fundamental question of all: “Who is this?”8 — twelve men in a boat on a raging lake grown calm. The paucity of precedent sent the people pressing: Who IS this?

Peter figured it out. (He’d had help.) When Jesus queried His friends, “Who do you say that I am?”9 the loquacious disciple characteristically answered first, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”10 This is bedrock truth that matures us into humble submission of self and fitting dependence on Him. So it was a saddened Peter who asked the departing Jesus, “Lord, where are you going?”11 After all, he and the other disciples had left everything to follow Him.12 “I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”13 This is who He was and where He has gone. Was that the end?

Not at all; the story continues. For this eternal Son of God has finished the divine work He came to accomplish and returned home, not only to be with the Father He’s known forever, but also to prepare a place in Heaven for us. “And if I go and prepare a place for you,” He assured them, “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”14 This is His promise. No questions asked.

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” — Hebrews 1:3 ESV

Father, You always keep Your promises. Fill us with Your Spirit, that You may bear eternal fruit through us, the church on Earth. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 John 1:14 ESV
2 Matthew 2:2
3 John 18:33
4 Luke 7:19
5 Matthew 13:54
6 Mark 11:28
7 John 8:19
8 Mark 4:41 NIV
9 Matthew 16:15 NLV
10 Matthew 16:16 NIV
11 John 13:36 ESV
12 Mark 10:28 13
13 John 16:28 ESV
14 John 14:3 ESV