Christmas Prayer
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” (Ephesians 1: 18-19a)
I have been looking forward to Christmas…the lights, music, special food, and holiday gatherings. It is a season of anticipation, both of gifts under the tree and seeing family, but also of the glory of the One who came to bring eternal salvation and has promised to return to take us home to be with Him forever.
We live in two worlds, if only we have eyes to see. 2 Corinthians 4:16 says, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” Our life on earth is fleeting and temporal when viewed through the lens of eternity. We experience things like chronic illness, the deep pain and ache of broken relationships, and a world full of strife, anger, and evil. We long to escape the pain and darkness and cry “Maranatha, Lord come quickly!” We anticipate and eagerly await the streets of gold and no more pain or tears because that is the glorious opposite of what life on earth is like.
Until He returns, we must remain here on this side of Glory. While some of the trials that we experience in our lifetime may be lengthy and full of pain, remember that He does not leave us to navigate them alone. Our great Shepherd is with us, strengthening and guiding us through the dark valleys as He leads us home. As we walk by His side, let us remember to “…look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)
As Christmas approaches and we enjoy the festivities, let us look past the physical trappings of the world’s celebration of Christmas, to the unseen reality of Christmas. In addition to the physical descriptions the Bible gives us about heaven, scripture also describes our eternal future in the following ways:
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)
Emmanuel, God with us
“He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Revelation 3:21)
King of Kings
“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.” (1 John 3:2)
Shepherd of His sheep
God “raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6-7)
Eternal Father
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21)
Mighty God, our true Hope of Glory
May the eyes of our hearts truly be enlightened to see the unseen!
Merry Christmas!
